The two of them turned around to see a small boy with a shoulder bag, who bore a 30-40% resemblance to Uchiha Itachi, walking toward them with his head held high and an arrogant expression on his face.
“Oh my, isn’t this ‘Sasuke-kun’ (Column-kun)?” A playful smile appeared on Chiya’s face.
Through his frequent visits to the Uchiha clan, Chiya had naturally come to know Sasuke.
Facing one of the “Four Great Laughing Uchiha” of the future, for some reason, Chiya couldn’t help but tease him.
After a few back-and-forth interactions, the two had grown familiar with each other.
Of course, it was limited to this for now; he would still have to beat the kid up in the future—who told him to always act so pretentious and try to challenge people above his rank?
And every time he got beaten, he wouldn’t learn his lesson; once the rain stopped and the sky cleared, “Column-kun” would feel like he was back in the game.
Sasuke’s face flushed red.
“I’ve told you so many times!
My name is Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke, not some ‘Column-kun’!
You are just a loser who couldn’t beat my brother.” Chiya continued to tease him: “Alright, Column-kun.
But you say I’m a loser compared to your brother; we’ve never fought each other, so how do you know I’m not his match?” “Hmph, that goes without saying!” Mentioning Itachi made Sasuke’s face fill with pride and worship.
He was about to say something else when he suddenly snapped back to reality, yelling with a milk-angry tone: “I told you so many times, don’t call me Column-kun!” “Alright, Column-kun.” Chiya’s attitude was enough to drive anyone mad.
“You jerk!
I am Sasuke, not Column-kun!” Sasuke’s face turned even redder.
He raised his fists and charged forward.
The result was predictable: Chiya easily dodged, and Sasuke nearly face-planted into the dirt.
Watching the two figures chasing each other, the gloom in Uchiha Izumi’s heart vanished instantly.
She looked up at the sky and whispered to herself, Perhaps I was just overthinking things.
…
In the distance, two figures stood atop the highest building in Konoha, looking down.
“Itachi, is that your younger brother?
I never thought he’d be this big already.
And who is that Academy student playing with him?
It’s rare to see someone who doesn’t ostracize the Uchiha like the other villagers,” remarked Uchiha Shisui, the Uchiha clan’s strongest Genjutsu user.
“His name is Fujiwara Chiya.
He was in my class at the Academy.
Because he is close with Izumi, he doesn’t treat the Uchiha with the same hostility as the other villagers,” Itachi answered calmly, though his tone sounded somewhat unnatural.
Shisui was taken aback and looked at Itachi with surprise.
“The way you say that, it sounds like there’s more to it…
What happened?” Itachi activated his Sharingan and said, “He is an extremely dangerous person.” “Why do you say that?” Shisui subconsciously activated his Sharingan to observe.
The next second, his pupils dilated in shock.
“This…
this is…” “Did you notice?
Chiya is not a Jinchuriki, nor is he from the Uzumaki clan, yet he possesses a level of chakra that is completely disproportionate to his age.
Looking across all of Konoha, there are very few people whose chakra volume could exceed his,” Itachi said with a grave expression.
Shisui frowned.
“Could you be overthinking this?
Is it enough to call him dangerous just because of that?
Perhaps he was just born that way.
Judging him to be a dangerous person solely based on his chakra volume seems a bit rash…” “No…
it’s just that I have a vague feeling that Chiya is not as simple as he appears on the surface…” Itachi said deeply.
“Relax…” Shisui patted Itachi on the shoulder.
“I think you’ve been too tense lately because of clan affairs.
Even if this young man named Chiya is hiding something, he hasn’t harmed Konoha, nor has he infringed upon the interests of the Uchiha clan.
In this world, not everyone likes to show off their talents.” “Perhaps…” Itachi deactivated his Sharingan without denying it.
“You haven’t told anyone else about this, have you?” Shisui asked again.
Itachi shook his head slowly.
“Since he doesn’t want to attract attention, then don’t publicize it.” With that, Shisui let out a long sigh and said meaningfully: “Sometimes, I really envy those of commoner origin.
At least…
well, never mind.
Let’s head back.
See you tonight at our usual spot.” With that, Shisui vanished in a flash.
Itachi took one last deep look at the departing Chiya, opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately kept silent and also vanished.
The moment they left, Chiya reached out to press his hand on the forehead of the “Column-kun” who was trying to attack him.
He turned his head toward the direction where Itachi had been standing and whispered: “Already left?
People of the Uchiha clan are indeed not simple at all.
It’s just a pity—their emotional intelligence is basically zero.” “Chiya-kun, what are you looking at?” Izumi asked, following Chiya’s gaze.
“Nothing, let’s go.” Chiya shook his head, sighing internally.
Since Shisui had returned, Danzo’s eye-theft incident was not far off.
…
Elsewhere, Shisui had arrived at the rooftop of the Hokage building and knelt on one knee before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
“Lord Hokage.” Just like in the original story, Shisui reported the details of repelling the Mist Village ninjas and proposed his solution to prevent the Uchiha coup.
At first, Hiruzen was skeptical because he knew that the conflict between the Uchiha and the Konoha leadership had reached an irreconcilable point.
It wasn’t until Shisui mentioned Kotoamatsukami that a flicker of emotion crossed Hiruzen’s clouded, aged eyes.
“Kotoamatsukami?
Is that your Dojutsu?” Hiruzen remained with his back to Shisui, making it impossible for the latter to see what he was thinking.
“Yes, Lord Hokage.
It is the Dojutsu I obtained after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
It allows me to manipulate anyone without their knowledge, permanently and thoroughly altering their thoughts and will.
But because the power of this technique is so great, it requires a cooling-off period of over a decade after each use.” Shisui didn’t hide anything and stated his plan honestly: “I will use this technique on Clan Head Fugaku Uchiha at tomorrow’s clan meeting to stop the Uchiha clan’s rebellion.” Hiruzen was shocked, a deep sense of apprehension flashing through his eyes, though he kept his face impassive.
He turned around and walked past Shisui.
“I understand.
Consider this a top-secret mission entrusted to you by me.
Go ahead and do it.
Come see me again this time tomorrow; I will find you an assistant.” Only a Sharingan can counter a Sharingan, Hiruzen thought.
He intended to have Itachi monitor Shisui to ensure everything went according to plan.
“Yes, Lord Hokage.” Shisui responded respectfully and vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
Once he returned to his office, Hiruzen fell into deep thought.
Clearly, the power of Shisui’s Kotoamatsukami had far exceeded his control.
As the strongest Hokage in Konoha’s history, he had to take precautions against any potential threats.
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