"One, two, three, four, five..."
That was the last step Sasuke managed before he lost his footing and fell from the tree as his legs detached from the trunk.
However, he wasn't unprepared. Having already experienced this countless times, he twisted his body mid-air, planted his feet against the trunk, and pushed off to perform a clean backflip, landing safely on the ground.
With a small sigh, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat under the tree.
Sasuke had thought through several ways to solve his problem before arriving at one simple yet daring idea: if there's too much mana in the body, why not release it?
It sounded simple, but for most people in this world, it was anything but.
Due to the very nature of magical power, it tends to dissipate uncontrollably the moment it leaves the body. To project it outward, to actually release it in a stable form, requires not only an enormous amount of mana but also an almost superhuman level of control. That is why most people limit themselves to using mana for physical enhancement and never even attempt to channel it outside their bodies.
As a result, even those who were "possessed" and aware of the cause of their condition could not cure themselves. Their energy manipulation was far too crude. They simply did not know how to direct that power beyond their own shell.
But this was not a problem for Shadow. Coming from the 21st century, exposed to countless anime and fictional concepts of energy control, he had plenty of inspiration, plenty of ideas for what could be achieved and how. All he needed was consistency, hard work, and patience. With time, he managed to manifest energy physically.
It was a similar case with Sasuke. In fact, being a chakra user, he was already far more skilled in energy manipulation than Shadow, who had to start from nothing. The characteristics of chakra and mana might differ, but their essence was the same. In the end, it was all about control.
To improve his control, Sasuke started by experimenting with slimes. From the anime he remembered, slimes were the weakest creatures but also highly conductive to mana. So, he began hunting them.
It was not difficult, neither mentally nor physically. Being low-level monsters, they were easy to find and easier to kill. The outskirts of the city were practically crawling with them. One clean slash, and their bodies would collapse, leaving behind a faintly glowing core before the rest of the slime melted away.
After that, he started practising mana release, or at least, he thought he was. Since he was not yet sensitive enough to feel mana directly, he had to rely on his normal senses to guess whether it was working.
At first, there was no reaction at all. The slime corpses just sat there, lifeless and unchanged. That meant the mana either was not leaving his body properly or was not being directed the right way. Still, Sasuke did not lose confidence.
Every night, he returned to this world and trained again and again, focusing on shaping the energy more precisely each time. He tried to give the released mana form, to mold it like chakra. His first real goal was simple: make the liquid mana take the shape of a sword.
And eventually, he did it.
The slime finally responded. Its liquefied body twisted and solidified, taking on a faintly defined shape. It only lasted for a few seconds before collapsing back into goo, but that was enough for Sasuke to know one thing: he was not heading in the wrong direction.
To improve his control even further, he decided to rely on something familiar, his old chakra control training methods. The first one he tried was tree climbing.
He had already mastered it back in his own world. Since he did not possess many jutsu, Sasuke had focused on perfecting the basics, the kind of control and precision that did not draw unnecessary attention. After all, as the second son of the Uchiha clan leader, it was perfectly natural for him to know chakra control exercises and techniques like the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Though, in truth, that was not originally the case. Before regaining his memories, he had not known much about chakra control. But once his memories returned, the knowledge from the anime filled in the gaps.
He used the same method here and began practising to further refine his control, though he had not made much progress yet.
One of the reasons was that he was still getting used to this new energy and body, and the other was that he was not dedicating all his time in this world to chakra control.
He had other things to work on, like Total Concentration Breathing.
The purpose of focusing on that was simple: to increase this body's combat power as quickly as possible. Since he still was not proficient with mana, it made sense to strengthen his fundamentals first. Even though Cid knew how to enhance his physical attributes using mana, that was Cid's method. Sasuke might have inherited his memories, but making that knowledge truly his own would take time. That was why he decided to prioritise the breathing style for now. It was easier to grasp and faster to master.
He also had to do physical training to raise the body's base attributes beyond the normal level. It would not only boost his overall output when using mana, but it could also help increase his body's capacity to contain it. After all, the stronger the shell, the more it can hold. Strengthening the body might even reduce the chances of mana overload in the future.
"I think it's time to start hunting," Sasuke muttered, eyes narrowing as he made up his mind about the next step. It had not even been a full month since he had taken on this new identity, yet he could already tell he was strong enough to handle the low-level combatants of this world. That meant it was time for his first kill, and to get used to it, because there would be plenty more to come in the future.
***********
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on the scroll lying open before him. His voice came out calm but edged with fatigue.
"So… what did he do today?"
The ANBU kneeling behind him answered without hesitation, his tone steady and respectful. "Sasuke Uchiha sent a clone to the Academy as usual, while the real one continued his kenjutsu training."
