Two days had passed since Sasuke had woken.
In that time, several things had changed, none of them in his favor.
An ANBU operative had come to deliver a message: all Uchiha property would be placed under the village's control. The reasoning was simple; Sasuke was far too young to handle such matters on his own.
During those days, he returned to his house. At first glance, nothing seemed disturbed. Every room was just as he remembered. But Sasuke knew better. Someone had been there. The search had been thorough, and whoever had done it had left no trace behind.
He had buried his parents himself. Both of their eyes were missing, and the ANBU told him Itachi had taken them. Whether that was the truth or just another layer of deception, Sasuke could not be sure. For now, he could only accept it.
He had asked to bury the rest of the clan as well, but was told that the Hokage had already arranged their funerals. Sasuke understood instantly it was a lie meant to soothe him. The bodies were most likely already in Root's laboratories, dissected in the name of "research."
He knew his parents' bodies would soon meet the same fate.
And he could do nothing to stop it. Not yet.
All he could do was work, train until his body broke, and become strong enough to take his revenge.
He wasted no time crying over what had happened, and he did not bother questioning whether those strange new memories truly belonged to him. None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was killing everyone responsible for the annihilation of the Uchiha clan.
Sasuke understood Itachi's reasons, how he had chosen the village over his own blood. But understanding did not mean forgiveness. It never would.
Itachi would pay for his crimes.
Sasuke was the son of the clan head. He had loved his clan and every member of it. His aloof, tsundere nature was well-known outside, but within the Uchiha, he had been cherished, even if his talent was never measured against Itachi's.
This was a blood debt, and Sasuke swore to repay it in kind. Blood for blood. Family for family. Clan for clan.
From that moment, he trained with a single purpose. Not to impress his father. Not to earn his brother's approval. But to kill.
The memories, real or not, were a weapon. They gave him a better grasp of this world, of dangers that existed far beyond the current shinobi stage, and of the darkness that hid beneath the Will of Fire.
Those greater threats were beyond him for now. At present, his enemies were shinobi, and he would prepare himself to fight them with everything he had.
"Seventy-eight… seventy-nine… eighty."
Sasuke muttered the count under his breath, legs burning with each squat. Sweat rolled down his back, soaking his shirt, but he did not slow.
He was building strength from the ground up, literally. In taijutsu, the legs played a crucial role. For speed, most of all. And speed could decide life or death in a fight.
He refused to fall behind in any area. Not after what he knew. Guy's taijutsu was overwhelming, partly due to the technique he used, but raw taijutsu skill had been just as important. Even legends like Madara and Hashirama had excelled in it.
If they could, then so would he.
At last, his legs gave out. He dropped to the ground with a dull thud, chest heaving.
"Haa… haa…" Each breath came rough and heavy as he tried to steady himself.
"That's… all I can manage today," he muttered, forcing air back into his lungs.
He knew better than to push beyond his limits. If he broke his body now, he would never reach the strength he needed. Patience and discipline would carry him further than reckless desperation.
Let's see what the gacha gives me.
The thought carried a sharp edge of anticipation. Finally, the time for the spin had come.
In the end, it was the gacha that would shape everything. His movements, his targets, his timing. All of it would hinge on the cards it gave him.
[POINTS: 3]
Without hesitation, Sasuke spent them.
The number dropped to zero. A faint shimmer gathered in the air before him, solidifying into a single glowing card.
[TEMPLATE: ADLET MAYER]
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He searched through those strange, foreign memories, the ones he still was not sure he could trust. Nothing.
"Tch… never heard of him."
Maybe this Adlet Mayer was not remembered by name. There were too many fictional worlds in those memories to recall every detail.
He read the short description aloud.
"A self-proclaimed strongest man… who knows some tricks."
Sasuke's brows furrowed. Whoever this was, he doubted they were truly powerful, at least not in any way that mattered here. Maybe they were strong in their own world, or perhaps even famous, but clearly not to the boy whose memories now haunted him.
Still, he took a slow, steady breath and slid the card into the assimilation slot. He had no idea how it would change him, but he was willing to take the risk. After all, to gain something, one had to be prepared to give something.
And Sasuke knew those words well.
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Chi vs natural energy