First Meeting, Lord Orochimaru

Uchiha Kei walked up to Naruto's dilapidated shack and kicked the door open.

"Nani? What are you doing!"

Naruto was half-naked, a look of panic plastered across his face.

"I got my mission bonus. Want to go get some Ichiraku Ramen?"

"You kicked my door down just to ask me if I want ramen?"

Naruto roared in anger.

It's all over. It's definitely going to be drafty when I sleep tonight...

How pathetic...

"Plus Three-Color Dango?"

Uchiha Kei offered tentatively.

"Plus Three-Color Dango? What kind of person do you take me for! Am I the type of person who has no bottom line just for food?"

Naruto was incensed, lunging at Uchiha Kei with claws bared.

"And two cases of cup noodles."

Uchiha Kei calmly held up two fingers.

"Kei-aniki, my door was in disrepair anyway. I was just worried you might have hurt yourself. Is your leg okay?"

Naruto twisted his body mid-air, landing in front of Uchiha Kei with a highly difficult maneuver.

His anger had vanished completely, replaced by a face full of sycophancy.

To Naruto, ramen, Three-Color Dango, and cup noodles were the three most wonderful things in the world.

Getting one made him very happy.

Getting two made him very blissful.

Getting all three meant his life was complete!

After tidying up briefly, Uchiha Kei took him to Ichiraku Ramen.

Business at Ichiraku Ramen was always booming; after waiting in line for ten minutes, it was finally their turn.

Looking at the steaming bowls of ramen, both of them couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!"

Identical hands pressed together, followed by identical wolfing down of food.

"Kei, how much was the bonus for this mission?"

Naruto asked, his mouth full as he ate.

"The Hokage felt the mission should have been A-rank, so it was quite a lot."

Uchiha Kei replied during a pause in his eating.

"Enough for how many bowls of ramen?"

"Enough for a year."

Naruto's movements paused, his eyes shining as he stared at him.

"That much!"

Uchiha Kei instinctively covered his pocket and scooted to the side, looking wary.

"What are you planning? This is hard-earned money!"

"Don't be so stingy, we're good friends!"

"We're good friends as long as we don't talk about money. If we talk about money, we're enemies!"

"..."

As the two were laughing and joking, someone suddenly sat down next to them.

Uchiha Kei turned his head in curiosity, meeting a pair of gentle eyes.

"Shisui-niisan, you're back."

Uchiha Kei was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.

If Uchiha Shisui had returned to the village, did that mean...

That person was back too!

"Mm, I'm back."

Shisui said with a smile, though he couldn't hide the exhaustion on his face.

"You've worked hard, Shisui-niisan."

The difficulty of capturing that person was far greater than killing him.

"Compared to you, it hasn't been hard at all."

Shisui said, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

Uchiha Kei responded with a hearty smile.

Indeed, with Shisui's strength, dealing with that person might be troublesome at most, but there was absolutely no danger to his life.

Uchiha Kei, however, was different.

On the surface, he was just an eight-year-old child, someone who could only ever be a "prodigy."

"Prodigy" might sound like a compliment.

But a prodigy who hadn't yet grown up posed no threat whatsoever.

"The person has been brought back, but..."

Shisui hesitated, his expression turning somewhat strange.

"This guy doesn't seem to count as human anymore."

Uchiha Kei nodded.

He was well aware of all this.

"Can we really trust someone like him if we cooperate?"

"Of course we can."

Uchiha Kei answered with certainty.

"In a sense, as long as you give him a direction to pursue the truth, no one is more reliable than him."

Shisui remained half-skeptical, but since the person had already been captured, he could only wait and see.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Having finished his second bowl of ramen, Naruto's stomach had finally found some brief comfort.

"Just talking about some interesting things."

Seeing Naruto's eager expression, Uchiha Kei waved his hand dismissively.

"But it has nothing to do with you right now. When your Rasengan can reach a normal scale, then you'll be qualified to know."

Naruto immediately deflated.

After sending Naruto home, Uchiha Kei and Shisui walked down the street.

"Want to ask about Uzumaki Naruto?"

Seeing Shisui's hesitant demeanor throughout the walk, Uchiha Kei brought it up directly.

"Yes."

Shisui didn't try to hide it.

"Is Uzumaki Naruto a part of your plan?"

"In a way, but not entirely."

Uchiha Kei stopped walking and looked at Shisui seriously.

"A fully grown Nine-Tails jinchuriki would indeed be helpful to our plan."

"But that is not the real reason why I take special care of him."

Shisui also stopped, waiting for what he had to say next.

"Naruto is much more pitiful than I am."

A flash of reminiscence crossed Uchiha Kei's eyes.

"When I first realized the cruelty of this world, Naruto was the only friend I had by my side."

"Can you understand that feeling of being in a strange environment, with no one to turn to?"

"I was desperate and decadent at the time. But when I looked back, I discovered someone who shared the same fate as me."

"What kind of strength do you think it takes for someone to be surrounded by darkness, yet still yearn for the light?"

Shisui listened quietly, recalling the intelligence he had on Naruto.

Indeed, a person who had been isolated and bullied since childhood, yet could still laugh so carefree.

Only Uzumaki Naruto could do that.

That child who had been called a "fox demon" since he was small.

"Strength and power make a person's ambition swell infinitely, but Naruto has the ability to dissolve that swelling."

After saying this, Uchiha Kei stepped forward and continued walking.

Shisui carefully chewed over his words, a smile he couldn't suppress appearing in his eyes.

He agreed to join Uchiha Kei's crazy plan, not out of any ambition to dominate Konoha or the Shinobi World.

He did it so that the village and his clan could coexist in peace.

Seeing Uchiha Kei like this put his mind at ease.

He wasn't trying to curry favor because of the Nine-Tails jinchuriki; it was purely out of genuine affection.

Shisui led Uchiha Kei to a wooden cabin in the forest.

"He's in there."

Uchiha Kei nodded and reached out to push the door open.

"This guy is cunning and incredibly strong, so please, be careful."

Even at the very last moment, Shisui couldn't help but offer a final word of caution.

"Don't worry."

As he pushed the door open and stepped inside, blinding light flooded the sealed cabin.

Inside, a snake-like entity writhed across the floor.

Stung by the sudden sunlight, it raised a pair of cold, vertical pupils.

Uchiha Kei watched him silently, and he, in turn, observed Uchiha Kei.

"Who are you?"

The voice was hoarse, carrying an unconcealable trace of anger.

Uchiha Kei stepped closer, pulled up a chair from the side, and sat down with a relaxed expression.

"Speak! Who are you, and why did you capture me?"

Reeking of a foul, fishy stench, he closed in on Uchiha Kei step by step.

He could tolerate Shisui's contempt—losing to a superior opponent from the Uchiha clan was no disgrace.

But this brat in front of him was barely eight or nine years old; how dare he look down on him with such condescension!

He opened his gaping maw, revealing two fangs that glinted with a chilling, venomous light.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Orochimaru."

A pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan suddenly manifested before his eyes.

"I am Uchiha Kei."