Shinya Uchiha walked proudly through the hostile gazes of Konoha’s civilians, his head held high and even a confident smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Far from having his pride wounded, he almost felt proud of their hostility.
“Uchiha…
Shinya, right?”
Suddenly, a familiar white-haired shinobi stepped into his path.
Shinya wasn’t surprised in the slightest to see Kakashi.
Sakumo Hatake and Obito Uchiha were two wounds that would never truly disappear from Kakashi’s heart.
Even Rin ranked slightly below those two in terms of the impact they had left on him.
There was no chance Kakashi would simply ignore Shinya’s invitation.
Just as Kakashi was about to speak, Shinya raised a hand to stop him and pointed toward Ichiraku Ramen nearby.
“Want some ramen?”
“My treat.”
Kakashi fell silent.
“…”
He couldn’t understand why this young Uchiha was acting so completely at ease.
It was almost as though Shinya had known from the beginning that Kakashi would come.
Without waiting for an answer, Shinya walked straight into Ichiraku.
He called toward the man behind the counter.
“Two large bowls of tonkotsu ramen.”
“Coming right up!”
Teuchi immediately got to work with a cheerful smile.
He held no prejudice against the Uchiha.
And years later, he wouldn’t hold any prejudice against the so-called Nine-Tails brat Naruto either.
Before long, two steaming bowls of tonkotsu ramen were placed in front of them.
Shinya had eaten here plenty of times already, but even he had to admit that Ichiraku had survived on this street for so many years for a reason.
The ramen really was excellent.
Shinya immediately began eating with gusto.
Kakashi, however, didn’t touch his bowl.
His single exposed eye remained fixed intensely on Shinya.
The message was obvious.
If Shinya didn’t give him a satisfactory explanation, Kakashi wasn’t going anywhere.
“I recommend eating something first.”
Shinya calmly took another bite.
“Because once I tell you what comes next, you probably won’t feel like eating for the rest of the day.”
Kakashi remained silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly asked,
“What do you want from me?”
No one offered kindness without a reason.
There was always a price.
Even if Shinya really possessed the truth Kakashi wanted, why would he simply give it away?
Until Kakashi understood that, he couldn’t trust a single word that came out of Shinya’s mouth.
Shinya snapped his fingers.
“Talking to smart people really does save time.”
“Then I’ll be direct.”
“I want the development notes for your Chidori.”
Kakashi frowned.
Chidori was an A-rank ninjutsu.
Its value was extraordinarily high.
It was even barely worthy of being recorded among the kind of advanced techniques preserved in the Scroll of Seals.
Kakashi had been continuously refining the technique.
Its purpose was to take full advantage of the Sharingan’s exceptional dynamic vision and allow its extreme speed to be used safely and effectively.
But Kakashi had never publicly demonstrated the technique.
In all of Konoha, fewer than five people knew he possessed it and could explicitly call it by the name Chidori.
So how did Shinya know?
Kakashi was just about to refuse.
But once again, Shinya seemed to predict his response before he even spoke.
He raised a hand.
“Why don’t you hear what I have to say first?”
“Then you can decide whether the Chidori notes are worth giving me.”
Kakashi’s frown deepened.
Shinya was offering the information first and asking for payment afterward.
The terms were so generous they were almost nonexistent.
Even if what Shinya eventually told him turned out to be exactly the truth Kakashi wanted, Kakashi could simply refuse afterward.
Nothing would stop him.
Shinya did not strike him as someone that generous.
Their interactions had been brief, but the young Uchiha had already left an extremely strong impression on him.
First, he had used Sakumo’s suicide inside a genjutsu to destabilize Kakashi.
Then, at the exact moment the illusion was broken, he had invited Kakashi to seek him out.
Every step had connected perfectly with the next.
And now Shinya was offering terms so favorable that he was practically giving away his information for free.
Kakashi couldn’t help suspecting that obtaining Chidori wasn’t Shinya’s true objective at all.
What Shinya really wanted…
was for Kakashi to hear whatever he planned to say next.
Whether he actually received Chidori afterward might only be secondary.
Kakashi suddenly wasn’t sure he wanted to continue.
A part of him was afraid that Shinya might say something capable of completely overturning everything he believed.
But while Kakashi hesitated, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.
Raised voices.
Shouting.
And what sounded like something being smashed.
Shinya glanced toward the entrance, adjusted his uniform, and stood.
“Sorry.”
“Duty calls.”
“I’m with the Military Police now, so I need to deal with that.”
“You can stay here and think.”
“Give me your answer before I come back.”
With that, Shinya ignored Kakashi completely and walked out of Ichiraku.
…
Commercial districts were among the places most prone to disturbances.
The war had only recently ended.
Some shinobi had returned from the battlefield carrying severe psychological trauma.
At times, they could lose their grip on reality and become violent in public.
In another world, people would call it PTSD.
The members of the Konoha Military Police Force were actually quite conscientious about their duties.
The moment an injured genin attempted to attack someone, nearby officers immediately rushed forward and restrained him.
Unfortunately, one of the genin’s companions refused to accept what had happened.
She even tried to shove the Uchiha officers who were making the arrest.
Normally, whenever something like this happened, the Military Police would patiently explain the situation before taking the offender back to their headquarters for detention.
But their habit of arresting first and explaining afterward had often caused public resentment.
The genin’s companion was a middle-aged woman who wasn’t even a shinobi.
Judging from her behavior, she was probably his wife.
The instant she saw the Uchiha restraining her husband, she dropped straight onto the ground and began screaming while kicking up a scene.
She perfectly embodied everything Shinya disliked about Konoha’s troublesome civilians.
“The Uchiha are beating people again!”
“Is there no justice left in Konoha?!”
This kind of scene had happened more than once.
Every time, the Military Police arrested the offender first and tried to explain afterward.
And somehow, they usually ended up offending both sides.
Just as the woman reached out to grab one of the officers by his uniform, an icy voice came through the surrounding crowd.
“You’re attacking a member of the Konoha Military Police in broad daylight.”
“Are you trying to rebel against the village?”
At the sound of that voice, the crowd instinctively parted.
Shinya walked through.
Three tomoe appeared in his crimson eyes as he slowly swept his gaze across everyone present.
Every person who met those blood-red eyes immediately lowered their head.
It felt as though a massive predator had suddenly fixed its gaze upon them.
Even the woman who had been screaming and rolling around moments earlier froze.
But only for a second.
Humiliation quickly turned into anger.
And her anger overwhelmed her fear.
“What right do you Uchiha have to arrest anyone?!”
“Release my husband right now!”
“Otherwise, I’ll report every last one of you to Lord Hokage!”
A cold, almost cruel smile appeared on Shinya’s face.
“In broad daylight, you openly threaten the Konoha Military Police Force, an institution established by order of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and entrusted to the Uchiha clan?”
His crimson Sharingan stared directly at her.
“Are you saying that your authority stands above that of Konoha’s hero—the Second Hokage himself?!”