Do You Understand Class Struggle?

To be precise.

This wasn't a ninjutsu or a secret technique—it was the ability of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

"Hm?"

Kyoichi's chakra spread out, and he quickly sensed a figure lurking in the shadows around his home. From that position, they could clearly see into his yard and even part of the interior.

Anbu?

Kanda Kyoichi didn't turn his head.

He knew that right now, the person was likely watching him.

Probing further, he detected another Anbu stationed at a different angle around his house, but nothing beyond that.

Two Anbu!

Kyoichi retracted his chakra, thought for a moment, and understood.

He had only been a Chunin before. The higher-ups knew his strength well enough. After returning injured, his power had grown considerably, and his physique had also improved.

The Third Hokage might have guessed something.

This surveillance served two purposes: one, to be cautious; two, to confirm the situation.

The two Anbu had probably been tailing him since yesterday.

"Senju bloodline..."

Kyoichi pondered, narrowing his eyes. In the end, he said nothing, pretending not to know there were Anbu around his home.

But.

His concerns weren't limited to the Third Hokage.

There was also Danzo.

Most of Konoha's dirty dealings were tied to him. If there were ten conspiracies, nine could be pinned on him without injustice.

That was why, in his past life, Danzo was called the Pot Kage.

Kyoichi used to think the man had it rough, taking the blame for the Third Hokage his whole life. But now that he was in Konoha, he had to consider the impact Danzo brought—

That old bastard had probably been secretly researching Hashirama Cells in recent years, hadn't he?

Previously, the only true Senju bloodline left in Konoha was Tsunade. And Tsunade was overwhelmingly strong and highly respected—Danzo wouldn't dare touch her.

However.

Kyoichi was different.

The Kanda family had only him left, a mere Chunin. If someone dealt with him in the shadows, no one would dare speak up.

The more Kyoichi thought about it, the more he felt the danger closing in.

Right now, Konoha was under the rule of the Third Hokage and Danzo. What those two old schemers might do was impossible to predict.

At least he had obtained Chakra Sensing.

With this Sensory Jutsu, he could at least anticipate their moves in advance.

"Honestly, if I could get my hands on Hashirama Cells alone, it'd be a huge benefit for me. But dealing with Danzo... that's no different from asking a tiger for its pelt."

"Class is over. A lot of you still haven't met the standards for the Three Body Techniques."

"Keep practicing when you get home."

Another day of class ended.

Kyoichi was a bit tired.

This squad had plenty of prodigies, but many still had poor chakra control—

As students, they were good enough.

But.

As genin about to head to the battlefield, they still had a long way to go.

Among them, Obito was improving quickly.

He could already climb trees!

That guy really did have talent, but he never stopped yapping about the Sharingan, as if awakening it would let him destroy the world.

Kyoichi couldn't even be bothered to complain.

After class, he left the academy and secretly used Chakra Sensing to check.

The Anbu were gone.

"Gone?"

Kyoichi mused to himself.

If it were Root, they would never let things go so easily.

Looks like the Third Hokage's men.

That's a good thing.

He breathed a sigh of relief, patted his pocket, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

He'd originally planned to go find someone to forge a sword.

But...

Broke!

He understood Kakuzu now.

Because at this moment, he too wished he could find a wanted criminal, arrest them, and trade them in for cash.

A Chunin's salary was just too little.

Forget it.

Train first.

As for the sword, he'd deal with it when his pay came.

Kyoichi started jogging along Konoha's streets toward the outskirts.

However.

Before long, he sensed someone tailing him.

He kept walking forward without changing his expression.

Shisui caught up from behind and was about to chase ahead when, suddenly, a cold kunai pressed against his own neck.

The figure running ahead turned into a puff of mist.

A clone!

Shisui was startled.

"Teacher, you spotted me?"

"What's so hard about spotting you? Don't you have class?"

Kyoichi cracked a joke, then put away the kunai.

Shisui gave a slight bow.

He looked like he wanted to say something but held back.

"Come on, let's run together?"

"Yes!"

Seeing that his teacher didn't press him, a hint of joy flickered across Shisui's face.

Then.

He fell in behind Kyoichi, the two of them running one after the other along the road out of the village.

After they'd gotten a fair distance from Konoha, Shisui caught up and spoke in a low voice: "Teacher, when I went back yesterday, the Clan Head said he wants me to graduate this year, and then... join the Anbu."

"Your Clan Head? Fugaku Uchiha?"

Kyoichi raised an eyebrow at that.

No wonder he'd waited until they were this far out to bring it up. At the same time, it surprised him that Shisui would share this with him at all.

This kid...

Really trusted him.

"Hmph, what the hell does he know?"

"Huh?"

Shisui was stunned for a moment.

His teacher...

actually saying something like that caught him off guard.

"Shisui, you're a smart guy, and I'm touched that you trust me enough to talk about this. Do you know what your Clan Head means?"

"I can guess."

Shisui lowered his voice.

Though young, he was clever and mature for his age, already aware of many things.

For instance.

The Clan Head's intent was clearly for him to quickly show his talent, demonstrate a leaning toward Konoha, and then join the Anbu to serve the Uchiha.

But.

He felt that wasn't quite right.

"Shisui, when you're at the Ninja Academy, do you ever run into unpleasant things?"

"Unpleasant? Hmm... not really, it's just that the other classmates don't want to get close to us Uchiha."

"Do you know the reason?"

Kyoichi smiled.

Shisui shook his head.

"You're still young now, there's a lot you can't decide on your own. Even if I tell you, you might not fully understand, but you can keep your own thoughts, observe and think with your own mind."

"Take this problem you've encountered—you can try to think about the reason. Consider it an extra assignment for skipping class today."

With that, Kyoichi directly sped up.

Think about the reason?

Shisui was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed.

He pondered as he ran.

However.

Shisui had never thought about these things before.

Previously, he just figured that if those classmates ignored him, he'd ignore them too.

After all, they'd graduate soon enough.

But.

Digging into the reason...

Could it really just be because of the Uchiha clan?

But.

Why?

When he thought about it carefully, it really did seem strange.

Without realizing it, he followed Kyoichi for quite a distance, panting heavily. Kyoichi had actually slowed down, but Shisui, as if unaware, kept running along.

Soon.

They ran back to Konoha.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Once you figure it out, we'll talk again."

Kyoichi smiled.

Class conflict—if he explained it directly to Shisui, he definitely wouldn't understand.

Let him figure it out on his own first.

Besides.

There happened to be an example right here.

"Yes!"

Shisui nodded solemnly.

Kyoichi left, and as he was about to head back to the Uchiha clan grounds, he casually glanced around and saw someone who surprised him.

Obito!

What was he doing here?

This was a small village on the edge of Konoha, mostly home to civilians and some old men and women. Obito seemed to get along well with them, laughing and chatting while eating fruit the old ladies had given him.

Why?