This day was completely different for Ino.
She had been jumping with happiness since the morning. After all, she had finally convinced Louis to come to her house for dinner. To her, this was a big step , a small victory that proved their relationship was moving forward.
For Louis, however, things were not what Ino imagined at all.
After thinking for a long time, he realized that he urgently needed help from her father, Inoichi Yamanaka. If he wanted to awaken the Sharingan as fast as possible, then taking the risk of asking the head of the Yamanaka clan was worth it, no matter the consequences.
As expected, Ino's mother treated Louis very kindly during dinner. She even joked with him several times, smiling warmly. At the same time, Inoichi's frown became deeper with every word and every exchanged look. He sat in silence, watching everything with sharp eyes full of suspicion.
After dinner ended, the two women took care of the cleaning. Ino wanted to show Louis that she had become a reliable woman who could handle household work. She did not notice that her father's frown was growing darker and darker.
Before that frown could finally explode, Louis decided to speak.
"Mr. Inoichi… actually, I came here mainly to ask for something. Could you listen to me?"
"A request?" Inoichi asked. Then something crossed his mind, and he frowned even more before replying in a sharp tone. "My daughter is still too young for that."
"Huh? I don't understand what you mean," Louis said, even though he could already guess where the man's thoughts had gone.
"Isn't that what you were going to ask me?" Inoichi replied, his tone still tense, though slightly calmer.
"No…" Louis answered. He glanced quickly toward the kitchen to make sure no one was coming closer, then lowered his voice. "I know that the Yamanaka clan's main ability is controlling other people's minds, reading their memories, and accessing them. Is that right?"
"Hmmm…" Inoichi hummed slowly. "And…?"
Louis looked straight at him and spoke firmly. "Since you are the head of the Yamanaka clan, there is no doubt you are the best at this. That is why I want your help to extract the memories of the night of the Uchiha massacre from deep inside my mind."
Inoichi's eyes widened in shock at the sudden request.
But Louis did not step back. He took one step forward and bowed deeply, with clear respect and determination.
"Please… I need this. To untie the knot in my heart, and to become stronger."
Yes, this was Louis's gamble this time.
To stimulate the buried memories deep in his mind, face the true trauma of this body, and try to awaken the Sharingan...
no matter the cost.
*** ***
A few more days passed.
As Sasuke became more isolated day by day and completely ignored Louis, even when they were alone, Louis found himself spending most of his time after academy classes at his usual training spot. He only returned home late every night, as if that quiet, remote place had become his true home.
That evening, Louis sat calmly near the fire. He used his kunai to cut some branches, then grilled an unlucky rabbit he had caught earlier, fixing the meat on wooden skewers. At the same time, a fish was slowly cooking over a low flame inside a small pot beside him.
Because he knew he would spend a long time training in this place, Louis had bought a set of basic cooking tools. Whenever he finished training, he carefully hid them nearby so he could use them again the next day without returning to the village.
However, what Louis did not expect… was that the Hokage himself began to appear and share meals with him several times, each time claiming that he had "happened to pass by" while walking around the village.
Of course, Louis was not fooled by these weak excuses.
He knew very well that this was just another way to strengthen his attachment and bind him emotionally to the village, especially since the Hokage always insisted on asking about Sasuke's strange behavior lately.
Today, it happened once again.
The Hokage appeared "by chance" while inspecting the village and quietly sat near the fire.
This time, Louis could not hold back and asked directly,
"Are you really that free to walk around like this?"
Louis clearly remembered the image of Naruto in the future, after becoming Hokage, living almost trapped inside the Hokage's office because of endless work.
Still, Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed lightly and completely ignored the question.
After they finished eating, the Hokage asked his usual question,
"How is Sasuke doing these days?"
In truth, Sarutobi was genuinely worried.
Reports had reached him from the ANBU he assigned to monitor the Uchiha brothers. They said that Sasuke Uchiha had begun acting strangely and looked at others with hostility, as if he saw everyone as a possible enemy.
Sarutobi feared that Sasuke might have developed hatred toward the village itself, so he wanted to be sure with his own eyes.
Of course, he did not go to question Sasuke directly. Instead, he believed it was better to ask his twin brother, the person closest to him.
"As usual…" Louis replied coldly, deliberately avoiding the real meaning of the question this time. Then he changed the topic and said,
"But what about my previous request? Is it possible?"
"Hmmm…" Sarutobi looked deeply at Louis.
He did not know the true reason behind Sasuke's sudden change, but he also did not want to leave a bad impression on Louis. If one brother went out of control, the other could be used to restrain him.
"Well then… you no longer want to attend academy classes and wish to spend the time before the graduation exam training on your own, correct?" the Hokage confirmed.
"Yes," Louis answered calmly. "There is nothing left for me to learn at the academy. And if you are worried about anything…"
This time, Louis raised his head and looked directly into the Hokage's eyes.
"You can assign an extra person to watch me. I already suspect someone is monitoring me, so adding another one makes no difference."
"Is that so…" Sarutobi examined his eyes carefully, then said,
"I heard that your relationship with the Yamanaka clan's daughter has developed greatly recently, to the point that you even visited her family's home."
Louis smiled when he noticed the change in the Hokage's gaze.
In the past, he was seen as nothing more than a small pawn… but that pawn had grown in an unexpected way, and his actions had become harder to predict.
"What?" Louis said mockingly.
"Do you want me to die single in this life?"
Sarutobi stared at him for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Youth is truly full of energy. Good… very good."
Then he continued,
"As for your request, I agree. I have informed the teachers to make an exception for you, but you must still take the graduation exam at its proper time."
"That's good," Louis said with a smile.
When he noticed the Hokage was about to leave, he asked another question,
"By the way… are you the one responsible for forming student teams after graduation?"
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and joked,
"What? Are you trying to convince me to put you in the same team as your two little sweethearts?"
"I'm not an idiot," Louis replied with the same tone.
"I already know that Ino's team has been decided with Shikamaru and Choji. As for me, having two beautiful girls on my team wouldn't be so bad."
Then his tone changed slightly.
"But this is about my stupid brother."
"Hmmm…" Sarutobi focused on his words.
"I think having Naruto on his team, along with a proper support member, would be beneficial for him."
"Do you really think so?" the Hokage said thoughtfully.
It wasn't a new idea, but he hesitated, especially since Naruto had shown no clear improvement and might end up failing again.
He stayed silent for a moment, then noticed that darkness had finally fallen.
"Well… although I wonder why you want to put those two together, I will think about it."
After he finished speaking, Louis felt a light breeze pass by him. He blinked, and in the next moment, the Hokage had already disappeared.
Louis smiled faintly.
"I thought I had ruined the plot when I started provoking Sasuke… but it seems things are going even better than I expected."
Then he whispered softly,
"Now, all I have to do… is wait for Mizuki's move, when he tries to deceive Naruto."
At that moment, Louis's eyes shone with a blood-red color.
A single black dot appeared in the center of his iris, sharp, focused, glowing with overwhelming power and heightened awareness.