Because I'm Smart and Talented, I'm Hard to Fool

"Achoo!"

Lying lazily on the sofa, Uchiha Hanazuki surveyed his surroundings with a soda in his left hand and a bag of chips in his right.

"Did I catch a cold? No, it feels more like being targeted by a snake—and a snake obsessed with science, at that."

Within his vibrant, lush inner world, Kurama stretched comfortably before glancing at the nearly empty pile of snacks, unable to stop himself from shouting.

"Hey, brat! The snacks are running out. Hurry up and conjure some more for this lord!"

"Nag, nag, nag. All you do is eat. You shouldn't even be called Kurama; just change your name to 'Orange Pig.' Since all you do is eat and sleep, you might as well change your species from a fox to a pig while you're at it..."

Before he could finish, Kurama's tails bristled, and his blood-red fox eyes locked in a glare with Hanazuki's own crimson eyes.

"Did I not lend you my chakra? If I hadn't been working myself to the bone converting chakra for you, do you think you could have used Fire Style: Great Spiral Ring on your own?"

"Didn't I pay for a half-year supply of snacks in advance? You ate them all in ten days! You have no right to be offended when I call you a pig!"

Throughout the Forest Courtyard, half the grounds were buried under snack wrappers and empty bottles, which were slowly dissolving into chakra as they soaked into the pale blue Heart Lake.

The once-gentle breeze was now tainted with the scent of various potato chips; a light sniff made Hanazuki's expression shift slightly.

"Tomato flavor? I didn't realize you had such refined taste."

"Tch. Anyone who eats tomato-flavored chips is a heretic."

"Are you looking for a fight, you Orange Pig?"

After a brief silence, the countless wrappers and bottles vanished instantly, replaced by floating clusters of pale blue chakra. The crimson eyes, previously held in check, now turned inexplicably cold.

At this, Kurama dropped his playful demeanor. Seeming to sense Hanazuki's mood, he leaned against a tree taller than himself, a smirk playing on his lips.

"What's wrong? In a bad mood?"

"I just encountered a ninja worth respecting on the battlefield, and it left me feeling a bit sentimental."

"Compared to her, those old geezers who only know how to sit and eat away at the village's resources, who watch as children are sent to the battlefield while spouting nonsense about the 'Will of Fire' just to keep a tight grip on power—they become more detestable the more I look at them."

Hanazuki's lips curled upward, his gleaming fangs becoming more pronounced until he broke into a wild, skyward laugh.

"Hahahaha! Is that why you let that old hag go? I was wondering why you'd spare an enemy's life. So, it was just a whim."

"Hey, brat of the Uchiha clan, why endure it? With your Mangekyo Sharingan and my chakra, what could we not accomplish if we joined forces?"

The blood-red vertical fox pupils held an inexplicable allure. Kurama truly couldn't fathom why Hanazuki, who possessed the power to overturn the entire ninja world in a short time, still chose to hide in the shadows.

"Fool. What is the point of a fleeting reign? Only that which can withstand the erosion of time, carve its own mark upon the wheels of history, and manipulate the flow of events—that is true power."

"You, the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, and I, who have surpassed the Sharingan—our combined strength is indeed formidable, but it is not absolute. There are still natural enemies."

"Don't tell me you haven't sensed that thick, malicious intent hidden within the forest. That is what a 'natural enemy' is."

A cold light flickered within his intricate, blood-red eyes. The direction of that malice was none other than the home of Obito.

Already impatient to observe your successor, Uchiha Madara...

Meanwhile, on the border of the Land of Wind, pale moonlight spilled over the dazzling gold dust as the relentless fog was held back by gale-force winds and toxic smoke.

"With Rasa and Chiyo, and the Third Kazekage missing, the consecutive failures have left Sunagakure severely crippled. Even their only remaining combat force is forced to guard the border of the Land of Wind."

"Can the 'Blood Mist' that engulfed the ninja world and indirectly ignited the Third Shinobi World War still find moments for sentimentality?"

In the thick fog, seeing that they could gain no advantage, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—handpicked by the Mist Hidden village for this war—retreated, leaving behind only the corpses of Sunagakure and Mist Hidden ninja.

"A pack of bloodthirsty sharks. Wherever there is an opening, they bite off a piece of flesh without hesitation."

Rasa's aged face was etched with worry. With the Third Kazekage missing for so long, his death could effectively be declared. The leaderless Sunagakure needed to elect a new Kazekage capable of stabilizing the situation.

"Compared to the other great nations, Sunagakure's manpower is far too thin. Even with puppets to compensate for the lack of numbers, there are very few top-tier combatants capable of forcing other nations to retreat."

Standing atop the fortress, Rasa looked back with a heavy heart. The village that had raised him seemed to be teetering in the breeze, on the verge of collapse.

"Top-tier combatants? If we want to protect the village, we have no choice but to activate that monster: the One-Tail, Shukaku of the Sand."

Pakura remained silent. Ever since the death of the previous jinchuriki, that demon containing vast amounts of chakra had been sealed away in the Temple of Wind.

"A jinchuriki? If we want impoverished Sunagakure to have the ability to fend off foreign enemies, I suppose that is the only way. But finding someone suitable for Shukaku will not be easy."

Rasa muttered to himself, while Chiyo looked up at the sky, where only a few stars twinkled in the dim light.

"The deeper the night, the more one feels their own age. The future belongs to your generation now. My only wish as an old bag of bones is to see my grandson."

"Where are you, Sasori?"

At the same time, far beyond the Five Great Nations, on a peninsula overseas, lay the Graveyard of Mountains.

Deep within a massive underground cavern, an old man with white hair and blood-red eyes scrutinized the scene before him, finally reaching a decision.

"This child, Uchiha Obito? A good look in his eyes. They are filled with love. When that love is lost, the power he gains will surely make him the perfect executor of my will."

"Eh? I thought you would be more interested in that other brat. He's an Uchiha genius who could skillfully use the Flying Raijin at ten years old."

White Zetsu was puzzled, pointing to the name at the top of the list of Uchiha members: Uchiha Hanazuki.

"He lacks the eyes of an Uchiha, and even more, he lacks the obsessive love of an Uchiha. The Uchiha who inherits my will does not need talent; he needs the hatred born from that very love."

White Zetsu nodded slightly. I see. Because he looks too smart and talented, he's too hard to fool, right?