Obito's Probing, Senya's Daily Life

Night fell over the Uchiha compound, specifically at the Naka River.

"Who's there? Come out!"

Itachi Uchiha turned instantly, drawing the ninja blade from his back and assuming a defensive stance to face the enemy.

Suddenly, the air a short distance in front of him twisted into a vortex. A man wearing black attire and an orange-red, single-eyed tiger-striped mask was spat out from the swirl, his long, hedgehog-like hair fluttering in the wind.

"It's you!"

Itachi's three-tomoe Sharingan manifested in his eyes instantly. He recalled his very first mission, where this exact individual had murdered his two companions at the time!

He backflipped to create distance, forming hand seals with his right hand while his left hand retrieved shuriken from his ninja pouch.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"

Several shuriken, wreathed in scorching flames, flew toward the masked man.

"Muda da." (Useless.)

The masked man's single visible eye instantly transformed into a shuriken-patterned Mangekyo Sharingan!

The shuriken passed directly through the masked man's body and struck the tree trunk behind him, the intense heat burning a hole straight through the wood.

"Akirameru nda." (Give up.)

"You cannot hurt me."

The masked man stood there, and even through the mask, Itachi could sense the man's air of confidence. Indeed, the masked man had used some sort of space-time ninjutsu—likely his Mangekyo ability.

This was troublesome. As of now, he could not analyze a weakness in the opponent's ocular technique; he feared that even if he used Amaterasu, he would be unable to land a hit.

"What is your purpose in seeking me out?"

Itachi knew the man must have been gathering intelligence on him for some time; otherwise, he wouldn't have known that Itachi frequented the Naka River at night.

"Itachi, the death of your dear friend must have made you feel the pathetic capacity of the Uchiha clan."

"Shisui was forced to commit suicide by the clan. It is truly laughable."

"Take action and wipe out the Uchiha clan. Only in this way can you protect the village before the Uchiha launch their rebellion, sparing the village from their retaliation!"

Itachi was stunned. He wondered if this unknown Uchiha was mentally deficient—how could he say such things? But then, a thought occurred to him: it might be better to play along and see if he could extract more information.

"You are right, but who are you? Why help me?"

"I am the ghost of the Uchiha, Uchiha Madara."

"Back then, I wanted to lead the Uchiha clan away from Konoha, but those cowards became obsessed with that false life."

"They betrayed me, so I fled alone, escaping after being severely wounded in my battle against Hashirama."

"Now, I intend to take revenge on the Uchiha clan—this cowardly, hateful clan!"

Itachi looked at the masked man, feigning empathy, as if moved by "Uchiha Madara's" story. It mirrored his own current situation within the clan, both having suffered betrayal by their own kin!

The masked man also felt his words had successfully convinced Itachi; they were quite persuasive.

In reality, Itachi was already laughing on the inside. Was this masked man an idiot? If Madara were still alive, he would be ancient by now. If he were truly Uchiha Madara, why would he need to seek an alliance? He would have wiped out the Uchiha clan alone long ago.

As for the masked man before him, he was a total clown. It was unclear who was impersonating him, but there was an Uchiha outside the village who had awakened the Mangekyo. It seemed he would have to ask Senya about this later and share the intelligence regarding this fake Uchiha Madara.

Before telling Senya, however, he would stall for time.

"Uchiha Shisui made the clan much quieter; now is not the time."

"I know that, of course. I have already plotted with Danzo. When the time comes to execute the plan, I shall appear."

Having said this, the masked man used his ocular technique again, and with the swirling distortion of the air, he vanished from before Itachi's eyes.

Itachi sheathed his blade and sighed.

"This guy... his intelligence is truly worrying..."

The following afternoon, Senya was processing documents inside the Police Force headquarters.

The desk was piled high with paperwork, giving Senya a splitting headache. Recently, the number of ninjas applying to join the Police Force had been overwhelming; nearly the majority of the village's ninjas wanted to join.

After all, having a position in the Police Force was a chance for civilian ninjas to change their lives. The salary for a member of the Police Force was not only higher than the bounties from missions, but it was also infinitely safer.

Instead of risking their lives every day to leave the village for missions and splitting the commission with teammates, it was better to take a gamble and see if they could join the Police Force. It was safe, paid well, and granted a measure of authority. Compared to others, they were all Chunin, but having the status of a Police Force member carried much more prestige!

This resulted in a massive influx of self-recommendation letters every day since Senya announced that the Police Force would be recruiting externally. Even though Senya had already summoned two shadow clones to help with the office work, it still took him the entire afternoon to finish screening them.

Furthermore, Senya had to execute and arrange plans from time to time, all of which required his personal touch; he didn't trust anyone else with them. It gave Senya the feeling of working overtime every day just like when he first entered the corporate world in his past life.

After all, the experiences of the shadow clones were transferred back to the original upon dispelling. The accumulation of dozens of hours of mental fatigue left Senya with a headache and a sense of exhaustion.

Fortunately, Anko and Kurenai would come to visit Senya's home once a week, bringing him late-night snacks and fruit, allowing him to properly relax.

It was just a pity that since that day, the two seemed to have reached an agreement and never came together again, which Senya found a bit regrettable. He shook his head inwardly; after all, one serving of a late-night snack wasn't enough to fill him up—it tasted much better when eating two portions together.

As Senya reviewed and stamped the documents, he pondered how he should train his body that evening.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The sound of knocking interrupted Senya's train of thought.

"Come in."

Itachi walked into the office wearing his Anbu uniform.

"Senya, there is new intelligence."

"News already? That was fast."

After finishing his mission for the day, Itachi had come straight to Senya's office while it was still afternoon to relay everything he knew about the masked man who claimed to be "Uchiha Madara" whom he had encountered the previous night.

Upon hearing this, Senya felt amused; Obito was a bit of a hothead. He was likely afraid that Senya's presence would lead Itachi down a different path, but unfortunately, Obito had appeared far too late.

If he had tried to manipulate Itachi on the night Shisui died, it might have worked, but now, with his will personally reshaped by Senya, Itachi had long since seen through the true faces of Hiruzen and Danzo.

Still, it was surprising that a guy like Itachi had learned how to hide and feign ignorance. Why did it feel like this father-son duo had been assimilated by him ever since they started getting closer to him?

No, not assimilated—they were simply learning from his own excellence. Sigh, was it really because he was just too outstanding? This cursed, irrepressible personal charm of his...