That night, at Training Ground Eight in the Uchiha compound.
“Hah!
Hyah!”
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
A long-haired black-haired girl relentlessly struck a wooden training post, alternating fists and kicks with full force.
Sweat had made the surface of the post shine.
She was breathing heavily, and loose strands of hair clung to her forehead, but her movements never slowed.
Her expression was grim, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes filled with resentment—as if the wooden post were a mortal enemy.
“Naori, why are you still training this late?”
The girl stopped and looked back.
At the edge of the training ground stood a taller girl in a light kimono, with the same long black hair.
Her eyes curved gently with a warm smile.
“Nee-san?
Why are you here?”
“Naori isn’t being very cute today,” Mikoto Uchiha said as she approached with graceful steps.
“You used to call me Onee-chan.”
Naori pursed her lips and turned her little face aside.
“…I’m already a second-year student, Nee-san.”
Mikoto laughed softly and came to a stop in front of her younger sister.
She took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Naori’s forehead.
“All right, all right.
Stubborn Naori is adorable too.”
“Then can this very mature second-year student tell her sister why she’s still training so late?”
“We’re inside the clan compound, but if you’re out this late, everyone at home will worry.”
Naori fell silent for a moment and looked down at her reddened knuckles.
“Sorry, Nee-san.”
Mikoto gently rubbed her hair.
“What are you apologizing for?
We’re family.
You don’t need to say things like that.
Come on, let’s go home.”
“Okay.”
On the walk back, Naori finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and told her sister everything that had happened at school.
How a red-haired transfer student named Mirai Uzumaki had tied up more than a dozen classmates with the Adamantine Sealing Chains on his very first day.
How he had thrown three kunai at once and arranged them vertically through the center of the target.
And how, during today’s sparring lesson, a golden chain had lifted her into the air.
When she described the humiliating way she’d been restrained, her voice became quieter and quieter until even the tips of her ears turned red.
Mikoto listened with a smile, but a trace of seriousness quietly entered her eyes.
“So Naori wants to train even harder and defeat that boy named Mirai Uzumaki?”
“Yes!”
Naori clenched her fist.
“I’m definitely going to beat him.
And I’ll beat him properly!”
Mikoto looked at the fire in her little sister’s eyes and affectionately stroked her head.
“I understand.
Your sister supports you.
But…”
“But what?”
“Tomorrow, I want to take a look at this Mirai Uzumaki.”
Mikoto smiled.
“Only from a distance.
I promise I won’t disturb your class.”
Naori blinked.
“Why?”
“Because I want to see what kind of boy managed to make my Naori care this much.”
“Nee-san!”
Naori’s face grew even redder.
“I don’t care about him!
I care about how I’m going to defeat him!”
“Yes, yes.
Defeat him.
Do your best, Naori.”
“Hmph!”
…
The next morning, Mirai and Kushina walked side by side toward the Academy, their red hair especially striking beneath the morning sun.
Mirai yawned as he walked, but his eyes sharpened for an instant.
There it was again.
Within the range of his Mind’s Eye of the Kagura, that same presence had appeared roughly thirty meters behind and to the left.
The person’s breathing was stable and their concealment skill was excellent.
But before the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura, they might as well have been holding a sign that read: I’M WATCHING YOU.
“What’s wrong?” Kushina noticed the change in him and tilted her head.
“Nothing.
Just tired.”
Mirai brushed it off and continued walking as if nothing had happened.
He quietly withdrew his sensory perception.
There was nothing he could do about it.
He was a candidate to become the Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
It was only natural for the Hokage to assign someone to monitor him.
The Anbu surveillance annoyed him, but he wasn’t strong enough yet to overturn the table.
Even flirting with girls meant having an Anbu watching from the shadows.
What kind of miserable life was this?
Mirai sighed internally.
Once he became the Nine-Tails jinchuriki and had enough strength, the first thing he would do was get those Anbu off his back.
But becoming the jinchuriki would also mean Grandma Mito…
His steps slowed.
A complicated feeling rose inside him.
They hadn’t known each other for very long, but that kind old woman who always sat beneath the veranda drinking tea and smiling as she watched them fool around had somehow already carved out an important place in his heart.
Perhaps because Mirai had never experienced that kind of gentle, grandmotherly affection in his previous life.
“Don’t think about it.”
He murmured to himself.
“Whatever happens, happens.”
Kushina leaned closer.
“What did you say?”
“I said the weather’s nice today.”
“Huh?
Mirai…
why have you been saying weird things to yourself lately?”
“Those are adult worries.
You wouldn’t understand.”
“What?!
I’m older than you!
You’re only seven!”
Still bickering, the two soon reached the Academy gate.
Just as they were about to enter, someone stepped in front of them.
