Sasuke's young face showed a visible look of shock.
Immediately, an inexplicable surge of displeasure and anger welled up within him.
He stood up at once, striving to put on the standard Uchiha clan's cold, expressionless face, his gaze locked onto the other person.
Sasuke frowned and questioned, "What nonsense are you spouting? Are you slandering the Uchiha clan, you guy?!"
Sasuke wouldn't allow anyone to speak ill of his elder brother!
As the top genius of the first year at the Ninja Academy, and as the second son of the Uchiha Clan Head, when Sasuke adopted this serious demeanor, the few ninja academy brats opposite him became somewhat intimidated.
One of them weakly replied, "That's what everyone outside is saying! Some people say—Uchiha Itachi slaughtered everyone in the Uchiha clan, he didn't spare anyone, whether old or young."
Sasuke: "...???"
Just as he was about to say something, a sudden cry came from the classroom doorway. Haruno Sakura was rushing back into the classroom.
She hurried to Sasuke's side and said urgently, "Classmate Sasuke, many people are spreading rumors that something has happened to your Uchiha clan."
Another person ran over, Yamanaka Ino. She directly pushed Haruno Sakura aside and said busily, "Sasuke-kun, someone said your parents died... died at the hands of your brother, Uchiha Itachi."
Sasuke suddenly became nervous.
The expression on his young face changed slightly.
The successive "outrageous rumors" reaching his ears made Sasuke gradually realize that something might have truly happened at his home!
But this was too absurd!
Slaughtering the clan, killing his parents... how could his brother possibly do something so insane as the rumors claimed? He was the gentlest Uchiha in his heart!
It was absolutely impossible!
Although his mind was filled with disbelief, Sasuke couldn't control his legs. Ignoring the stares of the surrounding ninja academy students, he simply ran out of the classroom and out of the Ninja Academy.
Instinctive panic and a sense of unease propelled Sasuke to rush back towards the Uchiha clan's residential area.
"It can't be..."
"Brother..."
"It's absolutely impossible!"
...
Sasuke was running until he was gasping for breath. Along the way, he heard many people outside indeed saying that something had happened to the Uchiha clan, and the rumors were becoming more and more outrageous.
He even vaguely heard someone spreading rumors that he, Uchiha Sasuke, had also been killed by Uchiha Itachi.
No...
If Uchiha Sasuke was also killed, then who was he?
"Damn rumors..."
He no longer had the mental energy to refute those who spoke ill of his brother; all he wanted now was to hurry back to the Uchiha clan's residential area.
And, whether it was a coincidence or not, he hadn't encountered a single ninja from the Konoha Military Police Force along the way!
This made Sasuke's heart feel even more uneasy.
Just then, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of two ninjas in Konoha Military Police Force attire at the street corner ahead.
Sasuke's eyes instantly lit up.
He also felt a partial sense of relief.
At least, it proved that some of the outrageous rumors were not true; at least there were still ninjas of the Uchiha clan alive.
"No!" Sasuke hurriedly shook his head. What was he even thinking? It wasn't just some rumors that weren't true; all the rumors should be untrue!
"Hey! Please... please wait a moment!!!"
Seeing the two Konoha Military Police Force ninjas about to turn and leave, Sasuke urgently shouted towards them.
They seemed to have heard him.
They both stopped.
Sasuke took the opportunity to run over. The moment he stopped, he braced his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. His fair forehead was covered in sweat, clearly indicating he was quite exhausted.
After finally catching his breath, he raised his small head and hurriedly asked, "I heard many people in the village spreading rumors about our Uchiha clan, please tell me, what exactly is..."
Sasuke's voice abruptly cut off.
He recognized one of the police force ninjas in front of him—it was "Uchiha Chisen," whom his mother had warned him to avoid interacting with too much!
Sasuke suddenly became nervous again.
Because after Uchiha Itachi returned to the village, Sasuke had curiously asked him why his mother didn't want him to interact with Uchiha Chisen.
Uchiha Itachi had then recounted the conflict he had with Uchiha Chisen back then, which deeply shocked the young Sasuke.
It also made Sasuke instinctively regard Uchiha Chisen as an "enemy."
Someone who wanted to kill his brother.
If not an enemy, then what else could he be?
"Huh? Isn't that Sasuke?" A somewhat familiar voice sounded from the other side. Sasuke mechanically turned his head.
He found himself facing an acquaintance – Uchiha Izumi!
Since his brother had few friends, he remembered each of his brother's friends very clearly.
"Sasuke, today is Thursday, and it's not yet time for Ninja Academy to let out. Are you skipping class?"
Izumi narrowed her eyes, placed a hand on Sasuke's small head, and ruffled his hair as she said, "Skipping class is a very bad behavior. It's a bad influence, Sasuke, you shouldn't go astray."
Sasuke quickly took a step back, smoothed down his ruffled hair, and hurriedly explained, "I... I heard those rumors, so I wanted to hurry home and see for myself. They said... my brother... killed everyone in the Uchiha Clan."
Izumi suddenly understood.
She said to Uchiha Chisen beside her, "Senior, even Ninja Academy students have heard about the evil deeds Uchiha Itachi will commit in the future. However, as true news travels, people add fuel to the fire, and many rumors spread, contradicting the actual facts."
Sasuke was taken aback and quickly asked, "What facts? What true news? Is it related to my brother?"
However, Sasuke found that the other party was not paying attention to him.
The man named "Uchiha Chisen" simply glanced at him before looking away.
Sasuke noticed that the man's gaze had shifted to a Konoha civilian not far ahead, who looked quite "ordinary."
He heard the man say in a detached tone, "Because someone deliberately 'fanned the flames' of negative public opinion targeting Uchiha Itachi, someone is exploiting this wave of public opinion."
Izumi was immediately startled. She tentatively asked, "Exploiting? Senior Chisen, have you discovered something new?"
She also looked at the person Uchiha Chisen's gaze was fixed upon.
Hmm...
Is there something unusual about that person?
Izumi noticed that Senior Chisen didn't say much more, only unhurriedly walking towards that direction.
Izumi immediately followed.
Leaving Sasuke standing there, his small face utterly confused.
He looked left and right.
He was caught in a dilemma.
He wanted to run back to the Uchiha Clan immediately, but it would take more than ten minutes to get there. If he just asked someone, he might get an answer in a few minutes.
"Although Mother told me not to interact with Uchiha Chisen, I'm interacting with Uchiha Izumi... it should be fine, right?"
Sasuke gritted his teeth.
He also followed.
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