Chapter 11: The Uchiha Clan Massacre

Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.

During these two months, Yagyu continued his usual routine—creating two shadow clones every day to train at home. His main body attended the Ninja Academy, always hoping for a stroke of luck, that he might "drop" something from Naruto, Sasuke Uchiha, or even Shikamaru Nara.

During the holidays, Yagyu trained with Hinata, Ino, and Sakura. However, instead of going to secluded areas like the woods or other remote places, they began training at Yagyu's home.

When the three girls first saw Yagyu's shadow clones, they were shocked, their eyes lighting up as they stared at him with admiration.

They had already thought that Yagyu was impressive for mastering techniques that only genin were supposed to know in his first year. Even Ino and Sakura's parents had praised him, agreeing to let their daughters train with him during the holidays.

However, they hadn't expected Yagyu to also know the Shadow Clone Jutsu—a B-rank technique!

Aside from Hinata, Ino and Sakura couldn't even perform the basic Three Basic Jutsu yet.

After discovering Yagyu's true capabilities, Hinata, Ino, and Sakura were even more motivated to train. Just as Ino didn't want to be surpassed by Hinata or Sakura, the three girls didn't want to fall too far behind Yagyu, fearing he might leave them behind one day.

Thus, during every break, Yagyu's house became their temporary training ground.

Why only temporary?

Because Yagyu wasn't training outdoors during this time.

To be precise, he had decided not to train outside or take Hinata, Ino, or Sakura out until after the Uchiha clan was annihilated.

He knew that Uchiha Obito would be wandering around Konoha during this period.

With his Kamui ability to phase through matter, Obito was the biggest bug in the entire ninja world.

He might not be able to beat you, but you definitely couldn't beat him. Even if you somehow managed to kill him once, he had Izanagi as a respawn token.

Unless you had an exceptionally well-hidden separate dimension, there was nowhere in the ninja world safe from him.

Yagyu didn't want to risk training outside and accidentally catching Obito's attention.

Better safe than sorry. Yagyu wasn't ready to be noticed by the major players just yet.

Finally, the fateful day arrived.

During the last class of the afternoon, Iruka suddenly announced, "There will be a surprise test today. Meet at the training grounds after class."

"Aww, seriously?"

The classroom was immediately filled with groans, mainly from the weaker students.

On the other hand, top students like Sasuke Uchiha were excited. After all, surprise tests counted towards their academic credits.

The reason Yagyu had become the top student was that, besides getting full marks in the final exams, he also excelled in pop quizzes and surprise tests throughout the year.

To dethrone him as the top student, Sasuke knew he would have to match Yagyu's scores in these tests. Even better, if he could prevent Yagyu from achieving full marks, he might be able to claim the title for himself.

This was exactly how Sasuke had been overtaken last time.

For Sasuke, these quizzes and surprise tests were a chance for redemption.

With this in mind, Sasuke shot a challenging glance at Yagyu.

By sheer coincidence, Yagyu was also looking at Sasuke—except his gaze was one of pity.

If you were to ask who the most tragic character in the Naruto world was, Sasuke Uchiha would undoubtedly be one of them.

Before the age of seven, Sasuke had everything: he was the "chosen one," born into one of the greatest clans in the ninja world, with a father who was the clan leader, a genius brother, and himself the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' son.

But after the age of seven, Sasuke no longer lived for himself—he became consumed by a quest for vengeance, willing to sacrifice everything to kill his brother, Itachi Uchiha.

And when he finally succeeded in killing Itachi and learned the truth about his clan's massacre, his desire for revenge and revolution was ultimately quashed by Naruto. In the end, Sasuke was left wandering the world, trying to atone for his sins.

Naruto and Sasuke, the reincarnations of the Sage's sons, were polar opposites, just like the yin and yang powers within them—one suffered early in life, while the other suffered later.

No wonder their bond transcended mere friendship; if one of them had been female, they would have made an unstoppable couple.

Though Yagyu knew Sasuke was about to experience tragedy and become the infamous "cursed avenger," he had no intention of warning him.

This was a major event orchestrated by the higher-ups in Konoha, far beyond the influence of someone like Yagyu.

When the school bell rang, students hurried out of the Academy, but the second-year Class 1 students headed to the training grounds for the surprise test.

By the time the survival exercise ended, the sky had already darkened, and dusk had turned to night.

For the first time, the students were dismissed so late, and instead of staying out to play, they hurried home.

Sasuke did the same, rushing back as fast as he could.

Watching his retreating figure, Yagyu knew that this lively, proud Sasuke Uchiha would soon be gone.

The next time he would see Sasuke, he would be a brooding, honor-driven survivor of the Uchiha clan.

After the Uzumaki and Senju clans, yet another ancient clan was about to be wiped out.

Soon enough, the Sharingan would become a legendary bloodline.

Yagyu sighed inwardly at the thought.

After returning home, Yagyu had dinner, bathed, and went to bed early.

The next morning, as soon as Yagyu stepped outside, he noticed something different in the village's atmosphere.

All along the way, he saw villagers whispering to each other.

As he passed, he frequently heard the word "Uchiha."

The news of the Uchiha clan massacre had already spread.

It wouldn't be long before the entire Land of Fire and the rest of the ninja world heard about it.

When Yagyu arrived at school, Sasuke's seat remained empty, even after the bell rang.

"Iruka-sensei, is Sasuke alright?" some of the girls, who were clearly aware of the massacre, asked anxiously when Iruka entered the classroom.

Clearly, those who liked or had a crush on Sasuke feared that he might have perished as well.

Iruka reassured them, "Don't worry, Sasuke is fine. He's just unconscious and in the hospital. Once he wakes up, I'll go visit him."

Hearing that Sasuke was safe, the girls breathed a sigh of relief, already planning to inform the support group during the next break.

Little did they know just how deeply this incident would affect Sasuke.

In fact, the colder and more distant Sasuke would eventually become even more popular among them.

"I heard it was Sasuke's brother who wiped out the Uchiha clan," one girl whispered.

"Really? Poor Sasuke!" another replied.

Ino, Sakura, and Hinata were also discussing the event.

Meanwhile, Yagyu rested his chin on his hand, silently breathing a sigh of relief.

The Uchiha clan was gone, which meant that Obito and Black Zetsu wouldn't be lurking around Konoha anymore.

It was finally safe for him to resume outdoor training.

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