The next morning, Suguru went to school without any changes in his behavior.
Compared to Suguru, whose mind was calm, the village was uneasy. A massacre had occurred overnight — done by a single person.
Uchiha Itachi.
He used his blade to slay his entire clan. He had slaughtered mercilessly, and he now had to pay the price. Furthermore, he was listed in the Bingo Book as an S-Rank shinobi with a huge bounty.
A missing-nin of Konohagakure who owned two pairs of Mangekyou Sharingan.
'How terrifying,'
Suguru realized the magnitude of his impact on the world. Itachi's power was immense. If not for the fact that he was a good person at heart, Suguru would've been afraid.
'Well, I should still be afraid for now.'
Only when he had enough strength would he be confident in letting go of his fears. Fear was an important driving factor, after all.
Upon arriving at the Academy, Suguru noticed that the children were quite affected by the incident — many had lost a classmate. A famous Uchiha prodigy had disappeared from their class forever.
This made the only surviving Uchiha somewhat of a celebrity.
'Ah, it's Sasuke.'
Suguru glanced at Sasuke as he passed him by. The despair and hatred that filled Sasuke's gaze was unmistakeable.
'It seems like Itachi did not use the Kotoamatsukami on Sasuke... Or perhaps, he didn't want to take the risk.'
After all, Sasuke was an Uchiha. The Kotoamatsukami might drive him insane as it did with Uchiha Fugaku.
Thinking up to here, Suguru had a thought.
'What if the Kotoamatsukami results in the target trying to achieve their suggestions through murder? Which is why Itachi goes for Kabuto in the original... But that's a flawed argument as well.'
Squinting, Suguru decided not to think about it anymore. He walked to his classroom, and upon entering, took his seat.
After a few minutes, Masumi entered the room with a grim expression.
"I think everyone must have heard about what happened last night. Your classmate, Uchiha Tatsuya had been one of the victims of last night."
Masumi took a deep breath.
"It's unfortunate, but that's how it is. This is why, as shinobi, you must all grow strong. Don't let yourselves suffer under the whims of evil people."
Suguru nodded with the rest of the class, thinking, 'Ah, they've really villainized Itachi. How cool~'
One day, Suguru wanted to be feared like that.
***
Classes had to go on as usual despite the dreary atmosphere. Eventually, everyone began to forget the Uchiha massacre, placing it at the back of their minds.
As long as Itachi didn't appear in front of them, the people wouldn't be bothered.
Suguru took this opportunity to raise all of his abilities to the standard. He learned the textbook Taijutsu techniques of the Academy, learned the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu, and then supplemented his movement abilities with the Body Flicker Jutsu.
He could do all of them with the required seals consistently and rather accurately. In his second year, he planned to minimize the seals he needed until he could use all his Jutsus without any at all.
When the year-end exams arrived, Suguru was able to pass with flying colors. His Shurikens could finally hit his targets, and he was no longer a lumbering buffoon in Taijutsu.
As for his research, he was able to develop two things.
The first was a complete Energy Pill that was less intense than Soldier Pills and didn't refill any chakra. It was simply there to keep him awake without any drawbacks.
The second was a prototype for an Uchiha clone that he could assimilate in the future. He planned to extract the relevant DNA from the Uchiha clan corpses in his lab and then create a clone using his own DNA with those strands mixed in.
He hoped to expedite the metamorphosis process the next time he used his Kinjutsu: Living Corpse Assimilation.
Furthermore, he was preparing for the inevitable moment he could get his hands on Hashirama's cells. With those, he could probably recreate the Rinnegan in an artificial setting.
Then, through Living Corpse Assimilation, rise to the top of the world.
'The Otsutsuki would be my next targets by then,'
Suguru's raucous cackles echoed throughout his own laboratory, unbeknownst to the ninja world.
***
The next school year started, and Suguru entered his new classroom.
"Yo! Suguru! It's been a while."
Nara Shikiro, who Suguru had grown close to, gave him a pat on the back.
"Shikiro," Suguru nodded. He was close enough to the boy that he didn't mind speaking Shikiro's name.
Looking past Shikiro's shoulder, Suguru spotted a spiky-haired Akimichi and a mellow-looking Yamanaka.
"Rie. Keiichi."
Suguru greeted them with their names.
"Haha, you haven't changed at all, Suguru." Akimichi Rie giggled as she walked past him.
"Right? But at least he calls us by our names now." Keiichi shook his head.
These actions made Suguru roll his eyes. He didn't like talking. His classmates all understood that. Everyone figured out how to communicate with Suguru's stares as if they could actually hear him talk.
"Oh, by the way, Suguru," Keiichi paused his footsteps. "Do you know about that guy Naruto in the upper years?"
Suguru feigned thought before shaking his head.
"I thought so. You're always out doing your own thing that I never spot you anywhere around the village... Anyways, that Naruto guy went to our shop a few days ago and knocked over a shelf!"
Keiichi laughed, "The look on my sister's face made me think that someone was going to die that day."
Suguru blinked, then he pointed at the window.
"Hm? Is it Naruto?" Keiichi asked, intrigued.
Suguru nodded.
"Oho! Is he up to some weird prank again?" Keiichi turned to the class after a quick glance out the window, "Guys! That idiot Naruto is about to do something again!"
Suguru bore witness to the rapid clamor of the children, desperate for entertainment in their boring lives.
Curious, Suguru took a look as well.
"Ah," He gasped.
Water balloons and an Academy sensei. Suguru saw where it was going, pleasantly surprised.
[]=[]=[]=[]
I made a P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
You can now read up to FIFTEEN (15) chapters on P@treon!
Big thanks to Godphaze, CosmicOwl, HE, Drowz, and Calm Dxwn for supporting me on P@treon! <3
[]=[]=[]=[]