Mangekyō Sharingan!

"Eh? Isn't that Torikaze?"

A woman's voice came from behind Torikaze.

The voice sounded very familiar to Torikaze. When he turned around, sure enough...

"Auntie Kato, I didn't expect to run into you here."

The person who had called out to Torikaze was Kato Soshin's wife, Kato Mamiko.

Since the Kato family lived not far from Torikaze's home, his parents had been very close with them.

After his parents passed away, Kato Soshin and his wife had taken especially good care of Torikaze, earning his deep respect.

At that moment, Torikaze noticed that Mamiko was holding a small child in her arms. He looked to be around two years old, with a striking head of blue hair.

"Did Auntie Kato bring Dan out to play?"

Mamiko smiled, her expression gentle and kind. "Yes. Dan is always making a fuss at home, so I brought him out to have some fun."

Torikaze stepped forward and tried to play with the still-young Dan Katō, but Dan turned his head away and chose to ignore him.

Mamiko looked a little embarrassed. "Dan is rather shy around strangers. You don't visit our home very often, so he doesn't really know you."

Torikaze waved it off indifferently. He could get along with children, but a two-year-old was simply too difficult to play with.

After failing to amuse him, Torikaze lost interest. Dan was still young; there would be plenty of time to tease him later.

Torikaze had always liked Dan Katō. Though he had not appeared many times, that Reika Technique had left a deep impression on Torikaze.

He could make his soul leave his body and assassinate enemies! How powerful was that? There were only a handful of jutsu in the entire Shinobi World that could control the soul.

But its drawback was equally obvious. Once the soul left the body, the body could no longer move and became a living target that anyone could kill.

And in the end, Dan had died precisely because of that. His dream of becoming Hokage had ended while he was still young, becoming Tsunade's lifelong pain as well.

"Torikaze, are you out for a stroll too?" Mamiko asked. Come to think of it, she had not seen Torikaze much lately.

Torikaze scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. The house is too quiet, so I came out for a walk."

Hearing that, regret showed in Mamiko's eyes. Torikaze's parents had been close friends of both her and her husband.

Yet they had passed away so early, leaving behind only this six-year-old child. Fortunately, he did not lack food or clothing.

"If it feels too quiet, come to Auntie's house," Mamiko said gently.

A warm feeling rose in Torikaze's heart, and he nodded.

After chatting with Mamiko for a while longer, Torikaze learned that, unlike Maruboshi Kosuke and the other three, Kato Mamiko had somehow heard that Lord Hokage had accepted him as a disciple.

And when she heard that Torikaze had gone on missions at such a young age, she was deeply worried.

She repeatedly reminded him to be careful during missions and that staying alive was the most important thing.

The sky gradually darkened, and the two began walking toward their homes.

Like Torikaze's mother, Mamiko kept nagging him all the way, mostly telling him to take care of himself, not stay up late, and not exhaust himself.

Torikaze also enjoyed having an elder nagging in his ear. It made him feel at ease.

When they reached the Cloud Clan Grounds, Mamiko reminded him again, "Get some rest early, Torikaze. Lord Hokage's training must be very hard. Keep it up!"

She then turned and left. After watching Kato Mamiko return home, Torikaze entered the clan grounds as well.

He opened the Character Compendium and unlocked Dan Katō and Uchiha Setsuna, gaining a total of 1,000 Tranquility Points. This was the first time he had encountered Dan Katō since awakening the system.

As for Uchiha Setsuna, he could be considered a useful bit of scrap, adding another batch of Tranquility Points for Torikaze.

After washing up, Torikaze lay down in bed and went to sleep.

Late at night, within the Uchiha Compound.

An old man stood before his house, gazing at the stars in the sky.

Heaven seemed to love making those already miserable even more miserable.

His son and daughter-in-law had died one after another. His younger grandson had taken a Forbidden Pill and depleted his life force, leaving him barely different from the dead.

And now, Uchiha Setsuna, his eldest grandson and the only one in whom the old man had placed all his hopes, had gone missing.

