Chance Encounter with the Fate Squad

After the graduation ceremony, Shisui indeed wasn't assigned to a squad—just as he'd guessed, he returned to the clan for continued family training.

What's more, Higashino Makoto had goaded him into awakening Two Tomoe on the spot, so there was no way the Uchiha Clan would let him out now.

Originally, Higashino Makoto had told him to keep it under wraps as long as possible, but Shisui wasn't part of the clan and couldn't grasp their pride, let alone how monumental the Sharingan was to their bloodline.

Shisui also told him that once someone awakened the Sharingan, their chakra changed fundamentally. Ninja without Perception Ability might not notice, but to the Three Tomoe masters within the clan, it stood out like a beacon in the dark—impossible to hide.

An 8-year-old with Two Tomoe was a genius rarely seen even in the Uchiha Clan's recorded history. He became the clan's greatest treasure; there was no way they'd waste his time on some squad.

After all, the outside world was far from peaceful. If he died on a mission, it would be a catastrophic loss for the Uchiha Clan.

A genius who dies halfway means nothing.

Of course, that didn't mean the clan would lock Shisui up like a hothouse flower—that wouldn't let him grow either.

Instead, clan masters would take him through blood and fire.

They had persecution complex, trusting no outsider's protection—not even the village's. In fact, some people in the village were the source of the danger themselves.

Shimura Danzō: "..."

I don't know anything about this. Don't throw every pot at my head!

What? The Uchiha Clan, born evil, produced a genius who awakened Two Tomoe at 8? Come, let this old man take a look!

Hayate Gekko, on the other hand, followed the normal ninja path, obediently forming a team and starting his cheerful Genin life.

The original four-man group was now down to Higashino Makoto and Uzuki Yugao. Hayate Gekko could still be met occasionally. Uchiha Shisui? The man had vanished.

As for Higashino Makoto, aside from occasionally teaching Uzuki Yugao, he threw the rest of his time into the training grind he was obsessed with.

Time doesn't stop for war, and war grows crueler as time passes.

Early summer. The temperature crept up, the sun blazing.

In a Training Ground far from the main city, Higashino Makoto gripped the short sword his father had given him and infused it with a surge of Wind Release Chakra.

This blade was a heirloom of the Higashino Family, forged with a fair amount of Chakra Metal mixed in, so energy flowed through it smoothly.

If it were pure Chakra Metal, how convenient would that be? But that was basically impossible—Chakra Metal output was minuscule, and its price could make Kakuzu explode five times on the spot.

Sharp wind gathered on the blade into a visible, solid chakra coat, but that was too obvious.

Higashino Makoto continued to compress and refine it until the chakra's color faded to nearly invisible, then compressed it within the blade. The sword looked ordinary again, but its inner nature was worlds apart.

He swung the blade casually. Several faint, nearly invisible crescent-shaped blade waves sliced through the air, piercing several Big Trees before finally dissipating.

This was Higashino Makoto's main attack method, developed after his intense training in wind's sharp cutting nature—unblockably sharp and blazingly fast.

The best part was its adjustable size. Small like a miniature bullet, one shot to the heart would send you straight to heaven. With more chakra, a single blade wave could shave the forest in front of him flat.

This seal-less ninjutsu was inspired by Pot Kage Danzō's B-Rank Wind Release: Vacuum Wave / Vacuum Serial Waves, and future elite Jonin Shirakumo Hayama's A-Rank Wind Release: Vacuum Sword.

But that was over a decade away. He had no idea if that Senior had developed Vacuum Sword yet. If not, Higashino Makoto now held the copyright.

Higashino Makoto valued efficiency. He hated techniques the enemy could easily dodge—wasting chakra was wasting life.

So the Vacuum Wave series, which required Hand Seals and spitting from the mouth, didn't satisfy him. Vacuum Sword also needed seals, though few, but the wind blades it fired were as obvious as Vacuum Waves.

Relying on his extremely high chakra control, Higashino Makoto combined the strengths of both techniques and refined them, finally developing an Instantaneous Release, high-speed, nearly invisible blade wave.

He named it: Wind Release: Shadowless Sword.

With a Body Flicker Technique, Higashino Makoto appeared in the forest. He lightly kicked the ground, snapping an extremely thin Steel Wire, triggering the trap.

A dense rain of Kunai and Shuriken flew from all directions, targeting the figure standing in the center.

Higashino Makoto didn't move. His right hand, gripping the sword, blurred into a phantom. Countless Wind Blades precisely intercepted the Hidden Weapons mid-flight.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A continuous string of sharp sounds rang out. The Kunai and Shuriken were knocked down before reaching him, falling uselessly to the ground.

