"Sasuke!"
"Sasuke-Kun!"
Those annoying voices, admittedly clear from his two teammates, were the last thing he heard from his homeworld.
Kaguya, the rabbit Goddess, afraid of her impending defeat, used that damn technique of manipulating time and space to separate him from Dobe, probably the only way to ensure her victory. Without him, it was not possible to use the sealing of the sage of six paths, possibly the only way to stop her.
Even more unexpected for Sasuke, it was to fall into a world inhabited by sentient beings with culture even more advanced than theirs, much more advanced taking into account those iron things moving in the air without an ounce of logic that he could apply.
"It doesn't make sense" Sasuke concluded after expired breath of air. If Kaguya wanted to kill him, it would be easier to launch him into space or the surface of a star. In either case, he could hardly survive long enough to find a way back, or to the people left behind help him.
"Those people? Did she know about them?" No matter how he looked, they were human beings like him, at least the vast majority. Sasuke glanced at other beings who shared that same humanity with the addition of animal parts. It was not unusual for him, but only because he studied under the tutelage of the most disturbed person in the Elemental Nations. "Faunos," Sasuke repeated what he heard in the streets where he fell. "They asked what kind of Faunus I was."
Their unique eyes, even in this strange world, led them to judged immediately.
Luckily, being able to understand them was one of the few good things that accompanied him in this new world. He knew the language used. A very rare one, used mainly for confidential communication in Orochimaru's lairs.
"It's been hours…" Sasuke looked at the moon and the insanity represented by those fragments adorning the skies. "And there is no sign of manipulation of space-time."
His Rinnegan could sense these fluctuations, possibly manipulating them if he had more time to study and test the limit of that eye. As a result, Sasuke stayed close to his place of arrival, a probable point of rescue or continuation of the deadly conflict with Kaguya.
"What could have happened?" This question haunted him with his possible answers.
If Kaguya won, she would come after him to finish the job, cut the loose ends of her only possible remaining threat. However, nothing so far. In case the victory, very unlikely, Sasuke could say, of Naruto, knowing that idiot, he would find a way to force Obito or Kakashi to tear the dimensions after him. However, nothing happened.
Several hypotheses occurred to him, the most plausible, taking into account the face made with the effort and the remarkable drop in the absurd level of Kaguya's chakra to perform the technique. Was this dimension too costly to reopen even by Kaguya right away? Then she would drain the planet first and then, if she remembered him, she would come to end his misery. Consequently, yet another planet would be devoured along with him to try to satisfy his spiritual grandmother's hunger for power.
And that worried him. The fact that he may be the possible cause of the destruction of an entire world unrelated to his original one.
As arrogant and confident as Sasuke was with his power, he recognized that he could not beat that Goddess alone.
"Not the way I am right now, but if I have time…" A deep look on the moon's seal, entrusted to him by the sage of six paths, reminded him of origins that transcended his flesh. "The reincarnation of a demigod."
Otsutsuki Indra, Hagoromo's eldest son.
"I have potential." Sasuke could feel he hadn't even started to scratch it, especially with his new left eye. "To dominate him completely, based on all the information gathered from Akatsuki leader, Pain, I would have a better chance against her, and also," he touched his chest, where his sword had been used to pierce him in the heart. "Kabuto used cells from the First Hokage to heal me…" he could feel the power of the Shinobi god inside him. "Hashirama gave me a good amount of his Chakra just before… Maybe, just maybe, I can access part of his powers."
Madara, Obito and even that piece of trash Danzou could use, there was no reason for him to not get the same.
The suggestion of a smile adorned Sasuke's downcast features. There was still hope of making his dreams come true. Taking into account the brutal amount of Chakra that Kaguya used to get rid of him, it must have weakened her considerably. That way, Naruto could hold it for a while.
It might be crazy, but Sasuke believed that time was on his side.
"My Rinnegan is space-time based, when I master it, returning to that world on my own shouldn't be difficult." Sasuke stood up on the edge of a five floors building where he rested and walked, looking around for something useful."If my eyes are not deceiving me, this world must be in a dimension where time flows differently, faster." He stopped, finding the most rudimentary and useful source of information in history; a library. "The fight may very well still be going on."
Sasuke wanted to believe that this would be the case, so everything his brother sacrificed would not have been in vain.
"Time to learn some things." Sasuke touched one of his wrist seals and recovered the mantle used to enter Konoha before reviving the Kages, wearing it to help him go unnoticed. Although suspicious, it was better than the warm looks he received from the women around. "As if I don't have enough problems already, the female hormones in this world work the same way as in my old one."
