Treating Everyone

When Akaseki and the other two arrived at the classroom, two Anbu blocked their way. They could only see Mito and Redhead talking inside...

Akaseki looked at the masked figures and pursed his lips. He figured that if Ranwu hadn't been with them, they would've been stopped before they even reached the door.

At this point, the Uchiha Clan generally had a poor opinion of the Anbu. After all, the department had originally been established by the Second Hokage to supervise and restrict the Uchiha Clan's Military Police Force. At first, the Military Police Force hadn't just been responsible for keeping order in the village; it had also overseen missions and the like...

Now, though, the Anbu had taken over most of the oversight beyond the village.

"Hm? Is that little Ranwu? Are you and Kushina good friends?" Mito turned to look at Ranwu.

"We..." Ranwu started to reply politely.

"Not close!" Kushina said bluntly.

"Hahaha, that's all right. Before people become friends, they're always not close," Mito said with a smile. Then she asked, "You're here to see Kushina, aren't you?"

"Mm, it's Minato..." Ranwu said, turning to look at Minato.

But Minato had already spoken. "That's right, Lady Mito. We were worried about Kushina. We wanted to know if she graduated successfully."

Akaseki glanced at him. What do you mean, "we"? Aren't you the only one? Why would I be worried about her?

"I didn't! I didn't even graduate!" Kushina said brusquely.

At this moment, Kushina even suspected that Minato had come to laugh at her. After all... she'd never seen him show so much concern for her before.

She knew Minato was always looking at her, but the problem was... whenever she got bullied, he just stood nearby and watched with a smile!

Mito corrected her. "Who said you didn't graduate? Kushina, you're already a Konoha Genin!" As she spoke, Mito took out a Forehead Protector.

Akaseki could see that for some reason, Kushina hadn't been assigned to a squad. Instead, Lady Mito had come in person to present her with her Forehead Protector...

At the sight of Konoha's Forehead Protector, Kushina's stubborn expression gave way, and tears welled in her eyes. It was hard to tell whether she felt wronged or relieved.

Seeing this, Ranwu couldn't help saying, "In that case... let's go to the Pine Deer Pavilion together afterward! We can celebrate the four of us graduating!"

She had no idea what was going on, but Ranwu was kind by nature and was willing to include one more person.

"The Pine Deer Pavilion? Little Ranwu, have you saved up that much pocket money? Then Kushina will have to eat her fill!" Mito teased.

"No, this Uchiha said he's super rich and we can order whatever we want!" Ranwu pointed straight at Akaseki.

"That's... that's right!" Akaseki nodded, forcing the words out.

Mito looked at Akaseki, paying particular attention to the fan symbol on his clothes. As if she'd thought of something, she nodded, then made a point of correcting Ranwu. "Little Ranwu, you should be kind to your teammates..."

Kushina wasn't close to Akaseki and his friends, but with Mito's encouragement, she still went with them to celebrate their graduation.

The Pine Deer Pavilion was already a top-tier luxury restaurant in Konoha Village. A sashimi platter cost as much as the earnings from a C-Rank Mission. With four growing boys and girls eating their fill, the bill came to the equivalent of a B-Rank Mission—one of the high-paying ones, too. And that was the total payout, not the amount each ninja received!

There was one thing Ranwu had gotten wrong.

Although Akaseki Uchiha was an Uchiha, he was an orphan and didn't actually get much pocket money.

Even with the compensation for his parents' deaths paid out every month, everything he'd saved over the years amounted to just enough for this meal!

Ranwu, on the other hand, might no longer bear the Senju name, but she'd inherited Tobirama Senju's assets. She was much richer than Akaseki...

When Ranwu saw Akaseki at the register, taking the last silver coin from a hidden compartment in his money pouch to pay the bill, she pursed her lips and moved to pay for him. But Minato stopped her and shook his head.

After wincing at the cost, Akaseki turned back to join the others, wearing a generous, carefree expression.

At Minato's prompting, Kushina and Ranwu both pretended not to notice him putting on a brave face...

"Then... I'll take Kushina back to Lady Mito's place! See you tomorrow." Minato said goodbye to Akaseki and Ranwu.

While they'd been eating together, they'd already learned about Kushina's situation.

They hadn't discussed the details, but they knew at least that Kushina wasn't like an ordinary Genin, who would be "assigned to a squad" with two teammates after graduating and receive guidance from a Jonin. Instead, she would be studying Sealing Technique with Lady Mito.

As an Uchiha, Akaseki knew about the Tailed Beast and had a vague idea of what was going on. But of course, he couldn't say anything about it.

"See you tomorrow," Namikaze said as he bid Ranwu and Akaseki farewell.

Afterward, Akaseki looked at Ranwu, and an awkward silence settled between them.

Akaseki faced a choice: first, go home by himself; or second, walk Ranwu home...

"Then I'll head home too!" Akaseki decisively chose the first option.

Who'd want to go to the sly Senju Old Ghost's house?

"Don't be late tomorrow." Ranwu had probably felt a little better toward him after he'd treated her to a meal.

After Akaseki returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound, someone had already come to tell him that the clan leader wanted to see him, even before he'd made it back to his little house!

He'd expected as much.

Any clan member who had just awakened the Sharingan would surely be summoned by the clan leader or a Clan Elder. After all, the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan wasn't as common as the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, which nearly everyone inherited through their bloodline. Most Uchiha Clan members never even had the chance to awaken the Sharingan.

If no one awakened it for several generations in a row, that branch was practically finished.

Awakening at twelve was already considered very early, especially since Akaseki had awakened it at such a special event today. It was only natural that the clan leader would summon him personally.

What surprised Akaseki a little was that he'd been summoned to the front courtyard of the clan leader's residence. It was a very private place to receive someone.

It made sense, though. The clan leader was meeting Akaseki specifically, and a private setting would make the meeting feel more intimate.

Akaseki arrived at the front courtyard. Before he could look around, the clan leader's voice came from inside. "Akaseki's here? Come in."

Akaseki walked in nervously and saw that, besides the clan leader, Kensho Uchiha, another Clan Elder, Ranyu Uchiha, was there too—the father of Kotomi.

Kensho, Ranyu, and Kagami were known as the "Three Treasures of Uchiha," the three strongest ninjas in the Uchiha Clan at the time. Although clan leader Kensho and Clan Elder Ranyu were of the same generation as Kagami, they were more than ten years older and were both around forty.

When Akaseki entered, clan leader Kensho greeted him with a kind, benevolent smile. Even Ranyu, usually so stern, looked a little gentler.

Perhaps this was how a "prospective genius" was treated.

"Akaseki, you awakened your Sharingan today, didn't you?" Kensho asked warmly.

At the mention of it, Ranyu's expression grew more serious. His daughter had told him when Akaseki had awakened...

Criticizing Madara Uchiha was considered "the right path of the ninja" in Konoha, and the Uchiha Clan went along with the criticism, but... there was no need to be quite so sincere about it, was there?

They were very concerned about the path of the ninja this promising young clan member had chosen.

Having Kagami Uchiha was enough...

They couldn't handle another one, especially one even more extreme than Kagami Uchiha!

"That's right. Today, at the graduation ceremony..." As Akaseki spoke, his eyes reddened.