Night hung from the branches like a veil of gauzy silk and curled around the eaves like mist. The moon had already risen, its gentle light falling over the peaceful, tranquil village of Konoha.
"Uncle, another plate of beef, please. And bring me a carton of milk~"
On the shopping street less than a thousand meters from the Hokage Building stood a barbecue restaurant famous throughout the village, called the Yakitori House. Most people in the village, young and old alike, had tasted the food there.
Thanks to its fresh ingredients and fairly reasonable prices, the Yakitori House had become the most famous barbecue restaurant in all of Konoha. So even in times like these, business was still booming, and customers came and went without pause.
Fortunately, the three of them had arrived early, so they hadn't needed to wait for a table. Their food had arrived quickly, and they had already started eating.
"Jiuming, are you sure you can eat any more? This is already your second plate! Hiashi and I barely touched the first one—you ate almost all of it~"
Uchiha Fugaku looked at Jiuming, seated across from him, and reached for his wallet. After feeling how thick it was, he asked in a slightly trembling voice:
Earlier, when the restaurant's prices had been called reasonable, that hadn't meant it was cheap. It was simply affordable for most people, considering the average income in Konoha. But the war had been going on for some time now, and lately Uchiha Fugaku had been assigned only wartime missions by the village.
Wartime missions meant there was no client to pay a fee. And Uchiha Fugaku, who had long considered himself independent and no longer asked his family for money, was under considerable financial pressure.
"No problem. I digest food quickly."
"The portions here are too small. I don't know who a few hundred grams of beef is supposed to feed."
Jiuming seemed not to notice Fugaku's discomfort and replied without a care. Seeing how cheerful Jiuming was, Fugaku changed the subject, unable to bring himself to keep talking about it.
"By the way, Jiuming, you're seven this year, right?"
"Who taught you your ninjutsu? You know some really powerful techniques."
Fugaku stopped worrying about how much Jiuming could eat and grew curious about where he had learned his ninjutsu.
He knew Jiuming had grown up in Lady Tsunade's home, but from what he'd seen, Jiuming's fighting style was completely different from Tsunade's. She probably hadn't taught him.
As for Uzumaki Mito, Fugaku hadn't even considered her. After all, Mito had become a legendary figure in Konoha. Ever since the Second Hokage took office, she had vanished from public view. Only the village's highest-ranking officials even knew she existed.
The Uchiha Clan, already viewed with suspicion by the Second Hokage, knew even less about Uzumaki Mito.
"Hm?"
"Ninjutsu? My grandmother taught me. And the Hokage, too—I'm Lord Hokage's disciple."
Jiuming picked up a piece of beef from the grill, dipped it in sauce, and stuffed it into his mouth as he answered indistinctly.
At his answer, both Fugaku, who had asked the question, and Hiashi Hyuga, who had been quietly eating beside him, stared at Jiuming in shock, their faces full of disbelief.
"You're Lord Hokage's disciple?" Fugaku exclaimed. He didn't care who Jiuming's grandmother was. All he wanted to know was whether the boy in front of him really was the Hokage's disciple.
"Yeah. Is that strange?" Jiuming asked, looking at him in confusion. He didn't understand why Fugaku was so surprised.
"I see. That's the only reason you'd have been put on a team with us. And the only reason you could be this strong at your age."
"Jiuming, no need to say anything more. Order whatever you want to eat or drink. It's on me—eat as much as you like."
Fugaku took a deep breath and said this to Jiuming. Seeing how dramatically his attitude had changed, Jiuming grew curious and asked:
"You seem really worked up. Is it that surprising that I'm the Hokage's disciple?"
"Don't you know that you're the son of the Uchiha Clan head? In terms of status and standing, you have no reason to be surprised."
"And the boy sitting next to you is the Hyuga Clan heir. What's so extraordinary about me being the Hokage's disciple?"
Jiuming asked, puzzled by Fugaku's overreaction.
"Actually, both the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan hold somewhat awkward positions in Konoha."
"I can understand how Fugaku feels, at least to some extent."
"Without a doubt, the person with the most power in the whole village is Lord Hokage. Beneath him is the Council of Elders, and then come the various ninja clans."
"As two of the biggest clans in Konoha, the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan are always under scrutiny."
"To put it simply, our clans are too powerful—powerful enough to make Lord Hokage wary."