The Uchiha's good looks were more of a curse than a blessing.
Sasuke descended into the nearby alley, but before continuing to walk, he made a casual seal and interrupted the flow of Chakra in his eyes. There was no reason to keep them active and spend even more energy, but something didn't seem to go as expected and the reflection of his face on a pane told him why.
"Rinnegan didn't deactivate…" Sasuke grimaced, the only thing that came out was the tomoes that adorned him. "Just my luck."
Sasuke took a deep breath and made use of his black locks to cover the divine eye. In the end, not having time to have a hair cut in the last year ended up coming in handy for something. With half his face covered with hair and a hood to keep up with, Sasuke only expected to have problems with authorities from that point on. Much better than being harassed at every step or questioned and maybe even chased because of his eyes.
At night had arrived and not so long ago, so Sasuke did not find it strange to take what now turned out to be an open bookstore.
"Well, I would have entered even if it wasn't open," he let these thoughts run as he entered the place and spotted a single person.
"Welcome to Tukson Bookstore, all the books in one place…" Tukson stopped at the end of his sentence, staring at the new customer with fear. Not only because of the appearance of a possible criminal but because of his instincts screaming danger. That single sample obsidian eye looked like a mirror of death. Then he heard the voice, strong and devoid of emotion, addressing to him.
"History books, where can I find them?" Sasuke asked, taking a step towards the attendant, a robust man in his thirties, with short hair and a unique beard cut. The most important thing would be the fact that he was one of those Faunus, one who could very well hide his animalistic trait from inattentive eyes, but not from an Uchiha.
Tukson took a step back from the request, demand, heart beating out of control, throat drying with suffocation and sweat soaking his back. He did not have the courage to answer, nor to move. Unable to believe how he took a step, one that might as well have marked his destiny.
"I don't know why you're scared, but I don't intend to hurt you. I'm just looking for some books and maybe some extra information," Sasuke intoned slowly, walking to the shelves in an attempt to ease the tension.
Some time ago, when Sasuke had an unpleasant conversation with the nine-tailed fox, now named Kurama, inside Naruto, that mass of walking hatred claimed that his Chakra was even more sinister than hers. Something to worry about, Sasuke had to admit, but at the time, being cold was a need to kill Itachi, maybe something even worse. In the end, after losing the curse mark, a representation similar to making a pact with the Devil himself, Sasuke deepen even further into the darkness and reached ridiculous levels of power, his Chakra probably becoming the most funereal one in the world. After receiving the Yin style of Sage, half the power of creation, Sasuke could only imagine what he was at the moment.
For a being with animalistic instincts, he should be something similar to incarnate death.
"S-sorry…" Tukson tried, very hard, to regain some control, utter a single word and point a trembling finger at what Death wanted.
Sasuke didn't press the man, he was almost feeling sorry for him; almost.
"Remnant's story," Sasuke muttered the title and activated his Sharingan. The dynamic vision provided by his lineage facilitated learning at ridiculous levels. In five minutes, he went through the entire four hundred-page book and understood its contents.
Normally, Tukson would say that his store was not a library, but he was too scared to open his mouth.
"Grimm, Dust, Huntsmen and Huntresses, Aura and Semblance…" Sasuke went over the most important points learned and allowed himself to let the confusion take overtake him for a moment. He put the book away and picked up the next volume and so on to the fourth one where he got more answers than he would have liked.
"My revolution is flawed…" Sasuke put the book back on the shelf and leaned on it. Eyes open in realization. Soon his lips tightened. "Something like this…"
Grimm, the creatures of darkness, sworn enemy of humanity and faunus of this world. They exist in different shapes and sizes, the vast majority represented with similarities to some living creature in the ecosystem, rarely humanoid, has been pressuring then to the point that only four kingdoms remain. According to the books, these four kingdoms were something at the level of a Shinobi village equivalent to Konoha, apart from some settlements here and there being extinct too often to be recorded.
"And yet, they have time to fight each other." Sasuke couldn't believe how stupid humans and faunus could be."When, instead of getting together to face the common enemy, they continue to be consumed by greed and the desire for superiority."
It irritated him, the whole story was practically screaming that his plans would not work. Even if it worked, it would be temporary.
"Mutual understanding is just idealism and illusion. Utopia doesn't exist." Sasuke knew that. His life taught him that Naruto's dreams couldn't work. The Sage tried, his son tried and so did many others after him, including the first Hokage. "Everyone failed, the only thing that has worked remotely until today was an enemy powerful enough to force the union in the midst of discord."
