The Dark Department is causing trouble again.

"Is that your perspective?" The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke. "That is true, but Sasuke and Yashui are both children. Besides, ever since I adopted him, Yashui has become 'Sarutobi Yashui.' He no longer needs to carry that sinful surname."

"Hmm..." Asuma stopped in his tracks. "Old man, you can stop here. Let's have a proper drink together next time, father and son."

"Very well." The Third Hokage revealed a heartfelt smile. "Watching my son grow up makes this old man feel his age."

"You're still young. You must stay healthy and remain Hokage until my own son grows up." Asuma asked tentatively, "Old man, are you hiding something regarding Yashui?"

"Nothing at all, nothing at all." The Third Hokage turned and began to walk away. "I am old, and at this hour, it is time for me to sleep."

Asuma stood where he was, watching the Third Hokage head home.

The next day, after Yashui woke up, he did not go to the academy as usual. Instead, he went to the Uchiha clan's compound. He hoped to find Sasuke there.

The world of Naruto is truly troublesome; the technological development is extremely unbalanced. They clearly have Western-style decor, electricity, and even computers and telephones, yet there are no mobile phones.

If there were mobile phones, he could have just exchanged numbers with Sasuke and found him instantly. He wouldn't have to go through all this painstaking effort to search everywhere, worrying that Sasuke might not even be there.

When he arrived at the Uchiha compound, the gates were wide open. Although the Third Hokage had once ordered that unauthorized personnel were not to enter the Uchiha compound, in reality, many children who had never heard of the Uchiha clan's terrifying reputation played freely within the clan's territory.

Sasuke didn't seem to care about this. As long as those children didn't enter his house, he let them come and go as they pleased within the Uchiha lands.

Watching these children play, Sasuke seemed to recall the former prosperity of the Uchiha clan.

"Sasuke." Yashui suddenly appeared in Sasuke's line of sight.

"Ah, it's you, the one from the Sarutobi clan." Sasuke referred to Yashui as being from the "Sarutobi clan"; he didn't seem to have much interest in Yashui's name.

"I might be like you, graduating in a month," Yashui said. "I applied for early graduation. If I'm lucky, we'll be in the same graduating class."

"Is that so?" Sasuke's mind flashed to another genius who graduated early--Uchiha Itachi. His gaze couldn't help but turn a few degrees fiercer.

"If there's nothing else, you should go back. I still need to train by myself." After saying this, Uchiha Sasuke stood up and walked toward the Uchiha clan's training ground.

"Sasuke, I want to learn some Fire Style from you," Yashui suddenly said.

"Fire Style? Don't you already know it?" Sasuke left without looking back.

Yashui knew that the original owner of this body knew Fire Style, but the current Yashui did not. To avoid becoming overly reliant on "cheat codes," Yashui hadn't used the Sharingan again either.

Disappointed, Yashui went alone to a public training ground near the academy, intending to practice there.

At this moment, not far away, a pair of eyes behind a mask were watching Yashui.

This was Zhi, of the Konoha Anbu.

"To: Lord Danzo:

The target frequently makes contact with Uchiha Sasuke, and his physical reaction speed far exceeds what it was before, very similar to an Uchiha clansman who has awakened the Sharingan. However, because the target wears sunglasses, it has not been confirmed whether he has activated the Sharingan. To ensure nothing goes wrong, I will begin attempting 'retrieval' immediately. --Zhi."

After finishing the scroll, Zhi tied it to the leg of a pigeon and then vanished from the spot.

Yashui was a bit lost now. Although he was prepared to train, he didn't know what he should practice. Even if he didn't train at all, he was fully confident he could pass the graduation exam.

"No, no, when did I become someone who only trains for exams? I'm supposed to be training to become stronger." Yashui had been spoiled by this pair of Sharingan over the last two days, and now, whenever he encountered anything, his first thought was to rely on his eyes.

If Yashui wanted to become stronger, he first had to learn not to rely excessively on these eyes.

Just as Yashui was about to begin his practice, he suddenly sensed a killing intent rushing toward him from behind.

Yashui immediately rolled forward, then turned to look behind him.

"No one?" Yashui shook his head; perhaps he was just too nervous. Just as Yashui let out a sigh of relief, a mask appeared right in front of him.

The distance between the mask and Yashui was less than a few centimeters; it was practically pressed against Yashui's face.

"Anbu?" Yashui was startled and fell to the ground, only reacting a moment later.

Recalling the last Anbu who wanted to kill him, this one must have the same goal!

"Good reaction. But still too slow." The Anbu's hand slowly reached toward Yashui's glasses, knocking his sunglasses to the ground.

"Come, show me your eyes." The Anbu stepped closer to Yashui.

Yashui could feel it; this Anbu was on a completely different level than the previous one. He could tell just from the killing intent.

If he wanted to, he could kill me at any moment! Yashui realized that fighting him was already meaningless; this Anbu was not someone Yashui's level could defeat.

The Anbu took another step closer, and Yashui was already frozen solid by the Anbu's killing intent.

I can't move... what do I do? Ask a passerby for help... Yashui looked toward the main road. Today was a workday, everyone was busy with their jobs, and there was basically no one on the road, save for the occasional child playing.

"What do you think you're doing to my student?" Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Yashui, blocking the Anbu's path to him with his body.

In an instant, the air seemed to freeze. It felt as if only the Anbu's immense killing intent existed in the air.

A few seconds later, the Anbu picked up the pair of sunglasses from the ground. "His sunglasses fell off, I was just helping him pick them up. Nothing more."

At the same time, that massive killing intent vanished in an instant.

"Is that so? Then thank you. Please give me the glasses, and then disappear immediately." The teacher took the sunglasses.

"Then I shall take my leave." The Anbu turned into a puff of smoke and vanished from the spot.

After the killing intent disappeared, Yashui gasped for air. The pressure from the killing intent just now had made Yashui forget even how to breathe.

"Thud!" At this moment, the teacher who had just stepped forward also collapsed to the ground. His face was deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down him. His tightly clenched fists were even seeping tiny beads of blood.

Yashui walked over to the teacher and saw his face clearly. He wore a ninja uniform and had a scar over ten centimeters long across his nose. It was Umino Iruka.