After quite a while, the four finally stopped, thoroughly satisfied. They clapped their hands, their faces beaming with delight. Their earlier gloom was nowhere to be seen.
Qile tugged at his pants, muttering to himself the whole time. Who knew what he was going on about?
At that moment, Yeling, smiling from ear to ear, bent down and helped Qile up from the ground.
"Yeling, why didn't you come rescue me sooner? You just watched me get bullied!" Qile looked up at her with pleading eyes and grumbled in protest.
Yeling froze for a moment at his words, then burst out laughing again. "Oh, I'm sorry, Qile! I won't do it again!"
But her laughter only made Qile feel more dejected. He tugged hard at his pants again and complained irritably, "Tch, could you laugh a little more quietly? You're so loud I can hear you!"
Still, he was quite pleased with the change in Yeling. At least she was showing some emotion now...
As the two talked, Koharu could no longer contain her curiosity. She slowly edged closer, blinking her big eyes as she cautiously asked, "By the way, Qile, what exactly is your status in the Uchiha Clan? The other Uchiha children don't seem to have an... older sister looking after them wherever they go."
Koharu had actually meant to say "maid," but with Yeling standing right there, she hurriedly changed her wording.
"I'm just an ordinary Uchiha. There's nothing special about my status. You're overthinking it," Qile muttered casually, unconcerned. Then he changed the subject. "Oh, right! Shouldn't Kagami be getting out of school soon?"
"Just an ordinary Uchiha?" Sarutobi Hiruzen, standing nearby, heard him and paused. Then he pursed his lips, clearly unconvinced.
He gazed thoughtfully at a large tree not far away.
He couldn't be completely certain that someone was really hiding there, but a strong instinct kept warning him that someone was definitely watching their every move from that spot.
And it wasn't just today. Every time Qile came to see them, Hiruzen had the same feeling. He just couldn't be sure...
Besides, even Teacher Heye had taken several opportunities while they were out on missions to subtly tell them something important: Qile's true identity was far from ordinary. They had to be careful and maintain proper boundaries whenever they spent time with him.
"Hey! Did any of you even hear what I said? Shouldn't Kagami be getting out of school soon? I still have to go pick him up!" Seeing everyone fall silent, Qile had to raise his voice and ask again.
At last, Danzo, who had remained silent until then, slowly replied, "Kagami won't be out until this evening. Didn't Lord Tobirama just explain that? Were you not paying attention at all?"
"Really? How come I don't remember that?" Qile scratched his head, trying hard to think, but he couldn't recall a thing.
Koharu looked at his puzzled expression and smiled as she explained, "You were too busy thinking about other things to pay attention to Lord Tobirama. Besides, based on our own experience, there's still a lot to get through today. First, they'll assign everyone to classes based on their circumstances. Then they'll arrange the seating."
"Each subject's substitute teacher will also come up and say a few words of welcome and explain the course requirements. And of course, the students will all have to stand up one by one and introduce themselves. By the time they get through everything, it'll probably be nearly dark. It'll take at least until evening."
After listening to Koharu's detailed explanation, Qile nodded. "I see. Fine, then. I'll go wait for him a little later."
Today was Kagami's first day of school, an important occasion. It seemed his father had gone off on some kind of urgent mission.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, his father should have brought Kagami to school himself.
Well, if his biological father was too busy, then Qile would just have to take care of things as his... brother...
Come to think of it, although Qile hadn't managed to learn anything from Senju Tobirama lately,
he'd still been fortunate enough to learn quite a lot from Senju Heye.
Senju Heye hadn't shown the slightest desire to stop Qile from secretly learning from her. In fact, whenever she noticed that he hadn't quite grasped some point, she would repeat it for him several times.
With Senju Heye's help, Qile had indeed picked up many useful skills and learned a great deal.
This made Qile's opinion of Senju Heye soar.
As his thoughts galloped wildly, a breeze swept past, and Tobirama finally appeared before them.
The moment F4 saw him, they straightened up and greeted him in unison, behaving impeccably. "Greetings, Lord Tobirama!"
Tobirama acknowledged their respectful greeting with a slight nod. His gaze swept over Qile, who was standing nearby, before he slowly began, "You once accompanied Heye on a difficult mission that lasted about two months. During that time, I'm sure you learned a great deal of valuable ninja knowledge from her..."
Tobirama had intended to start with a few polite remarks, but halfway through, he realized the introduction was getting too long. He changed course and asked directly, "So, would the five of you be willing to become my disciples?"
"Huh—five?" Before F4 could recover from the enormous surprise, Qile was the first to repeat the number in disbelief.
Did Senju Tobirama mean to include him, too?
Should he say yes?
Just as he fell into deep thought, carefully weighing the pros and cons, the sound of hurried, heavy panting approached from a distance.
Then an anxious voice cut through the air. "Lord Tobirama! Y-You're just too fast! I can't keep up!"
A somewhat chubby child slowly came into view in the distance.
Qile looked at the newcomer, clicked his tongue, and muttered softly, "Well, there goes my wishful thinking!"
Tobirama had been keeping an eye on Qile, so he naturally noticed the change in his expression. The corner of his mouth lifted!
At last...
He'd managed to fool him after all!
What a satisfying feeling!
Before you continue