Geniuses are lonely.

Geniuses who are too clear-headed are the loneliest.

"Chiri, want some dango?" the warmhearted shopkeeper Aunt Yina called out to Chiri as she passed by.

"Mm..." Chiri softly replied, shaking her head. "No thanks, Aunt Yina. I've already eaten."

"I see. Are you enjoying yourself at the Ninja Academy?"

"Very much." Chiri smiled sweetly.

"I wonder if my boy will be able to enter the Ninja Academy next year."

"He definitely will." Chiri encouraged her.

"But I'm still a little worried. Ichiraku doesn't have much talent as a ninja."

"The classes aren't difficult at all." Chiri consoled her.

"With Chiri saying that, I'm no longer worried."

On the way after parting from Mimi, Chiri chatted with the warmhearted villagers all the way.

She looked like she had nothing to do, and in fact, that was exactly the case.

Before she knew it, she had wandered to the village's ninja training ground.

Although she had taken a longer route than usual today, this was how Chiri spent every day.

There was no difference from her usual routine.

Fortunately, the ninjas absorbed in training had not left yet.

Sometimes there were five or six of them, and sometimes only one or two.

Many of the village's Civilian Ninjas especially needed a training ground like this.

Unlike some major clans, they had no designated training grounds of their own.

And the reason she did not watch the clan members train was simply that there was nothing left for them to teach her.

These Civilian Ninjas, however, could occasionally produce Ninjutsu Chiri had never seen before.

Then she only needed to look at it once.

This is...

There was only one person at the training ground today.

Was that young man developing a Ninjutsu?

Chiri could not help stopping, and her Two Tomoe Pattern Sharingan appeared in her eyes.

There were not quite ten thousand kinds of Ninjutsu in the village, but there were several thousand. Even if there were some Chiri had never seen, she recognized most of them.

Leaving aside secret techniques, ordinary elemental techniques could be identified at a glance.

Unusual elemental techniques could likewise be identified at a glance.

That young man had not formed any hand seals.

Nature transformation?

Shape transformation?

Could this be the legendary Signless Ninjutsu?

Chiri became interested.

The young man at the training ground had striking white hair. This made Chiri think not of Jiraiya, who had the same hair color, but of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

A fool and a genius were worlds apart, even if they had the same hair color.

He looked about eleven or twelve, yet he was already wearing an Anbu uniform and a slightly silly-looking dog mask.

Of course, it was also possible that he was an adult who happened to be short.

Without thinking, Chiri slowed her breathing, concealed her presence, and stood motionless in the woods beside the training ground.

Lightning Release?

The white-haired youth was doing his utmost to rein in the lightning recklessly surging around his body.

Chiri found it a little difficult to understand. Generally speaking, wasn't a Ninjutsu's power supposed to be greater rather than smaller?

Very few people operated in reverse like this, suppressing a Ninjutsu's power.

But after observing his Chakra through her Sharingan for a moment, Chiri began to understand.

Because if he did not suppress the power, it was obvious that the youth would cook himself from head to toe.

Subtly, Chiri seemed to catch a strange fragrance drifting from upwind.

A lunatic.

She had never seen anyone use Lightning Release on himself.

He's ruthless.

Before long, the electric arcs around the youth gradually subsided, with only one or two occasionally leaping across the surface of his body.

To control the violent Lightning Release so precisely, this big brother was amazing.

This was not something that could be accomplished in one or two attempts. The youth had clearly experimented countless times before this, and now he was close to succeeding.

Sure enough, the youth proved Chiri's theory the next second.

"Konoha-Style Taijutsu Secret! Thousand Years of Death!"

There was only a streak of lightning lingering in her eyes. When she looked again, the youth had already sprinted to the opposite side of the training ground at incredible speed.

Chiri's pupils suddenly contracted.

So fast!

Faster than anything she had ever seen!

The Konoha Short Sword he had drawn remained angled upward from below.

Chiri was very familiar with this Taijutsu move. The boys at school always used it to roughhouse during breaks.

She had no idea who had invented it.

In any case, it had spread among the boys at school.

Hiruko was the class's most frequent victim.

