Really Don't Understand or Just Pretending Not To Understand: 10,000 Fan Value Reward Bonus Chapter

Really Don't Understand or Just Pretending Not To Understand: "10,000 Fan Value Reward Bonus Chapter"

Summer had ended, but the real summer had begun.

Mimi still remembered her childhood summer vacations. Since her parents had been busy with their business and the school was closed, they had no choice but to send her to stay with relatives in the countryside.

Back then, the sky was blue and the water was clear. During the day, she would bathe in the streams, catch fish and shrimp, turn over rocks for crabs, and hunt cicada nymphs and longhorn beetles. When she returned in the afternoon, her pockets would be full of fireflies at night, as if she had caught an entire summer.

Now, though it was still the same summer, Mimi no longer had the same feelings she once did.

"Why is it so hot?"

As she stepped outside, she glanced at the sun. Even the early morning sunlight was fiercely scorching. The rest of the day would undoubtedly be hard to endure.

"I really want an air conditioner."

To Mimi now, real summer meant lying in an air-conditioned room under a blanket, playing video games.

No need to worry about work, just spending a carefree day entirely her own.

"Why did you come here?" Mimi asked weakly.

A low buzzing sounded beneath her clothes.

"Can't I come?" Chiri smiled. "Because the real summer has started. Want something to eat?"

"You just have too much money and nowhere to spend it, so you're getting itchy," Mimi said. "I don't have time to play with you today."

"Oh~" Chiri looked a little disappointed, then asked curiously, "What's that sound coming from you?"

"Physical cooling," Mimi said. "The Nest got too hot, so the bugs are flapping their wings for dear life."

Chiri looked impressed despite not understanding, then said, "Oh. So where are we going next?"

"To the Senju Clan Grounds," Mimi said.

"What's fun about the clan grounds? It's full of adults with sour faces," Chiri said.

"That's the Uchiha, not the Senju."

"Huh, there's a difference?"

"Yeah. Basically, everyone named Senju is a dummy." That was what Mimi had observed in her daily life.

"What about the Uchiha?" Chiri asked.

"The Uchiha..." Mimi opened her mouth but did not continue.

"What are they like?"

"What are they like?"

When Mimi did not answer, Chiri pressed further.

"They're pretty annoying."

"Really?" Chiri asked. "What about me?"

"You're especially annoying," Mimi said.

On a rare day off, Mimi wanted some peace and quiet. But given the current situation, that was basically impossible.

It reminded Mimi of the past.

She had once been her older cousin's little tail, and someone had been a little tail following behind her as well.

Cheerful laughter seemed to faintly echo by her ears, like the summer of yesterday.

"Hey!" Chiri said with a grin. "That's not true!"

Mimi walked ahead while Chiri followed behind, the cheerful and innocent girl's laughter lingering at her side.

Without realizing it, Mimi turned to look at Chiri.

I became her childhood.

She suddenly felt as though a huge character for danger had been stamped on her forehead.

After all, she was an Uchiha.

Thinking of that, Mimi could not help but laugh.

She probably would not awaken the Mangekyo.

That was good too.

The two walked together.

The Senju Clan Grounds were vast, with large houses and high walls that made the place look especially imposing.

Yet it was very quiet.

There were not many people moving about the clan grounds, mostly elderly people who looked particularly idle.

Most of the younger people lived in the bustling village instead.

One important reason, it had to be said, was that there was plenty of land and it was worthless.

Naturally, houses were especially cheap too.

A ninja could go on missions for two years and put down roots in Konoha.

On Eight-Horse Carriage Avenue, people walking along it seemed very small.

From far down its deep stretch, they could see someone approaching.

He was a middle-aged man dressed in a plain white kimono. Though, by ninja standards, he was practically elderly.

Yet judging from his face, he had already entered his twilight years.

It was not the condition of his skin, but his bearing.

He looked about the same age as the First Hokage and the Second Hokage, so he should have belonged to the same era as those two.

