Although he had accepted the mission to hunt down Obito Uchiha, Ensei Uchiha had no intention of carrying it out. He had no trust whatsoever in Konoha's higher-ups.
Even though the biggest scapegoat in Konoha was dead now, Ensei still had every reason to suspect that if he went out and came back, the Uchiha Clan might no longer be there.
Besides, there was a chance he wouldn't make it back at all.
But Ensei had overlooked one person: Kakashi Hatake.
"Get out. The Uchiha Clan doesn't welcome you."
Watching Kakashi Hatake barge into his home without permission, a trace of annoyance flashed in Ensei's eyes.
He didn't know whether Kakashi was acting on Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, but lately he'd been following Ensei around like a persistent nuisance.
"I'm waiting for you to come with me on the mission. You may still be young, but according to the Shinobi Code..."
After seeing Ensei, Kakashi began to drone on about this and that.
Ensei slapped him flying, then took a book from the table and began reading it attentively.
As for Kakashi Hatake, who had been sent flying by a Chakra arm, he silently recorded information about Ensei in his mind.
Meanwhile, Ensei's Shadow Clone was working on cloning Hashirama Cells.
The small piece of flesh taken from Danzo's arm had already been broken down, and the Hashirama Cells in it had been successfully cultivated.
But what truly interested Ensei was another kind of special cell.
It must have come from one of Orochimaru's test subjects, a person with a special constitution that could perfectly adapt to any bloodline.
Ensei remembered that the man was called Shin, and should still be alive.
In the original story, he'd popped up to make a bit of a splash after Naruto became Hokage.
He had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and called himself Shin Uchiha, but he had absolutely no Uchiha blood.
He was another madman with a few screws loose.
Leaving all that aside, he was certainly excellent material for a researcher.
Unfortunately, Ensei didn't want to change his own bloodline. He was more interested in studying the principles behind this special constitution, which made things extremely difficult.
Ensei had successfully cloned a Byakugan, but cloning was really just a matter of reproducing a cell's original developmental path. He had merely intervened in the process and reduced some unnecessary waste.
In essence, all of Ensei's cloning experiments were about creating a new life, with many things simply discarded along the way.
If he used another method, could the result grow into an ordinary person with a limited lifespan?
Probably. Ensei knew all this, but he didn't care.
Ethics and morality were merely shackles humanity had developed to protect its own species.
Ensei felt no attachment to this world, so he naturally felt no guilt.
After reading for a while, Kakashi Hatake hobbled back to Ensei's side. This time, though, he simply waited and didn't dare urge him on.
"If there's something you want to ask, I can give you an answer."
"But once you've got it, don't bother me again."
Ensei had always known what Kakashi wanted to do, but he hadn't been willing to humor him. Now he was so fed up that he couldn't simply cut things off completely, so he took the initiative and spoke.
"Was Obito really the one who killed the Fourth Hokage?"
Very few people in Konoha knew that Minato Namikaze was still alive.
At the very least, neither of the two men talking knew.
"Yes. It was him."
"Madara Uchiha brainwashed him. He believes in some nonsense about putting all of humanity into a beautiful, eternal illusion."
"What a load of crap. If he wanted to put himself under that kind of illusion, I'd be happy to support him. But what's the point of dragging the whole world into it?"
"And that's not even mentioning that it's all just another conspiracy."
"Utterly foolish."
Ensei grumbled, then looked at Kakashi Hatake and continued, "Anything else you want to know?"
Kakashi's expression darkened, but he steadied himself and asked on Hiruzen Sarutobi's behalf, "What will become of the Uchiha Clan? Will it take over Konoha?"
The question made Ensei laugh in disbelief.
"That's rich. Konoha was originally founded by the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan together."
"If the Senju Clan said that to the Uchiha Clan, they'd have the right. But what the hell is Hiruzen Sarutobi? Does he really think becoming Hokage makes his authority absolute?"
"The Sarutobi Clan used to be nothing, and now he comes here acting all high and mighty."
"Never mind that I have no interest in becoming Hokage. Even if I wanted to, what reason would you have to stop me?"
"Or does Hiruzen Sarutobi no longer consider the Uchiha Clan part of Konoha?"
"Your brain..."
Ensei mocked him mercilessly, but Kakashi Hatake didn't react at all to the insults.
Even when Ensei brought up the White Fang of the Leaf, Kakashi showed no emotion.
In that respect, he was a capable shinobi.
After talking with Kakashi Hatake, Ensei was finally left alone. He didn't know whether Hiruzen Sarutobi had reached a new conclusion about him.
Ensei carried on with his work, conducting various experiments and setting aside some time to learn ninjutsu that interested him.
After demonstrating his strength, Ensei returned to his old routine. The only difference was that the Ninja Cat Clan began bringing more supplies into the Uchiha Clan each day.
At first, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought they might be strategic supplies. When he discovered they were just large quantities of nutrient solution and laboratory equipment, he let it go.
In fact, to ease tensions, Hiruzen Sarutobi even took the initiative and sent the Uchiha Clan quite a bit of Root's laboratory equipment.
For a time, the village seemed unusually peaceful.
Shisui Uchiha finally got to see the village and the clan living together in peace.
Unfortunately, that outward calm didn't last long.
A month later, the Uchiha Clan received a secret report.
Shisui Uchiha had been ambushed and captured while on a mission outside the village. He was still alive.
As for where he'd been sent on the mission... naturally, it was near Amegakure.
Upon hearing the news, Fugaku Uchiha prepared to send out a strike team, but Ensei stopped him.
"Obviously, this is a trap aimed at me."
"There are only a handful of people in the Shinobi World who could capture Shisui."
"I'll go. We can't let Shisui's eyes fall into someone else's hands."
Hearing this, Fugaku Uchiha immediately objected, firmly insisting that he lead the team himself.
But Ensei silenced his objections with a single sentence.
"Who said I'm going myself? It's obviously a trap. Why would I walk right into it? I'm only sending some test subjects and a Shadow Clone."
After seeing Ensei's test subjects with his own eyes, Fugaku Uchiha left without a backward glance.
He... was genuinely a little scared.
The next day, Ensei's Shadow Clone arrived at the village gate and saw Kakashi Hatake waiting there already.
"Looks like you really can't wait to see Obito Uchiha."
"But unfortunately, he doesn't want to see you."
Kakashi Hatake replied with a complicated expression, "I know. I just... want to try."
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