Sasuke rolled his eyes and responded, "Okay, Mr. Itachi."
Seeing his brother's perfunctory look, Itachi couldn't help but smile helplessly.
"This is another member of our team, Sai."
The two walked to the gate of the Ninja Academy, and Sai walked toward them.
"Hello, my name is Uchiha Sasuke. I look forward to working with you." Sasuke stretched out his hand to Sai.
Sai had an obvious smirk on his face, the kind that seemed designed to gain trust, but to be honest, Sasuke felt it would've been more convincing if he didn't smile at all.
He narrowed his eyes and smiled exactly like Ichimaru Gin from the stories he'd read—giving off the eerie feeling of a man not to be trusted at first glance.
"Hi, my name is Sai. I hope we can get along well." Sai smiled and took Sasuke's hand.
After observing closely, Sasuke noticed that Sai's skin was paler than his, and his features were striking enough to even rival his own—at least when Sai wasn't faking a smile.
"Alright, let's find a quiet place to talk. You two, follow me." Itachi said, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
"Let's go, Sasuke-kun." Sai turned with that same fixed smile.
Sasuke said nothing, activating his own Shunshin no Jutsu to follow after Itachi, with Sai following close behind.
Before long, the three arrived in a secluded grove within the Hidden Leaf Village. Sasuke glanced over at Sai and noted his steady breathing. His physical conditioning and chakra reserves were clearly above average.
"Alright, you two go ahead and introduce yourselves. Let's get to know one another," Itachi said, after recalling the advice he'd gotten from his former team leader, Yūki Minazuki.
"Huh? Sensei, aren't you supposed to introduce yourself first? Most jonin do that before letting the genin speak," Sasuke said with a smirk. Though he could guess what Itachi would say, it was still amusing to make his normally reserved brother talk in front of others.
"...Right. I almost forgot. You're correct." Itachi, realizing he couldn't escape, sighed and began.
"My name is Uchiha Itachi. I enjoy three-colored dango. I detest conflict. My dream is to see a world where there are no more wars and everyone truly understands one another." Itachi finished and looked toward Sasuke, signaling it was his turn.
Sai stood silently, listening attentively.
Sasuke sat on a wooden post and began, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like grilled fish, fried eggs, and hot pot..."
Itachi listened quietly, committing the list of favorite foods to memory.
"I dislike... Hmm... I can't think of anything I particularly hate right now. As for my dream—it's to continually challenge stronger opponents, surpass my own limits, and live happily with those who love me, and whom I love in return."
What Sasuke said came from the bottom of his heart. In his previous life, he'd had no family to speak of.
Abandoned by his parents at the age of eight or nine, and then losing the grandparents who raised him just a few years into high school, he had spent the last of their savings on funeral arrangements. He had only just begun university when he was suddenly bound to a strange system and pulled into this world.
Maybe it was because he had worked too many part-time jobs before transmigrating, and dozed off during a remote class. Perhaps, in truth, he had died from overwork.
Because of all that, he yearned deeply for a peaceful family life—even if he rarely showed it.
Part of why he trained so hard every day came from that past.
"Alright, Sai, your turn," Sasuke looked at the pale-skinned ninja.
Sai thought for a long moment before responding, "My name is Sai. I have no favorite food, no dislikes, and no dream."
Sasuke wasn't surprised. Sai had been raised within Root—trained to be a weapon. Danzo's orders were his reality. The ideas of liking or hating something were likely foreign to him.
Hearing Sai's reply, Itachi felt a quiet sympathy. He didn't yet know Sai's background; the file Sai submitted identified him merely as an ordinary Chunin who had passed the exam last year.
"Since we all know each other now, let's move straight to the first mission for Team 11," Itachi said plainly.
Sasuke blinked. His older brother really wasn't suited for the role of a Jonin leader, skipping procedures and going straight to the mission?
"What is it, Sasuke? You look confused," Itachi asked, turning his head.
"Uh… Sensei, aren't we supposed to do something like the bell test?" Sasuke asked.
Itachi looked at him and replied, "There are only two of you besides me. The bell test isn't suitable. And both of you already know how it works, which defeats the purpose. Besides, Sai is already a Chunin of the village. I have no authority to send him back to redo the Academy curriculum."
"As for your evaluation, I'll be watching your actions on the next mission to determine whether you're fit to be a ninja."
Hearing that, Sasuke mentally kicked himself for asking something so obvious.
"Oh, alright. Let's go pick up a mission then."
With the explanation out of the way, Sasuke had no objections. Naturally, neither did Sai—who had been conditioned since youth to treat every order as an absolute mission.
The three of them arrived at the mission assignment hall. Itachi scanned the task board and frowned when he saw that not a single D-rank mission was available.
"Are there no D-rank missions left in the village?" Itachi asked the mission center clerk with a frown.
"Because the current Ninja Academy class just graduated today, all of today's D-rank missions were taken. However, we do still have a few C-rank missions available—none of which require leaving the Land of Fire and are relatively low risk. Would you like to take a look?" The staff ninja smiled apologetically and explained.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the explanation. While it was true that today was the graduation day for the Academy's students, most teams still had to pass the bell test before they could start accepting missions. How could all the D-rank missions have been taken already?
Someone was clearly manipulating things again. But... so be it. Let's see what's really going on behind the scenes.
He was strong enough now that caution was less necessary. Not to mention, he had a big brother next to him with power at least on par with a Kage.
"Sensei Itachi, why don't we take a C-rank mission..." Sasuke suggested, voice calm but eyes sharp.