A Scene of Destiny

One month later, at the Uchiha Compound training ground.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

With only two throws, six kunai were able to strike six different targets in succession.

Yun tilted his head proudly toward Izumi, and Izumi, playing along quite well, let out an exclamation of surprise and clapped incessantly.

"Brother is so amazing! Can you teach me?"

Yun scratched his head. Although he truly didn't know the basis for Itachi's simplified calculations, the coffin lid of that great genius from his past life had long since been nailed shut anyway.

Without hesitation, Yun taught Izumi the secret technique that Itachi never shared with others.

The little girl was incredibly excited, constantly experimenting with the newly acquired skill.

In fact, Yun's family situation was very different from Itachi's and Shisui's. Itachi was the son of the former clan head, and Shisui's ancestor was a disciple of that Second, the scapegoat king of forbidden techniques.

Neither of them lacked ninjutsu; whether it was the Shadow Clone Technique, Uchiha Fire Release, or the Body Flicker Technique, both had scrolls at home.

But Yun was different. It could be said that apart from a place to live, the only thing the Uchiha gave him was the Sharingan brought by his bloodline.

This was also the reason why, in his memories, the "specialty" listed in Izumi's ninja record after she awakened her Three Tomoe remained as Taijutsu.

"Let's go, Izumi! We still need to buy some dango to take back; Mother gave us instructions when we left this morning."

"Coming right away, I'm just picking up my ninja tools."

Amidst the calls, Yun led his little tagalong toward the village's Commercial Street.

Along the way, seven-year-old Izumi followed obediently behind Yun, looking left and right from time to time, as if she were keeping an eye on something.

When they reached the entrance of the dango shop, Yun stopped, and his younger sister behind him almost bumped into him.

After buying the Three-Color Dango and having it packed, they left the shop. Because the last portion had been sold, the shopkeeper closed up shop right in the middle of the day.

"You've been looking around the whole way here. Tell me, are you trying to find that poker-faced guy?"

They saw Itachi carrying his younger brother, Sasuke, looking at the closed shop door with some disappointment.

Izumi walked over with the bag and asked, "Itachi, were you looking to buy Three-Color Dango?"

This question made Itachi feel a bit awkward; Yun had kept his love for sweets a secret for him.

Izumi held up the bag and said, "The last portion was bought by me, but if you want to eat it, even though it's meant to be taken back to Mother, I can treat you."

Itachi felt even more awkward. He glanced at Sasuke on his back out of the corner of his eye and said, "It's not for me; my younger brother Sasuke wanted some, so I brought him here to buy it."

Sasuke on his back chimed in quite appropriately: "Eat, eat, eat!"

Izumi smiled and replied, "Let's find a place to sit. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Itachi in a long time."

Watching the three of them walk away, this scene felt strangely familiar in Yun's memories.

Itachi, who had graduated early, was already a genin. After being assigned to a squad, his team leader was Minazuki, and his teammates were Tenma and Shinko.

In his memories, this scene should have been Fugaku bringing him to buy dango, but now it had turned into him bringing Sasuke.

Come to think of it... the time when Itachi awakened his Two Tomoe in his original memories wasn't far off now.

Wait!

Yun suddenly realized something, and the corner of his eye twitched slightly.

It was one thing for Izumi to give away her brother's dango, but she had actually ditched him and run off?!

On the wooden pier by the river, Izumi was holding the back of her head, eyes brimming with tears, not daring to say a word.

Yun sat between the two of them, glanced at Itachi who was carrying Sasuke, and said, "Is being a genin comfortable? I'm on break, but you still have to go around the village catching cats and chasing dogs, and occasionally go downstream to pick up trash."

Itachi looked at the dango Yun had snatched away; there were still two pieces on it he hadn't managed to eat.

He sighed, gave up the struggle, and said with his head lowered, "Actually, it's quite interesting. My teammates are great, and Minazuki-sensei is also quite good."

Yun teased with a smile, "Yo, I didn't know you'd learned to make new friends? Not bad, you've made progress."

After a moment of silence, Itachi, still keeping his head down, adjusted Sasuke, who had fallen asleep, into a more comfortable position.

"Yun, why do you think they have such great hostility toward us?"

Yun paused and asked, "By 'they' do you mean civilian ninjas, and by 'us' do you mean the Uchiha?"

Itachi nodded. Yun thought for a moment and said, "Calling it hostility is a bit of an exaggeration; it should be more like an opinion, right? Your current teammate, the one named Tenma?"

"Do you remember your graduation strength test? That chunin was Tenma's older brother. A chunin fighting a genin—winning is a matter of course, but losing is a joke."

Itachi raised his head and hurriedly defended himself, "But I didn't use heavy force..."

His voice grew quieter as he spoke. With a little reminder from Yun, he, being intelligent, understood.

What mattered wasn't whether he had used heavy force; what mattered was that a chunin had actually lost to a seven-year-old child.

To the civilian ninjas, this was, in itself, a form of condescension from the noble clans.

"Itachi! A mission has come in, and you're still playing around here."

The shout came from Itachi's teammate, Tenma, the one who had been beaten up by Yun's Shadow Clone Technique.

Itachi hurriedly stood up, carrying Sasuke on his back as he replied, "I need to take my little brother home first; I'll be there in a moment."

Tenma glanced at him, muttered that he was a real hassle, and left.

Beside him, Yun chuckled, "Jealousy can sometimes make a person unrecognizable. The price of being called a genius is already manifesting. Handle your bonds well, Itachi."

Itachi, acknowledging these words, nodded and prepared to leave.

Yun, thinking for a moment, called out from behind, "The crow Shisui gave you isn't just for substitution. Under a Summoning Technique, it can also transmit certain information. Remember that; it will be to your benefit."

"Big brother, it hurts when you flick the back of my head like that!"

"Who told you not to learn your lesson?"

"When you find a girlfriend in the future, I'm going to be a third wheel."

"Girlfriends and the like will only slow down the speed of my blade."

"Brother..."

"What is it?" →_→

"I'm going to tell Mother that the only man in our family wants to be single for the rest of his life!"

"Bang!"

Izumi, clutching the back of her head once more, lowered her proud head. Why was it that even though they were born only minutes apart, the gap in their strength was so vast?

If only she could actually win...

Yun looked toward the distant Hokage Building, thinking of the rumors about the most tragic squad in his memories.

Itachi's squad had been formed for less than a year when Tenma and the Jonin Instructor Minazuki were killed. As for Shinko, there were two versions of her fate.

One was that she lost her confidence and ceased being a ninja; the other was that she was also killed by Obito.

Root Division.

Danzo, who was reviewing documents, asked, "Has Itachi's squad been arranged?"

A figure in the darkness replied, "The Jonin Instructor is Minazuki, and the captain and the two teammates are all civilian ninjas."

Danzo set down the document in his hand. "Then proceed with the arrangements once the bonds have formed. Remember, although there are no clan ninjas in the team, I do not want the Fourth to know of any flaws."

The shadow bowed and retreated.