As a veteran of the Second Great Ninja War, Hiruzen had a keen nose for war.
And at this time, the importance of the Uchiha grew more apparent.
Unlike other ninja clans, the Uchiha clan might just... get stronger the more they fought in a war.
After thinking, Hiruzen Sarutobi flipped back to Kiyoshi Uchiha's periodic performance review form.
Taking out a pen, Hiruzen Sarutobi wrote down the four characters: "Special Attention."
Originally, he had wanted to find one Uchiha to act as a link to ease relations with the Uchiha clan.
He intended to have Minato train him.
Now it seemed, perhaps he could add another candidate.
Kiyoshi Uchiha, having only recently arrived, would presumably be more susceptible to the philosophy of the Will of Fire than other Uchiha.
...
Evening.
Asuma Sarutobi, having returned home, was glum.
Just thinking about the embarrassment in front of Kurenai Yūhi, Asuma Sarutobi felt like the sky was falling.
His hard-earned tough-guy image was probably completely ruined.
"No, I must prove myself to Kurenai!"
Asuma Sarutobi clenched his fist.
He admitted his Genjutsu was inferior to Kiyoshi's.
Underestimating him, he misjudged Kiyoshi's strength, even without the Sharingan, his Genjutsu was powerful.
Next, he would bring out his greatest strength.
In his room, Asuma Sarutobi looked at his trench knife-style ninja tool, forged from half chakra metal and half ordinary metal.
He also planned to replace it all with special chakra metal later, forging a ninja tool that belonged only to him.
"Chakra Flow, I definitely won't lose to you in this, right?"
Asuma Sarutobi muttered to himself.
To be safe, he also planned to continue his special training for a while.
When the time came, he would challenge Kiyoshi to a Taijutsu duel!
...
The streets, seven o'clock in the evening.
There had been another autumn rain last night.
Kiyoshi exhaled.
Yesterday was the final autumn rain, today, winter had arrived.
On both sides of the street, the trees' withered yellow leaves drifted in the cold wind.
Some time had passed since he defeated Asuma Sarutobi and gained the Trait.
"I want this, and this too."
Kiyoshi pointed to the ingredients, and the shop owner immediately packaged them for him.
Since he lived alone, whether it was buying groceries, cooking, washing clothes, or sweeping, Kiyoshi did it all himself.
"You're completely useless! You can't even buy the right dessert."
A voice of scolding came through.
It was accompanied by the crisp sound of a slap.
Causing surrounding passersby to look over.
Kiyoshi looked over, seeing Natsu Hyūga, whom he had met once at Training Ground Three.
At this moment, she was dutifully lowering her head.
Her dark green short hair concealed her white eyes, and her body couldn't stop trembling slightly.
"Yes, Madam Ginka."
Natsu Hyūga respectfully replied to the noblewoman in front of her.
The noblewoman's gesture of swinging her palm perfectly outlined her curvaceous figure, even under the heavy robe.
"Buy it and remember to bring it back. I also want a fresh order of squid sushi."
Ginka Hyūga instructed haughtily.
The sushi shop with the unique flavor had been quite good recently.
Other sushi shops didn't have this kind of new style at all.
The moment she turned around, the curious passersby immediately looked away, not daring to make eye contact.
This was the Hyūga clan's Main House.
The Hyūga clan is one of Village's two great Dōjutsu clans, and the status of its members is clearly divided.
Namely, the Main House and the Branch House!
Without needing to think, the one being hit was certainly from the Branch House.
Passersby tightened their collars and continued walking.
These were internal matters of the Hyūga, it was best to leave.
Kiyoshi, meanwhile, kept watching this scene.
"Will [Gentle Fist] drop a Trait?"
Kiyoshi thought to himself.
He was very envious of the Hyūga clan's abilities.
Take the [Chakra Flow: Fire Release] Trait he obtained, for example, this ability can be attached to weapons.
As for attaching it to the body, that was a method far beyond Kiyoshi's grasp.
Even Jonin couldn't do it at will, only able to release chakra from parts like their hands and feet at most.
Releasing chakra from other parts would be especially difficult.
Furthermore, continuously releasing chakra—that is, maintaining [Chakra Flow] on the body's surface for long periods—would place an immense load on the chakra points, causing the ninja pain.
Only the Hyūga clan can freely release chakra from all their chakra points across their entire body, such as in [Gentle Fist] techniques like [Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven].
"Squid sushi..."
Natsu Hyūga looked at the sky, which was already darkening.
It would be night soon.
But that sushi shop absolutely wouldn't be open at night. How was she going to explain this to Ginka Hyūga?
"Did you run into trouble, Natsu Hyūga-kun?"
"It's... Kiyoshi-kun."
Natsu Hyūga only raised her eyes to see who was greeting her after confirming Ginka Hyūga had walked away.
The person who came was Kiyoshi, whom she wasn't very familiar with.
"Are you looking to buy squid sushi?"
Kiyoshi asked.
"Mhm."
Although she didn't know why Kiyoshi Uchiha was approaching her, Natsu Hyūga still nodded.
"Let's go, I'll take you."
Kiyoshi waved, showing a smile.
"Eh... but that shop should be closed already."
Natsu Hyūga sighed, melancholy hidden in her eyes.
When she returned to the clan, she would probably be scolded again.
Ginka Hyūga hated them making excuses the most.
"I'm a regular customer there."
Kiyoshi smiled lightly.
The people at that sushi shop were practically desperate for him to go there every day—preferably to go back to Cloud village together.
"Let's go."
Kiyoshi walked forward a few steps, motioning for Natsu Hyūga to follow.
Natsu Hyūga was stunned for a moment, then followed.
Regardless of whether Kiyoshi was a regular customer as he claimed, she still had to confirm if the shop was closed or not.
The two walked together and quickly arrived at the sushi shop.
The person busy inside the shop was preparing to close. Seeing that someone had arrived, he intended to go out and ask the customers to come back the next day.
When he got closer and saw it was Kiyoshi, he immediately changed what he was about to say, warmly asking Kiyoshi and Natsu Hyūga what they wanted.
Kiyoshi glanced at the person greeting them.
It wasn't Samui.
It was another person he had seen in the secret room, but he didn't recognize him.
"We'd like one order of squid sushi."
Kiyoshi spoke.
"You're a regular customer, we'll arrange it right away."
The person greeting them was Yasugawa Kōya, who led Kiyoshi and Natsu Hyūga to a private room.
"I like it a bit quiet."
Kiyoshi added as Yasugawa Kōya was about to leave.
The subtext was that, having come here, he didn't like being spied on.
"Please don't worry, our shop's soundproofing is guaranteed."
Yasugawa Kōya smiled, closed the door, and then returned to the secret room to report to Samoduo.
"In that case, leave him be."
Hearing that Kiyoshi had brought a girl, Samoduo agreed to Kiyoshi's request.
People this age were just beginning to be curious about the opposite sex, Samoduo understood Kiyoshi.
With this spy location having been exposed to Kiyoshi, Samoduo certainly didn't want to risk his life to offend Kiyoshi.
At least, not here.
***
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