Nightfall, Uchiha Clan grounds, Training Ground No.
8.
“Hei!
Ha!”
“Pa!
Pa!
Pa!”
A girl with long straight black hair was working hard hitting a wooden post, alternating punches and kicks, each strike carrying full force.
The surface of the wooden post was already shining, soaked with sweat.
She panted heavily, her bangs stuck to her forehead by sweat, but her movements didn’t stop for a second.
Her expression was serious, her mouth slightly pursed, and her eyes held a deep-seated resentment—as if the wooden post before her was some sworn enemy.
“Naori, why are you training so late today?”
The girl stopped and looked back.
At the edge of the training ground, another tall girl with the same long straight black hair, wearing a light kimono, stood there, her eyes curved in a gentle smile.
“Onee-san, why are you here?”
“Naori is being naughty,” Uchiha Mikoto said as she walked over gracefully, her footsteps soft.
“You used to call me Onee-chan.”
Uchiha Naori pursed her lips and turned her small face away slightly: “…I’m already in the second grade, Nee-san.”
Mikoto chuckled, walked up to her younger sister, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Fine, fine.
Naori is cutest when she’s being stubborn.”
“So, second-grader Naori-kun, can you tell your sister why you’re training so late today?”
“Even though we’re within the clan grounds, the family will worry if it’s too late.”
Naori fell silent for a moment, looking down at the reddened backs of her hands: “I’m sorry, Nee-san.”
Mikoto rubbed her hair: “What are you apologizing for, Little Chiri?
We’re family, there’s no need for that.
Come home with me.”
“Hai~!”
On the way home, Uchiha Naori finally couldn’t hold it in and told her everything that happened at school.
From how that red-haired Uzumaki Mirai used Adamantine Sealing Chains to tie up over a dozen classmates on his first day as a transfer student,
to hitting the bullseye with three Kunai lined up vertically during throwing class,
to today’s combat class where he hung her in mid-air with a chain—
When she mentioned the final “star-shaped” pose, Naori’s voice grew smaller and smaller, and her ears turned completely red.
As Mikoto listened, the smile on her face didn’t fade, but a hint of seriousness quietly flickered in her eyes.
“So Naori wants to train harder and defeat that boy named Uzumaki Mirai, right?”
“Yes!” Naori clenched her fists.
“I will definitely defeat him!
And I’ll do it fair and square!”
Mikoto looked at her sister’s burning eyes and gently patted her head: “Wakatta.
Big sister supports you, but—”
“But what?”
“But tomorrow, I want to go take a look at that Uzumaki Mirai,” Mikoto smiled.
“Just a glance from afar, I promise not to disturb your class.”
Naori was stunned: “Why?”
“Because I want to see for myself what kind of person this boy who has my Naori so concerned really is, da wa yo.”
“Onee-san~!” Naori’s face turned even redder.
“I’m not ‘concerned’ about him!
I’m concerned about how to defeat him!”
“Hai, hai, to defeat him~ Ganbatte, Naori!”
“Hmph!”
…
Early the next morning.
Uzumaki Mirai and Uzumaki Kushina walked side by side on the way to school, their red hair especially striking in the morning light.
He yawned as he walked, but his gaze sharpened for an instant.
—Here it comes again.
Within the range of Kagura Minds Eye, that presence appeared again about thirty meters behind to the left.
The presence was steady, and the concealment technique was very high.
But in front of Kagura Minds Eye, it was no different from holding up a sign saying ‘I am monitoring you.’
“What’s wrong?” Kushina noticed his abnormality and tilted her head to ask.
“Nothing, just a bit sleepy.” Mirai brushed it off and continued walking as if nothing was wrong.
He quietly retracted his perception.
There was no helping it; he was a candidate for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, so it was normal for the Hokage’s side to send people to watch him.
Although the Anbu’s surveillance annoyed him, he didn’t have the capital to flip the table yet.
Even picking up girls has to be watched by the Anbu…
what kind of situation is this?
He sighed in his heart.
Once he became the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and gained strength, the first thing he’d do is drive the Anbu away from him.
But becoming a Jinchuriki would also mean Grandma Mito…
Thinking of this, his footsteps faltered, and an indescribable emotion welled up in his heart.
Although they hadn’t known each other long, that kind old lady who always sat under the corridor drinking tea and smiling as she watched them play had unknowingly occupied a significant place in his heart.
Perhaps it was because in his past life, Mirai had never experienced this kind of gentle love?
“Stop thinking about it,” he whispered to himself.
“Let nature take its course.”
Kushina leaned in: “What did you say?”
“I said—the weather is nice today.”
“Eh~ Mirai…
why have you been talking so cryptically lately?”
“It’s called ‘adult worries,’ you wouldn’t understand.”
“Ha?
I’m older than you, okay!
You’re only seven!”
The two bickered and arrived at the school gate in the blink of an eye.