Hiashi Hyuga, who had been silent until now, spoke up. But even after hearing all that, Jiuming still didn't understand what he meant.
"Lord Hokage putting you on a team with Fugaku and me means one thing: he intends to repair the relationship between the Hokage faction and our two clans."
"In the past, whether it was the Hyuga Clan or the Uchiha Clan, we were always paired with civilian ninja."
"Nothing like this has ever happened before. As far as I know, ours is the only team of its kind."
"And the three of us all have unusual backgrounds. Lord Hokage arranged this on purpose."
After finishing, Hiashi let out a quiet sigh. He looked at Jiuming with a hint of scrutiny. The great clans of Konoha obeyed the Hokage's orders, but they remained wary of the Hokage's faction. Now that he knew Jiuming's identity, Hiashi wanted to know why he had been teamed up with him and Fugaku.
Seriously? They're turning a meal and a team assignment into politics? What do these two think about all day?
Should I be impressed? I guess this is what you get with heirs to Konoha's great clans.
Seeing Hiashi's expression, Jiuming couldn't help grumbling to himself. He had never gotten involved in Konoha's political affairs before, and his understanding of them was based entirely on what he remembered from his previous life.
He didn't know whether Hiashi was right, and he wasn't interested in any of this or in learning more about it. But that didn't mean Jiuming couldn't understand it.
From Konoha's later development, Jiuming could already make a rough judgment about the Third Hokage's political leanings. Hiruzen believed that the village's interests came above everything else. He wouldn't allow any clan or individual in the village to gain enough power to overthrow the Hokage and plunge Konoha into chaos.
That was why, later on, the Uchiha Clan would be wiped out after suffering unfair treatment. And Hizashi Hyuga, heir to the Hyuga Main Family's branch family, would die in Hiashi's place after Hiashi stopped an enemy from abducting Hinata.
If Hiashi hadn't had a twin brother named Hizashi, then the person executed might have been Hiashi himself, the heir of the Main Family. In that case, Hinata, a little girl of only four, would have been the only one left in the Hyuga Main Family. With the Main Family weak and the branch family strong, Jiuming couldn't believe the Hyuga Clan would avoid internal strife.
"What does any of that have to do with me~?"
Jiuming paused, then stopped his chopsticks and straightened slightly. He looked at Hiashi and Fugaku across from him.
He could feel that Hiashi and Fugaku's attitudes toward him had changed.
"Does Lord Hokage have any instructions for us?" Fugaku asked tactfully, but he studied Jiuming with suspicion. Hiashi was doing the same. The two fourteen-year-old boys were already quite mature in their thinking, and the atmosphere at the table had begun to grow oppressive.
"Your beef and milk are here." Just then, the server spoke, faintly breaking the deadlock.
"Oh, just set them down there. Thanks~" Jiuming picked up the empty plate in front of him and took the beef and milk from the server.
Only after the server had left did Jiuming speak:
"I haven't received any personal instruction from the Third Hokage."
"The reason I'm on your team is simple: I'm strong, and I have plenty of talent."
"I can roughly understand what you're thinking, but I don't think this is something you need to worry about right now."
"In the ninja world, strength always comes first. Schemes and tricks are nothing in the face of overwhelming power."
"What you should be thinking about now isn't whether the Third Hokage has some other motive. It's how the three of us are going to survive the war ahead."
"And how we're going to grow even stronger!"
Jiuming picked up a fresh piece of beef with his chopsticks and placed it on the grill. The moment it touched the wire rack, it sizzled.
The two boys sitting across from him fell silent.
Dinner ended in a heavy atmosphere. Uchiha Fugaku was so preoccupied that he even forgot to worry about his wallet when he paid. Hiashi Hyuga was just as distracted and didn't think to offer to split the bill with Fugaku~
After dinner, Jiuming said goodbye to the two of them and headed straight home, leaving Fugaku and Hiashi staring at each other.
Uchiha Clan Compound.
After returning home, Uchiha Fugaku couldn't put the matter out of his mind. He found his father in the study and told him everything about that day's team assignment, along with quite a bit of information about Jiuming.
"Father, what do you think the Third Hokage is trying to do by arranging this? Is he sending someone to keep an eye on us?"
"Given Uzumaki Jiuming's abilities, it won't take more than a few months of working with Hiashi and me for him to figure out what we're good at and what we're not."
