Are You All Right?

Kagami, of course, wasn't going to explain to Sasuke why he thought highly of Naruto. He couldn't explain it even if he wanted to.

What Kagami cared about now was—time.

After defeating Naruto, Iruka arranged for several more people to fight Kagami. Under normal circumstances, this would never have happened, because it amounted to a succession of battles. Naturally, that was unfair to the person who had to keep accepting challenges. However, Kagami was an exception. Defeating his opponents barely consumed any of his strength; every fight ended in a single exchange. Whether it was a succession of battles or not no longer mattered. The result wouldn't change either way.

After defeating several more opponents, Iruka let Kagami step down.

Kagami stood in an empty corner, head lowered as he quietly thought about a few things.

Time had gone wrong. Or rather, his original prediction of the timing had gone wrong.

When he had entered the academy, Kagami had originally thought it would happen in half a year, or perhaps a year. But after observing things for half a year, Kagami discovered that although the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha had become extremely tense, it was still some distance away from erupting.

Most importantly, Shisui had seemingly never told him that he planned to use Kotoamatsukami to change the Uchiha clan's way of thinking.

Judging from this, that event hadn't happened yet. And the Uchiha Clan Massacre that would follow it was even less likely to happen.

"So, was my prediction of the timing wrong? That's fine too. The slower, the better. Give me more time."

Kagami said this silently in his heart.

Kagami was still pondering when the Uchiha Clan Massacre would happen when a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Ah, Kagami, you're here. Why did you run to a corner like this? Is something wrong?"

A golden-haired girl found Kagami and greeted him happily.

Kagami recognized the girl before him.

"Yamanaka Ino? What do you want with me?"

Ino's face instantly reddened, and she spoke awkwardly.

"Th-that, it's n-nothing. I just, I just..."

Kagami frowned slightly. Being interrupted while thinking was truly unpleasant.

"What is it? If possible, please just say it quickly."

Ino's face turned completely red. Gathering her courage, she blurted it out in one breath.

"I just wanted to come and see you. That's all."

After saying this, Ino turned around and ran off in embarrassment.

Originally, Ino had expected to talk with Kagami for a while longer. She hadn't expected him to ask her reason outright. Ino didn't want to lie to him, but saying it aloud was too embarrassing, so she could only cover her face and flee.

Kagami watched Ino's retreating back in confusion and began thinking carefully.

"'I just wanted to come and see you'? Is that some kind of code? Or did Shisui ask her to find me and tell me something this way? Hmm, it's possible. I'd better go take a look."

As he spoke, Kagami prepared to skip class. This wasn't the first or second time he had done so. Thanks to his outstanding grades, and because the Konoha higher-ups knew that Shisui was teaching Kagami and that there was little he could learn at school, the academy turned a blind eye to his truancy. As long as he didn't skip class openly—as long as he continued sneaking off while pretending otherwise—everything was fine.

Outside the Ninja Academy, two people stood atop a tall building facing the academy's training field, chatting continuously.

"Itachi, did you come to see Sasuke?"

"What about you? Did you come to see Kagami?"

"Me? More or less. After all, I want to see how strong this kid can become under my guidance. What about you? Don't you plan to train Sasuke?"

Itachi shook his head.

"No. Not for now. You know what the relationship between the Uchiha and the village is like right now. I need to devote myself entirely to this. I'll put Sasuke aside for now. Once this matter is over, I'll teach him."

At this moment, Itachi didn't know that because he was busy dealing with the matter between the Uchiha and the village, the "next time, Sasuke" he had helplessly said to Sasuke would become the words that left the deepest impression on him. He had thought that once the conflict between the Uchiha and the village was over, he would be able to fulfill that promise of "next time." But Itachi never imagined that after going through this crisis between the Uchiha and the village, he would never again be able to seriously teach Sasuke.

He could only find a way to increase Sasuke's motivation to become stronger, then make him stronger and stronger until, in the end, he no longer needed anyone's protection and could live freely by relying on himself.

Shisui mocked himself.

"I can't not teach him."

"Shisui!!!"

Itachi suddenly shouted Shisui's name. Then he lowered his voice and gently shook his head.

"You won't. You'll be fine, and I'll be fine too. We can both get through this. Don't trust that lousy intuition of yours. Don't forget, you're the famous Body Flicker Shisui. How could you fail to get through such a minor matter?"

Itachi understood what Shisui meant. "I can't not teach him"—what did that represent? Was he preparing for the future? Preparing for that intuition of Shisui's that he wouldn't make it through? Had he already decided that he would die, and was treating Kagami as his successor?! Itachi absolutely refused to acknowledge such a lousy intuition!

Shisui pressed his lips together.

"This isn't a minor matter, Itachi."

"And you aren't a minor figure either, Shisui!"

Shisui looked at Itachi's face and remained silent for several seconds. In the end, he didn't refute Itachi and merely nodded.

"Perhaps."

Shisui wasn't sure whether his premonition was accurate. He simply felt that the conflict between the Uchiha and the village couldn't possibly end peacefully. Blood would have to be spilled, and as the person charging at the very front, he would probably be the one responsible for bleeding.

But perhaps that would actually be for the best. If his death could be exchanged for peace between both sides, then Shisui would at least die a worthy death. After all, that would make him a hero who supported peace in the darkness. Shisui hoped to become such a person.

"Did you call him out?"

At that moment, Itachi suddenly pointed somewhere and spoke to Shisui.

Shisui followed Itachi's finger. There, Kagami was using an extremely practiced technique to sneak out of the Ninja Academy without taking the main entrance. His overly seasoned movements made him impossible to detect.

Only people like Itachi and Shisui, standing at such a height and looking down from above, could spot him at a glance.

Shisui denied it in confusion.

"No. I didn't tell him to come out during school today."

Itachi calmly analyzed the situation.

"Then he must have taken the initiative to seek you out."

Shisui shrugged.

"Perhaps. Let's go to him first."

"Mm."

Using the Body Flicker Technique, Itachi and Shisui instantly vanished from the rooftop.

As for Kagami, he had just snuck out and hadn't gone far when Shisui and Itachi appeared before him. This made him even more certain of his guess: Shisui definitely had something to discuss with him!

As for Shisui, when he saw Kagami and noticed the confidence and determination in his eyes, he also became certain that Kagami had something to discuss with him!

Without wasting a single word, Shisui and Itachi took Kagami and quickly left the area around the Ninja Academy, finding an empty place where they could ask him about it.

They arrived at a secluded dead end. Kagami and Shisui looked at each other. Then—

Kagami: "Shisui, did you need to see me?"

Shisui: "Kagami, what did you want to see me about?"

Kagami: "???"

Shisui: "???"