Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi stayed awake all night, guarding Hanyu Bai and giving him zero opportunity to sneak out!
Only when everything settled down did the two women head off to rest, completely satisfied.
The next day, the sun rose as usual, but this day was destined to be remembered forever by Konoha and the entire Shinobi World!
The Uchiha clan—a powerhouse thriving since the Warring States period, co-founders of Konoha alongside the Senju, and birth clan of Beyond-Kage titans like Madara Uchiha—was wiped out overnight.
The perpetrator, Itachi Uchiha, defected, leaving behind only Sasuke Uchiha from the vast, grand clan!
Setting aside the hidden truth behind the scenes, Itachi Uchiha became the most vicious rogue ninja in the entire Shinobi World overnight!
And rightfully named so!
From that day onward, Sasuke didn’t attend the Academy for two full weeks.
When he reappeared, he was already the figure from Bai’s memories—a freezing expression, numb eyes, and an aura warning everyone to keep away.
That distant, icy demeanor combined with Sasuke’s naturally top-tier looks instantly made him the aloof heartthrob in the eyes of many young girls.
Using comfort as an excuse, they showered him with warmth and concern, and even several upperclassmen girls dropped by.
Though claiming to offer comfort, they simply wanted to enter his heart while his emotional state was most fragile.
Unfortunately, those girls miscalculated—right now, Sasuke’s mind held nothing but revenge!
One had to admit that among the two main leads of Naruto, while their backgrounds were grander than the next, their backstories were tragic beyond measure…
On the day Sasuke returned to school, it happened to be the Academy’s monthly practical combat practice.
This time, Sasuke skipped drawing lots entirely, challenging Hanyu Bai directly!
Seeing this, Iruka opened his mouth, but ended up saying nothing.
At least during these recent days, everyone indulged Sasuke.
Bai glanced at Sasuke and nodded.
Over the past year, Sasuke had challenged Bai to combat more than once, losing without suspense every single time.
But this time, the feeling Sasuke gave Bai was completely different.
Before, though Sasuke desperately wanted to beat him, it was for the title of top student, to avoid disappointing his father and brother.
Now, Sasuke gave Bai the impression that if he couldn’t defeat him, he would die!
In other words, Sasuke no longer viewed this match as simple practice, but a real life-or-death struggle!
Of course, that was merely Sasuke’s own mindset; his thirst for power had reached a fever pitch.
He had to kill Itachi Uchiha with his own hands, and if he couldn’t even beat Bai, how could he hope to touch Itachi?
Completing the Seal of Confrontation, Sasuke’s hands wove seals rapidly.
His chest swelled high as a ball of scorching fire spewed from his mouth, tongue of flames painting everyone present in vivid crimson!
It was C-rank Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Iruka couldn’t help showing surprise—a Great Fireball of this caliber was comparable to that of a Genin specializing in ninjutsu!
Yet Bai simply sighed.
Using hatred as fuel indeed spurred Sasuke forward relentlessly, but it also rendered him obsessive and reckless.
In Bai’s eyes, Sasuke using Great Fireball presented even less threat than Sasuke throwing weapons a year ago!
In the next instant, Bai’s kunai rested gently against Sasuke’s neck.
“Genjutsu!?” As the instructor, Iruka’s pupils shrank in shock as he wondered mentally, “When!?”
Feeling the cold touch on his neck, Sasuke paused slightly.
Instead of showing immense shock or resentment, he said with eerie calmness: “I lost!”
Having lost to Bai for a full year, Sasuke wasn’t naive enough to believe he would win this time.
Finishing those words, Sasuke didn’t even form the Seal of Reconciliation, walking away on his own.
He didn’t want to waste time; he needed to train, and before killing Itachi Uchiha, he had to at least beat Bai!
If Sasuke could maintain composure, it might have been fine, but after months of continuous insane training, Bai still defeated him effortlessly, leaving Sasuke unable to accept failure calmly any longer.
Losing to Bai once more, Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, bloodshot veins nearly filling his eyes as he practically trembled while walking out of the Academy.
Bai watched Sasuke’s departing back, excused himself with Iruka, and followed after him.
Sasuke had plenty of flaws: one could say he loved flexing and getting humbled repeatedly; one could say he was foolish, constantly living under lies and manipulation; one could say he was ungrateful, attempting to murder even Karin during his darkest days.
But in terms of tragic background, Sasuke was by no means behind Naruto.
Furthermore, future Sasuke would be powerful—strong enough to stand by Bai’s side under any circumstance!
Bai tailed Sasuke all the way to Konoha’s Training Ground 4.
Waiting until Sasuke finished venting his frustration, Bai stepped out and spoke up: “You won’t get stronger like this!”
“Are you here to laugh at me?” Sasuke shot a glance at Bai, his voice raspy.
Hearing this, Bai’s mouth twitched—Sasuke at this stage really lashed out at everyone he saw!
“I have no reason to mock you!” Bai shook his head, then added, “Simply as classmates, if you’re willing to train with us, the results might be better!”
With those words, Bai shrugged and walked straight away.
Bai didn’t comfort Sasuke, nor did he delude himself into using Talk-no-Jutsu.
Losing loved ones, the hatred of clan extermination, blood debts—without experiencing these firsthand, one couldn’t truly empathize, and without empathy, words were useless!
For instance, during the battle at the Valley of the End after the Chunin Exams in the original series, or their reunion nearly three years later, Naruto tried using Talk-no-Jutsu to persuade Sasuke to return to Konoha.
Yet in truth, Naruto’s words both times were hollow and arrogant, which was why during their reunion match, Sasuke asked Naruto a single question before deciding to sever his bond with Naruto completely.
Only after Jiraiya died did Naruto finally understand Sasuke’s pain, and from that point onward, Naruto’s Talk-no-Jutsu finally took real effect on Sasuke!
Bai had no desire to experience the pain of losing loved ones, nor did he want to empathize with Sasuke; he didn’t even intend to stop Sasuke’s future defection.
Defection?
Those who understood knew that as long as you wanted to be Hokage and carried the Will of Fire, returning to Konoha was just a matter of a single word!
Besides, only if Sasuke defected could he help Bai handle tasks that were inconvenient for Bai to do himself…
At this stage, Bai simply wanted Sasuke to feel less lonely and grow stronger, preventing him from getting humbled every time he flexed in the future.
When the timing was right, he would reveal the truth to Sasuke so he wouldn’t constantly be manipulated by others.
But if Sasuke had no desire to train with them, Bai wasn’t going to force his warmth onto a cold shoulder either.