"By then—"
Uchiha Fugaku started to continue, but his father raised a hand to stop him.
"You're thinking that way because you don't know enough about Uzumaki Jiuming."
"Ever since Uzumaki Jiuming and his older sister, Kushina Uzumaki, came to Konoha, they've lived at Lady Tsunade's house."
"You may not know this, but there's also a living old ancestor in Lady Tsunade's home."
"Uzumaki Jiuming was most likely raised by that old ancestor. His ninjutsu must be that person's work, too."
"You don't need to worry. Uzumaki Jiuming can't possibly be that close to the Third Hokage."
Fugaku's father reassured his son. He was delighted that his son had developed such a keen political sense at such a young age.
The same thing happened in the Hyuga Clan, except Hiashi's father, Hyuga Rihui, was serving as a strategist on the front lines and wasn't home. So Hiashi went to his grandfather for advice instead. He received much the same reassurance. The former Hyuga Clan head told Hiashi not to overthink it and to focus on getting along with his teammates.
While Uchiha Fugaku and Hiashi Hyuga worried over the day's team assignment, Jiuming received a ninjutsu scroll delivered by a trusted aide of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Uzumaki Jiuming, the Third Hokage asked me to deliver this Lightning Release Ninjutsu scroll to you."
"He hopes you'll study it carefully. If anything is unclear, you can ask him in the Hokage's office at any time."
The Anbu handed Jiuming a scroll fifty centimeters wide and of unknown length. Feeling its weight in his hands, Jiuming knew the Third Hokage had given him plenty of techniques. Even if they were low-level techniques, the scroll itself was still incredibly valuable.
"Tell my teacher I received it."
"And thank you, too, for going to the trouble."
Jiuming took the scroll and gave the Anbu messenger a slight nod to show his gratitude. The moment the scroll touched his hands, the seal on it dissolved.
Seeing this, the Anbu nodded and vanished.
"Lightning Release Ninjutsu. Looks like I'll have to cram over the next few days. The more I master before heading to the front lines, the better!"
Jiuming picked up the scroll and headed straight for the study. He had already told Mito that he was going to the front lines. She hadn't said much, only told him to be careful.
Kushina hadn't come home that evening. Mito said she was still helping out at Konoha Hospital, so for now, she was the only one at home who knew Jiuming was about to head to the front lines.
With the Lightning Release Ninjutsu scroll in hand, Uzumaki Jiuming began a new period of training. Over the next few days, his schedule became irregular: he slept late in the mornings, stayed up all night studying the scroll, and spent the afternoons trying out the techniques.
While Uzumaki Jiuming was training in his new techniques, his team with Fugaku and Hiashi met up a few times. In talking with them, Jiuming realized they had stopped thinking about his identity. The team was back on good terms, and they held a few practice sessions to work on their basic coordination.
The combat skills Jiuming displayed in training also astonished both of them.
Time flew by as Jiuming trained. Before long, his team received a new mission from the Third Hokage.
"Uzumaki Jiuming, Lord Hokage urgently summons you!"
At Training Ground 1 in Konoha, Uzumaki Jiuming was practicing ninjutsu in an open area when an Anbu appeared silently some distance in front of him. In the next instant, two streaks of lightning shot past the Anbu's face, leaving marks on his fox mask.
"That was dangerous. You appeared out of nowhere."
Jiuming looked at the Anbu, who had suddenly appeared in the distance. He wasn't surprised at all. Instead, he smiled at him and let his surging Chakra settle.
"I know."
"But honestly, I don't like being watched."
After answering, Jiuming turned away. Before leaving, he glanced back at the Anbu and spoke. The Anbu had been watching him practice for three whole days. If it hadn't been the same Anbu who delivered the scroll, Jiuming would have struck him long ago.
He knew the Third Hokage had probably sent the Anbu to keep an eye on him and see how his ninjutsu training was progressing. He knew the man meant no harm, but having someone watch him all day still made him uncomfortable.
"Your ninjutsu is improving at an incredible rate. I think Lord Hokage will be very surprised when he sees how strong you've become."
For once, the Anbu said more than a few words. But after speaking, he quickly left without giving Jiuming a chance to reply.
"Has the day finally come? I've been waiting for it for a long time!"
With that, Jiuming vanished from the spot.
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