However, Remnant contradicted the answer that Sasuke got after talking to the old Kages.
Even with a common enemy, this world has gone through great wars and experienced an extreme racial division. All this with the possible extinction of life knocking on their doors day and night.
"Damn it." Sasuke sank his fingers into the solid wood of the bookcase and Tukson lost his face color with the malice released by him. "What should I do then?"
True peace was impossible. Everything was pointing to this unquestionable truth.
"No… there must be something." Sasuke breathed, calming the agitated Chakra inside him. He must have left a lot out. "I need more information… Yes, I need to better understand this world from the heart of the matter and then, who knows, I can be sure of my decision."
It would not be wise to arrive at this answer based on a small series of books, whose opinion of the author could be somewhat biased.
Sasuke set a temporary goal, while there was time, he would learn more about this world, his reality while training for his eminent fight with the rabbit goddess. He turned to the store owner, almost causing the man to collapse with the unique vision of the Sharingan shining through the shadow of his hood.
"Which one is the best library in this kingdom?" he demanded. Illusions didn't seem to work around here, something problematic, but nothing big. Apparently, there was no Chakra in this world, just something similar called Aura, and if his eyes were not playing tricks on him, that aura was nothing more than pure spiritual energy, a very vast and strong one by the way.
As such, Sasuke determined that the people in Remnant had an incomplete form of Chakra, which hindered his illusion techniques, at least from the base Sharingan. He refrained from trying a more powerful version of his eyes. Illusions using Mangekyou or above infiltrated the opponent's body with the Chakra itself. It was not possible to know how this Aura reacted in contact with the Chakra, and Sasuke doesn't want to test it on random civilians.
He is not Orochimaru, after all.
Tukson swallowed what appeared to be his own heart and did his best to gain control over his nerves near the collapse.
"B-beacon's academy," he managed to utter and was relieved by the slight nod that Death gave him.
"Tell me more about this Academy," Sasuke continued asking and the attendant looked at him as if he wasn't serious.
Beacon was one of the most famous places in the world. Not knowing about the most famous academy to generate the guardians of humanity and Faunus was like ignoring the greatest source of energy in the world; the dust.
"Quick." Sasuke hated being ignored, something he could effortlessly demonstrate in the sinister glow of his Sharingan.
"Y-yes, sorry..." Tukson took a deep breath and did his best to answer. His life was at stake here. "B-beacon is one of the four great training academies for new huntsmen and huntresses." Death nodded and gestured for him to continue. "Beacon, in particular, is the largest of all, so it must have the largest literary collection in the Vale, perhaps even in the world."
"Good." Beacon just won Sasuke's interest. "And what are the requirements to join this academy?"
Sasuke has been in one before, and as much as it was a waste of time, for the most part, it was undeniable that there was a lot to gain when you didn't know the world around you. If it were that big, it should have training areas and even accommodation to settle.
"Eh?" Did Death want to become a student? Seeing that red-eye narrowing, Tukson cursed his tongue and responded quickly. "Documentation in order, being seventeen, knowing how to fight, having an unlocked Aura and I think to go through a preparatory school!" he managed to say without stuttering and saw Death ponder his words and remembered something. "Oh, and it also seems to have an initiation test."
Tukson needed to thank Blake for telling him all this recently.
"Hn," Sasuke reflected briefly. He knew how to fight, he was sure of that. Age was a convenient coincidence, he was concerned that it was a children's academy, but it turns out to be some kind of graduate school. Fortunately, he turned seventeen a month ago. He had something much better than Aura. The only thing missing was before education, in addition to identification documentation.
"When does this initiation begins?" Sasuke didn't expect the big scared man to know everything, but it didn't hurt to try.
"In two days!" Tukson did not even think and saw Death surprised and then suspicious. "A-a friend's daughter is joining Beacon soon…"
"Last question." Sasuke ignored the happiness and hope appearing in the eyes of his unwanted victim. "Do you know anyone who can put me on this exam in two days?"
Exceeding his expectations, the bookseller knew a certain owner of a nightclub in the center called Junior.
Achieving much more than he expected, Sasuke left the store, but not before putting some of this new coin he bought from people on the streets on the counter and seeing the greatest expression of disbelief ever showed to him.
At the very least, this guy thought he would kill him, but no more. Sasuke regained control over his actions and that included his nature of not killing unless necessary.