Listening to the child in front of him rattle off one thing after another at breakneck speed, Qile couldn't help staring blankly. For a moment, he couldn't quite process what the other boy had said.
By the time he finally came to his senses, the child had already turned and was about to leave.
Seeing this, Qile panicked and hurriedly called out, "Wait! Don't rush off!" He took two quick steps forward and grabbed the child by the sleeve.
The child jumped at being grabbed so suddenly, his body trembling involuntarily.
Qile took a deep breath and tried his best to look cuter. Then, with an earnest expression, he explained, "I really just wanted to ask you for directions. To be honest, I've never left the place where my clan lives before. I came out this time and got lost by accident. I really don't know which way to go."
After hearing Qile's explanation, the child's face lit up with understanding. He patted his chest lightly and said with lingering fear, "Ah, so that's what happened! I thought you'd brought people here specifically to catch us! In that case, which clan are you from? I'll give you directions." As he spoke, he remembered to give his companion, who was still lying over the wall, another pat.
"Danzō! Danzō! Look, look! Heehee!"
"Tch! Stop looking, someone's coming! Someone's coming!"
"Hey! Don't pull me! Don't... Huh? Someone's coming? Danzō, why didn't you warn me sooner? No more pocket money for you!"
Qile's eyes widened as he stared in astonishment at the two people tussling in front of him.
His head buzzed, as if he'd been struck by a bolt of lightning.
Good heavens!
He'd never imagined that he'd run into the future Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the future Pot Kage, Shimura Danzō, here!
Qile mused to himself as his gaze turned involuntarily toward Sarutobi Hiruzen. Judging by how he looked now, he was probably only about ten years old.
Qile couldn't help shaking his head, inwardly marveling: Kids in the Ninja World really do grow up fast. They're so young, and they're already interested in that sort of thing?
Just then, Qile composed himself and raised an eyebrow. A friendly smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he said loudly, "Um... hello, I'm Uchiha Qile! It's nice to meet you." He gave them a slight bow.
After Qile introduced himself, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, who had been tugging at each other, exchanged a glance. As if suddenly remembering something, they quickly let go and straightened their rumpled clothes.
A moment later, they stood upright again, their expressions serious and proper. Then, in unison, they said, "Sarutobi Hiruzen (Shimura Danzō). It's nice to meet you. Please take care of us."
From their words, it was clear that at this point, neither of them harbored much hostility toward the Uchiha Clan.
Clearly, they hadn't yet suffered at the hands of that White-Hair...
Still, when they learned that Qile's surname was Uchiha, their expressions revealed a complicated emotion that was difficult to describe. Perhaps it could be called... awe?
There was no denying that before Konoha was founded, and in its early days, the Uchiha name carried tremendous prestige and influence.
The Uchiha Clan was incredibly forceful and overbearing in how they did things. If they said they were going to come after you, they'd send people after you without a second thought.
They'd threaten you in the morning, show up at your clan's doorstep by noon, and have your clan head raising a glass to them by nightfall.
Naturally, such domineering behavior angered a great many clans, who consequently went to join another clan that was relatively mild-mannered but powerful enough to rival the Uchiha Clan: the Senju Clan.
The Sarutobi and Shimura clans had once been Senju allies, so they naturally knew a fair bit about their former enemies.
"Um... please take care of me, please take care of me. The thing is, I..." Qile had only made it halfway through his sentence.
Suddenly, a shrill, ear-piercing female scream came from next door without warning.
At the same time, a battered old broom flew toward them like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, Hiruzen and Danzō exchanged a glance. Without hesitation, each grabbed one of Qile's arms and hauled him up.
Then they took off running, carrying Qile with them.
Qile, who had already been left bewildered more times than he could count that day, stared wide-eyed at the two boys holding him up as they sprinted along.
Once he'd recovered a little, he hurriedly turned to look behind them.
A plump woman stood there, looking furious and wrapped in nothing but a bath towel. She clutched the broom she'd just thrown like a weapon and shouted curses at the top of her lungs...
Even though they were already some distance away, Qile could still vaguely hear her. For some reason, it sounded as if she was cursing someone's mother...
The two boys kept hauling Qile along at a run until they charged into a public training ground. Only then did they stop and gently set him down.
Then, as if they'd just escaped a life-or-death ordeal, they wiped the beads of sweat from their foreheads and let out a long, heavy breath.
"Aunt Qitian's temper is still just like her..." Hiruzen shook his head, wearing a mischievous smile as he muttered. He hadn't even finished speaking when Danzō clamped a hand over his mouth with lightning speed.
Danzō widened his eyes and frantically shot Qile a look, signaling Hiruzen not to say anything careless.
Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately understood what Danzō meant and hurriedly shut his mouth. He gave an awkward, sheepish chuckle, his hands rubbing together unconsciously.
Qile casually wiped his nose, then looked with interest at the two, who were still holding on to each other. "The two of you seem to get along really well..."
At this, Danzō finally seemed to register what was going on. He quickly removed his hand from Hiruzen's mouth. Then he tossed his head, striking a haughty pose, and protested loudly, "Who gets along with him? Don't make things up!"
Qile just smiled at their interaction and didn't tease them any further.
After all, the most important thing to him right now wasn't figuring out what sort of relationship the two had. It was getting back to his clan's territory and filling his stomach, which had been growling with hunger for ages.
Before you continue