Sasuke struggled to sleep as that single thought revolved around in his mind repeatedly, interfering with his desire to fall into a well-deserved slumber.
He woke up the next day rather tired, he decided to stay in his bed for a few more minutes this morning. Ever since Sasuke had come into this world all he had been faced with was questions.
Why was he here?
Why are things different here compared to his memory?
What is the connection between these differences and the Otsutsuki?
Why does everyone like convoluted sentences that rhyme?
Excluding the last one, the others made Sasuke genuinely feel exhausted. The only thing that motivated him right now is the notion that once he completes the training here, he will be able to complete the first phase of his plan.
'Today should be stealth training?' He thought to himself as he stretched and got out of bed, readying himself for his day. This time he donned his Anbu outfit and placed his mask over his face as he made his out of his room.
He soon ate breakfast at the lounge area and made his way over to the dome-like building, asking the receptionist where his next lesson would take place.
"Oh my! Look at how cute you are in your Anbu uniform! *Cough* Sorry, I just got a bit excited. Anyways, stealth training right? Well, that takes place in a much more 'unique' environment than other training sessions. Come on, follow me."
Sasuke felt his temples throb at the first few words from the receptionist, before silently following behind her. They soon found themselves in front of another door, but this door was distinctly different from the previous doors he had seen in this facility. It had a sign reading, 'Stealth Training Space', but this time there was no number beside the words like for the perception training room.
The door stood an astonishing several metres in height and was very wide too, "Do they keep animals in here or something?"
Sasuke said offhandedly but soon saw the woman's face warp into pity as she looked at him. Before he could say anything she opened the door and pushed Sasuke inside as she hurriedly walked off, without giving him any explanation.
Sasuke then began to look around his surroundings, his face turning more confused as he looked around. The room was frankly huge, dwarfing most houses he had seen in the village let alone compared to other rooms in this building.
Strangely enough, the entire room was covered in dense vegetation and was enveloped in a relatively gloomy atmosphere as there seemed to be very little visibility here. The scent of damp earth and the rustling of leaves almost made Sasuke believe that he wasn't underground anymore.
He soon noticed a presence at his side with his newly learned perception technique, 'Is that my teac-'
"Good morning." A voice suddenly sounded towards Sasuke's side. This caused him to almost launch a fireball in the direction of the voice, though he thankfully didn't as he managed to control himself.
Despite initially noticing the presence by his side, he still couldn't control himself. Whilst he heard the voice he still couldn't see anyone in front of him.
"Did you sense my chakra? Impressive, though I wasn't exactly concealing my chakra." As the voice appeared again, a woman appeared near Sasuke. She has straight black hair, wears a standard Anbu uniform and has a cat-shaped Anbu mask adorning her face.
"You may call me Neko-sensei, I'll be teaching various stealth techniques that will aid you in your Anbu career. Today we will be learning a basic D-Rank Jutsu, the 'Presence Concealment Jutsu' which is precisely what I had just used back then." She briefly explained what she would teach Sasuke today.
"This Jutsu is rather simple, it will simply reduce your presence. However, I'll be teaching you much more than that. This Jutsu will be combined with other techniques like the 'Silent Footstep Jutsu' and reduce your chakra presence, helping you avoid detection.
Effectively erasing your existence in the eyes of your enemies.
Remember!
This training is essential for any Anbu member to get a hang of, as for us- the shadows are both an ally and a home.
And after you get a hang of these techniques, we will apply them in more 'realistic' scenarios." Neko continued, her final words were followed by a roar off in the distant corner of the room.
"Oh, don't worry about that. By the way, what should I call you?" She then paused and asked.
"My code name is Okami." Sasuke rolled his eyes behind his mask as he answered.
'What do you mean don't worry about that? Is my final training here going to be something like hiding my presence in front of a Tiger?' Sasuke thought sarcastically, but his thoughts soon turned towards the pity cast on him as he entered the room earlier.
'No way?!'
However, Neko interrupted Sasuke's thoughts as she continued explaining the Jutsu and how it works.
"Watch me carefully, your first step is to physically reduce your presence. This will be done by finding physical cover, staying in a place with little visibility, staying in an object shadow etc. These can easily be done in this room.
After that, you should slowly extend and merge your chakra to your surroundings." Neko spoke as she slowly made her way towards the shadow of a large tree before her figure slowly vanished from Sasuke's vision.
'That's interesting...' Sasuke could intuitively feel the presence of Neko and could also locate her chakra signature via his perception. However, he still couldn't seem to make out her figure in front of him. Though it would probably be a very different story if he activated his Sharingan, it still didn't make him any less impressed.
Sasuke's first attempt at the Presence Concealment Jutsu ended as a failure, while his chakra control was perfect the physical positioning of his body let him down.
"Don't worry about it kid, this is something that comes with experience. All you need to do is repeat the process until you get the hang of it."
For the rest of the day, Sasuke practised trying to reduce his sense of presence as he began to adjust his physical movements and posture according to his surroundings. By the end of the training, he could initially begin to hide his presence.
However, he still has much more work to do regarding this as he needs to learn how to reduce his presence in different environments, whilst moving, in front of perception ninjas etc.
Sasuke found himself in the confines of his room after the tiring training he had just undergone. Compared to perception training which he could easily excel in due to his amazing chakra control, stealth training was much more arduous for Sasuke.
An individual's ability to reduce their presence focuses on analysing their environment and adapting to it- something that can be much more easily done with experience.
After eating his dinner, Sasuke made his way to his bed where he carried out his new nightly ritual of chakra refining followed by meditation in the form of a soul.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile
On the streets of Konoha, two green blurs dashed through the streets, who else could it have been other than Guy and Lee?
Over these past few years Lee has changed his appearance considerably, he now looks like a clone of Guy as he is clad in the same piercing green jumpsuit and possesses a bowl-like haircut in favour of his previous hair that was worn as a braid.
"Guy-sensei, do you think Sasuke is faring well at Anbu?" Lee asked Guy as they made their way around the village.
"Ah, my dear Lee, fret not. Sasuke is a resilient soul; he can navigate the turbulent currents of destiny. But, I must confess, the dawn doesn't quite echo with the same YOUTHFUL vibrancy without the presence of our Uchiha comrade.
Yet, fear not, for the flames of our YOUTH burn undiminished. Even in his absence, we forge ahead, striving to illuminate the path with our boiling determination." Guy spoke, his typically exuberant words briefly drifting into a melancholic cadence, yet he swiftly reclaimed his normal spirit as he continued speaking.
"Lee, my eternal comrade in the pursuit of youth! This is our moment! Double the training, double the vigour! Let our hot-blooded determination be the ultimate surprise for Sasuke when he returns.
Picture it, Lee! The day Sasuke returns, we'll stand before him, bathed in the sweat of our efforts and training. He may have walked the path of shadows, but we shall welcome him back with the radiant glow of our shared YOUTH! Are you ready, Lee?"
"Guy-sensei!"
"Lee!"
The pair hugged each other as they stopped running, the villagers walking by them swore they could have just seen the ghostly image of a sunset behind the duo despite it being morning.