Nameless Hero

"Not bad. You're improving quickly. As expected of a genius."

Shisui had appeared behind Kagami at some point. With his arms folded, he had witnessed everything Kagami had just done.

"No, I'm nowhere near as good as you, Shisui."

The title of genius depended on who one was being compared to. Among his classmates, Kagami naturally counted as a genius. But compared to Shisui, he was far from it—at least, that was how things seemed for now.

"You really know how to talk. I remember meeting Itachi once. I praised him for his impressive abilities, and his answer was exactly the same as yours."

For some reason, Shisui always liked linking Kagami and Itachi together.

"I... I'm not Itachi, and Itachi isn't me."

Over the past half month, Kagami had not gone looking for Itachi even once. After that conversation with Shisui, Kagami realized he had been overlooking one fact all along: his ideals were different from Itachi's! Their paths were different. As a transmigrator, Kagami could never slaughter the clan that had raised him for the sake of Konoha, a place he felt little sense of belonging toward. His roots lay with the Uchiha, not Konoha.

Kagami and Itachi could become friends, even very close friends, but they could never become friends who shared the same aspirations. At least, that would be impossible before the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

When Kagami said he was not Itachi, he was not referring to their appearances or actions. He meant their ideals. Kagami was reminding Shisui that he would never "become Itachi," never place Konoha before the Uchiha.

"Of course I know you're not Itachi."

Kagami had misunderstood what Shisui meant. Shisui had merely been reminiscing.

"By the way, there aren't any classes at the academy tomorrow, right?"

"Mm. No classes."

"Then would you like to spend tomorrow learning something from me?"

Kagami answered without hesitation.

"Of course."

"Then I'll come find you tomorrow. Wait for me at home."

"Okay, Shisui."

After chatting for a few more moments, Shisui left. That day, he did not remain at the training ground to teach Kagami as he usually did.

Kagami stayed behind alone and practiced his Hand Seal speed and Nature Transformation for a while before returning home.

The next day.

In a forest.

Shisui handed Kagami a wooden branch.

"What I'm teaching you today is how ninjas track and evade pursuit. This will be a compulsory lesson for you in the future, so I'm giving you some special tutoring ahead of time. Hahaha. After all, it isn't something a student at the Ninja Academy should be learning yet."

Kagami took the branch and examined it carefully.

"This branch was stepped on. Someone passed through here."

"Then can you tell how long ago that person passed through?"

Kagami obviously could not do that.

"No, I can't."

Shisui corrected him.

"No, it's not that you can't. It's that you can't yet. From this single clue, we can only know that someone passed through here. If we want to know more, we need to search for other clues. As long as you find enough clues, you'll be able to learn what you want to know. Come on."

As he spoke, Shisui walked forward, and Kagami followed.

This was a forest, surrounded by trees and covered in weeds. Some clues would be extremely difficult to find in such terrain, but—

Kagami narrowed his eyes slightly.

"By contrast, some clues will be extremely conspicuous in this kind of environment. Certain traces may even be impossible to conceal."

Shisui clapped his hands and laughed loudly.

"Exactly, Kagami. You're absolutely right. Then, in this kind of environment, what would be the most conspicuous trace?"

Shisui walked forward while questioning Kagami.

Kagami had already thought of his answer and immediately spoke.

"That would be damage to or disturbance of the surroundings."

Kagami walked over to a patch of weeds. At first glance, they looked perfectly normal. But upon approaching and examining them carefully, one would find that some of the weeds had been bent halfway over, while others had been pressed firmly against the ground.

"There are a lot of weeds here, so if a fugitive passed through, they inevitably would have disturbed the weeds and changed their original appearance."

Shisui nodded repeatedly. Only after Kagami finished speaking did he respond.

"Kagami, your thinking is very nimble. You quickly determined what kind of clues a fugitive would easily leave behind in this environment. But you overlooked something."

Kagami was startled and asked,

"What?"

Shisui pointed at his own head.

"The fugitive's thoughts. Look, there are so many weeds in this forest that they're almost too obvious. They're so obvious that the fugitive couldn't possibly fail to realize that walking across the ground would inevitably leave traces. So, Kagami, if you were the fugitive, what would you do?"

Kagami froze. He thought about it, but could not figure out what to do. Then, the corner of his eye happened to catch sight of a tree, and he suddenly understood.

"The trees! If I were the fugitive, and I knew that walking on the ground would inevitably leave traces, I would leap from tree to tree!"

