Night fell over the Uchiha Compound, by the Naka River.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
Itachi Uchiha spun around at once, drawing the Ninja Blade from his back and taking a stance, ready to face his enemy.
Suddenly, the air not far in front of him twisted into a vortex and began to spin. A man dressed in black, wearing an orange-red tiger-pattern mask with a single eyehole, was spat out of the vortex, his long, spiky hair blown by the wind.
"It's you!"
Three-Tomoe appeared in Itachi's eyes. He remembered that during his first mission, this very man had killed two of his comrades!
He backflipped to put some distance between them, forming Hand Seals with his right hand while pulling Shuriken from his tool pouch with his left.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"
Several Shuriken, wrapped in scorching flames, flew toward the Masked Man.
"Mudada." (Useless.)
The single eye visible through the mask instantly became a Shuriken-shaped Mangekyō Sharingan!
The Shuriken passed straight through the Masked Man's body and struck the tree trunk behind him, the scorching flames burning a hole right through it.
"Akila me da." (Give up.)
"You can't hurt me."
The Masked Man stood there, and even through the mask, Itachi could sense his confidence. Indeed, the Masked Man had somehow used a Space-Time Ninjutsu. It was probably his Mangekyō's ability.
This was troublesome. For now, Itachi couldn't figure out how to find a weakness in the man's eye technique. Even Amaterasu might not be able to hit him.
"What do you want with me?"
Itachi knew the man must have been gathering information on him for some time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known that Itachi often came to the Naka River at night.
"Itachi, the death of your closest friend must have shown you how pathetic the Uchiha Clan is."
"Shisui killed himself because the clan backed him into a corner. How laughable."
"Destroy the Uchiha Clan. Only then can you protect the village from the Uchiha uprising and spare it their revenge!"
Itachi was taken aback. Was this unknown Uchiha in front of him out of his mind? How could he say such a thing? But then he had another thought: he might as well go along with it. Maybe he could draw out more information.
"You're right. But who are you? Why are you helping me?"
"I am the ghost of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Madara."
"I once wanted to lead the Uchiha Clan out of Konoha, but those spineless fools had become enamored with that false life."
"They betrayed me, so I fled alone. I was gravely wounded in my battle with Hashirama and escaped."
"Now I want revenge on the Uchiha Clan, that cowardly, detestable clan!"
Itachi looked at the Masked Man, seeming to empathize with him, as if moved by the story of "Uchiha Madara." He was in the same position within his own clan, betrayed by his fellow clansmen!
The Masked Man also thought his words had convinced Itachi. They were certainly persuasive.
In reality, Itachi was already laughing to himself. Was this Masked Man an idiot? If Madara were still alive, how old would he be by now? If this really were Uchiha Madara, why would he need to team up with Itachi? He could have taken revenge on the Uchiha Clan by himself long ago.
As for the Masked Man in front of him, he was a complete clown. Itachi just didn't know who he was impersonating. There was an Uchiha who wasn't in the village and had awakened the Mangekyō. He'd have to ask Senya about it later and tell him about this fake Uchiha Madara.
But before telling Senya, he'd better keep the man occupied.
"Uchiha Shisui kept the clan in line. It's not time yet."
"I know. I've already made plans with Danzo. When the time comes, I'll show up myself."
With that, the Masked Man used his eye technique again. The air twisted into a vortex, and he vanished before Itachi's eyes.
Itachi put away his Ninja Blade and sighed.
"This guy's intelligence is seriously questionable..."
The following afternoon, Senya was working through paperwork at the Police Force.
The pile of documents on his desk gave him a headache. Lately, far too many shinobi had been applying to join the Police Force. Nearly half the shinobi in the village wanted to get in.
After all, having a position in the Police Force was a chance for civilian shinobi to turn their lives around. Its members earned more than they could from mission rewards, and the job was far safer.
Rather than risk their lives going out of the village on missions every day and splitting the rewards with a few teammates, they might as well take a chance and see if they could join the Police Force. It was safe, paid well, and came with some authority. They might all be Chunin, but having the title of Police Force member gave them so much more prestige!
So ever since Senya announced that the Police Force would start recruiting from outside, the office had received a flood of applications every day. Even after Chiba made two Shadow Clones to help with the paperwork, it still took the whole afternoon to review them all.
On top of that, Senya had to carry out and coordinate plans from time to time. Those were things he had to handle himself; he couldn't trust anyone else with them. It reminded him of his first days at a company in his previous life, when he'd worked overtime every single day.
After all, once a Shadow Clone was dispelled, its experiences were transferred back to the original. Hours upon hours of mental fatigue piled up, leaving Senya with a headache and feeling drained.
Fortunately, Anko and Kurenai came to visit him at home once a week, bringing him late-night snacks and fruit so he could relax.
Unfortunately, ever since that day, the two seemed to have planned it between themselves and never came together again. Senya couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. He shook his head to himself. One late-night snack wasn't enough to fill him up, after all. It tasted better when he had two servings.
As Senya reviewed the paperwork and stamped his approval, he wondered how he should work out that evening.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The sound pulled Senya out of his thoughts.
"Come in."
Itachi, dressed in his Anbu uniform, walked into the office.
"Senya, I have new information."
"You've already found something?"
After finishing his mission for the day, Itachi had come straight to Senya's office that afternoon. He told him everything about the Masked Man who had called himself "Uchiha Madara" the night before.
Senya was delighted as soon as he heard the news. Obito was a bit of a hothead. He was probably afraid that Senya's presence would send Itachi down a different path. Too bad Obito had shown up too late.
If he'd appeared on the night Shisui died, he might have been able to manipulate Itachi. But now, after Senya had personally reshaped Itachi's resolve, Itachi had already seen through Hiruzen and Danzo.
But Itachi had learned to hide his true intentions, too. Why did it feel like both father and son had started taking after Senya since they'd grown close to him?
No, taking after him? They were simply learning from someone as excellent as him. Sigh, was it because he was just too outstanding? What was he supposed to do with this damn, impossible-to-contain charisma of his...
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