Sasuke might have seemed sharp, but in reality, he wasn’t very bright.
In the original story, whenever Naruto came up with some terrible idea, Sasuke would always claim he wanted no part of it, yet he never missed out on the action.
Beyond that, even when faced with the fact that the older brother who raised him had massacred their entire clan, Sasuke swallowed Itachi Uchiha’s flimsy excuses hook, line, and sinker.
He genuinely believed it was all just a test to measure his “capacity.”
Later on, Obito Uchiha would also manipulate him using the clan’s history, and Sasuke bought into that without a shred of hesitation, too.
This was exactly why Itachi described Sasuke as being like a blank sheet of paper.
Because he was a blank slate, anyone could scribble a few lines on him.
To Hinata, that just meant he was incredibly gullible.
Watching Sasuke drag Naruto outside for a one-on-one duel, Hinata couldn’t help but yawn.
She pushed open the window, fully intending to make a quick escape.
Spotting her attempt to slip away, a small hand reached out and tugged at the hem of her shirt.
“Hinata, aren’t you going to wait for Sasuke?”
A tuft of pink hair swayed right in front of Hinata’s eyes.
“Once Sasuke finishes fighting Naruto, he definitely won’t be in peak condition,” Hinata replied smoothly.
“I’m not the type to take unfair advantage of someone.
Tomorrow, once Sasuke has fully recovered, I’ll have a proper, honorable one-on-one showdown with him!”
Hinata reached out, patting Sakura on the head with a perfectly deadpan, righteous expression.
“Oh, I see!
You’re so fair, Hinata.”
Completely bought in by Hinata’s earnest performance, Sakura nodded in admiration.
“Good girl,” Hinata chimed.
She playfully pinched Sakura’s cheek, chuckling as she vaulted right out the window and took off.
Off to the side, Shikamaru blinked his half-asleep eyes, staring speechlessly at the display.
No matter how you looked at it, Sasuke had clearly just been played…
Night
The Uchiha Compound
“Father, I’ve disappointed you.”
Having just finished thumping Naruto, Sasuke looked up at Fugaku Uchiha, his face awash with guilt.
He had clearly promised his father that he would duel Hinata today.
Yet, for two days in a row, he had failed to make it happen.
“It’s fine, Sasuke.
There is no longer any need to pursue this.”
Fugaku patted Sasuke’s shoulder, a shadow of deep anxiety lingering in his eyes.
Without looking back, he turned and began walking toward the Naka Shrine.
Hiashi…
by preventing Hinata from fighting Sasuke, are you trying to tell me to avoid escalating things with the village…?
Unfortunately, it is already far too late.
At this moment, Fugaku couldn’t help but feel a twinge of admiration for the Hyuga clan’s way of navigating the world. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
They didn’t vie for power, nor did they scramble for authority.
They simply sat back and watched others climb the ranks one by one.
It didn’t matter to them who became Hokage; the Hyuga would always remain loyal to whoever held the seat.
Whether the Hokage’s surname was Senju or Sarutobi, the Hyuga remained indifferent.
But the Uchiha…
Fugaku’s heart grew heavy.
To secure firsthand intelligence from the Hokage’s office, he had gone so far as to plant his own son, Itachi Uchiha, as a double agent right at the Hokage’s side.
Everything he did was for the sake of the Uchiha clan.
Sasuke stared blankly at his father’s retreating figure, his fists tightening instinctively.
Did I…
really disappoint Father?
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow, I will definitely duel Hinata!
Night fell like a heavy shroud, and the Hidden Leaf Village seemed to shed its daytime bustle, gradually sinking into a quiet stillness.
Yet, beneath the silence of the night, a strange, suffocating tension hung thick in the air.
“Lord Hokage, the Uchiha have called another clan meeting.”
The night wind whipped against his Hokage robes as Hiruzen Sarutobi stood alone on the rooftop of the Hokage Residence.
Gazing out over the village he had watched over for his entire life, he listened to the report from the ANBU agent behind him, a profound wave of weariness washing over him.
“Is it the same as usual?”
