Chance Encounter

"The biggest mistake Lord Hashirama made was letting you all eat your fill. Don't worry, I don't need to carry you," Shiro said irritably.

Then, Shiro raised his hands and began to Hand Seals.

"What are you doing? Ninjutsu isn't allowed in the village."

"Don't worry, it's fine, Summoning Technique!"

After the smoke cleared, a large bird appeared in front of Shiro, but the bird's eyes were lifeless and it looked dazed.

This is Familiar created by Shiro by combining knowledge of Puppet Technique and Magecraft. Its intelligence is almost zero, not to mention its combat ability. It only possesses some Instinct, such as the ability to fly.

Although it's not very useful in combat, it's quite good for traveling.

"This is... a summoning beast? Why does it look so silly?"

"Well, that's about right. It's just for getting around, so don't overthink it."

"But is it really okay to use this in the village?"

"Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"Anko paste?"

Seeing that she still didn't quite believe him, Shiro had no choice but to say, "Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility if anything happens. Besides, if we don't go now, you'll really be late."

"Okay, let's go then." In the end, she gritted her teeth and agreed.

After saying that, she and Shiro jumped onto Bird No. 1.

"Is this really a good idea? We'll get caught."

"What are you afraid of? You're Uchiha, the Police Force is all yours, what's there to be afraid of?"

"But there are clan rules! It'll be terrible!"

"Alright, alright, you're already on board. Do you really want to get off halfway? Think about it. By the way, I still don't know your name."

"Okay, you're right. My name is Uchiha Mitsuki. What's yours?"

"Mizuki? Who is Uchiha Mikoto to you?"

"My cousin? How come you know her?"

"..."

"What do you mean I know him? I've only heard of him. But Taichi and I are definitely teammates, that much is true."

So, what's your name?

"Emiya Shiro, you can just call me Shiro."

"That's wonderful. I really envy those of you who have brothers and sisters."

"Uh, you've got one thing wrong. Although my name is Shiro, I'm an only child."

"Hmm, how strange..."

"More or less. By the way, what year are you in?"

"I'm graduating in a couple of days."

"In a couple of days? You're a third-year student?"

As far as Shiro knows, only the third-year students who were in the same cohort as Shiro will graduate in a while. Okita a year younger than Shiro and will need to study for about another year. Therefore, the only ones who will graduate in this period are the clan ninjas who were not forced to graduate in the first place.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Mizuki asked Shiro, somewhat surprised and puzzled.

"It's nothing. Come to think of it, we should be from the same cohort."

"Same time? How come I..." Suddenly, Mizuki realized why she hadn't seen Shiro. "I'm sorry."

"Ha, you really are different from the average Uchiha. Saying sorry is pointless. It's not like you can decide this. Alright, we've arrived at school. Go on."

"Um."

Seeing that Mizuki was still bothered by that incident, Shiro said helplessly, "I'm telling you, it's really nothing. If you really feel bad about it, just treat me to dinner after your exams."

"Oh well."

"What day is the exam? I'll cheer you on; you can't just eat this meal for nothing."

"Three days later, okay, I'm not going to say anymore, I'm really going to be late." After saying that, he started running towards the classroom.

"Ha, besides Obito, there's actually someone like this in the Uchiha. There really are all sorts of people, aren't there?" After exclaiming, Shiro said to the person beside him, "Captain Ryujin, aren't you coming out yet?"

"You brat, you've broken the village rules again." Three figures emerged from behind the voice.

"Well, it's just that the situation is urgent. I believe Big Sister will understand. Besides, I'm helping your Uchiha Clan."

"Hmph, this is the last time!"

"Yes, yes, Captain Ryujin, I'll be going now. You can continue your patrol." Shiro replied casually. Ryujin always said it was the last time, but when did he ever really mean it?

"Captain, are we just going to ignore this?" A teammate said angrily, seeing Shiro's nonchalant attitude.

"Sigh, let's go. Let's just pretend we didn't see it. You'll find out later," Ryujin sighed helplessly.

This wasn't the first time Shiro had caused trouble with Kushina. At first, he even tried to subdue them, but he was stopped by the Anbu as soon as he showed any signs of doing so.

Keep in mind, that's the Anbu! It's a high-ranking department with at Jonin level personnel, yet there are two or three of them taking turns guarding that red-haired girl every day. And that's only because they deliberately let Ryujin discover them; who knows how many more are secretly watching.

From then on, the phrase Ryujin repeated most often was, "This is the last time."

As a result, Shiro and Kushina gradually became familiar with Ryujin, although Ryujin wasn't too happy about it.

This is also why Shiro dared to summon Bird No. 1 in the village; not only Ryujin, but almost the entire Police Force knew that he and Kushina were in cahoots.

However, Shiro has spent more time on missions in the past two years and rarely spends time fooling around with Kushina anymore, so some newcomers don't know him yet.

He was essentially using someone else's power to intimidate others. However, when Shiro returned, he didn't take the Bird No. 1. Anyway, he wasn't in a hurry, and it wouldn't hurt to take a stroll around the village.

"I'm back."

"Huh? Nobody's here? Oh well, never mind, I'll go cultivate first."

Seeing that no one was home, Shiro went back inside to put down some things before heading to the training ground, where he needed to practice his swordsmanship.

He still hasn't figured out what he's lacking. On the way back, he asked Nakamura, but unfortunately, Nakamura wasn't good at swordsmanship and couldn't tell either.

So Shiro had to ponder it alone, but unfortunately he still hasn't figured it out. That feeling of having something on the tip of his tongue but being unable to say it is too painful.

However, having just returned, Shiro didn't want to be subjected to Dai's mental pollution yet. He planned to go see him again tomorrow if he still hadn't figured it out.

So, Shiro began practicing the combat techniques he had learned from Red A's Kanshou and Bakuya again and again in the training ground, stopping to meditate and recover when he got tired.

However, even by evening, Shiro still hadn't figured out what that awkward feeling was. After practicing all afternoon, Shiro was a little hungry; he had only eaten some dry rations on his way back to the village at noon.

Therefore, although Shiro hadn't figured it out yet, he put it aside for now and went to eat, since there was no rush.

So, Shiro went home to get ready first. After all, there would be a lot of people at the place they were going to, so he needed to be presentable. Otherwise, how could he find a pretty older sister?

After finishing his business, Shiro headed towards the food street, which was a hub for many of the village's delicacies, most of which were specifically for ninjas.

Therefore, the business hours there are usually longer, and this time period happens to be the busiest.

"Huh? You are... Shiro?"

Upon hearing this, Shiro turned his head to look.

Thank you to Black Reaper Hei, and to Luomu Sama for the monthly ticket! And of course, thank you everyone for your recommendation votes, though there are too many to list. Thank you all for your support! ▄██● I'm bowing down in admiration!