"Hey, Uchiha kid. Come out for breakfast."
Early in the morning, Shisui Uchiha woke to a call that sounded almost no different from the ones he used to hear at home.
He stared at the ceiling that had gradually become familiar, and the boy, not even ten years old, let out a long sigh.
After briefly washing up, he followed the Kirigakure Anbu guarding him to the place where he usually ate.
What surprised him was that today's breakfast was far more abundant than before.
And the dining area, which usually only he and Hyuga Makoto used, suddenly had quite a few young female shinobi present as well.
"Did something happen?"
Shisui sat down in his usual seat.
While examining the breakfast that seemed especially suited to his tastes today, he asked the female Anbu responsible for watching him at close range.
"Nothing much. Lord Fourth opened up access to Hyuga Makoto's bloodline assessment program. His first day's performance was a little disappointing. Even with medication and chakra-stabilizing support, he only barely endured the initial tests, so we decided to improve your treatment further as well. We do not want you making an ugly scene later and proving useless despite looking promising."
"If the first round produces no usable results, the next formal assessment window will have to be delayed by two or three months. No one wants to gamble that the two of you will still be in peak condition by the time the second round comes around."
Listening to the female Anbu casually say such chilling words, then remembering Hyuga Makoto's terrified and despairing face when several Kirigakure Anbu took him away yesterday, Shisui swallowed.
The sumptuous breakfast in front of him suddenly lost all flavor.
After being placed under house arrest and heavy surveillance, Shisui had already prepared himself for the possibility that he might become a tool Kirigakure used to obtain the Sharingan's power.
But after learning that Hyuga Makoto next door had truly fallen into Kirigakure's hands, Shisui still could not stop himself from panicking.
"Don't you people think this is strange at all?!"
"Strange? What is strange about it?"
The female Anbu tilted her head, not quite understanding why Shisui had suddenly lost control of his emotions.
"Why can Kirigakure treat bloodline research like something so natural?! Why can you calmly treat people as resources to be sorted and used?! Even if you want to take the power of the Hyuga and Uchiha, shouldn't something like this require only a small number of specialists? Why involve so many people?!"
Shisui did not know why he said those words so emotionally.
It could not save him from Kirigakure's hands.
It could not make the Kirigakure shinobi repent.
Aside from making them laugh at his childish naivete, it would bring no good result.
But he still said it.
To vent the emotions and pressure that had built up during his long confinement.
To preserve the last ember of hope and resistance inside him.
And also to make himself remember clearly that he was a shinobi born and raised in Konoha, a village utterly different from Kirigakure.
He must never become the same as the shinobi of the Village of the Bloody Mist.
"Actually, I have been a little curious about that too."
"Eh?"
Looking at the female Anbu in front of him nodding in deep agreement, Shisui suddenly had no idea what expression he should show.
He could only open his mouth slightly, revealing a look of extreme disbelief as he waited for her to continue.
"Logically speaking, if the goal is simply to transfer the Byakugan and Sharingan into Kirigakure's possession, there truly is no need to let so many people participate in the program."
"Even if our positions were reversed, and it was Konoha who had captured Lord Fourth and gained the opportunity to preserve and continue his Dead Bone Pulse and special constitution, Konoha's higher-ups would probably only allow a very small group of trusted personnel to handle it. Any resulting bloodline carriers would also be strictly protected after birth and treated as the village's hidden weapons."
"But Lord Fourth does not seem to intend to let the Hyuga and Uchiha bloodlines form new bloodline clans inside Kirigakure. Instead, he seems to want your bloodlines to spread throughout the village and become one of the foundations of Kirigakure's future shinobi system."
"To be honest, if Lord Fourth were not so powerful that no one could even think of resisting him, quite a few influential clans in the village would probably already have gone to protest."
"I will not hide it from you. This morning, several people from bloodline clans already came to me, asking me to prioritize their clans for access to Hyuga Makoto's bloodline data. They wanted to secure the Hyuga bloodline analysis first, then leave the exhausted Hyuga Makoto to deal with the civilian shinobi factions afterward."
The female Anbu was speaking excitedly to Shisui when a young voice suddenly sounded from behind her.
Her body instantly stiffened like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Then, trembling, she turned around and saw Rei Kaguya standing behind her with his arms folded, head slightly tilted as he listened.
"F-Fourth Mizukage-sama… When did you arrive?"
Looking at the last subordinate from his Anbu days who had survived until the end of the war, Rei reached out and patted her shoulder.
His tone was relaxed as he comforted her.
"Somewhere in the middle. Around the part where you used me as an example and started guessing what Konoha would do."
Mikazuki Eri's vision went dark.
She wished she could dig a hole on the spot and bury herself in it forever.
She had the courage to joke around with a little brat like Shisui Uchiha, who had nothing to do with her.
And that courage was not small.
But joking about Rei Kaguya right in front of him?
Even if someone lent Mikazuki Eri ten more lives, she would not dare.
Seeing Mikazuki Eri looking as if she had nowhere to hide, Rei shook his head in amusement.
Then he slapped an appointment document into her hand and said unhurriedly, "All right, all right. I am not an old man like the Third, who cannot tolerate anyone joking about him. A harmless joke like that is not enough for me to do anything to you."
"Your new position has already been decided. Go complete the handover with your Anbu superior, then take up your post."
"My… new position?"
Mikazuki Eri hurriedly looked at the appointment document Rei had placed in her hand.
Then, staring at the title of Special Jonin Instructor at the Ninja Academy, she could not help rubbing her eyes.
"N-Ninja Academy instructor? Fourth Mizukage-sama, are you… are you fully awake?"
She raised her head and looked at Rei in incomprehension.
"What ability do I have to teach and guide students?"
"There is no helping it. Kirigakure has pitifully few sensory shinobi right now. People who can spare time to train new sensory-type talents at the Ninja Academy are so rare I could search with a lantern and still not find them."
Rei sighed, sounding rather helpless.
"Mikazuki, at least you are an Anbu who has never made any major mistakes on missions. Your ability to survive on the battlefield is also quite good. As long as a few of those brats close to graduation can learn even one-third of your skills, I will no longer have to feel so much pressure from all the sensory shinobi shortages across the village."
"So that is how it is…"
Mikazuki Eri was not the type to act coy.
After hearing that Rei only wanted her to fill an urgent gap, she stopped panicking so much.
However, she still muttered in a somewhat unconfident voice, "But let me say this first. I really am not very good at teaching people. If none of the students learn what I teach, Fourth Mizukage-sama, you are not allowed to blame me."
"I will not blame you. Go on."
"Then where is the Anbu colleague who will take over surveillance of this Uchiha brat?"
Mikazuki Eri asked dutifully, "He is still a genius of the Uchiha clan. If he is not watched carefully, he might find a way to escape."
"After this, he will stay by my side. You do not need to worry about him."
"Oh. I see…"
Mikazuki Eri nodded thoughtfully.
Then she cast Shisui Uchiha a slightly gloating look.
Now, even if you have heaven-defying ability, you can forget about escaping from Kirigakure's palm.
Behave yourself, take care of your body, and prepare to become a useful research subject, brat.