There was a brief pause. The ANBU shifted slightly before continuing, "He's completed the Tree Climbing Exercise, Lord Hokage… but hasn't started Water Surface Walking yet."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed a fraction, a small glint appearing beneath the shadow of his hat.
"Hmm… that boy really is the most gifted of his generation," he muttered quietly, almost to himself.
"Anything else?" he asked after a moment, his voice returning to its usual calm.
"Nothing else, sir."
"Understood."
With a simple wave of his hand, Hiruzen dismissed him. The masked figure vanished in an instant, leaving only the quiet rustle of papers and the faint hum of wind outside the window.
Hiruzen exhaled softly, reaching into the drawer beside him. He pulled out his old pipe, the one he'd been using for decades now, chipped at the edge but familiar. Striking a match, he lit it, taking a long, thoughtful drag.
Smoke curled lazily through the air as he turned toward the window. Outside, even at night, Konoha was alive: children laughing near the market, shinobi leaping from rooftop to rooftop, merchants shouting over prices.
"…It was worth it," he murmured under his breath, voice low and almost wistful.
He could've chosen differently back then. The Uchiha had stood shoulder to shoulder with the Senju when this village was founded. They had earned their place, earned the right to lead.
For a moment, his eyes darkened. He remembered the words of his teacher, the Second Hokage, echoing in the back of his mind:
"No Uchiha should ever be Hokage… not while they carry that evil eye and without them they couldn't Hokage."
Hiruzen sighed, a faint trace of guilt flickering across his face. "Haa… maybe you were right, sensei… or maybe we just never gave them a chance," he whispered, more to himself than anyone else.
The old man took another slow puff of his pipe, eyes drifting back to the lively village below, the same village built on peace, fear, and sacrifice.
"Still," he murmured, smoke escaping his lips, "for now… it's enough."
His gaze shifted toward the window again, drawn instinctively to the Hokage Rock standing tall against the sunset. The faces of Konoha's leaders were etched into the stone, a reminder of the legacy each had carried.
Hiruzen's eyes lingered on one face in particular: the stern, calculating expression of his former teacher, Tobirama Senju.
"…Tobirama-sensei," he said quietly, the weight of years pressing into his voice. "If you were alive… how would you feel today, I wonder?"
He took another slow draw from his pipe, the embers glowing faintly in the dim light.
"The Uchiha are gone now," he continued under his breath, almost as though confessing to the mountain itself. "There's no doubt about it. No more rebellion, no more whispers of another Madara rising from the ashes."
His tone was calm, but there was something hollow beneath it, something that sounded almost like regret.
"As for Sasuke," a faint sigh escaped him, "he's talented, yes, perhaps the most gifted of his age. But talent means little without power."
He turned away from the window, eyes falling to the stack of mission reports on his desk, yet his mind was elsewhere.
"He has no one left to teach him, no clan to guide him. No secret jutsu to inherit."
Hiruzen set the pipe down, the smoke fading into the air like a ghost.
"Hmph… at the end of the day," he said softly, "he's all alone. But that's fine… as long as he stays within this village, he's safe."
His expression hardened slightly, the warmth gone, replaced by the cold resolve of a Hokage.
"And as long as he remains here," he whispered, a glint of iron in his eyes, "Itachi will never betray the village."
Turning back to his desk, Hiruzen's expression shifted from reflection to focus. The soft rustle of parchment broke the silence as he pulled a thick folder toward him.
"An organisation made up of S-rank missing-nin," he muttered under his breath, scanning the document. "This Akatsuki… tch, they're more dangerous than I thought."
His brows furrowed as he trailed a finger down the list of names, each one more unsettling than the last. Then his hand stopped.
A name he knew far too well.
"…Orochimaru," he exhaled, the word carrying both disappointment and an edge of sorrow.
He leaned back in his chair, pipe forgotten, eyes narrowing slightly. "So even he's joined their ranks."
The old man's gaze drifted toward the window again, but this time there was no trace of nostalgia in it, only the weary understanding of a man who'd seen too many cycles of betrayal and ambition.
"If a mind like his is drawn to that organisation," he murmured, "then things are far from simple."
He closed the file slowly, fingers resting on the worn cover as if weighing the gravity of the threat. "The leader possesses the Rinnegan," he muttered, voice low and heavy. "One of the three great dōjutsu. For years, it was thought to exist only in legends, the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths himself."
The Hokage's hand clenched around the edge of the desk. "And now someone walks this world bearing them."
He took a slow breath, pipe smoke curling around his face as his eyes darkened with thought.
"Then there's that other man, the one who calls himself Madara." The name alone made the air feel colder.
Hiruzen's jaw tensed. "There's no doubt, even if he isn't Madara himself, he's someone connected to him. And anyone connected to that name…" He exhaled sharply through his nose. "…is a threat the world can't afford to ignore."
"If these pieces truly move under a single hand," he whispered, "then peace is nothing more than a fragile dream."
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