Uchiha Sasuke has changed a lot.
The students at Ninja Academy were the first to notice.
The most obvious change was internal.
Sasuke used to often wear a sullen expression and didn’t like to interact with people, but there was always a hint of childish awkwardness and arrogance about him.
When he finished his studies as the top student, a curve would unconsciously form at the corner of his mouth, and when he was adored by girls, his ears would quietly turn red.
But now, everything is different.
That bloody night drained all the light and warmth from him.
Now, Sasuke standing there makes people feel an inexplicable dead silence…
“Hey, Sakura, don’t you think…
Sasuke-kun, seems a bit scary?” During lunch break, Ino Yamanaka, who was eating with Sakura Haruno, poked her rice ball with her chopsticks and suddenly blurted out this sentence.
Sakura’s chewing slowed down at her words, and she followed Ino’s gaze.
Uchiha Sasuke was sitting cross-legged under a tree by the field, a sheathed long sword resting on his lap.
Sasuke seemed no different from usual, at least in her eyes; he still had that aloof demeanor.
“Scary?” Sakura frowned, not quite agreeing with the word, “How could he be, Ino, don’t talk nonsense.”
“But, he just feels different.”
Ino puffed out her cheeks, trying hard to organize her thoughts, “Sasuke-kun used to be cool and didn’t talk much, but he still felt like he was with us.”
“That’s because he’s experienced pain we can’t imagine.”
Sakura’s voice dropped, filled with deep pity, “Ino, think about it, if one day you came home and found the Yamanaka flower shop gone, and Mom and Dad too…
what would you do?”
Ino’s face instantly went pale; just thinking about such a scene almost brought tears to her eyes.
“I don’t know…”
“So, Sasuke-kun being like this now isn’t scary.”
Sakura Haruno looked at Sasuke’s solitary figure, her tone firm, “He’s just closed himself off, afraid to build connections with others again, afraid to be hurt again.”
Ino nodded, saying nothing, but she didn’t quite agree with this view internally, because the current Sasuke gave her a very strange feeling.
“How about we go talk to him?”
Sakura Haruno looked at Ino expectantly, “Even if he doesn’t respond, letting him know someone still cares about him, wouldn’t that make him feel a little better?”
Ino Yamanaka hesitated: “But, Sasuke-kun looks like he’s busy.”
Ino’s feeling wasn’t wrong.
At this moment, Sasuke sat alone under the tree, like an isolated island, cut off from the entire world.
But in fact, Sasuke had actively cut himself off from the world.
His consciousness had long since sunk into his own spiritual world.
This was Zanshin.
It’s a training method for Shinigami to communicate with their Zanpakuto.
Through meditation, one resonates with their Zanpakuto using spiritual power, achieving the goal of conversing with the Zanpakuto.
And being able to communicate with the sword is the first step for a Shinigami to release their Zanpakuto.
Only by knowing the sword’s name can its true power be wielded.
But for the current Sasuke, this was more like a habit to pass the boring time.
Communication?
It was no longer needed.
Knowing the sword’s name and achieving Shikai was the minimum standard for his graduation from Shino Academy.
In an environment like the Eleventh Division, if you couldn’t even take the first step of conversing with your sword, you simply weren’t qualified to survive.
The reason he was still performing Zanshin was simply to block out the meaningless noise from the outside world and, incidentally, to wait for an unpunctual fellow.
“Kakashi Hatake…”
Sasuke’s consciousness withdrew from his spiritual world, his eyes opened, a trace of annoyance flashing through them.
It was supposed to be nine in the morning.
Now, it was already lunchtime.
Had he been stood up?
Or was this the measure of a Konoha Jonin?
To treat a promise as nothing.
Just as his evaluation of Kakashi dropped another notch, two figures interrupted his thoughts.
“Sasuke-kun!”
It was Sakura Haruno, pulling a hesitant Ino Yamanaka, walking straight over, a self-important smile of concern on her face, “It’s so lonely here by yourself, why don’t we eat lunch together?”
Sasuke didn’t even lift an eyelid; the Zanpakuto on his lap exuded a cold aura.
“Get lost.”
Sakura Haruno’s smile froze on her face, but she quickly rallied and took another step forward.
“Sasuke-kun, I know you’re sad, but you can’t keep shutting yourself off like this, we’re teammates…”
“Sakura, let’s just go…” Ino, beside her, tugged at her sleeve in a low voice; she could clearly feel the air around them turn cold, and it wasn’t her imagination.
“No!” Sakura stubbornly shook off Ino’s hand, “I have to help him get through this!”
“I’ll say it one last time, disappear from my sight.” Sasuke finally looked up.
“Why don’t you understand my good intentions!” Sakura was inexplicably provoked and even tried to step forward to argue.
“So troublesome…”
Sasuke lost his patience.
He suddenly stood up, raising his left hand, index and middle fingers together, and a pure spiritual power began to gather.
“Bakudo Number Four…”
“Well, hurting a girl at school isn’t something to brag about, you know.”
Just then, a hand reached out from behind him and gently pressed on his raised wrist.
A lazy voice spoke.
“Using such harsh words to hurt a girl who cares about you will make people dislike you.” Kakashi offered a reassuring smile to the two startled girls.
Sasuke abruptly turned his head; Kakashi Hatake was standing behind him, smiling.
“Let go, and you’re late.” He spat out the words coldly, retracting the Kido he was about to unleash.
“Oh, my apologies.”
Kakashi released his hand and scratched his head without sincerity, “I was so engrossed in thinking about how to teach my adorable students in the future that I lost track of time.”
Sasuke let out an ambiguous cold snort, then turned and walked towards outside the school.
Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, left behind, were still a bit shaken.
“Oh dear, he’s such an uncooperative child.”
Kakashi looked at Sasuke’s retreating back, shrugging helplessly, then turned to look at the two girls still frozen in place.
“Sorry, did I scare you?
Sasuke…
well, he’s been through some bad things, so he’s not quite used to being around people yet.
Please bear with him.”
Sakura Haruno’s eyes were a little red, “Sasuke-kun, is he really okay?”
“He’s fine.” Kakashi said with a reassuring smile, “I’m here.
Alright, it’s almost time for class, you two should head back too.”
Sakura Haruno still wanted to say something, but Ino pulled her away, quickly bowing to Kakashi and hurrying off.
After seeing the two young girls off, the smile slowly faded from Kakashi’s face.
He looked in the direction Sasuke had left, his gaze becoming somewhat complex.
He had asked Sasuke to wait for him at the Ninja Academy to observe Sasuke’s current interaction patterns with his classmates.
But based on what he saw today, things seemed less than optimistic.
The only comforting thing was that the strange energy fluctuation when Sasuke raised his hand was not aggressive.
“Honestly, you’ve given me a tough problem, Lord Third.”
Kakashi muttered to himself, sighing, then his figure flickered and he too disappeared from the spot.