Lighting his pipe, Hiruzen exhaled a thick puff of grey smoke.
“Yes.
If anything, the rhetoric is growing more aggressive.”
The ANBU operative slowly raised his head, revealing a pair of crimson eyes that gleamed piercingly in the shadows.
“I see…” Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh.
“Itachi, you have carried a heavy burden these past few days.
Thank you for your hard work.”
Faced with the compounding tensions surrounding the Uchiha, he had no clever solutions.
His only hope was to stall for time—to stall until the Uchiha could understand his position, and until the village could understand the Uchiha.
Thus, all he could do was try his best to placate them.
“Go on home, Itachi.
You’ve been out here for too long already.”
The wind howled, carrying a nocturnal chill that left Hiruzen feeling deeply unsettled.
The Hokage has grown old.
Frail.
On his way back to the Uchiha compound, Itachi Uchiha felt the weight of Hiruzen Sarutobi’s advanced age for the very first time.
The man once revered as the “God of Shinobi” had completely lost his old edge.
To harbor such naive delusions when dealing with an unstable, volatile element within the village was concerning.
The thirteen-year-old boy looked back at the distant Hokage Residence, as if still seeing that solitary figure standing alone on the roof.
A crow flitted down and perched on Itachi’s shoulder, causing his chest to tighten slightly.
The Next Morning You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Beneath the seemingly tranquil surface of the Hidden Leaf, undercurrents were surging.
The friction between the Uchiha clan and the Konoha leadership was reaching a boiling point.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Didn’t we already post notices banning street-side vending?!”
“Are you completely blind, you bastard?!”
On a street corner, five or six members of the Uchiha Military Police Force had surrounded a small steamed bun stall, aggressively trying to shove the cart away.
“Please, officers, you can’t do this!
My entire family relies on this stall to survive!” The vendor desperately pleaded with the Uchiha police, begging them to show some mercy.
“Like I give a damn!
Also, you’re operating an illegal street obstruction!
That’s a fifty-thousand ryo fine, payable at headquarters within three days!”
The Uchiha officer barked out the order, his expression utterly cold and devoid of sympathy.
The vendor’s tearful wails blended with the harsh shouts of the Uchiha police, causing a crowd of passersby to stop and stare in silent disapproval.
Scenes like this were becoming a regular occurrence throughout the Hidden Leaf Village.
When the Uchiha had first taken over police duties, they used to treat the villagers with a reasonable level of courtesy.
But over time, they realized that polite warnings achieved absolutely nothing.
People kept setting up stalls exactly where they shouldn’t, and street obstructions continued unabated.
As the months bled into years, the enforcement gradually hardened into the tyrannical display seen today.
Compounding the issue was the Nine-Tails attack six years prior.
The massive three-tomoe Sharingan reflecting in the beast’s eyes had left the Uchiha clan utterly defenseless against accusations.
Combined with the dark historical shadows cast by Madara Uchiha and Setsuna Uchiha, suspicion ran deep.
It wasn’t just the civilian villagers who ostracized the Uchiha anymore—even the vast majority of Leaf shinobi felt the same way.
With all these factors piling up, the Uchiha clan—and the Military Police Force in particular—had become universally loathed throughout the village.
Sitting on a bench outside a nearby storefront, Hinata took a slow bite out of a steamed bun as she watched the drama unfold.
Her heart didn’t waver in the slightest.
She was a member of the Hyuga clan.
What did the political downfalls of the Uchiha have to do with her?
She was perfectly content to just sit back and watch the free entertainment.
“Lady Hinata, it would be best if you didn’t intervene.
This has nothing to do with us,” a quiet voice murmured beside her.
Squatting right next to her and also munching on a steamed bun was Tokuma Hyuga, who offered the quiet reminder.
“Do I really look like the kind of person who sticks her nose into other people’s business?” Hinata rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed with her bodyguard’s lack of faith.
“Yes,” Tokuma replied.
He looked his young mistress dead in the eye and gave a solemn, unblinking nod.
“No more buns for you.”
With a swift flick of her wrist, Hinata snatched the half-eaten bun right out of Tokuma’s hands.