After an unknown amount of time, Sasuke's eyes slowly began to regain focus and clarity.
"I'm not dead?"
Sasuke pondered this question, feeling the wound that had caused him so much pain for a long time. However, he felt no pain now, and he was quite bewildered.
"What happened to my wound?"
"Oh, you're finally awake. You've been lying here for quite a while."
Natsuro's voice reached Sasuke's ears, causing him to suddenly sit up, tensing his whole body in a defensive posture.
But soon, Sasuke was stunned. He touched his body and realized that everything from earlier seemed to have been a lie.
"Genjutsu? When did you use it…" Sasuke came to his senses, looking at Natsuro, feeling a bit relieved.
After all, he had always seemed like an older figure to him. Even though helping Sasuke offered no real benefit to Natsuro, he always agreed to assist him…
What Sasuke didn't know was that Natsuro helped him out of sympathy for his character in the original work and to find a good ally for the upcoming Fourth Great Ninja War. Natsuro had no obligation to help, and no one would have blamed him if he chose not to.
Sasuke felt a rare warmth in his heart. He hadn't expected Natsuro to actually use his sword on him.
"I'm not good with genjutsu. That was your own doing," Natsuro said, rolling his eyes.
"I?" Sasuke was even more confused upon hearing his words.
"Yeah, wait a second." Natsuro thought for a moment, then took out a scroll and retrieved a mirror, handing it to Sasuke and motioning for him to take a look.
Sasuke took the mirror with some confusion and was stunned. The blood-red eyes and the two tomoe in each eye made him widen his eyes in disbelief.
"Sharingan! When did I—?!"
After a moment, Sasuke's voice, filled with extreme shock, reached Natsuro's ears. Then, he suddenly seemed to remember something and looked at him with burning eyes.
"Yes, that's right. It was because of what just happened. Your Sharingan awakened in the face of life and death, and you tried to use genjutsu to save yourself and as a result, I reflected the genjutsu back onto you," Natsuro explained.
Upon hearing his explanation, Sasuke's eyes burned even more with excitement. If he had activated the double tomoe Sharingan this time, could he awaken the three tomoe next time? That would make him like that person…
No, even if it didn't work once, maybe a few more tries would do the trick…
Sasuke's inner fire was rekindled.
"It's useless," Natsuro's next words poured cold water on Sasuke's enthusiasm, prompting him to ask.
"Why?"
"Because it only works the first time. If you try again, your subconscious already knows I won't kill you, so it won't be effective," Natsuro said as he put the mirror away and sealed it back.
Sasuke fell silent. Indeed, if he tried again, his main consciousness already believed Natsuro wouldn't actually kill him. Sasuke suddenly stopped, thinking of something else.
After a long while, Sasuke suddenly spoke again.
"I'm sorry."
"Hmm? Why the sudden apology?" Natsuro was a bit surprised.
"You were doing it for my sake, but I doubted you before," Sasuke said after a moment of silence, turning his head slightly and speaking coolly, "Natsuro, I will never doubt you again."
This time, Natsuro was also taken aback. He felt a bit amused and touched. The current Sasuke was still the cute little guy, unlike Itachi, who was like a white-eyed wolf.
He couldn't help but reach out and ruffle Sasuke's hair, messing up his hairstyle a bit.
"Hey, I'm not a kid anymore!" Sasuke tried to stop him but couldn't, the difference in strength was too great. He blushed a little but didn't continue to resist, unsure if he was more embarrassed or angry.
Natsuro, on the other hand, felt that Sasuke's resistance wasn't very strong. He noticed that Sasuke wasn't really putting much effort into stopping him.
"Not a kid, huh?" Natsuro pressed down on Sasuke's head and compared their heights.
Sasuke became a bit frustrated and finally turned his head away, saying, "You pervert who developed early!"
"Haha, Sasuke, you should retract your Sharingan. Maintaining the Sharingan requires chakra, even for the Uchiha clan," Natsuro said, looking at Sasuke, who was still keeping his Sharingan active.
"Oh, okay." Sasuke nodded, feeling a bit reluctant. That was the power he had always dreamed of. He wanted to experience it a bit more. He could feel his vision was somewhat different.
"Have you seen your team leader?" Natsuro asked after Sasuke retracted his Sharingan.
"Yeah, Kakashi. Natsuro, do you know him?" Sasuke asked casually.
"Not really, but I know a fair bit about him. After all, he is quite a famous person," Natsuro said, then looked at Sasuke, "And, if it's him, he's actually a very suitable teacher for you."
"Is that so…" Sasuke thought about Kakashi. Although he was powerful, his lazy demeanor made it hard for Sasuke to believe.
"You'll find out later. Also, now that you have teammates, try to think about them more. Don't always focus on revenge," Natsuro said.
Immediately, Sasuke fell silent, gritting his teeth, and the image of that person emerged in his mind. His just-retracted Sharingan couldn't help but activate again. "But how can I let go…"
"I'm not saying you should give up on revenge. Just don't immerse yourself in it all the time. Pay attention to those around you; many are watching you," Natsuro sighed.
