"This is..."
Noah froze for a moment, then stood up and walked toward the figure floating in the water.
To his surprise, it was a Hidden Leaf ninja.
More precisely-an Uchiha.
Noah had seen this kind of attire before, and the man was clearly emitting a gloomy, unstable energy... chakra. Combined with the sunken eye sockets and the near-death state he was in, Noah had no trouble identifying him.
"...How did I end up running into this guy?"
Rubbing his chin, Noah stared at the half-dead man with a speechless expression.
"I was just thinking about whether to make contact with the Uchiha clan, and the next moment Shisui Uchiha comes drifting over? Or is my luck just that absurdly bad-or good?"
Glancing around and confirming there was no one nearby, Noah grabbed the man and dashed into the forest.
Having lived in the Hidden Leaf for seven years and studied two years at the Ninja Academy, Noah naturally understood chakra. He had even learned to use it himself.
As for chakra's origins-Kaguya and all that-Noah honestly didn't care.
The body he was using now wasn't his original one anyway. Researching the power system of this universe was something he'd planned from the start.
Refusing to use chakra just because its source was "problematic" would be idiotic.
The correct approach was simple: use it, refine it, and eventually surpass or eradicate the source.
He'd done the same thing with Dormammu's dark power.
Find the flaw. Purify it. Make it his own.
That said, Noah wasn't strong enough yet to think about doing anything to the source itself. For now, chakra posed no threat to him.
As for his current strength?
Physical arts-trash.
He had perfectly inherited his Kamar-Taj tradition: abysmal close combat ability.
Ninjutsu?
Even worse.
Coming from an ordinary background, Noah had no access to high-level techniques. To this day, the only ninjutsu he could use were the legendary Three Basic Jutsu.
That was it.
As for Holy Light and Darkness, those were still under research. They had more or less become passive traits at this point. Still, Noah's chakra reserves were absurdly large-far beyond what his age should allow.
He sometimes wondered if this body was secretly related to the Senju.
But it was probably just the Holy Light.
It might have translated into some kind of Yang Release bonus in this universe-or something similar.
Either way, his chakra was simply ridiculous.
Dragging Shisui deeper into the forest, Noah laid him gently on the ground and began thinking.
Not about whether to save him.
But about the Uchiha situation.
Before, Noah hadn't been sure how far the standoff between the Uchiha and the village had progressed.
Now?
Seeing Shisui like this told him everything.
The Uchiha clan probably had only a few months left before they were collectively sent to the afterlife.
That realization made Noah hesitate.
Should he let the original timeline play out and allow the Uchiha to be wiped out?
Or should he intervene?
Saving the Uchiha would be troublesome-but not impossible.
The key was Itachi.
Specifically, making Itachi completely lose trust in the Hidden Leaf.
Fortunately, Shisui was already the perfect wedge.
With Shisui gone, many of Itachi's actions in the original story reflected his internal conflict and distrust-especially toward Danzo.
The fact that Danzo reappeared the moment the Third Hokage died was proof enough.
Itachi had essentially been holding the village hostage: push me too far, and I'll expose everything.
So the question was how to sharpen that thorn.
After all this time, Noah realized he actually wanted some action.
And more importantly-he wanted ninjutsu.
If he could use this incident to pry techniques out of the Uchiha, all the better.
Worst case?
If it failed, he'd just let the original plot proceed.
Either way, he'd get what he wanted eventually.
And there was no chance Noah would personally get involved in something this messy.
With perfect acting material lying right in front of him, not using it would be criminal stupidity.
"...Forget it. I'll save you first."
Noah shook his head and looked at Shisui, whose breathing was barely there.
"A second later and you'd really be dead. I don't know necromancy-that would be a problem."
As the thought crossed his mind, Noah's right eye suddenly lit up with brilliant golden radiance.
A massive surge of chakra erupted from his body.
Even Noah himself found it excessive.
Golden light flowed into Shisui's body, and almost immediately, the man's heart began beating steadily again.
Within minutes, Shisui shot upright, clutching his stomach and coughing violently as he spat out water.
Apparently, he'd swallowed half the river.
"I say," Noah remarked calmly, "if you're going to vomit, could you wait a bit? I'm not done yet."
He really wasn't.
While Shisui was alive now, there were still problems left.
"Cough-cough..."
Shisui wiped his mouth, eyes unfocused, and asked warily, "Who are you? Where am I?"
"Hidden Leaf Village," Noah shrugged. "You're lucky you didn't float out."
"And you?" Shisui asked weakly. "You saved me? You sound young... a medical ninja? What's your name?"
This guy talks too much.
Noah didn't bother answering.
Instead, he pointed at Shisui's empty eye sockets.
Shisui couldn't see-but he could feel.
Before he could react, a violent itching sensation exploded inside his skull.
Something was growing.
The sensation was so intense that if Shisui weren't a seasoned ninja, he might have screamed.
Fortunately, it didn't last long.
Then-
He felt it.
His eyes.
They were back.
Shisui forced them open, immediately squinting as light flooded in.
If it weren't nearly dusk, the brightness alone might have blinded him.
"I suggest you don't open them so recklessly," Noah said casually.
"Newly grown parts need time to adapt. Be glad it's evening-midday sun would've ruined you. Alright, don't move. The other eye."
"You...!"
Shisui was speechless.
Straining to see, he finally got a good look at the boy in front of him.
Young.
Very young.
About Sasuke's age.
And yet...
His power was unfathomable.
When both eyes finished regenerating, Shisui realized something even more terrifying-
His ocular power was stronger than before.
"...This is impossible."
At that moment, Shisui was certain.
This kid's medical ninjutsu wasn't just beyond Tsunade.
It was in a league of its own.
"Who exactly are you?" Shisui asked solemnly.
"And what do you want? This appearance of yours-surely it's a disguise. Drop it. Speak plainly. If you're plotting against the village, don't bother."
"Oh?" Noah raised an eyebrow, amused.
"And if I were plotting against the Hidden Leaf, what would you do?"
He leaned closer, smiling faintly.
"Don't tell me you think you can fight me just because your eyes are back. And aren't those Sharingan? Can't you tell?"
Noah hadn't fully healed Shisui.
If this man tried anything funny, Noah had plenty of ways to shut him down.
Holy Light could save-and kill.
And his Dark power hadn't even been touched yet.
In Shisui's current state, fighting Noah would be a joke.
"As for why I saved you," Noah continued calmly,
"it's simple. You floated past me. And I want ninjutsu from the Uchiha clan. I'm from an ordinary background-no access to good techniques."
"You saved me... just because I'm an Uchiha?" Shisui asked.
"Otherwise?" Noah shrugged.
"If I were an enemy spy, why save you? I could've thrown you back, dead or alive-excellent research material. Or just sent your head to the village."
He paused, then added casually:
"Oh, by the way-Sasuke Uchiha? He's in my class."
Shisui froze.
"...What?"
He stared at Noah in disbelief.
"...You're really a student?"