"You said you went to avenge your younger brother, yet they're still hopping around just fine. You must have been buried in some foreign land."

As he spoke, two bloody tears streamed down his face, and his voice broke into sobs.

The Three Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes spun and converged, finally forming a shape resembling a shuriken.

"Mangekyō Sharingan... Hahahaha! I never thought I would awaken the Mangekyō only before my death."

The old man's voice was somewhat crazed. For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or sorrowful. Fortunately, this was the edge of the compound, where only his branch of the family lived.

"Looks like it isn't my time to die yet!"

The old man turned to look at his grandson lying on the bed inside, thin as a skeleton. The flames of hatred blazed fiercely in his eyes!

"I'll make all of you pay the price!"

One day later.

Early in the morning, Torikaze, Chisato, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the others gathered atop the Hokage Rock Faces.

This was the third day since Torikaze and the others had returned to the village from their mission, and the deadline for the task Hashirama had assigned them had finally arrived.

Though there was still some uncertainty on everyone's faces, they no longer had the same panic and helplessness as before.

Just as Hiruzen was about to ask the other companions about their Will of Fire, Tobirama Senju used the Flying Thunder God Technique to bring Hashirama before them.

"Good morning, children! Hahaha."

Seeing that Lord Hokage was in a good mood today, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If Lord Hokage had been in a bad mood, they feared that a single wrong word might anger him and earn them a beating!

Tobirama's expression was as calm as ever, revealing none of his emotions. "You should all know what day it is today, right?"

At once, everyone stood straight and answered in unison.

"Then I hope your answers today will not disappoint us."

Though Tobirama said that, he only meant to put a little pressure on them. These children had all trained under him since they were young.

Tobirama could more or less guess what each child would say.

And since he and his Big Brother were teaching disciples together, one of them had to play the stern one. Otherwise, if the children feared no one, they would be impossible to manage.

"Monkey, you go first!"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi trying to hide toward the back, Tobirama called him out first.

Hiruzen felt like crying, but he had no choice but to force himself to speak.

"My Will of Fire is protection."

At that, the corners of Hashirama's lips lifted slightly, though he hid it well enough that no one noticed.

"What is protection?" Tobirama asked.

"Because I really like the village, and I also like everyone in it. Every time I return to the village after a mission, seeing people's smiling faces makes me feel full of energy."

"So I want to protect the village, and every single person in it!"

Tobirama nodded. Though Hiruzen's Will of Fire was somewhat similar to his Big Brother's, he knew Hiruzen was not saying it deliberately to cater to anyone. This was truly his own will.

"I hope that in the future, you will always remember what you said today!"

"Next, Danzo."

Danzo, whose name had been called, stepped forward. Though he had found his own Will of Fire, he did not know whether saying it would anger the two men.

"My Will of Fire is suppression."

Both Hashirama and Tobirama were stunned upon hearing that word, and Danzo continued.

"Suppression means increasing the village's overall strength and using that overwhelming strength to make the other villages submit, so they would not dare entertain the thought of becoming our enemies."

After Danzo explained, the two brothers fell silent for a long while. This made Danzo even less certain, and anxiety rose in his heart.

But Hashirama and Tobirama merely felt that Danzo's ideas were somewhat too forceful. Still, his starting point could be considered correct.

Because that was the state of the Shinobi World now.

Because of Hashirama, Konoha held an absolute position among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. No one dared bare their fangs at Konoha! All of it was because of Hashirama's strength.

"Danzo, your idea is not bad, but there must be a line. That line is that you must not harm a single person in the village! Understand?"

Tobirama's tone was stern, carrying a hint of warning.

Hearing that, Danzo bowed deeply. "I understand, Master." He then returned to the group.

After that, Koharu, Homura, Torifu Akimichi, and Kagami Uchiha each spoke of their own Will of Fire. Though they all had minor flaws, they successfully passed.

However, Hashirama told them to think it over carefully after returning and improve upon it.

"Torikaze, it's your turn."