One Year Later, Third Generation's Attention

Ninja Academy.

"Chiya-kun, have you heard? It seems Itachi-kun is going to graduate early. Only one year after enrollment, and he's already graduating—how amazing!" Uchiha Izumi gazed at Uchiha Itachi, who was the center of everyone's attention outside the window, and spoke to Fujiwara Chiya beside her.

"He is indeed amazing." Fujiwara Chiya offered his praise without reservation.

Before they knew it, the two had been spending time together for a year.

Although Fujiwara Chiya rarely came to school, through the memories of his Shadow Clones, he had come to deeply understand that this was a gentle, kind, and empathetic little girl.

At this moment, there were still six years left until the Uchiha Clan massacre.

Fujiwara Chiya was not so saintly as to save the entire Uchiha clan; even if he tried, they might not be willing to trust him.

But if he were to let Uchiha Izumi die at the hands of those two lunatics, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito, that would be truly inexcusable.

Perhaps, by that time, it would also be time to leave this village.

After all, his original plan was to join the Akatsuki.

That Konan—ah, pfft—the red-clouded black robes; this Fujiwara had been craving them for a long time.

"Chiya-kun is also very amazing, you know. If you were to take the graduation exam now, you would definitely be able to graduate early too." Just then, Uchiha Izumi's voice interrupted Fujiwara Chiya's train of thought.

"You flatter me too much." Fujiwara Chiya once again played the humble card.

In terms of talent alone, Uchiha Itachi was a genius in the truest sense.

His combat intelligence was exceptionally high; if not for the bonuses from his cultivation techniques, Fujiwara Chiya admitted he would be far inferior to Uchiha Itachi.

The only shortcoming was his emotional intelligence, which was almost zero.

It was no wonder that in the original story, while being feared by Obito, he was played like a fiddle by the Konoha F4.

"No, that's not true. Chiya-kun is truly amazing." Uchiha Izumi leaned close to Chiya's ear, her warm breath accompanying a voice like pearls hitting jade, "Chiya-kun must be like Itachi-kun, using Shadow Clones to attend school all this time, right?"

"How did you figure that out?" Chiya looked at Uchiha Izumi in some astonishment.

Although he knew she had awakened her Sharingan during the Night of the Nine-Tails due to the loss of her parents, the Sharingan did not have the ability to identify Shadow Clones; one could only infer it by comparing the clone to the original. Yet, he had almost never revealed his true self and a Shadow Clone in front of others at the same time.

"Chiya-kun, a girl's heart is always much more observant than you imagine." Uchiha Izumi stepped back, her left eye slightly closed, forming a shallow crescent moon, her red lips parting slightly as she spoke.

"Then tell me, am I real or fake right now?" Chiya was clearly intrigued, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Hmm..." Uchiha Izumi lightly covered her lips with her delicate hand, looked Chiya up and down once more, pondered for a moment, and then affirmed, "Real. No matter how much a clone resembles the original, it is ultimately just a clone. Only the eyes cannot lie. Just like you, Chiya-kun, your eyes these days are different from usual. It must be because you saw Itachi-kun's Shadow Clone being discovered and were worried about being exposed, so you decided to attend school in your true form."

"You really are clever. But perhaps only you could notice this; who else would pay attention to me every day like you do?" A soft smile appeared on Chiya's face, and his right hand inadvertently stroked Uchiha Izumi's small head.

This caused Uchiha Izumi's face to turn bright red. Chiya gave an awkward laugh and hurriedly withdrew his hand, "Sorry, sorry. Because Izumi is too cute, I couldn't help myself, I just couldn't help it."

Uchiha Izumi nodded with a whimper and turned her back to Chiya, a faint smile curling the corners of her lips. She murmured in a voice only she could hear, "Chiya-kun is just too cunning."

The two's actions were taken in by several girls in the corner of the classroom, and their souls of gossip were instantly ignited.

"Wow... Chiya-kun and Izumi-chan are so sweet. How did I not notice Chiya-kun was such a handsome guy before? Kawaii."

"That's because you only had eyes for Itachi-kun. I've been shipping Chiya-kun and Izumi-chan for a long time."

"Really? Tell me more!"

"I want to hear it too! I want to hear it too!"

Hokage's Private Office.

"Third Hokage-sama, this is the information you requested on Fujiwara Chiya and his parents." An Anbu ninja respectfully handed the file to the Third.

Name: Fujiwara Chiya
Gender: Male
Birthday: November 10th
Parents: Fujiwara Ichiro (deceased), Fujiwara Rika (deceased)
Blood Type: O
Ninja Way: To protect Konoha and never wish to see bloodshed happen again.
Hobbies: Helping elderly ladies cross the street.
Most Admired Person: Third Hokage-sama.
Dream: To become a great ninja like the Third Hokage.
Instructor's Evaluation: An excellent civilian genius. If nurtured, his achievements will be no less than those of the children of prestigious families.

The Third took the file and looked it over briefly. Overall, he was quite satisfied. Whether it was shuriken and kunai throwing or other aspects, he reached an excellent level with basically no weaknesses.

Although he was far less dazzling than Uchiha Itachi, one must not forget that Fujiwara Chiya was merely a civilian.

He lacked Uchiha Itachi's excellent bloodline and the resources of a great clan; to have grown to this point was already quite remarkable.

That was not the main point, however. The most important thing was that he saw the Will of Fire in this young man. Someone who could admire him, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and dream of becoming a great ninja like him, would certainly have a high level of ideological awareness.

And what he needed was precisely this kind of civilian genius.

"The Fujiwara family has raised a good son." The Third lit his pipe, puffing out smoke as he sighed inwardly. A moment later, he asked again, "How are this child's interpersonal relationships?"

"He is generally able to get along well with the class, but..." The Anbu ninja's voice came to an abrupt halt at this point.

"Continue?" The Third Hokage tapped his pipe, raising an eyebrow imperceptibly, his emotions unreadable.

"Fujiwara Chiya seems to have a close relationship with a young girl from the Uchiha clan. It is said that on the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, Fujiwara Chiya saved that Uchiha girl, and the two formed a bond because of it." Nowadays, the relationship between the Uchiha clan and Konoha was becoming increasingly tense; the Uchiha were a sensitive topic.

"I see." The Third Hokage's brow smoothed out instantly, and an idea took root in his mind. Perhaps he could leverage that child's admiration for him to brainwash—no, guide—him into gathering intelligence on the Uchiha clan for the sake of Konoha, and to observe whether there were any suspicions of rebellion.

However, before that, the child still needed to become a true ninja.

Thinking of this, the Third Hokage said to the aforementioned Anbu ninja, "Tell the academy to look after that child more closely. Try to help him grow up as soon as possible; the village needs such talent."

"Understood." The Anbu ninja responded respectfully, then performed the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing from the room in an instant.

Watching the spot where the Anbu ninja had disappeared, the Third Hokage relit his pipe, exhaled a cloud of white smoke, and sighed, "Peace, indeed."