Whenever a boy happened to pass by, they would use it on him.

"Vile, shameless, and utterly lewd," Chiri murmured.

This white-haired Anbu was not a good person.

Other people used their fingers, but he had drawn a short sword.

If he stabbed it into that embarrassing place, Chiri could already imagine the agony that would make life worse than death.

Too brutal.

This secret technique was truly vicious.

Still, it was an impressive technique. It used Lightning Release to stimulate the body and increase speed? It's mine now.

"Who!" Clearly noticing that someone else was present, the youth shouted.

Chiri silently walked out. After closing and reopening her eyes, she had returned them to their ordinary state. She smiled warmly at the youth and said, "Big brother, you're amazing."

Seeing Chiri, the youth scratched his head. After a long pause, he said nothing more, sheathed his short sword, and turned to leave coolly.

Anyone else would surely have thought he was a cold ninja with an admirable ninja bearing.

If not for that Thousand Years of Death, Chiri might almost have believed it.

Only the mischievous boys at school could use this move skillfully.

So Chiri felt that this white-haired fellow must be a real troublemaker.

A fool like Jiraiya.

No! Even a fool like Jiraiya would not draw a knife to use this Taijutsu.

After the white-haired Anbu youth left, Chiri went to the training ground and experimented with the technique she had just learned.

After a few attempts, she had initially mastered it, though all four limbs were somewhat numb from the electricity.

It was a little more difficult than she had imagined.

Only a little, because she had always learned everything in one attempt.

Rubbing her tingling arms and legs, Chiri left the training ground and continued with her daily routine.

She wandered around the village.

By the time it was already very late, Chiri unconsciously found herself back home.

The gate of the small house was tightly closed, with no lights shining from within.

The neighboring houses were all brightly lit. The lively warmth of those homes formed a sharp contrast with the quiet loneliness of her own.

Chiri looked up at the door, not wanting to go inside.

Then I won't go in. It's not like this is the first time, and no one will be there to nag in my ear nonstop.

Then where should I go?

I don't know.

Then I'll just walk around.

As she walked, she arrived at a park on the edge of the village.

She sat on the park swing and kept swaying back and forth.

"Self-created Ninjutsu?"

"Looks pretty interesting."

"But this means I'm first in the class now, right?"

Even Chiri, who did not want to compete for anything, possessed a competitive spirit.

But secretly enjoying herself was enough.

"Mimi probably won't be able to deal with this surprise attack. Tsunade might react in time, though. But if I don't use a knife and simply knock Tsunade down, getting hit by her will really hurt."

Chiri muttered to herself.

"To deal with Tsunade, Genjutsu really is the way to go."

"I should test it out too."

"Self-created Ninjutsu."

As she spoke, Chiri raised both hands and formed hand seals.

"Like this?"

"Like this?"

"Then like this?"

"Huh? This is really simple."

This was how Mimi encountered Chiri.

Under the moonlight, the girl swung alone on the park swing in the cold lunar radiance, with a swarm of Butterflies flying around her.

The glowing Butterflies were exceedingly beautiful. Their gorgeous scaled wings fluttered gracefully as they clustered around the girl, who seemed to rise into flight beneath the moonlight.

It was as if a group of fairies were playing.

A swarm of Butterflies danced through the air.

"Ah! Mimi!"

Upon seeing Mimi appear, Chiri stopped swinging, then gracefully leaped down and landed on the ground.

"What is that?" Mimi asked.

"What is what?" Chiri asked in confusion.

"The Butterflies. The glowing ones." Mimi pointed them out.

"It's Genjutsu." Chiri explained.

As Chiri finished speaking, one Butterfly after another vanished into thin air.

Genjutsu?

When did I fall under Genjutsu?!

"You really can't be underestimated." Mimi said.

"Heehee." Chiri laughed. "You're the one who absolutely can't be underestimated, Chief."

She had appeared as suddenly as a ghost, and Chiri had not sensed her presence at all.

Ah, as expected of you, Monster! (X2)

Mimi and Chiri looked at each other.

Insect Sister tilted her head.

She was a little confused.

How long were the two of them going to keep staring at each other?