"Your current experience is already quite tough. If you make revenge your whole life, it will only make things harder."
Sasuke didn't know what to say. His surroundings? Those fangirls? Or… Sasuke looked at Natsuro.
Natsuro, not noticing Sasuke's gaze, said, "You and Naruto are teammates, right? From what I know about him, if you seek revenge, he definitely won't stand by and watch. But your current strength isn't enough to support such actions."
"Naruto?" Sasuke was a bit puzzled. For now, he didn't feel it. He thought of the blond who was always smiling and energetic and didn't know what to say.
"Yeah. Also, you don't need to rush. After all, that person is five years older than you, which means he's had five more years to develop. Your body is just entering a phase of rapid development, so there's no need to be so hasty," Natsuro said.
"But even in the future, he'll still have five more years than me…" Sasuke gritted his teeth. That person was already a Jonin at thirteen, while he was only a Genin at twelve. Even with the newly awakened Sharingan, he might reach Jonin, but that would be the limit.
Sasuke wasn't surprised that Natsuro knew this. After all, Natsuro was already a Jonin, so he likely had many channels for information.
"Yes, I know that. But I believe you can catch up with him," Natsuro said.
"Why? He's was thirteen-year-old Jonin!" Sasuke couldn't help but ask, his tone mixed with doubt and hope.
"A thirteen-year-old Jonin is indeed rare, but I still believe you can catch up. He does have his shortcomings," Natsuro said.
Sasuke didn't say anything further, just looked at Natsuro, waiting to hear more.
"That person was born in a rather unstable time, so generally, ninjas from that period are those who end up using chakra ahead of time. This means that his development cycle might be even longer than you imagined," Natsuro said. "However, intensive utilisation of chakra ahead of time often has some drawbacks. Unless one has an exceptionally abnormal physique to supplement the drain on their physical energy, they'll end up stunting their growth physically thus their chakra reserves usually hits a bottleneck quickly and can't be increased further,
Sasuke wasn't sure if his words were true or not, but he had only started actively use chakra at the age of six, as per his father's request. Even at school, students were sternly warned against overusing their chakra during this stage.
So… Natsuro's words might be true. Could that guy's chakra capacity really be a weakness?
(Note: Natsuro is implying that Itachi could of had a larger chakra reserve, not that his chakra reserve is his weakness per say)
Suddenly, Sasuke thought of something and asked, "An abnormal physique, do you mean something like Naruto's?"
"Exactly. Naruto's full name is Naruto Uzumaki. He's a member of the Uzumaki clan, and every member of that clan has an enormous amount of chakra. So, even if they use chakra ahead of time, it might not compare to other members of their clan, but it's still more than enough compared to an average person," Natsuro nodded.
Sasuke felt a bit envious. Although his chakra wasn't small, it wasn't particularly abundant either.
After Natsuro finished speaking, he thought for a moment. From his memory, the weasel's chakra was indeed quite limited. He knew the feeling of lacking chakra. Even though he was highly skilled in many ninjutsu techniques, he couldn't use them freely.
Explosive bursts of power were sufficient, but sustained combat capability was lacking.
Seeing the envy on Sasuke's face, Natsuro couldn't help but find it amusing. "What are you envious of? Your Sharingan is no worse than that physique. If anyone should be envious, it should be me envying both of you."
Sasuke was taken aback, then stared at him. That's right, Sasuke realized that Natsuro seemed to really lack any special bloodline, which he had always thought he had.
After all, his strength seemed too great to Sasuke, and his development came so early…
So how did Natsuro become so strong without a bloodline?
Sasuke wondered if it was really just a matter of hard work or if he was simply a genius.
Natsuro couldn't help but ruffle Sasuke's hair again and said, "So, don't be too hasty. Every bit of progress you make brings you closer to him. I believe one day you'll achieve your revenge. During this time, hard work is important, but you should also pay attention to your surroundings. Don't regret it only after seeking revenge, after all, life cannot be all about vengeance."
Natsuro continued speaking, but this time Sasuke didn't resist at all. After thinking for a moment, Natsuro continued, "So, until your strength meets the standard, if you encounter that guy, make sure to think about how to escape. Otherwise, you might end up putting Naruto and Sakura in danger, since they would definitely choose to help you."
"Those two…" Although Natsuro said this, Sasuke had only spent a short time with Naruto and Sakura. Even at school, they were just opponents, and he hadn't had much direct interaction with them. Sakura was more of a fangirl, and compared to them, Sasuke was actually more curious about another person.
"So, Natsuro, what about you? Will you help me too?" Sasuke asked with a hint of hope in his voice.
"Me?"
Natsuro was momentarily stunned and then displayed a peculiar smile.
"I'd say, you shouldn't expect much help from me if you run into that guy..."
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Currently on Chapter 161 - The Battle Rages On: Natsuro vs Orochimaru (Continued)