Yamaue Yohei cast an uneasy glance at Uchiha Hayato. From what he knew, Uchiha Setsuna had once attempted to assassinate the Second Hokage in his younger years. For someone like that to personally summon Hayato now... there was no telling what kind of storm this might stir up.
"Yohei-sensei, I'll be going now." Hayato flashed Yohei a quick smile, then turned and followed the Uchiha officer.
"Chi...?"
Hayato stroked the head of Chimchar, who had picked up on the shift in atmosphere. His mood sank a little. All he wanted right now was to spend time happily with Chimchar. But as an Uchiha, the friction between clan and village wasn't something he could run from.
In his view, the militant faction's ideology had gone off the deep end. The Senju clan had all but vanished. The Hyuuga weren't obsessed with the Hokage seat. And yet a portion of the Uchiha were consumed by the hunger for power. Maybe Madara's will had taken root deeper in the clan than anyone realized.
"Why does Elder Setsuna want to see me?" Hayato asked in a low voice, brow furrowed. He didn't want to walk into this meeting blind.
"Probably the Academy incident. Word about you taking on all those students at once already spread through the clan." The young Military Police officer's voice carried a note of pride. "As expected of an Uchiha kid."
Then he dropped his voice. "Though, you're not truly an Uchiha until you've awakened the Sharingan."
His gaze drifted to Chimchar, and a flicker of surprise crossed his face. "That summoning beast... never seen anything like it."
Before long, Hayato stood in front of a low, modest wooden house. No one would have guessed that this unremarkable little dwelling belonged to the highest-ranking leader of the Uchiha clan.
"This is the place. Go on in."
Hayato nodded to the officer and stepped inside. Beyond the entrance lay an elegant courtyard. An old man sat cross-legged on the corridor, hands clasped over his knees, looking nothing like the fearsome figure the rumors described.
"You're here." The old man spoke, his voice low and unhurried. He raised his head slightly, and his sharp gaze met Hayato's in the air between them.
"Hayato greets Elder Setsuna." His eyes were steady, his voice clear. Neither timid nor overly deferential.
Uchiha Setsuna held his gaze for a moment, then smiled with satisfaction. "A true Uchiha. I heard you defeated quite a few students at the Academy today. That pleases me."
He stroked his chin, his smile turning warm. "How about this. I'll teach you a Fire Release technique."
With that, the old man rose to his feet. His expression turned razor-sharp.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Setsuna formed hand seals at a terrifying speed. Before Hayato could even track the movements, a barrage of massive fireballs erupted from his mouth, their spread covering most of the courtyard.
The wave of heat slammed into Hayato and he stumbled backward. On his back, Chimchar poked its head out, chittering nonstop, stunned by the sheer power of the jutsu.
Hayato looked at the scorched earth and felt a fresh urgency to get stronger. With Setsuna's level of ability, the old man could have killed him in an instant. Was this a show of force? A warning?
He couldn't tell what Uchiha Setsuna was really thinking.
The old man lowered his hands and produced a scroll from the folds of his wide sleeve. "These are my personal notes from when I trained in Fire Release. They contain my experience with the Great Fireball Technique and the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique. Take them and study."
Hayato shook his head. His tone was calm but firm. "Elder, what happened at the Academy today was nothing special. I really can't accept such a generous gift."
Setsuna's expression stiffened for a fraction of a second. His smile gained a barely perceptible edge of rigidity. "Take it. The stronger the Uchiha children become, the more at ease I feel."
Hayato watched the old man's face, and alarm bells screamed inside his head. Nobody gives you something for nothing. Accept this gift, and he'd never get free.
Sure enough, Setsuna shifted the conversation. His gaze landed on Chimchar. "I hear your summoning beast played quite a role in the fight. Why not hand it over to the clan?"
[Ding! Mission issued: The Pokémon Hunter's Demand]
[Choice 1: Hand over Chimchar. Reward: Exp. Candy M x5, TM: Frustration x1, permanently lose the ability to obtain Pokémon.]
[Choice 2: Refuse to hand over Chimchar. Reward: Soothe Bell x1, Fire-type Low-Grade Pokéblock x1]
Hayato's expression darkened. Did this even need thinking about?
Refuse.
His parents in this life died on a mission. They owed the clan nothing. They owed the village nothing.
In his heart, even though he and Chimchar had only been together a short while, the little fire monkey was already family. Asking him to do something like this was out of the question.
