Before Linton could react, he heard the sound of a door opening, and a figure jumped directly through the window. The figure appeared to be a child, about ten years old, holding a weapon—a kunai—seemingly ready to attack.
What surprised Linton was that he actually recognized this kid. The moment the figure appeared, Linton immediately identified him.
With dead fish eyes and spiky hair, Linton blurted out the name almost instinctively: "Sasuke?"
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Sasuke hesitated for a moment, but still didn't lower his guard, holding up his weapon as he questioned.
"Um... calm down, don't make any rash moves," Linton quickly said, not out of concern for himself, but because he knew that if he were attacked in this alternate dimension, his body would automatically counterattack. He was genuinely worried that Sasuke might not think things through and end up in a bad situation.
After a closer look, Linton confirmed that the kid was indeed Sasuke. Linton wouldn't mistake one of the main characters from the original story. But the question was, why was Sasuke here?
"Who exactly are you?" Sasuke grew even more tense. A stranger suddenly showing up in his home? There was no way he could relax.
"Me? Of course, I'm a member of the Uchiha clan," Linton replied without hesitation, even though he wasn't entirely sure what was happening. Right now, stabilizing Sasuke was the priority. As a main character in the plot, Sasuke could be useful for gathering information, and Linton definitely didn't want him dead.
"What?" Sasuke was stunned. "That... that's impossible!"
Without saying another word, Linton activated his Sharingan, and in a flash of red light, Sasuke froze.
After a brief moment, Sasuke asked, "Wait, is that Sharingan really yours?"
"Of course, what else? You think it's like Kakashi's transplanted eye? You should look into that more carefully. While Sharingan can be transplanted, a transplanted Sharingan can't be deactivated. You see, Kakashi's Sharingan is always active, which consumes a lot of chakra, and that's why he gets so exhausted," Linton explained.
Sasuke paused, realizing that Linton made sense. Kakashi indeed had this issue. Thinking it over, he asked, "You're from the Uchiha clan? But why... are you still alive?"
"Because I haven't been in the village for a long time," Linton replied directly.
Sasuke believed about 90% of what Linton said, largely due to the Sharingan. In truth, Sasuke even felt a little happy. He hadn't expected that someone else from the Uchiha clan had survived. Of course, in his mind, that "other guy" wasn't really part of the clan anymore—he was a demon.
"My name is Uchiha Linton," Linton said, stepping forward as he noticed Sasuke lowering his guard. "By seniority, I should be your uncle. Seems like I've been collecting nephews lately. So, from now on, you're my nephew."
"Huh?" Sasuke was taken aback.
"How old are you again?" Linton asked.
"...12," Sasuke replied, though he felt like he couldn't keep up with Linton's pace.
"12?" Linton realized he had asked a stupid question. After all, Sasuke was already wearing a forehead protector, which meant he was a genin.
The whole situation was confusing, especially because when Linton had left, the Third Great Ninja War had just ended. Even if time flowed differently between the two worlds, it shouldn't have been this extreme. How had Sasuke grown up so much? Calculating the time, it had been at least over ten years since he had left. What kind of principle was this?
Though it was puzzling, Linton decided there was no need to dwell on it. After all, he was here to earn points and improve his abilities. During his last fight, Linton had realized that his world wasn't as safe as he had thought. Although his abilities had increased, they were still somewhat lacking, and he needed to continue improving.
Given that, his current goal was to earn more points and gain more abilities. To do that, he would need to defeat more people. Unlike last time when he had been weaker and relied on luck to pick up points from the battlefield, this time, Linton had leveled up significantly and could now choose his targets more strategically.
"Has the Chunin Exams started yet?" Linton suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Sasuke didn't understand why Linton was asking about the Chunin Exams, but he answered, "They've already started."
"Damn… Wait, has the Third Hokage died yet?" Linton asked again.
"Huh?" Sasuke was confused once more.
Linton didn't need to hear Sasuke's answer. Seeing his expression, Linton said, "Oh, good. He hasn't died yet."
