I just returned to Konoha and found that all my clan members were gone.

Sasuke followed Ye Lan's footsteps and came to the former clan territory of the Uchiha clan. Now he still couldn't believe the fact that Ye Lan was still alive in this world. His mind was full of things to ask but he didn't know where to start.

"Sasuke." After arriving at the clan's territory, Ye Lan turned around and the Sharingan in his pupils slowly turned.

"Tell me, what did you see the day Itachi killed his clan members?"

"That day..." Sasuke clenched his fists tightly when he heard Itachi's name, as if he remembered something painful, and did not dare to look directly into Ye Lan's eyes.

"Uchiha Itachi graduated from the Ninja School at the age of 7, became a Chunin at the age of 10, joined the Anbu at the age of 11, and pointed his weapons at his clan members at the age of 13... Sasuke, do you think you can complete your revenge with what you have now?" Ye Lan slowly told what he knew about Itachi.

"I can!" Sasuke said, looking directly at Ye Lan this time.

"Just relying on your half-baked Sharingan? One has one magatama and the other has two magatama and you can't even make them symmetrical, so stop laughing at me!"

"You bastard!" Sasuke said through gritted teeth, and his hands began to move, as a prelude to forming hand seals.

"You think I won't hurt you, so you keep provoking me?"

Whoosh—

Even though Sasuke opened his Sharingan wide, he couldn't see Ye Lan's movements clearly. Ye Lan grabbed Sasuke's hand that was about to form a seal.

"Let me tell you the first rule of becoming a good ninja. You can be angry, but you must stay calm. This mentality of yours will only give the enemy a chance to exploit your weakness."

After saying that, Ye Lan let go of Sasuke's hand and continued moving forward.

Sasuke looked at Ye Lan's back, his anger subsided a little, and he followed Ye Lan's footsteps.

When Sasuke followed Ye Lan to the Uchiha clan's cemetery, Sasuke's eyes widened. He didn't expect that all the Uchiha clan members were buried in this place.

"Except for your parents' graves, you probably haven't been here before."

Ye Lan squatted in front of a tombstone and whispered.

"Most of those buried here are ordinary people from the Uchiha clan. Do you know how many there are?"

Sasuke looked at Ye Lan in a daze, he didn't know how to answer this question.

"1257 people. I counted them one by one last night. Among them are Aunt Jing, Uncle Shoushao, and Grandpa Yaowei... They are all gone. The Anbu in the village buried them. They couldn't even carve their names on the tombstones. Sasuke, I actually want to confirm one thing now. Did you see Uchiha Itachi attack the family members with your own eyes?"

When he heard this number, Sasuke was still shocked. Sasuke has always had complicated feelings towards Itachi. He might even expect Itachi to have some unspeakable secrets. But when the number 1257 appeared in front of him, he suddenly felt that his hatred for Itachi was not even half as much as Ye Lan.

"I got home late that day. When I returned to the clan territory, I saw corpses of my fellow tribesmen and signs of fighting everywhere. I just wanted to go home." Sasuke knew that he could not escape the past. He held his forehead with one hand and recounted what he saw while thinking.

Ye Lan did not interrupt Sasuke from talking about so many irrelevant things and listened patiently.

"When I got home, I saw my parents lying in a pool of blood, and Itachi...Itachi was holding the ninja sword in his hand, and the sword was covered in blood." Sasuke seemed to recall something terrible and began to squat.

"Didn't you see Itachi do it himself?" Ye Lan frowned.

"No, although I didn't see it with my own eyes, when I was still questioning Itachi, he attacked me and used his Sharingan to cast an illusion on me. In that illusion, I saw Itachi kill my parents with my own eyes." Sasuke continued, "When I woke up from the illusion, I just wanted to run away desperately. I didn't have the courage to fight him at all."

"Itachi didn't kill you?" There was a red light shining in Ye Lan's pupils.

"No, he seemed to say that I would go find him when I had the same eyes as his." After saying that, Sasuke seemed to be unable to support his body anymore and fell to the ground with a thump.

Things seemed to be getting more complicated. What was Itachi's purpose in leaving Sasuke behind? What caused Itachi to do such a heartless act? Even if Itachi had joined forces with others, how could the two of them kill all the people in the clan in such a short time? Even if Itachi had the Mangekyō, it would be impossible for him to do it so quickly. And how could Konoha not react to such a big commotion? What role did the Hokage of Konoha play on this absurd and incredible night?

Based on Sasuke's words, Ye Lan could only analyze this much information. He put away his Sharingan. In order to get words out of Sasuke, he could only use illusion. At the moment, it seemed that Sasuke only knew some superficial information about what happened that night.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes, and what he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling and an unfamiliar bed. He sat up suddenly and looked around, his heart full of doubts.

"Awake?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the corner of the room. Sasuke turned around and saw Ye Lan leaning quietly against the bedroom door, looking at him calmly.

Sasuke was stunned, not knowing what to say for a moment. Ye Lan saw that he was fine and continued, "Don't just stand there, there's food on the table, go to the training ground after you finish eating, I'll be waiting for you there." After saying that, he turned and left the room, leaving Sasuke alone in a daze.

It took Sasuke a while to come back to his senses. He stood up and walked out of the room and came to the living room. He saw hot food on the table, exuding an enticing aroma. However, he did not pick up his chopsticks immediately, but stood silently in front of the table, his eyes gradually dimmed...

When Ye Lan saw Sasuke coming to the training ground, he said directly: "Sasuke, what do you think is the most important thing for a ninja?"

"Powerful technique?" Sasuke answered after hearing Ye Lan's question.

Ye Lan simply shook his head and said, "Based on this alone, you cannot become a Chunin. The most important thing for a ninja is intelligence. No matter how powerful a technique is, there are ways to crack it. When you have all the information about a ninja, killing him will be easier than you think."

When Sasuke heard this, he suddenly looked up at Ye Lan.

"Yes, I'm talking about Itachi." Ye Lan mentioned the name again inadvertently. He wanted to see Sasuke's reaction.

This time Sasuke didn't yell, but his slightly trembling hands revealed that he was not at peace. Ye Lan sighed and continued, "Not only that, every ninja must learn to hide their information. Even if you know some powerful ninjutsu, if others know about it, they will be on guard, so that some of the things you think are killer moves can be solved in the eyes of others."

"Actually, your teacher Kakashi did a very good job in this regard, but you haven't learned it at all." Ye Lan said as he raised his left arm, bit his right thumb and left a bloody mark on his left arm.

"Seal, unlock."

A puff of smoke passed, and a samurai sword appeared in Ye Lan's right hand. He raised the sword and pointed it at Sasuke and said, "It's useless to say more. Let's see what information you can get from me by fighting with me."

Sasuke looked at Ye Lan in front of him with some uncertainty.

"Don't worry, I will suppress my strength to the level of an ordinary Chunin." Perhaps seeing Sasuke's concerns, Ye Lan gave him a reassurance.

After hearing Ye Lan's words, Sasuke also started to take it seriously, took out his kunai, and prepared to launch an attack.

"By the way, let me tell you in advance that if you can't satisfy me, I won't agree to let you go and take part in the Chunin Exam, so as to avoid bringing shame to the Uchiha clan."