Come to think of it, Mimi had met both the First and Second Hokage a few times.

Although they had seen Mimi as well, they surely had no memory of her.

Back then, Mimi had not yet controlled insects, nor had she begun wearing a mask.

Hashirama had spent all day wandering around the village with Tsunade. Sometimes Mimi ran into them while out on errands, and sometimes outside the gambling hall.

As for the Second Hokage, he was elusive as a dragon, showing only his head and never his tail. Still, during the war, Mimi had seen several memorial services he presided over from afar.

One of them had been for Hashirama.

She had attended one for the Second Hokage himself as well.

She had never seen the Byakugan man before her, but she could directly sense that he was very strong.

Even without relying on her insects' senses, Mimi could tell such things.

He wore no Konoha Forehead Protector, and there was no Caged Bird on his forehead. However, his face bore other kinds of marks.

Fire Release burns, blade wounds, and other scars covered his entire face. One of his Byakugan was even blind, making his appearance excessively ferocious.

He was from the Main Family. Mimi had also met the Hyuga Main Family Clan Head—a fair and clean-looking young man.

Compared to the man before her, the difference in strength was obvious at a glance.

This was a Hyuga who had grown up fighting his way through piles of corpses since childhood in the Warring States Period.

Yet after Konoha had been founded, there had been no more stories of Hyuga Main Family members taking to the battlefield.

Interestingly, despite being from the Main Family, he had no guards at his side.

Even within the village, that was an absolute impossibility.

The two parties met face-to-face.

The man took the initiative to stop before Mimi and Chiri.

"Insect Princess."

His voice was gentle. If one did not look at his face, he should have seemed like a kind man.

Having been called by name, Mimi naturally stopped and looked at the man from the Hyuga Main Family.

"Please take good care of Hitomi from now on."

"Hm?" Mimi voiced her confusion.

"Ha, don't mind it. Hitomi is a very kind child. You don't need to go out of your way to look after her."

As he spoke, the man looked at Chiri, his gaze falling upon her clan crest.

An Uchiha had appeared in the Senju Clan Grounds.

Since Madara's defection, that was truly a rare sight.

Were these two clever little girls genuinely unaware, or only pretending to be?

Still, it had nothing to do with him.

Though in the eyes of someone born in the Warring States Period, a six-year-old child could already be cutting off enemies' heads on the battlefield.

There could be no underestimation, no carelessness!

But he was someone about to die.

There was only one thing he needed to worry about.

The man smiled freely and said, "Little girl, your name is Chiri, right? Yesterday's exam was wonderful. Hitomi's loss was not undeserved."

Chiri smiled politely.

"If possible, don't lose to Hitomi."

The man said it not as an order, but as a request.

"I'll do my best." Chiri nodded. "Hitomi is very strong."

"That she is." The Hyuga man smiled. "Unlike her older brother, that child takes after me."

"My apologies. When people get old, they always end up rambling about strange things. Then I won't disturb you any longer."

With that, the man strolled away.

"What a strange person," Chiri said.

"What was strange about him?" Mimi asked.

"I felt like he should have been a very ruthless person," Chiri said. "Just like those old people in the clan—being near them made you feel chilled to the bone, yet he also felt very gentle."

"Is that so?" Mimi said. "Let's go. Talk less here, watch and listen more, and behave yourself."

"Mm." Chiri nodded.

Chiri truly did not understand, while Mimi only pretended not to.

Using the identity of the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, the First Hokage's wife, and the Senju Clan Head's nominal disciple to gain a few small advantages was not too much, was it?

If she brought Chiri along to listen in, surely no one would say anything considering how cute she was.

As long as Uzumaki Mito had no objections.

Then there would be no problem.

After thinking it over, I decided to post an extra chapter after all.

There really was not much saved up—only enough for four days.

Thanks to Then What About You Haha, Division, and Bayou for the tips, which happened to add up to ten thousand points.

During the new book period, having too many words was not good for ranking.

Please forgive me, everyone else.