Brothers

Chapter 8: Brothers

Kagami watched the direction Shisui had left, smiling helplessly.

Shisui had called him out today to gauge his strength and talent, as well as his views on the current state of Konoha and the Uchiha. Yet, Kagami had learned nothing, and upon a quick calculation, he felt he had suffered a loss.

More importantly, Kagami didn't know what Shisui and Itachi would think of him once they knew his thoughts.

Of course, Kagami had no regrets. He had his own bottom line. He only wanted to escape the impending Uchiha clan massacre with the people he cared about. He would never become a blade to slaughter his own clan. Besides, he didn't have the qualifications for that. Right now, he could barely even protect himself.

With that thought, Kagami also set off, heading home.

In a dense forest.

Shisui had met with Itachi and told him about his conversation with Kagami.

Itachi frowned slightly, his usual calm demeanor tinged with a barely perceptible anger.

"Shisui, from what you're saying, he clearly understands the situation and the crisis. Why is he still hung up on mere family grievances? We should prioritize the bigger picture. Without Konoha, there is no Uchiha clan. Without Konoha, the Uchiha clan will cease to exist. Foolish!"

In Itachi's view, if Kagami, like most people, had such narrow vision that he could only see the grievances between the Uchiha clan and the village, then Itachi wouldn't blame Kagami for siding with the Uchiha clan. But the problem was that Kagami clearly saw everything yet still chose to stand with the Uchiha clan. Itachi didn't understand.

"To protect the Uchiha clan, we must first protect the village!"

Itachi spoke with a remarkably mature mindset.

However, Itachi didn't know that in Kagami's eyes, as long as Danzō was alive, there could be no good outcome between the Uchiha and Konoha. If Kagami got involved, there would likely only be two results in the future: either he would be killed by Danzō like Shisui, or he would become a sharp blade for slaughtering the Uchiha like Itachi.

Kagami found neither of these options acceptable, so he decided to firmly plant himself on the Uchiha side and stay out of it.

Shisui, however, began to laugh. His laugh was bright and sunny, unlike the meaningful smile he had when talking to Kagami. This was a genuinely happy laugh.

"No, Itachi, I think this is a good thing."

Itachi asked curiously.

"Shisui?"

Shisui explained with a smile.

"Itachi, don't forget, we are both members of the Uchiha clan. The current situation between the Uchiha and the village is a crisis that concerns Konoha's survival. Therefore, both of us unhesitatingly chose to prioritize preserving the village. The village comes first, then the clan. I believe this principle of ours is correct. But, if you think about it carefully, isn't this too unfair to the Uchiha clan?

Now that someone has appeared who wholeheartedly considers the clan, isn't that a good thing? In the future, we can just focus all our efforts on finding ways to protect Konoha."

Itachi looked at Shisui with disbelief.

"Shisui, are you saying you believe Kagami is worthy of us entrusting the Uchiha's safety to him? We work hard to preserve Konoha, and he works hard to preserve the Uchiha?"

Shisui: "Yes."

Itachi, however, felt it was inappropriate.

"Shisui, your idea is good, and upon reflection, I agree with it. But, as you and I both know, the situation between the Uchiha and the village will erupt within two years at most. Two years from now, how old will he be? Eight years old! How strong can an eight-year-old be? Even if he has good intentions and cares deeply for the clan, his only drawback is that he is too young."

Shisui denied this.

"No, I'm referring to the future."

Itachi instinctively replied.

"The future? After we get through this, we can naturally dedicate ourselves to the clan... Wait! Shisui, are you implying..."

Shisui nodded, his expression relaxed as he uttered words that were difficult for Itachi to accept.

"Yes, this crisis between the Uchiha and the village... I don't know why, but I have a feeling I won't survive it. Therefore, I believe I am a person without a future. So, I am very happy to see a genius like Kagami in the clan. I want him to protect the Uchiha in the future in my stead. And you, Itachi, you protect Konoha for me."

Half a month later.

At the Konoha Ninja Academy, on the training grounds, Kagami was the first to cross the white line.

Iruka, as if accustomed to it, announced.

"In this training session, Kagami is the first place."

Behind Kagami, Sasuke also crossed the white line a few seconds later.

The first year of the Ninja Academy primarily focused on physical training and techniques like shuriken.

In the half-month since training began, Kagami had been first in every single exercise, shining exceptionally bright.

Sasuke was also second in most of the training sessions.

These Uchiha twins had already become famous at the Ninja Academy.

In the afternoon, after school, Kagami didn't go home. Instead, he went to a deserted training ground. Ever since Uchiha Takashi taught him hand seals and chakra nature transformation that day, Kagami had been coming to the training ground every day before going home.

Snake-Goat-Monkey-Pig-Horse-Tiger.

This was the hand seal sequence for the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique. It was a ninjutsu Kagami had managed to learn from Uchiha Takashi in the following days. Of course, Kagami couldn't use it yet, as he hadn't even mastered nature transformation.

"Hmm, the progress is quite good, I'd say."

Half a month ago, Kagami's hand seals were still very clumsy because he had just learned them. Each seal took about two seconds, which was terrifyingly slow. Now, Kagami could complete a hand seal in just over a second, around 1.2 seconds.

With chakra, Kagami's perception had also been constantly improving, allowing him to grasp time quite accurately.

After performing a ninjutsu, Kagami casually plucked a leaf from a tree and placed it in his hand. After a moment, a fleeting spark of fire appeared at the very edge of the leaf, but it quickly extinguished.

"Still not working."

This is practice with nature transformations, which are very difficult and not easy to master. Currently, Kagami can only ignite the tiniest spark at the very edge of a leaf. Once Kagami can burn the entire leaf, his nature transformation will be considered preliminarily mastered.

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh!"

Four shuriken were thrown simultaneously, colliding in mid-air before hitting the bullseye at a clever angle, all at once!

"Hmph, not bad."

Kagami's shuriken skills have improved the fastest. For the past half month, Shisui has come to teach Kagami every day. At first, Kagami was quite puzzled because their philosophies didn't align. He thought Shisui, even if he didn't ignore him, wouldn't be friendly towards him.

However, to Kagami's surprise, Shisui acted as if nothing had happened the next day and continued to teach him. For the past half month, he has been teaching Kagami with great patience and seriousness, which is why Kagami's shuriken skills have improved so rapidly.

In fact, it's not just shuriken; Kagami's progress in any area over the past half month has been inseparable from Shisui's help.

Kagami doesn't know why. He only knows two things. First, Shisui is a gentle and cheerful person. Even when fighting others, he usually stops just short of causing irreversible injuries. Such a person is worth befriending wholeheartedly. Second, Shisui's kindness towards Kagami over the past half month has even made Kagami feel as though he had a real older brother.

Knowing these two points is enough. He treats me like a brother, so naturally, I will treat him like a brother.