Unlike before, where he only blocked, this time the Kunai and Shuriken weren't just stopped—they were split cleanly in half, the cuts smooth as mirrors.

Finally, a heavy log slammed toward him with immense force and inertia, but he diced it mid-air with a flurry of Wind Blades. Cracks and snaps filled the air as Wood Splinters flew everywhere.

Higashino Makoto was satisfied with the result.

Next, he needed to develop an Assisted Attack Method and Defensive Ninjutsu, both requiring Instantaneous Release. He already had ideas for those.

Let's just say, casting ninjutsu with Hand Seals looks cool, but it's inefficient. Fine for performances, fine for teaching others, but in his own fights, he only wanted fast, precise, Instant Kill.

Who'd stand there chatting with you for ages, then make seals and shoot waves? Even standing on the right side, he wouldn't do it.

Let someone else be the honest ninja. He wasn't interested.

After finishing the ninjutsu tests, Higashino Makoto looked at the wrecked Kunai and Shuriken scattered on the ground and sighed inwardly. Good thing he'd used the Battle Damaged Goods saved up from daily training. If these were brand new, he'd be broke—Fine Steel ninja tools weren't cheap.

He extended his right hand. The chakra gathered in his palm turned into a flowing wind, sweeping the broken Shuriken and Kunai into a pile and dropping them into his prepared Backpack.

Honestly, if chakra wasn't used for fighting, it was pretty handy in daily life.

As for cleaning up the battlefield, he did that after every training session. A ninja had to keep his intel secret—that was a rule Higashino Jiro had drilled into him more than once. So every time he trained, he kept his Perception Ability active to guard against prying eyes.

Right now, for instance, several figures appeared in Higashino Makoto's perception.

He recognized the Chakra Signatures of two of them; the other two were unfamiliar, especially one whose chakra felt sunny and powerful.

He immediately guessed who was coming.

Higashino Makoto packed up the Steel Wire tangled among the trees and hid atop a nearby Big Tree.

Soon, a boisterous voice approached from afar: "I told you I wasn't sleeping in, I just ran into an Old Woman who needed help on the way here."

A lazy voice replied, "Whatever, same as always. I'm not counting on you to be useful. As long as you don't hold us back, I'll be grateful."

"What did you say, you Bastard Kakashi? Who are you calling a burden?"

"The more useless someone is, the louder they yell."

"Ah~~ Bastard, smug Kakashi, I'll kill you!"

"Obito! Kakashi!" A crisp Female Voice only called out their names, and like magic, it stopped the quarrel.

Following behind the three, wearing a Green Vest and sporting a spiky yellow hairstyle, the Handsome Youth had a sunny smile on his face, as if used to the bickering among his students.

But when he approached the spot where Higashino Makoto had just trained, his smile faded as he glanced at the marks on the grass and the scattered Wood Splinters.

The oblivious Uchiha Obito noticed nothing unusual, but Kakashi was different. He asked quietly, "Minato-sensei?"

Minato Namikaze looked around and shook his head. "Not traces of a fight. Someone was training here just now. Probably a Comrade from the village. They've already left."

Kakashi nodded and said nothing. This was the village's Internal Training Ground, so such a scene was common. The four of them continued on, their usual banter fading into the distance.

From his tree not far away, Higashino Makoto smiled faintly. He had just confirmed one thing: Minato Namikaze indeed had decent Perception Ability.

But the perception he gained from training Natural Energy was even more remarkable—more refined than ordinary sensing, while also concealing his own presence.

For Minato Namikaze to detect him, there was only one way: to enter Mount Myōboku's Toad Sage Mode—assuming he had already learned it.

Watching the four retreating figures, Higashino Makoto felt a pang of emotion. This might be the last time he saw this team in such a Harmonious and Friendly scene.

Counting the time, Obito and the others were already twelve years old.

Before long, fate would push them all in drastically different directions. Every tragedy of the Shinobi World was concentrated in this team.

Higashino Makoto had never thought of interfering.

Simple reasons: one, he had never been interested; two, he currently lacked the ability; three, it was too dangerous—he couldn't explain the source of his intel, and it would drag in his Relatives and Friends.

Most importantly, this wasn't his Previous Life's world. In the Shinobi World, the line between life and death was very blurred.

Because someone had taken the lead in breaking the World Rules, blurring the Life and Death Cycle.

Death, in this world, was not the end of life.