Kagami had almost forgotten that this was the Naruto world, not reality. Jumping from branch to branch was an everyday occurrence here. If so, why would a fugitive travel along the ground?

Shisui nodded.

"Exactly. It's common sense. The clue you just found was probably planted by the fugitive. This crude disguise is generally meant to deceive ninjas carrying out tracking missions for the first time."

Kagami felt a little embarrassed, but still seriously voiced his thoughts.

"But, Shisui, what if the fugitive really did walk along the ground in another direction? What if the clue we assumed was false was actually genuine?"

Shisui chuckled.

"That is possible. But you need to understand one principle: moving by leaping across branches is somewhat faster than simply running along the ground. As a fugitive, no matter what methods he uses, his ultimate goal is to escape pursuit as quickly as possible! Under those circumstances, leaping through the trees is naturally far superior to running on the ground."

Kagami furrowed his brows, seeming to want to say more.

"But—"

Shisui raised a hand and stopped him.

"You don't need to think so much. I know the fugitive could also exploit this assumption and flee by running the entire time. But Kagami, you need to understand that anything is possible in this world. Nothing is absolute. If you try to consider every possibility, will you have enough time? The fugitive is escaping every minute and every second. You need to catch him as quickly as possible. Besides, even if you considered every possibility, would you have enough manpower? How many people would you need to eliminate all those possibilities? Would the village have to send out half its ninjas just to catch one person?

"The best approach is to select one or several escape routes you believe are the most likely. Only then can you complete the tracking mission as quickly as possible."

Kagami nodded, accepting the lesson.

"Shisui, I understand. I was wrong."

Shisui laughed loudly.

"No, you weren't wrong. I'd be troubled if you never made mistakes. In that case, I wouldn't even know what to teach you. It's precisely because you made a mistake that I have something to teach you. Hahaha. All right, let's continue."

After that, Shisui led Kagami onward and taught him many things about tracking and evading pursuit.

At dusk, Shisui and Kagami sat beside a river, built a fire, and roasted fish.

A trace of nostalgia appeared in Shisui's eyes.

"Did you know? On the day I taught Itachi how ninjas track and evade pursuit, we also sat beside this river at dusk and roasted fish. What a nostalgic memory. Guess what Itachi's first words were when he saw me start a fire to roast the fish?"

Kagami spoke helplessly.

"I can't guess."

Shisui burst out laughing.

"Hahaha. He said, 'The textbook says lighting a fire while camping at night is strictly forbidden. But since you're doing this, does that mean there are extenuating circumstances?' He was so adorable. Back then, I simply wanted to eat fish with him. There weren't any extenuating circumstances. If I had to name one, it was that I felt good at the time. Eating with someone who let me relax felt unexpectedly easygoing. I was just slacking off a little. It's the same now, so don't ask me that question too. Hahaha."

Kagami asked in surprise,

"Shisui, don't you have anyone else you can relax and eat with?"

Shisui smiled gently.

"I do. You and Itachi."

Kagami fell silent for a while before cautiously asking,

"What about anyone else?"

Shisui lowered his gaze slightly and spoke with a hint of loneliness.

"I'm in the Anbu, Kagami. Do you know what the Anbu is?"

Kagami immediately understood. What was the Anbu?

"The assassination tactical special forces, commonly known as the Anbu."

Shisui mocked himself.

"That's right. How could I ever completely relax in a unit whose purpose is assassination?"

Kagami spoke anxiously. Living a life where he could not even relax while eating—wasn't that torment?

"But if that's the case, why don't you, Shisui, just leave—"

Shisui interrupted him.

"No, Kagami. Do you know what I want to become? An unnamed hero who protects peace from the shadows. The Anbu may not be very good right now, but I... I... You can laugh at me. Perhaps I'm overestimating myself. I hope to change the way it is now. The Anbu should never assassinate for the sake of assassination. It must assassinate for the sake of peace! I want to change it! I know the Anbu cannot yet be called unnamed heroes who protect peace from the shadows, but that's precisely why I want to change it!

"If everyone leaves the Anbu, then who will change it?

"Don't worry. Even if I can't change it, I won't let it change me. Shisui will always be Shisui. The person Shisui wants to become will always be an unnamed hero who protects peace from the shadows. That will never change. After all, I'm practically your big brother, right? I can't afford to lose face."

In chapter 674, when facing Danzo's Root, Shisui said that he believed those who protected peace from the shadows were the ones who truly deserved to be called ninjas.