Chapter 46: The Teen Version of the Madly Laughing Uchiha
"Watch out!"
Ino cried out in alarm, trying to intervene, but as someone who wasn't skilled in taijutsu, there was no way she could react in time. The same was true for Sakura, who had not yet trained under Tsunade. So, Akiyama Makoto had to act himself.
He skillfully infused chakra into his hands and feet. In a flash, he spun around, his index finger darting out swiftly towards a certain point, followed by a gentle flick. His finger had hooked the ring at the end of the kunai. He then snatched it from the air and looked up at a boy on a distant rooftop.
The newcomer had his hands in his pockets, wearing an expression that suggested the whole world owed him ten thousand Ryō. His eyes were fixed on Makoto, and a faint, contemptuous arc hung on the corner of his lips.
That look... it was Sasuke, no doubt about it.
Makoto had actually sensed his presence moments earlier, but because he had never met him before, he couldn't match his chakra signature to the name. The moment the boy leaped onto the roof of an Uchiha building and threw the kunai, however, Makoto was almost certain of his identity.
"Who is it?!"
Ino's heart was still pounding. Furious, she looked in the direction Makoto was facing and saw Sasuke. She hesitated for an instant, but then her body's instincts took over and she yelled, "Sasuke, you jerk! Who told you you could just attack people with a kunai?! Makoto is a civilian! Aren't you afraid of killing someone?!"
Beside her, Sakura looked at Ino in astonishment. She was yelling at Sasuke? It seemed Ino really wasn't interested in him anymore... Sakura felt a little happy, but for some reason, even more disappointed. In that instant, she felt that bickering with Ino was more interesting than chasing after Sasuke himself.
Sasuke completely ignored Ino. With a few leaps across the rooftops, he landed on a high wall in front of Makoto, another kunai now in his hand.
He looked down on them and spoke coldly. "Who let you come here? What do you want? Are you trying to steal from the Uchiha clan?"
Being ignored made Ino's ears steam with anger.
Sakura hadn't forgotten her duty. She quickly said, "Um, Sasuke-kun, we came to find you because..."
"Shut up. I wasn't asking you."
Sasuke didn't even spare Sakura a glance. In his eyes, girls like Sakura and Ino were the most boring, uninteresting people in the world, their uselessness second only to that dead-last, Uzumaki Naruto. In comparison, he was more interested in the clearly stronger Akiyama Makoto.
There were no more opponents in his class who were worth his time. What he longed for most was to graduate early, test his skills against the Jōnin squad leaders, and see how big the gap still was between him and that man. Now, seeing Makoto, Sasuke's hunter instincts kicked in. He naturally wanted to test his skills.
He pointed the kunai at Makoto. "Answer me, or I'll drag you to the Military Police Force."
Makoto sized up Sasuke. He had anticipated his bad temper, but he hadn't expected him to deliberately pick a fight. Why? Because of Sakura and Ino? Boys their age were often prone to jealousy, but Sasuke was clearly not one of them. He was genuinely uninterested in women; nearly every woman who had ever followed him had been nearly killed by him.
In that case, Sasuke could only be interested in him.
Makoto twirled the kunai in his hand and then tossed it back to Sasuke, who caught it casually. Although he felt the chances were slim, he still wanted to try.
"I'm Akiyama Makoto. I came to discuss a business proposition with you. I want to expand my house..."
Before he could finish, a whoosh sound cut through the air. A kunai grazed past his ear, severing a few strands of his hair.
Ino's eyes widened, her heart nearly stopping. If Sasuke's first attack had been a test, then that one had been a warning laced with killing intent. She instinctively moved to Makoto's side, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him away. She knew Sasuke's strength very well; it was not something a person like Makoto, who only knew basic taijutsu, could possibly fight against.
"Sasuke, calm down, Sasuke!" Sakura forced a smile, her legs trembling. But she still tried to stand between them. "If you don't agree, you don't have to get so angry, right? Makoto isn't a bad person. He even wrote a biography of your ancestor!"
It would have been better if Sakura hadn't said that. After she did, Sasuke stared at her with icy eyes. It was the first time she had ever felt killing intent from him. Why? She didn't understand.
Fortunately, Sasuke didn't leave her guessing. He jumped down and walked towards Makoto step by step. Sakura tried to block him again, but he casually pushed her aside. She fell to the ground with a pained grunt. From beginning to end, he never looked at her again.
Sasuke walked up to Makoto, looked up at him, and his next words finally made Makoto understand why he was so angry.
"I know you. The guy who wrote The Biography of Uchiha Madara. I heard you're also going to write about my father, about Shisui-niisan, and even about that man."
Sasuke laughed. This expression, laughing from extreme anger, had the flair of the future "Madly Laughing Uchiha." He grabbed Makoto by the collar. "Who are you to pass judgment on our Uchiha clan? You think all the Uchiha are dead?"
"The Uchiha clan has not fallen so far as to need an outsider to write its family history!"
Makoto understood the reason for his anger, and his own mood calmed down. He met Sasuke's gaze and said coolly, "Have you read the book I wrote? To get so angry without even knowing what I've written... what if I was praising the Uchiha?"
"I don't need it!"
"I'm ordering you to stop writing this book, or else..."
The kunai in Sasuke's hand flipped and pressed against Makoto's neck.
Yet Makoto remained unmoved. In Sasuke's eyes, he saw anger and anxiety, but very little of the true killing intent needed to act. After all, the current Sasuke had even forgotten that he had long since awakened his Sharingan. He was not yet worthy of being called a true Uchiha.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
Makoto spread his hands. "Just a short while ago, I already gave the first draft of The Biography of Uchiha Madara to Lord Hokage. He has approved it for publication."
"You!"
Sasuke angrily pressed the kunai deeper. Beside them, Ino slowly began to form hand seals. Even Sakura started to mold her chakra. They didn't have much courage to fight Sasuke, but they couldn't just stand by and watch him harm a fellow villager.
"Then you'll stop here! You are forbidden from writing any more biographies of the Uchiha clan!" Sasuke could only lower his demand.
But Makoto now had the urge to tease the current Sasuke. After all, if he didn't tease him now, he might not get the chance later.
"It's not out of the question... But what's the price?"
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