For the Sake Of
The night deepened for the sake of the Seventh Training Ground.
Yuan Wei and Xia had already left after their passionate extra training. Uchiha Sasuke, exhausted, leaned against a rock and suddenly said,
"I want... to know the second story."
Lin Ke stood not far away, looking at the sky. The moon was particularly dim and incomplete tonight. He slowly began to narrate, "The story begins with a man named Uchiha Shisui..."
This time, Sasuke didn't interrupt him, perhaps because he had exhausted all his energy in training, or perhaps because he already had some guesses. He just listened quietly.
With Lin Ke's current sensory abilities, it was impossible for the Anbu to sneak close and eavesdrop. Even if the Third Hokage used the Telescope Technique to spy, he would sense it. He wasn't worried about the words being spread, because he had already figured out why he knew so much.
So, he told the story of Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi, Danzo, and everything else related to the Uchiha clan massacre clearly.
In the manga, Obito intentionally blurred the timeline of the Uchiha clan's ostracization, moving events that the Second Hokage had done decades ago to before the Uchiha clan massacre, guiding Sasuke to become hostile to Konoha Village until the Fourth Shinobi World War, when Orochimaru summoned the four Hokage and revealed the truth.
The so-called ostracization had occurred decades ago, rooted in the fact that Uchiha Madara left the village and then controlled the Nine-Tailed Fox to return and attempt to destroy Konoha.
Everything that followed stemmed from unresolved conflicts and suspicions at the time. The Second Hokage tried to resolve them but died at the hands of the Gold and Silver Brothers. The Third Hokage didn't have the ability to resolve them, so when the Uchiha attempted a coup, Shisui and Itachi didn't have many choices left.
They were simply led by Danzo and Obito to choose the worst possible solution.
As Lin Ke's gentle and somewhat childish voice spoke, clouds drifted across the sky, obscuring the crescent moon. The story came to an end after Uchiha Itachi became a spy for Konoha Village, infiltrated the Akatsuki, and entrusted his younger brother to the Third Hokage's care.
Uchiha Sasuke was silent for a long time before snapping out of the 'story', asking without any emotion in his voice, "Why do you know this?"
"From a very early age, I've had the ability to communicate with the dead..." Lin Ke gave a half-true reason.
Uchiha Sasuke didn't ask him to prove it, but instead asked, "Why are you helping me?"
After hearing so many secrets, he didn't think the other party was a purely good-intentioned, ten-year-old Chunin. So, what was the reason for helping him? Just for the sake of a so-called 'comrade from the same village'? "I was born during the war. My mother didn't realize I existed and rushed to the battlefield. She was seriously injured during a mission and discovered me, returning to the village to recover. She died when I was two years old."
Lin Ke spoke of his past, "My father also died on a mission when I was five years old."
He recalled his journey to this world, from joy to sadness, to finally working hard alone, a childhood with nothing. It seemed that all of it could be summarized in these two simple sentences.
"Hey, Sasuke..." He reached out his hand and said, "That feeling of loss... you should understand it, right?"
"..."
After a while, Uchiha Sasuke's voice sounded, "Prove it..."
"Prove your ability to me."
[Third step…]
Lin Ke smiled, smiling because he was about to get an excellent meat shield, not caring about the other party's cold demeanor.
Extract Chakra, form hand seals, release—
*Summoning Jutsu!* The Summoning Jutsu, infused with an excessive amount of Chakra, directly constructed the image of a certain deceased person in the present world.
"Transcending the boundary between life and death, you are—" The semi-transparent man who was summoned had short black hair, wore a dark blue long shirt, and had the Uchiha clan's fan pattern tattooed on his back. The question he was about to ask died in his throat when he saw Uchiha Sasuke.
"Sasuke..." he called out softly.
Uchiha Sasuke was immediately lost in thought, his body trembling, unable to say anything.
This guy…
Lin Ke showed no expression on the surface, but was very surprised inside. Why was the randomly summoned dead person Uchiha Fugaku?! What exactly was the medium needed for the Summoning Jutsu?!
"..."
Uchiha Sasuke forcibly suppressed his surging emotions, forming hand seals to try to dispel the Genjutsu, but nothing happened. The figure from his childhood memories still stood not far away.
"I am... Lin Ke."
Lin Ke introduced himself, breaking the silence, and said, "I am Sasuke's comrade, and also the one who summoned you here."
Uchiha Fugaku turned his face to look over, his gaze pausing for a moment when he saw the Konoha Village Forehead Protector, his tone slightly relieved as he said, "So, what do you need me to do?"
"Sasuke has some things he wants to ask you." Lin Ke slowly retreated, "I won't participate in your father-son conversation..."
Uchiha Sasuke raised his head, quietly watching him walk away, before finally speaking, "Father..."
Lin Ke stood in the shadows of the forest, walking further away. The voices of the father and son gradually faded and became unclear. He looked up at the sky, where thin strands of rain, almost forming a line, were falling with the summer night breeze.
"It's raining."
...
—Half an hour later.
"Splash, splash~" The rain grew heavier, almost forming a sheet, and in the rain, everything in the forest seemed misty.
Lin Ke stepped through the mud, one step at a time. Ten minutes ago, Uchiha Fugaku had returned to the Pure Land after the release of the technique.
Uchiha Sasuke remained motionless, standing in place, looking into the distance, seemingly lost in thought, soaked to the bone, his face covered in rain.
"Now that you know everything..." Lin Ke's voice was somewhat muffled in the rain, "what are you pursuing power for?"
He raised the same question again.
After a while, Uchiha Sasuke turned around, his disheveled face fixed on the person who had revealed everything to him.
Pain? Sorrow? Resentment?
No, he had already experienced the madness that made him want to destroy everything before hearing the second story.
At this moment, all that remained was extreme confusion and emptiness.
"Although... this world is pretty terrible." Lin Ke met his gaze and extended his hand again, "Being a ninja isn't a great profession either."
"But, there are always some things worth cherishing."
I once... lost everything... so I don't want to see my precious comrades die in front of me again...
Uchiha Sasuke's eyes seemed to be re-infused with a soul. The experiences with his Team 7 comrades, Lin Ke's smile in the sunlight that afternoon, Yuan Wei's inappropriate arm around his shoulder...
He slowly raised his hand, as if his arm weighed a thousand pounds. After grasping the other's palm, looking at Lin Ke's gentle smile, he said in a voice he could barely hear, "So that... I never have to lose anything again."
His palm gripped tightly, not noticing that three tomoe had appeared and were swirling in his eyes.
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 130+ full translations or to request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the Random Translator Community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------