She was a black-haired girl a good deal taller than either of them, dressed in the dark clothing often worn by the Uchiha Clan.
Her features were delicate, and her gentle eyes carried a trace of dignified composure.
She looked around eleven or twelve, but it was already obvious she would grow into a striking beauty.
“Hello.
Are you Mirai Uzumaki?”
The girl bent slightly to speak to him in a gentle tone, though her gaze carried a hint of appraisal.
Mirai blinked and looked her over.
Long black hair.
Uchiha crest.
Features somewhat similar to that cold little girl from his class, but with the exact opposite atmosphere.
One was winter ice.
The other was a spring breeze.
Information rapidly passed through his mind before his eyes widened slightly.
“Wait…
are you Mikoto Uchiha?”
“Yes.”
Mikoto nodded, looking a little surprised.
“You know me?”
“I’ve heard of you.”
Mirai kept a straight face, though his thoughts were already racing.
So this was Mikoto Uchiha?
The famed beauty of the Uchiha Clan?
Fugaku’s fiancée?
She was already this pretty at eleven or twelve.
What would happen after another few years?
And that square-faced Fugaku was supposed to deserve her?
His mind spun at high speed, but outwardly he maintained a perfectly polite smile.
“What can I do for you, Mikoto-senpai?”
Mikoto was slightly surprised herself.
The boy looked even more pleasant than Naori’s description suggested.
His red hair glowed softly in the sunlight, and his features were neat enough that even at his young age she could tell he would probably grow into a handsome young man.
More importantly, he showed no panic despite an older student suddenly stopping him.
He remained relaxed and composed.
“I heard you fought my younger sister during practical combat yesterday,” Mikoto said directly.
“I wanted to ask you something.
If you end up fighting her again…
could you go a little easier on her?”
“You don’t have to deliberately lose.
Just…
don’t let her lose too badly.”
Her tone was sincere, with a trace of concern in her eyes.
Naori was stubborn.
After returning home yesterday, she had practiced hand seals alone until late at night.
This morning, her fingers were still trembling.
How could an older sister watch that without worrying?
Mirai blinked, then smiled.
“Mikoto-senpai, I don’t think going easy on her would be right.”
He slipped his hands into his pockets, his voice serious.
“Naori Uchiha wouldn’t accept someone deliberately holding back against her.”
Mikoto paused.
She opened her mouth to argue, but had to admit he was right.
Naori hated being pitied more than anything.
Mikoto sighed and prepared to give up and leave.
“However…”
Mirai’s voice stopped her.
“I can avoid embarrassing her too badly.
For example, I won’t use that…
awkward restraint position again.
I’ll try to let her lose with some dignity.”
Mikoto turned back, surprise and expectation in her eyes.
“But…”
Mirai raised one finger.
“I have one condition.”
“What condition?”
“I can’t tell you yet!
But I promise it won’t be anything outrageous.”
Mikoto frowned slightly and examined him again.
Mirai’s smile was warm and harmless.
Yet for some reason, she suddenly had a strange feeling.
“Mikoto…
you wouldn’t want Naori to end up hanging in the air like that every time we have practical combat, would you?”
The strange feeling intensified.
Mikoto stared at him for a moment, then finally nodded.
“Fine.
I agree.”
“But if Naori challenges you herself, you can’t deliberately lose to her.
She’s very proud.
She’d be even more upset if she realized you let her win.”
“Deal.”
Mirai held out his hand.
Mikoto hesitated briefly, then gently shook it.
His hand was small but surprisingly firm.
“It’s a promise,” Mikoto said with a faint smile.
Under the morning sunlight, that smile made Mirai’s heart itch.
After Mikoto walked away, Kushina immediately jabbed Mirai in the side.
“Hey!
What were you talking about with that pretty Uchiha girl?
Why did you even shake hands?”
“Nothing much.
We simply reached a small cooperation agreement.”
“An agreement?
You’re not planning to sell your looks, are you?”
“Hey!
What do you mean sell my looks?!
Do I look like that kind of person?”
“Hmph!
You were smiling so hard your eyes almost disappeared!”
“…You imagined it.”
The two continued arguing as they walked into the Academy building.
Not far behind them, an Anbu briefly emerged from the shadow of a tree before vanishing again without a sound.
In the Hokage’s office, Hiruzen put down the document in his hands after hearing the Anbu’s report and lightly tapped his pipe.
“Mikoto Uchiha…
How did Mirai somehow get involved with her too?”
After a moment of thought, he simply shook his head.
Children’s business.
Let them handle it themselves, as long as they didn’t cause another major incident.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Uchiha compound, Fugaku Uchiha suddenly sneezed while polishing a kunai.
“Strange…
Why does my back suddenly feel cold?”
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