Ye Liang casually pulled Sasuke aside into a secluded grove. Since this was family business, naturally they needed to stay away from Naruto and the others.
"Hey, what do you want? I never asked you to teach me ninjutsu."
Sasuke shook off Ye Liang's hand in confusion. Though deep inside he still held some hope for Ye Liang, he showed none of it on the surface.
This stubborn tsundere!
Ye Liang smirked inwardly before speaking, "Still holding a grudge against your brother, huh?"
Instantly—
Sasuke's entire expression changed!
He immediately drew a shuriken and aimed it at Ye Liang's neck!
His face was filled with excitement, even carrying a trace of killing intent!
"You know my brother!"
"Of course."
Ye Liang helplessly shrugged his shoulders.
He looked at Sasuke with genuine shock. While he could understand vengeance over an annihilated clan, he hadn't expected the hatred to run this deep.
"If you don't want to know where he is, just kill me now—but then you'll never find out anything about him again." Ye Liang moved the shuriken from Sasuke's grip to his own chest.
"You really know?"
"Of course."
Sasuke slowly lowered the shuriken.
Although hesitant, he had no choice but to trust Ye Liang for now.
"Your brother is currently in an organization called Akatsuki. I won't stop you from killing him, but before that, I hope you'll hear his story."
"Akatsuki?"
Hatred flared in Sasuke's eyes again.
He raised the shuriken once more, unable to suppress the killing intent radiating from his body.
Now look. He hasn't even met them yet, and just hearing the name 'Akatsuki' is enough...
Ye Liang completely understood his thoughts, yet knew he would have to work hard to convince Sasuke to abandon his hatred.
"There was a reason behind your brother's actions."
Sasuke suddenly grabbed the shuriken again and pointed it straight at Ye Liang.
"Want to hear what your brother went through?"
"Just tell me! Where is he?" Sasuke pressed urgently.
"Your brother is dead!"
"???"
What?!
This time, Sasuke finally put down the shuriken. His expression turned blank as his legs gave way and he collapsed onto the ground.
It seemed Ye Liang's words had greatly shocked him.
Ye Liang exhaled heavily and sat down.
Sasuke was too extreme. If Ye Liang hadn't lied to him, communicating with him might have been difficult.
"Don't rush. Let me tell you a story—maybe then you'd understand." Ye Liang suddenly spoke, not waiting for Sasuke's reaction and continuing on his own.
"Once upon a time, there was a young boy.
He was a genius. At merely eight years old, he became part of Konoha's ANBU. His parents had high hopes for him, and even Konoha regarded him as the village's hope.
But one day, his neighbors plotted rebellion and successfully convinced the boy's parents.
They united, plotting to seize control of the village leadership.
At that time, the boy had already become a village official. He knew the rebels were wrong, but his parents had already been deceived.
Then he was faced with two impossible choices.
The first: Kill the rebels and preserve justice.
The second: Kill the officials and follow his parents further into error.
Tell me, Sasuke… If you stood in his place, what would you do?"
Ye Liang suddenly directed the question straight at Sasuke.
"Youth? Commoner?"
Sasuke was momentarily taken aback.
But he quickly realized—the boy before him was the very older brother he had always hated!
How was he supposed to choose?
He thought it over but just couldn't make a decision. On one side were his misguided parents; on the other stood righteous duty to the country. That wasn't an easy choice for a teenager to make.
Seeing that Sasuke gave no reply, Ye Liang sighed.
"Your brother ultimately chose the village." Noticing hatred once again flickering in Sasuke's eyes, Ye Liang quickly added, "Nevertheless, you have no right to hate your brother!"
"Why not!" Sasuke asked in confusion.
"Because he loved you!"
"Your brother slaughtered every villager—including his own parents, elders, and relatives—but he simply couldn't bring himself to kill you! He loved you!"
"Therefore, everyone else can hate your brother, resent him, but you cannot!"
"You don't deserve to!" Ye Liang's tone suddenly turned harsh—so much so that even Naruto and the others at a distance clearly heard those last three words.
Though puzzled, they still chose not to approach.
Sasuke stood there, completely dazed.
"My brother couldn't bear to kill me! My brother loved me!" He kept repeating these words, obviously deeply shaken by what Ye Liang had said today.
"But so what? He's already dead!"
His head sank down again.
Seeing that Sasuke had finally been convinced, Ye Liang relaxed slightly.
"Sorry, I lied earlier—your brother isn't actually dead."
"What!" Instantly agitated, Sasuke's expression changed—not into intense killing intent this time, but rather an eager hope, even a trace of longing.
It looked like all that hatred had just disappeared.
Observing that Sasuke had calmed down, Ye Liang decided it was time to truly teach him some ninjutsu.
"Listen carefully! What I'm about to teach you is the ultimate lightning-based technique..."
...
The moonlight bathed the night sky in a gentle glow.
Far from the city's noise, Ye Liang lay casually atop a large tree.
"Hahaha! Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan acquired!"
He browsed through his System Dashboard.
Ninjutsu 7
Taijutsu 6
Ninja Tools 6
He had learned all the ninjutsu and taijutsu ranked below A-ranked. Yet despite this, his abilities remained stagnant.
With a slight motion of his left hand, he scrolled further down for more details.
S-ranked Ninjutsu: [Shinra Tensei], [Creation Rebirth], [Tailed Beast Ball].
S-ranked Taijutsu: [Night Guy].
Bloodline Limit: Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
As for Ninja Tools… there were none.
These were the skills granted by the System. Actually, Ye Liang also possessed Sage Mode—an ability he had learned independently, thus absent from the Dashboard.
"Why does my Ninjutsu remain locked at level 7? Is level 8 really unattainable?"
Ye Liang began to wonder.
Even after acquiring the Eternal Mangekyō, level 7 hadn't increased at all.
Based on his own estimation, Ninjutsu level 7 should be close to the strength of ancient legends like the Sage of Six Paths and Kaguya Hime.
In the original storyline, such figures represented the peak of combat power.
Understanding Taijutsu at level 6 made sense—he only knew one S-ranked taijutsu, Night Guy. If he learned a few more advanced taijutsu techniques, perhaps he could push up to level 7.
As for Ninja Tools…
Well, there wasn't much worth mentioning there.
Hokage never came with S-rank ninja tools or techniques. Even if Ye Liang wanted to improve, he didn't know where to start.
Ye Liang thought for a while longer.
He was now stranded in a foreign land. To return home, he needed to gather Tailed Beast chakra to activate the Time-Space Turtle!
But during this era, gathering Tailed Beasts wouldn't be easy.
One-Tail Gaara, Eight-Tails Killer Bee, Nine-Tails Naruto—those three were untouchable. They were main protagonists from the original storyline. Messing with them might cause serious issues within this world.
As for Three-Tails Isobu, it was with Yagura.
Yagura served as a pawn of Madara Uchiha. If Ye Liang made a move against him, he'd end up clashing again with that mastermind Madara, only this time accompanied by Akatsuki's completed form.
All of them were powerful figures!
Being a cautious schemer himself, Ye Liang naturally wanted to avoid stirring things up.
Other Tailed Beasts would pose even greater difficulties.
It wasn't that their Jinchuriki were weak—it was that no one even knew who they were!
Roshi? Yugito? Taka?
What kind of names were those?
Ye Liang didn't even know where to find them.
"It looks like I'll have to spend some time in Konoha for now."
Ye Liang closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree trunk, seemingly falling asleep.
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