Chapter 31 - S

The murmurs start again, this time louder. Sasuke ignores it as he senses something going on at his back. It's not the same feeling he gets when someone aims at him. There's no killing intent. There's nothing distinguishable but emptiness and death. The wind is going against him, brushing his hair away from his face, but his nose still picks the scent of discomposed, sick flesh.

He's spent enough time around Orochimaru's twisted experiments to not recognize that peculiar smell. A dead body is behind him.

Sasuke doesn't turn to look. The Governor's hand is still on his shoulder. He pats it once more before he walks forward, towards the center. It looks as if he's moving to have a better view of his people, but Sasuke is not stupid. He's walking away from him, to safety.

"But what kind of leader would I be if I just agreed without knowing, and showing you, the skills of our new would-be teacher? Curriculums don't matter now, so we need something else to test him, right?"

There's a long low groan coming from behind him. Sasuke doesn't tense. His posture is laidback. One hand tucked close to his chest, wood and bandages covering the damaged arm. The other is grabbing the cane as his legs are still weak because of all the work he made them do to match the Kaguya's speed.

"I know it's early, but this is a special occasion, isn't it? Let's start."

The only warning he gets is the sound of running feet. Battle instincts make him sidestep as the body moves past him, stumbling. The thing tries to turn around but a shove with the cane pushes him to the ground. It tries to stand up but Sasuke pins his head with the end of the cane. It still tries.

Sasuke leans down, to inspect it as he places the cane under his upper arm. He grabs the back of its head to check the pale face. Yellow, unfocused eyes meet his. There's no nose and the hair is dirty and greasy. Half of the cheek is falling and the upper lip is nonexistent. The lower jaw is broken, teeth missing.

From what he's heard, they call them biters. Easy to get infected. He understands now.

He lets it go, wanting to know its abilities. If the Governor wants him to teach others how to fight them, he needs to know what they can do.

The biter pushes itself forward, trying to jump towards him, arms attempting to grab him. He noticed its hands and he clutches its wrist, bending it behind its back so as to not let him turn around. It tries to bite him but its head is too far away.

The tip of the fingers is cut off, he notices.

Sasuke ponders what to do next, and how to finish it off. He could use his cane, but he currently uses it to walk and he doesn't want to break it. He shoves the biter forward again and uses the space to take his sword out from his back, where he put it so as to not show his sealing abilities to the public.

It doesn't get to turn around as Sasuke slashes twice. Both arms fall to the ground. The biter staggers but doesn't stop. He makes another slash on its stomach, intestines joins the arms. He sniffs once. The organs haven't gotten too bad. Whatever the infection is doing it isn't enough to stop the body from working, it seems, though that doesn't mean they aren't decaying. Probably the only thing making it moving is the brain.

The biter falls to its knees, some organs are dangling. Sasuke tilts his head, slightly amazed that it keeps moving towards him, not caring about the lack of body parts. It just wants to eat him. It's like an Edo Tensei gone wrong. It groans once more and Sasuke cuts the middle of his head, where the brain is.

It seems that's all, he thinks as the body falls as if the strings holding it up to have been cut. He puts his sword in its place to use the cane again. He walks to where the top part of the head went and grabs it. It's not a healthy gray with a slightly pinkish tone. It's a dark, sick gray.

He's not a scientist and never wanted to be one, but he's been trained by one and, despite himself, he feels a curiosity that's born by having to check experiments during his breaks from training. A morbid curiosity that wants to know what happened.

It's not strong though and he easily shrugs it off and looks away, towards the Governor. He's smiling. It's not a pleasing smile, but an empty one made for business. The claps and roars of the people are easy to ignore but not that disturbing smile that sees him as if he were an object he's gained.

Sasuke doesn't smile or bow to acknowledge the others, choosing to stand tall, waiting. His eyes roam the sea of faces, memorizing and searching for any distinct gestures—categorizing the possible threats. He can't use the Sharingan but his eyesight is still good.

The Governor walks to stand next to him and when the claps subside, he exclaims, "Let's welcome our new member: Uchiha."

He ignores the next announcements and doesn't talk until everything is over.

"I'm going to need that body," he says, loud enough for the Governor to hear.

The Governor looks at the dead biter. "What for?"

"Hide glue."