"What exactly are you talking about?" Sasuke was growing suspicious again due to Linton's odd questions.
Linton didn't respond. He was contemplating his next move. His first target was naturally the Third Hokage. That's why he had asked Sasuke. The Third Hokage had a lot of ninjutsu that Linton wanted to learn, and given that he was known as the "Ninjutsu Professor," killing him would greatly enrich Linton's skill collection. Plus, Linton had a personal grudge against the Third Hokage. The last time, it was the Third Hokage who had ordered his death. Though Linton hadn't truly died, he still wanted payback for the experience.
Now that Linton had powered up, and the Third Hokage had aged ten more years, it seemed like the perfect time for revenge. However, Linton thought for a moment and decided not to confront the Third Hokage right away. Now wasn't the best time. There were too many variables, and Linton had other plans.
His new targets were the First and Second Hokage. Thinking back to the Chunin Exams, Linton remembered that both of them would appear during the exams, albeit through the Reanimation Jutsu. Linton wasn't sure if defeating them while they were reanimated would allow him to obtain their abilities, but it was certainly worth a try. The First Hokage's wood-style jutsu and sage mode were both abilities Linton coveted. As for the Second Hokage, with Minato dead, the only way for Linton to acquire the Flying Thunder God technique was through the Second Hokage. Plus, the Second Hokage also had the overpowered Reanimation Jutsu. To Linton, these two Hokages were like treasure chests.
Thus, Linton quickly made his plan: he would take action during the Chunin Exams, targeting the First, Second, and Third Hokages. However, there was a small problem. The best time to deal with them was during the Chunin Exams, but he didn't want to reveal his presence too early. Once he was exposed, the Third Hokage, who knew him, could affect the plot's progression.
"How many days until the Chunin Exams finals?" Linton asked directly.
"Why are you asking such weird questions right after the exams started?" Sasuke replied.
"Because I just got back and don't know anything," Linton said. "Just answer me."
"16 days," Sasuke replied after thinking for a moment.
Linton pondered for a bit and then suddenly asked, "Did you just get out of the hospital?"
"Yes," Sasuke nodded, which didn't surprise Linton.
"And now you're about to start training, right?" Linton continued.
"Yeah," Sasuke nodded again. "I'm too weak. At this rate, I won't even pass the Chunin Exams, let alone..."
Sasuke then turned to Linton. "Wait, you must be pretty strong, right? Could you teach me how to use the Sharingan?"
Sasuke wasn't sure how strong Linton was, but after seeing his Sharingan, he figured Linton could definitely teach him. That was Sasuke's reasoning.
"Don't rush it, listen to me," Linton said quickly. "Weren't you planning to ask Kakashi for training?"
"Yes," Sasuke nodded again. Kakashi was his team leader, so it made sense for him to seek his help. "I was going to find him as soon as I got out of the hospital, but I couldn't find him. I searched all afternoon."
"Kakashi is probably training too, somewhere in the mountains," Linton said. "How about this? Tomorrow, I'll go with you to find him. I'll watch from the sidelines and maybe give you some pointers."
"Okay," Sasuke agreed. Having Linton's guidance was definitely a good thing, given how desperate he was to grow stronger.
Linton had a simple reason for wanting to find Kakashi: the area where Kakashi and Sasuke would train was a blind spot in the storyline. In the original plot, Sasuke and Kakashi were late to the finals, causing some embarrassment for the Leaf Village. The Third Hokage even ordered a search party, yet mysteriously, no one in the village knew where they were.
That was a pretty strange situation. Sasuke was the last known member of the Uchiha clan, yet no one knew his location. It was likely a plot device to build suspense, but Linton didn't care about plot holes. Simply put, the place where Sasuke and Kakashi trained was somewhere no one could find. That was the result.
Since Linton didn't want to interfere with the story, the best solution was
to go there and wait. Using the plot hole to his advantage would save him a lot of trouble.
(End of Chapter)