And beyond that, handing Chimchar over to Setsuna meant losing it forever, along with any chance of ever obtaining another Pokémon.
"Elder Setsuna, Koen is my summoning beast. I can't hand it over."
This wasn't the era when Senju Tobirama was still in power, when Setsuna's word was absolute within the Uchiha. The elder's face clouded. He hadn't expected the boy to refuse him.
"Turn your summoning beast over to the clan, and you'll receive far better training in return. Isn't that a fair trade?"
"In that case, if the Elder can defeat me using only a genin's level of chakra, I'll agree." Hayato's eyes went cold.
Of course he had no intention of agreeing. This was just a bluff to buy himself room.
Setsuna let out a surprised laugh. "The boy's got nerve. Fine. I'll play your game."
Hayato rubbed Chimchar's head and whispered, "Don't worry. We're not going to lose."
Feeling Hayato's resolve, Chimchar snapped back to life. Its eyes burned as it locked onto Setsuna, battle spirit surging.
Watching the boy and his partner share that moment of affection right in front of him, Setsuna couldn't help but chuckle. Even if he limited himself to the same chakra level as Hayato, his decades of combat experience were no joke.
Kids are always reckless. Let the boy learn his lesson. He could always compensate him in other ways afterward.
"Come at me. Both of you."
Hayato drew a deep breath, rapidly formed hand seals, and two clones materialized at his flanks. All three Hayatos charged Setsuna at once.
Chimchar followed close behind, both fists blazing with roaring fire, hurtling toward Setsuna with a furious howl and swinging its flame-wrapped fists.
Setsuna didn't flinch. A slight shift of his body and he slipped past the Fire Punch entirely. He stepped back half a pace, casually kicked apart the clones, and kept the real Hayato locked in his line of sight.
Chimchar didn't falter. It rolled into a chain of flips, spun midair, and drove both legs toward Setsuna's head.
Double Kick!
Setsuna raised an eyebrow, shot his hand out, and caught Chimchar's ankle with pinpoint precision. The raw strength behind his grip froze Chimchar's momentum dead. At the same moment, the real Hayato lunged from the side, kunai aimed straight at the old man's opening.
Setsuna smiled faintly and flung Chimchar toward Hayato. Unable to adjust in time, Hayato had no choice but to catch Chimchar. The two of them stumbled back several steps together.
"Young man, fighting isn't just about charging head-on." Setsuna's words carried the weight of a warning. "Your teamwork is interesting," he added, an amused look on his face, hands still clasped behind his back. "But it's nowhere near enough."
Setsuna's expression turned cold. The playfulness vanished. He decided to take out Hayato first. He surged forward, a hand-blade slashing down like lightning, aimed straight at Hayato's vitals.
"So fast!"
No time to dodge. Hayato barely managed to raise his kunai to block.
In that instant, Chimchar let out a furious roar and threw itself in front of Hayato. Setsuna's strike landed square on Chimchar's small body, and the impact sent it flying. It crashed to the ground, its tail flame flickering, growing dim.
"Koen!" A searing pain tore through Hayato's chest. Pokémon were creatures of love and loyalty. They'd only been together a few days, and already Chimchar had thrown itself into harm's way to protect him.
Rage and grief slammed together inside him. Under the violent surge of emotion, a crimson flood poured into Hayato's eyes. A single black tomoe materialized, spinning into focus against a vivid red iris.
"Now, of all times?" Setsuna froze. His gaze locked onto those brand-new Sharingan and his pupils contracted. But what surprised him even more wasn't that.
Chimchar dragged itself back to its feet. The flame on its tail suddenly erupted, swelling far larger and fiercer than before.
Blaze, activated!
"Koen, full-power Fire Punch!"
Chimchar screamed at the sky, flames burning hotter and hotter, the air around its fists warping from the heat. With a raw, guttural cry, it rocketed toward Setsuna.
An ordinary genin wouldn't stand a chance anymore. Setsuna could tell. He dropped the casual attitude. If even Hayato had awakened his Sharingan, then he needed to take this seriously.
"What is this?"
Before Setsuna could get a clear look at Chimchar's transformation, Hayato had already pulled out the Cherish Ball.
"Return, Koen." Hayato flickered sideways and vaulted clean out of the courtyard.
"Ha... hahaha..." Setsuna burst out laughing. "Did I just get played by a child?"
"The energy flowing through that summoning beast... it didn't seem like chakra." Setsuna's gaze turned distant and thoughtful. "Not bad at all. Let's see how far those two can go."