Sasuke stepped out of the shower, a towel around his shoulders as he dried his hair. His eyes were distant, unfocused, and his expression showed no emotion.
"Nano… is all the information you transferred to me real?"
[Affirmative.]
He stood there silently, droplets of water still trailing down his arms. So… there were millions of tiny machines in his body.
[Correction, there is a total of eighteen trillion nanobots in your body.]
Sasuke blinked at the information.
So much had happened in the past few hours. Especially the 'future information' if he could even call it that. It had already been an hour since he'd seen it, and he still hadn't fully processed what it meant or why it had happened.
He had asked Nano what had happened during the transfer. It replied that there had been an anomaly. When the data was sent directly into his brain, his mind had begun receiving signals from an unidentified source, and that source had since been removed.
At first, he'd assumed the "future vision" was just a hallucination. The main reason was the boy it centered around—Naruto.
He knew Naruto. Everyone in the village knew him. And just like in the vision, everyone hated him. Now Sasuke understood why. Naruto was the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox that had attacked the village thirteen years ago.
But that was where the similarities ended.
The Naruto he knew had red hair, not blonde. He wasn't the loud, reckless troublemaker the vision had shown him; in fact, the last time he ever pulled a prank was in the first year of the academy. Since then, Naruto had become distant and quiet. He avoided people and was mostly seen training by himself in one of the training grounds.
Unlike his memory's counterpart, he wasn't dead last at the academy either. He was quite the opposite; he was in second place, right behind him.
Sasuke had to constantly push himself to maintain the top spot. Naruto was proficient in the academy's taijutsu to the point that even when Sasuke used his clan's fighting style, their spars were always close calls.
Just like his vision, Naruto had struggled with chakra control at first, but with time, he caught up to the rest of the class. He had mastered the academy's ninjutsu and graduated normally.
But it wasn't just Naruto that had changed.
In the vision, both he and Naruto had become genin at twelve. Right now, they were thirteen.
Everything else was the same. The Fourth Hokage had died a hero fighting the Nine-Tails. The Three Legendary Sannin still existed. The Hidden Leaf had the same structure.
So was Naruto the only thing that was different, or were other things not true…
He clenched his fist.
'I need to confirm it.'
He wanted to believe what the vision showed—that Itachi didn't massacre their clan just to test his limits. That the Hidden Leaf was to blame for everything, and his brother was somehow innocent… so that he could find the strength to forgive him.
The fastest way to verify the truth would be the Genin team introductions. If he were placed on a team with Naruto and Sakura, and their sensei was Kakashi, and he proceeded with the bell test… then he'd believe it to some degree.
Until then… he couldn't.....
His Sharingan activated, the tomoe spinning slowly in his eyes, but he took a deep breath before his eyes went back to normal. On any other day, he would've celebrated finally awakening his clan's dōjutsu. But now, he had other priorities.
Nano's abilities, the things he had seen in the base data transfer, had shocked him.
'Nano... is it true that you can rapidly heal physical wounds?'
[Yes. I can regenerate both internal and external wounds. However, blood loss and limb replacement require advanced cell replication and will take longer.]
So it was like having a medical ninja inside him—a skilled one at that. But just how fast could it heal?
Without hesitation, Sasuke walked over to his pouch, grabbed a kunai, and slashed his palm. The pain was sharp and brief.
He stared at his bleeding palm. A few seconds later, the wound closed completely, leaving blood that he wiped off, showing him that the healing had left no visible scar.
'Fascinating…'
The ability to heal this fast was life-saving, especially for a ninja.
'Nano… can you scan the contents of a book and transfer it into my brain?'
[Yes. Simply skim through it. I will handle the analysis and integration.]
Sasuke nodded, tied his towel securely around his waist, and walked into his living room. On a shelf rested a small collection of books, which were mostly civilian material. He pulled one out.
"A Short History of the Hidden Leaf."
He skimmed it quickly, not bothering to read the words.
[Book scanned. "A Short History of the Hidden Leaf." Preparing to transfer. Will you accept?]
'Yes.'
Dizziness struck him like a wave, and his head felt like it was on fire.
[Transfer complete.]
He exhaled, steadying himself.
[You will get used to it, Host.]
It didn't feel like anything had changed… until he thought about the book.
"The Hidden Leaf Village was founded by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Its formation marked the end of the Warring States Period…"
His eyes widened. He could remember everything. Every line, every major event noted, and every footnote.
He grabbed another book. And then another. After each transfer, and a short wave of dizziness, he recalled everything.
"Hah… Hahaha!"
This was amazing.
He had heard the Sharingan could help with reading comprehension, but this was on another level.
To test it, he activated his Sharingan.
'Nano, don't scan.'
[Okay.]
He skimmed a book manually. It took a few minutes, and while he remembered parts of it, the difference was obvious. The Sharingan helped, but the Nano Machine was on another plane entirely.
If he combined the two…
With Nano's processing and the Sharingan's perception, no book would be too complex.
Then an idea struck him—the Uchiha Library.
It had been sealed after the massacre, locked behind a barrier that only the Hokage could remove. Unlike his home's bookshelf, the library was full of scrolls on Uchiha battle styles, elemental jutsu, and clan techniques.
If only he could access it…
For that to happen, he must meet the Hokage. He frowned as a strange, dark feeling was stirring in him, but he pushed it aside.
He sighed. First things first, he needed clothes that fit him.
He looked down at his body, still damp and bare-chested, wrapped in nothing but a towel.
"Tch," he muttered.
He rummaged through his drawers, pulling out a blue shirt and black shorts, old clothes from when he was smaller. The fabric stretched uncomfortably around his shoulders, and the hem barely reached his wrists. It was a mess.
Sasuke activated his chakra, focused his hand seals, and whispered, "Henge."
The clothes shimmered for a second and adjusted to fit his form.
He glanced at the mirror, blue shirt, dark shorts, and sandals. Nothing to stylish, but good enough for now.
"Nano, can you make the transformation last?"
[As long as the chakra is supplied. I can auto-regulate it.]
"...Good."
He stepped toward the door, grabbing his pouch and slinging it over his waist. After getting ready, he stepped outside.