Miss Samui, You Wouldn't Want This Either

Konoha had only been founded for a few decades. Before that, it had still been the Warring States Period, when the major ninja clans fought one another.

As a result, there were many vastly different cultures.

The "Team Six" led by Jiraiya—the team Minato belonged to—actually had another member, a dark-skinned man with lips like sausages.

He had appeared in Minato One-Shot: The Whirlwind Within the Vortex, whose story mainly covered how Minato created the Rasengan and... Kushina's repression within the village.

"Kiyoshi, you will always be one of us from Kumogakure."

Samodo paused, then continued.

"If you're willing, once you graduate and carry out your first mission, we can take you away. By then, you'll enter Kumogakure and receive our finest training."

With the situation tense and signs of the Third Shinobi World War emerging, now was not the best time to take Kiyoshi away.

They needed to wait until the situation became more chaotic.

"You will become the first clan head of Kumogakure's Uchiha Clan!"

Samodo said excitedly.

But Kiyoshi did not share his excitement.

Kiyoshi was not buying it. He had seen plenty of people making empty promises.

"The Uchiha have been very good to me. They've even taught me Uchiha ninjutsu..."

Kiyoshi's meaning was clear.

Samodo immediately understood what Kiyoshi meant. He was asking for a price!

"Lord Raikage truly thinks highly of you. He even permitted us to bring some ninjutsu scrolls."

Samodo took out a scroll.

Kiyoshi accepted it and opened it. It was a D-rank scroll called "Lightning Release: Lightning Finger."

The rank of a ninjutsu did not refer to its power, but to the difficulty of learning it.

E-rank techniques were those ordinary ninja students could learn, while D-rank techniques were those genin could learn.

By the same logic, C-rank techniques were those chunin could learn, and B-rank techniques were those jonin could learn.

Beyond that point, higher-ranking techniques had little to do with most ninjas.

An ordinary jonin could spend their entire life and only learn B-rank techniques.

A-rank techniques already carried the alternative name of forbidden techniques and belonged to the category of ultra-high-level ninjutsu.

At that point, it was no longer just a matter of learning ability. A ninja's physical condition also mattered.

Forbidden techniques generally consumed a tremendous amount of the user's energy or inflicted enormous harm on them, sometimes even causing death. In other words, those with little Chakra were almost fated to never learn A-rank techniques.

Anyone who could use an A-rank technique would immediately stand out among ninjas of the same rank.

A ninjutsu's rank did not represent its power, but the harder a technique was to learn, the better its effects usually were.

As for the highest S-rank, those were already called ultimate techniques and extremely high-level ninjutsu.

Kiyoshi roughly flipped through the "Lightning Release: Lightning Finger" scroll and found that it could only activate the cells in the index and middle fingers.

And despite being called Lightning Finger, it merely produced a few invisible arcs of electricity inside the fingers.

Noticing the change in Kiyoshi's expression, Samodo smiled slightly, his eyes narrowing as he said,

"We have some informants in Konoha. You... haven't received any ninjutsu from the Uchiha at all. Why force yourself? They don't acknowledge you, but we do. If you want to obtain more ninjutsu, return to Kumogakure."

Samodo's tone was deeply enticing, as though if Kiyoshi missed this opportunity, he would lose his chance to change his entire life.

"Then I'll have to think it over."

Seeing this, Kiyoshi took the scroll and left.

Kumogakure was not foolish either. How could they possibly stuff him full of things all at once?

They would only do their best to tempt him.

"Lord Samodo."

After Kiyoshi left, Samodo emerged from the secret room and went to the third floor of the shop, looking down at the pedestrians below.

There were not many customers left by then. Their shop only operated during the day and closed early at night.

The other clerks began tidying up while the few remaining customers filed out one after another.

"Yotsuki Kiyoshi probably won't want to return to Kumogakure."

Samui spoke calmly.

She had always been a woman who liked to analyze things coolly.

Samodo had just said that the Uchiha did not acknowledge Yotsuki Kiyoshi and had not taught him ninjutsu.

But it was foreseeable that this was only temporary.

Once the Uchiha Clan believed Kiyoshi was qualified, they would certainly teach him.

She did not think Yotsuki Kiyoshi would give all that up. She and Samodo were most likely just wasting their time.

"No, he will sooner or later."

Samodo revealed a smile.

Samui could doubt him if she wished.

His older brother belonged to Kumogakure's militant faction, and he knew quite a few inside details.

Undercurrents were surging throughout the entire Shinobi World, and the people in the village were no longer satisfied with the status quo.

The militant faction was waiting for an opportunity. Once the moment was right, they would start another war.

Having already walked far away, Kiyoshi stood on the street, blending into the crowd.

His expression was concealed by the night, appearing calm and undisturbed.

When no one was paying attention, his left eye slowly opened, and a One-Tomoe Sharingan quietly emerged.

The special Chakra known as Eye Power flowed slowly. Kiyoshi, who previously could only see a tiny black dot where the sushi shop stood, could now clearly see the clerks closing up the sushi restaurant.

Even with only one tomoe, Kiyoshi's eyesight had reached a terrifying level.

Everything was as clear as if it were right before him.

Samodo and Samui's conversation, even the slightest changes in their expressions, entered his sight.

In Boruto, merely by focusing her Eye Power, Three Tomoe Sarada could see the "viruses" exposed in the air!

Kiyoshi's single One-Tomoe Sharingan could likewise see things one or two hundred meters away clearly.

Once Kiyoshi read their words through the movements of their lips,

he lowered his head and gave it a slight shake. "The Uchiha don't acknowledge me, but when has Kumogakure ever acknowledged me?"

His gaze slowly rose, sweeping past the distant sushi restaurant before settling once more on Samui's beautiful figure on the third floor.

Neither the Uchiha nor Kumogakure was Kiyoshi's true destination.

The Uchiha Clan had handled the matter so carefully only to prevent more cases like Kiyoshi's from arising.

If they handled it poorly and damaged their reputation, then people like Kiyoshi, who carried Uchiha blood outside the village, would only stay far away from Konoha.

The Uchiha Clan did not want to gamble on that.

And Kumogakure needed no further explanation. They merely wanted to firmly control the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai, strengthen Kumogakure, and use him as a breeding stud.

They would only exploit him without end.

The Book of Formations and several other databooks had all stated that Kumogakure was like a mafia family.

And it revered... military expansion.

Kiyoshi rubbed the edge of the scroll, his fingertips brushing against the rough texture of the paper.

As he watched Samui's figure, a dark, meaningful glint appeared in his eyes.

Since that was the case, it was only reasonable for him to use some small methods of his own to scheme for greater benefits.

For the next several days, Kiyoshi lived a simple three-point routine.

Ninja Academy, training after school, then home.

Until the sixth day, Kiyoshi returned to that sushi restaurant.

"Yotsu... customer, would you like to order squid sushi?"

Samui asked.

But Kiyoshi did not give the same answer as last time.

"Miss Samui, you wouldn't want me to become enemies with Kumogakure because of you, would you?"