Time, just like the Uchiha clan, vanishes in the blink of an eye.
When Natsuki was in second grade, Sasuke was already seven years old. That year, he experienced the most painful moment of his life.
His beloved older brother, Itachi, massacred the entire Uchiha clan, leaving only Sasuke alive, consumed by hatred and plunged into utter despair.
From that point on, he stopped liking dango, had no interests, and lived solely for revenge. No one could stop him—anyone who tried would be considered his enemy.
The girls in the class were still Sasuke's support squad.
They didn't know what had happened to the Uchiha, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to comprehend such pain.
However, it seemed that Ino had figured something out. While still a member of Sasuke's support group, she was no longer as obsessed as before and didn't try to get close to him at every opportunity.
Instead, she often stood with Shikamaru and Chōji, as if she now understood the meaning of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio.
Natsuki only gave it a glance and didn't really care.
What concerned him more was the safety of the village.
Back when the Uchiha were still around, although public order was maintained, Danzo's Root was extremely rampant, which kept Natsuki on high alert. Now that the Uchiha were gone, Root would likely be disbanded soon by Hiruzen.
However, without the Uchiha Police Force, Konoha was practically full of holes—spies would become active again, and Natsuki couldn't afford to let his guard down.
Fortunately, his current strength was already considerable. He could hold his own even against a jōnin.
That said, his research on Suiton: Uzumaki Fōtama still hadn't progressed. Instead, he developed other jutsus, such as the previously theorized Suiton: Sui Enzan, Chakra Sticky Threads, and Doton: Rising Whirlwind Giant Top.
The jutsus were simple in concept, but with his massive chakra reserves, every technique he used packed a punch akin to an ultimate move.
As long as he could catch the opponent off guard, even a jōnin could be defeated in one strike.
In addition, due to the lack of progress in his main research, he spent his spare time tinkering with other things to ease his boredom—like designing the Demonic Blade: Thousand Edge and developing a ninja-themed card game.
The Demonic Blade: Thousand Edge was inspired by the blade of the same name from Scissor Seven. It was crafted from over a thousand pieces of chakra metal, forming a fractured blade that could expand or contract at will through chakra control—undoubtedly a divine weapon.
To prepare for this, Natsuki even went to the library and picked up a book on swordsmanship. It would definitely come in handy later, especially if he studied the Hatake sword style.
However, for now, Thousand Edge remained a blueprint. Tenten had already taken it to begin research. Who knew when it might be completed?
As for the ninja card game, it was born from a sudden spark of inspiration.
Ever since he got into a relationship with Tenten, he was filled with a sense of responsibility. He didn't want to keep living off his future father-in-law and felt he should find a way to earn money himself.
Then one day, he saw Naruto dragging Shikamaru and Chōji to play poker, and realized how dull the games in the ninja world were. That gave him the idea to create a new card game, based on Killers of the Three Kingdoms from his previous life, and so Ninja Kill was born.
It was only recently finished—just yesterday, in fact, he brought two decks to Hiruzen for approval.
The Ninja Kill card game included identities of deceased Konoha heroes and some clan jutsus, so it had to be cleared by the Hokage.
Thankfully, Hiruzen approved it, especially since the back of each card proudly displayed the slogan "Will of Fire," making it politically correct and a good tool for spreading ideology.
Those two decks gifted to Hiruzen were a gesture of goodwill—he could bring them home to play with his grandson.
Speaking of which, Konohamaru should be a few years old by now, right?
Now all that was left was promotion. Natsuki planned to play with a few friends, giving each of them a free deck. That should help it spread quickly.
That day was extracurricular combat class.
Iruka held the roster and began calling out, "First match: Natsuki vs. Uchiha Sasuke!"
He paused in surprise after reading it out, and the class immediately turned their eyes toward Natsuki and Sasuke, curious about how this battle would unfold. After all, their duel in first grade had been impressive, but they hadn't fought since. No one knew how strong they were now.
Sasuke was also curious about Natsuki's strength. He stepped forward coolly and said, "Come on, show me your moves!"
Is this emo kid getting cocky again?
Didn't seem like it...
Natsuki looked at the once-handsome-and-adorable Sasuke, now gloomy and dark-eyed—probably hadn't slept well for a long time, likely plagued by nightmares every night.
And it made sense. His most respected brother had killed the whole clan, including their parents, and even used Tsukuyomi to torment him. How could a young boy handle that? Surrounded by hatred during the day, haunted by nightmares at night—of course his mental state would collapse.
Natsuki sighed inwardly, thinking how pitiful Sasuke truly was.
Even though Sasuke would eventually kill his own brother, he still wouldn't find peace—instead, he'd be consumed by darkness and fall completely.
Still, Natsuki wasn't some saint. He could feel pity for Sasuke, but he wouldn't meddle. Saviors had their own destinies. Natsuki would respect that and focus on living his own life well.
Natsuki stepped forward and formed the Seal of Confrontation, silently pulling a smoke bomb from his ninja pouch and smashing it to the ground.
"A smoke bomb? That's not how it's supposed to be used," Sasuke sneered.
But in the next second, dozens of shuriken shot out from the smoke, targeting Sasuke's vital points and escape routes. Oh, right—starting from second grade, the use of ninja tools and jutsus in battle was permitted.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he parried two shuriken with a kunai and twisted his body to dodge another.
Just as he was about to say something, a bam sounded beside his ear. One of the shuriken turned into Natsuki, who then roundhouse-kicked Sasuke square in the face while he was unguarded.
Sasuke was sent flying and rolled several times on the ground before struggling to get back up.
The crowd gasped in surprise.
Iruka praised, "Natsuki was very clever. Everyone thought throwing a smoke bomb at his own feet was a foolish move, but in fact it was to conceal his Transformation Technique into a shuriken. He used that to get close and launch a sneak attack when Sasuke let his guard down—truly unexpected. In this aspect, he's already qualified as a ninja."
The classmates looked at Natsuki with envy. They didn't expect he'd become so strong.
He was the first to knock Sasuke down last time, and now he did it again.
How was he always this amazing?
Naruto immediately shouted, "Natsuki's awesome dattebayo! Beat that stuck-up Sasuke and I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen, dattebayo!"
The girls were furious. They yelled at Naruto, and Sakura even punched him straight in the face. How dare he talk like that about their beloved Sasuke!
But none of them noticed that Ino wasn't in the cheering squad today. She didn't join the others in scolding Naruto either.
Instead, she stood seriously beside Shikamaru and Chōji, as if Sasuke's defeat hadn't surprised her at all.
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