Outside the Ninja Crow Training Base, Uchiha Gen raised his hand to look into the distance, checked the sky, then turned and set off. After buying some tonics and throat-soothing fruit, he headed toward a corner of the Clan Grounds.
At the entrance to a secluded residence.
Uchiha Sumi, dressed in a black fur coat, sat quietly on a small stool before the steps, basking in the sun with a young girl at his side. From time to time, he glanced toward the intersection.
"It's rare to see you as happy as you are today, Sumi."
With warmth in her eyes, the girl looked at Uchiha Sumi's pale yet handsome face.
"Yes. Yesterday, I met that newly emerged genius cousin the clan has been talking about. Although there is a world of difference between our talents as ninjas, I believe my father's will, which I cannot inherit, will surely bloom anew in him."
A gentle smile, warm as sunlight, appeared on Uchiha Sumi's sickly face.
When a figure dressed in blue-black high-collar clothes appeared at the intersection, Uchiha Sumi's smile deepened further.
"Gen, you're here."
"Yeah, Brother Sumi. Just a little gift. And this is...?"
Uchiha Gen curiously looked at the girl beside Uchiha Sumi.
The girl had little Chakra presence and was not a ninja, but her clothes bore the Uchiha Clan Crest as well. Clearly, she was a civilian of the clan.
The Uchiha Clan had more than two hundred members who had awakened the Sharingan alone, while the number of ordinary ninjas and civilians was even greater. There was no way Uchiha Gen could know them all.
"Her name is Yuna. She is..."
Before Uchiha Sumi could finish, the girl at his side cut in:
"Hello, Cousin Gen. I'm Yuna, Brother Sumi's... well, neighbor."
The girl spoke