"Go investigate every Uchiha clan member around Orochimaru!"
Danzo emerged from Orochimaru's base with a dark scowl.
He couldn't believe Orochimaru had slighted him over a single Uchiha clan member!
He was asking for death!
He glanced darkly at the entrance to Orochimaru's base, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
The plan had to be moved up!
"Yes, sir!"
A ninja in a gray Anbu uniform knelt on the ground and replied respectfully.
Then he vanished in a puff of smoke.
A long while later.
Two figures emerged from the cave.
They were Orochimaru, the man who had just taken on a new student, Uchiha Ao, and Mitaraishi Anko.
"I never saw you show any of these talents back at the Academy!"
Anko said, her tone complicated.
Ao used to be an arrogant jerk. Although he'd always ranked at the bottom of his class, he'd shamelessly boasted that he'd surpass Itachi Uchiha and become the Uchiha Clan's greatest genius.
Despite his poor talent, he'd constantly provoked his classmates and gotten beaten up plenty of times.
But his personality never changed.
After she graduated early, she'd never seen her Ninja Academy classmates again. Two years later, she'd run into them once more, only to find Uchiha Ao displaying a side of himself she'd never expected.
She'd never seen Lord Orochimaru take anyone else so seriously.
"Geniuses like you never notice the hard work of ordinary people like us, of course."
Ao shrugged.
His predecessor's talent really had been awful, nowhere near the Uchiha Clan's average. Compared to other Uchiha his age, he could only be called a failure.
Anko had been exceptionally talented when it came to training. She'd graduated from the Ninja Academy at ten and become a Chunin at twelve.
While ordinary students like them were still worrying about graduating, she'd already taken part in the war on the front lines.
The fact that Orochimaru had picked her from among so many outstanding graduates was proof enough of her abilities.
She was one of the best students in their year.
The only ones who could match her were standouts like Might Guy and Namiashi Raidō.
"I'll walk you this far. Once you're inside the village, Danzo's people won't dare lay a hand on you."
Anko stood at the village gates and said goodbye to Uchiha Ao.
"Same time tomorrow. I'll wait here, and we'll go see Lord Orochimaru together!"
She reminded him.
Compared to an ordinary twelve-year-old boy, she was already remarkably mature.
Only, she hadn't developed much physically. She was a head shorter than Uchiha Ao and still flat-chested.
"That probably won't work. Tomorrow's the Ninja Academy's class assignment ceremony, so I need to go to the Academy."
Uchiha Ao explained that his predecessor had just graduated from the Ninja Academy with a very low score. His overall mark had barely reached 61, just enough to pass.
Any lower, and he wouldn't have graduated.
The ceremony had been delayed for two months because of the Nine-Tails Incident.
After it was confirmed that the Third had returned to power, it had been put back on the schedule.
"Anko, who's this?"
A pretty girl called out from nearby.
Uchiha Ao noticed that the girl's eyes were red, but not because of the Sharingan. Her irises were naturally red.
That was a trait of the Yūhi family.
Beside her stood a boy who looked a little older than his years, with a full beard.
"Ao? Why are you with Anko?"
Asuma eyed Uchiha Ao suspiciously. The Uchiha of their year had worse talent than Obito Uchiha. At the Academy, he'd been bullied by other Uchiha just like Obito.
At least Obito dared to fight back, and he didn't bully other classmates.
When his fellow Uchiha bullied him, this guy didn't even dare fight back. He only used the Uchiha name to bully ordinary civilian classmates.
"He's a new assistant of our teacher's. He'll be training with him from now on."
Anko replied, looking helpless.
She and Kurenai Yuhi were good friends and got along well. It only took one glance for her to realize that Kurenai had probably gotten the wrong idea. Kurenai kept looking Ao up and down.
She suspected the two of them were hiding something from her.
Rather than let people mistake them for a couple, Anko would rather clear things up straight away.
She wasn't interested in someone as untalented as Uchiha Ao.
Uchiha Ao glanced at Asuma. He had no time for small talk, so he waved to Anko and headed toward the Uchiha Clan's compound.
"What's he acting so smug about? He's a dead-last Uchiha..."
Asuma muttered under his breath.
"Brother Orochimaru probably only took him on because of his Uchiha bloodline."
"Don't worry, Anko. He won't threaten your position."
He noticed Anko's complicated gaze following Uchiha Ao and hurried to reassure her.
He thought she was worried Ao would steal their teacher's attention from her.
"You don't know. Ao's talent is extraordinary..."
Anko said with a bitter smile. There were things she couldn't tell outsiders.
But deep down, she knew she couldn't hold a candle to him when it came to research.
The only thing she could boast about was her talent for training.
But their teacher had never been short of geniuses when it came to ninjutsu.
"What could possibly be so special about him? Otherwise, he wouldn't have barely managed to graduate at twelve."
Asuma said disdainfully, full of contempt for Uchiha Ao.
Their class had been in school during the final years of the war, and many students had graduated early to join the front lines.
By now, they'd become the village's backbone. Most were Chunin, and some had even become Jonin.
Kakashi was the most outstanding of them. He'd already become an elite Anbu squad captain, surpassing almost everyone else and becoming the shining example of their year.
A newly graduated student like Uchiha Ao was utterly insignificant.
"Asuma, could the Uchiha have done it on purpose? Maybe they didn't want to help the village win the war. Most of our Uchiha classmates didn't choose to graduate early."
Kurenai Yuhi chimed in.
That was the prevailing view in the village: people suspected the Uchiha Clan's loyalty.
The Uchiha Clan was now the prime suspect behind the Nine-Tails Incident.
Public opinion was strongly against the Uchiha.
But they had no evidence to prove their innocence.
"If that's not the case, then why did they stay out of the Nine-Tails Incident and let the whole village fall into a grave crisis?"
"They were supposed to be responsible for Konoha's security, after all!"
"A bunch of useless trash! Every Uchiha is a good-for-nothing!"
Kurenai Yuhi said, her eyes bloodshot and filled with hatred.
Because of the chaos, she'd lost her beloved father.
She hated every Uchiha.
If they hadn't been so useless, her father wouldn't have died in the turmoil.
Anko's lips moved, but she said nothing to defend the Uchiha.
The villagers had suffered. Many civilians had been killed or wounded, and someone had to take the blame for the chaos.
The Uchiha had clearly become an outlet for the villagers' anger.
The village had tacitly accepted that explanation, too.
Although Anko knew that ordinary Uchiha like Ao hadn't had the power to stop the Nine-Tails' rampage, the other villagers didn't see it that way. After all, his name was Uchiha.
The Uchiha Clan had always called itself the Ninja World's foremost ninja clan.
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