Just as they reached the front gate, a figure blocked their path.
It was a girl with long straight black hair who was a head taller than them, wearing the dark kimono common to the Uchiha Clan.
Her features were delicate, and her gentle eyes held a hint of elegance.
She was around eleven or twelve years old, but already a real beauty in the making.
“Hai~!
Are you Uzumaki Mirai?”
The girl leaned forward slightly, her tone gentle, but her gaze held a hint of scrutiny.
Mirai was stunned for a moment and looked up at her.
Long straight black hair, Uchiha crest, her features were somewhat similar to that cold little girl with long straight black hair, but her temperament was completely opposite—
One was an iceberg, the other a spring breeze.
Information flashed through his mind, and then his eyes widened slightly.
“Masaka!
Are you—Uchiha Mikoto?”
“Yes,” Mikoto nodded gently, somewhat surprised.
“You know me?”
“I’ve heard of you.” Mirai’s expression remained unchanged, but his heart was in turmoil.
This is Uchiha Mikoto?
The number one beauty of the Uchiha?
Fugaku’s square-faced fiancée?
She’s already this beautiful at eleven or twelve; what will she be like in a few years?
How could that weak, square-faced man Fugaku be worthy of her!
His mind raced, but on the surface, he maintained a polite smile: “Does Mikoto-senpai have something for me?”
Mikoto looked at him, also slightly surprised.
This little boy was even more…
pleasing to the eye than Naori had described.
His red hair had a soft luster in the sunlight, and his features were well-defined.
Although he was still young, one could already tell he would grow up to be handsome.
Furthermore, facing an upperclassman suddenly blocking his way, he was composed and gracious.
“I heard that you fought with my younger sister in yesterday’s combat class,” Mikoto said, getting straight to the point.
“I came to ask you—if you have another chance to face her in the future, could you please…
go a little easy on her?
Just don’t let her lose too embarrassingly.”
Her tone was earnest, and there was a hint of heartache in her eyes.
Naori is a stubborn child.
After going back last night, she practiced hand signs alone in her room until midnight, and her fingers were shaking when she woke up this morning.
As her older sister, how could she not feel pained seeing that?
Mirai blinked, then smiled.
“Mikoto-senpai, I think—” He put his hands in his pockets, his tone serious.
“Going easy isn’t right.
With Uchiha Naori’s personality, she wouldn’t accept someone holding back on her.”
Mikoto was stunned.
She opened her mouth to say something but felt he was right.
That child Naori indeed hates it most when people pity her.
She sighed, prepared to give up, and turned to leave.
“However—”
Mirai’s voice caught up from behind.
“I can refrain from bullying her so badly.
For example, not using that…
well, rather awkward binding method, and trying to let her lose with some dignity.”
Mikoto turned around, a hint of surprise and expectation in her eyes.
“But,” Mirai held up a finger, “I have one condition.”
“What condition?”
“I can’t tell Mikoto-senpai yet!
But I can guarantee it won’t be anything too excessive.”
Mikoto’s brow furrowed slightly as she took another careful look at Mirai.
The latter had a gentle smile on his face, looking harmless.
But for some reason, she felt something was off.
“Mikoto-neesan, you wouldn’t want—Naori to be hung in mid-air in a star-shape every combat class, would you?”
When those words came out, Mikoto’s feeling became even stranger.
She frowned: “Fine, I promise you.”
“But—if Naori actively challenges you, you can’t deliberately lose to her.
That child has a lot of pride; she’d be even more upset if you lost on purpose.”
“make a deal.” Mirai reached out his hand.
Mikoto was stunned for a moment, then also reached out and gave it a light squeeze.
The small hand wasn’t large, but the grip was firm.
“It’s a promise.” Mikoto smiled slightly.
That smile, bathed in the morning light, made Mirai’s heart itch.
After Mikoto walked away, Kushina suddenly poked Mirai’s waist: “Hey!
What did you say to that pretty sister from the Uchiha family?
Why did you even shake hands?”
“Nothing, just reached a small cooperation agreement.”
“An agreement?
You’re not going to sell your looks, are you?”
“Ah, hey, hey—sell my looks!
Am I that kind of person!”
“Hmph, I saw you smiling so much your eyes were almost squinted into slits!”
“…You saw wrong.”
The two walked into the teaching building bickering, while not far behind them, an Anbu figure silently appeared for a second in the shadows of the trees before quickly vanishing again.
In the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the scroll in his hand.
After hearing the Anbu’s report, he lightly tapped his pipe.
“Uchiha Mikoto…
how did Mirai’s affairs get involved with her again?”
He thought for a moment and eventually just shook his head.
It’s just stuff between kids, let them be.
As long as they don’t cause any trouble.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the Uchiha Clan grounds, Uchiha Fugaku, who was wiping a Kunai, suddenly sneezed.
“Strange…
why do I feel a chill down my spine?”