Entanglement

The next morning, at the Hokage Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, staring intently at a crystal ball on the table.

Within the crystal ball was a misty, steam-filled scene. Hiruzen Sarutobi strained to widen his eyes, gripping his pipe tightly in his right hand as though he wanted to see through the vapor.

"An open-air hot spring this early in the morning... what a splendid view..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured quietly, as if afraid of disturbing something, and subconsciously brought his pipe to his lips for a puff.

Knock, knock, knock...

The sudden knocking startled Hiruzen Sarutobi, making him cough out a large mouthful of smoke.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

He hurriedly stuffed the crystal ball into a drawer, waved away the smoke lingering around him, then spoke through his coughing. "Please, cough cough... come in!"

"Excuse me!"

A clear voice came from outside. Iruka pushed open the door and entered.

"Oh, Iruka. You came to see me so early. Did Naruto cause trouble again?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi straightened his posture. He had always thought highly of Iruka, such a conscientious teacher.

Cheerful, motivated, compassionate, and willing to put himself in others' shoes.

That was why he had put Iruka in charge of Naruto's class. He hoped Iruka could pass those fine qualities on to Naruto.

Iruka smiled awkwardly. Not long ago, he had finally adjusted his mindset and completely separated Naruto's identity from that of the Nine-Tails.

And ever since then, Iruka had felt that Naruto was easier to approach than before. Or rather, Naruto seemed more willing to approach him.

Though Naruto still often disrupted class, it was far better than before, when he would vanish all day long. Something like his fight with Kiba yesterday would barely have counted as anything for the old Naruto.

"Um, Naruto's actually been fairly well-behaved these past two days. At least he hasn't been as willful as before."

"Really? That's quite rare. It seems having you teach Naruto's class was indeed a very wise decision." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded approvingly. "Go on. What brings you here this time?"

Iruka gave a slight nod and stepped forward to report. "This morning, a student from my class, Uchiha Shu, came to me hoping to apply for early graduation. With him was sixth-year student Uchiha Izumi."

"Uchiha Shu." A flicker of realization passed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. "That Uchiha prodigy with Three Tomoe at six years old..."

The information on the owner of that name had already landed on his desk yesterday morning.

An Uchiha prodigy with Three Tomoe at the age of six had suddenly appeared. The Anbu tasked with monitoring the Uchiha Clan could not possibly overlook him.

"But they're both children of the Uchiha Clan?" Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. "Did that child say why he wanted to graduate early?"

"I asked him just now. This is the situation: Shu's father died before he was born. Not long after Shu was born, his mother also passed away from illness. Before she died, she entrusted Shu to the care of her friend, Uchiha Hazuki, who is Uchiha Izumi's mother."

Iruka gave a concise report. "Although Uchiha Hazuki is a Chunin, she can only take C-rank and D-rank missions because she has to care for two children. Their finances are rather tight, so Shu hopes to graduate early and ease Uchiha Hazuki's burden."

"I see..." Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled. "He's a filial, good child."

"Then, Third Hokage, what do you mean...?"

Iruka's eyes lit up. If a student in his class graduated at six, it would reflect well on him as the teacher too.

But before he could be happy, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a heavy sigh. "But why does it have to be at a time like this?"

"Huh?" Iruka froze.

"It's nothing. I was merely reminded of some troublesome matters."

Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his head, looking quite troubled.

The conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village higher-ups was growing worse by the day. A six-year-old Three Tomoe graduate appearing now might not necessarily be a good thing for the village.

After the Nine-Tails Attack, the Uchiha Clan had been the primary suspects, and plenty of rumors had spread throughout the village.

Then there was the relocation of the clan grounds. The Uchiha Clan members had been holding in a great deal of resentment at the time.

It was also then that Itachi Uchiha was discovered by his teacher using Shadow Clones to attend school. At the teachers' suggestion, he graduated early at the age of seven.

The Uchiha Clan had been overjoyed. They wanted the entire Shinobi World to know that their clan had produced a genius, and their arrogance had become truly excessive.

Fortunately, Itachi had cared deeply for the village and later joined the Anbu. Otherwise, with the talents of Itachi and Shisui, if they had been swept up by the clan members' expectations, it would have become no small problem.

And now Shu would be graduating at six. By the calendar, that was even earlier than Kakashi had been, and Shu even possessed Three Tomoe.

He did not dare imagine how excited those radicals within the Uchiha Clan would become over such a genius.

"Is that child easy to get along with? I heard he made Uchiha Sasuke cry yesterday?" Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly asked.

"Mm... how should I put this..."

After thinking for a moment, Iruka gave a wry smile. "His personality is somewhat aloof, and he doesn't speak very pleasantly. But as long as no one provokes him, he's actually quite easy to get along with. He never takes the initiative to stir up trouble."

"And if someone does provoke him?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked curiously.

"Mm..." Iruka gave an example. "Yesterday, Shu told Sakura Haruno that everyone in the Uchiha Clan was obsessed with cats."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "That's right. Everyone knows that. What's the problem?"

"Sakura asked the same thing." Iruka quickly added, "Shu told her, 'So even if you chase after Sasuke like a dog, Sasuke still won't spare you a second glance.'"

"Hmph, hmph—cough, cough, cough!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed violently, turning away to suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth before facing him again. "That was indeed a bit too harsh."

"Yes. That child has a sharp tongue. Once someone provokes him, he retaliates against them from every angle, physically and mentally."

Iruka sighed. "Yet he never leaves anyone anything to criticize. He knows how to protect himself through reason. This time, it was because Sakura took Sasuke's side and said something that made Shu feel offended."

"This really is... even more troublesome."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a bitter smile. It seemed the Uchiha Clan had truly struck gold this time.

Emotionally, he wanted Shu to graduate early. No elderly man could dislike a filial child.

But if he simply let Shu graduate, he worried that the Uchiha Clan would instill some clan-first ideas in him.

From Iruka's words, it was easy to tell that the Will of Fire would definitely not work on Shu.

Shisui was Kagami's descendant, while Itachi was the Uchiha Clan head's son.

Both were gifted and came from good families. They had never needed to worry about petty struggles for survival, so they could not empathize with their clansmen's dissatisfaction with the village.

Lines like, "Seeing you is like seeing Kagami," or, "You have the mindset of a Hokage at such a young age," could only be used on those two. If he dared say such things to Uchiha Shu, the boy might just give him the middle finger.

"How about trying to persuade Shu again?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi tried a more readily acceptable reason. "Uchiha Izumi is different, since this is her final year. But Shu is at the age when he should be enjoying school life. If he graduates early like this, he may regret it in the future."

Iruka looked troubled. "You're right. I suggested the same thing, but Shu's attitude was very firm. He said that if he couldn't graduate early, he would simply drop out. With his abilities, it wasn't as if he had to become a ninja."

What the hell, he's completely outside the Three Realms and beyond the Five Elements!

This young man is awfully skilled at flipping the board, isn't he?

Hiruzen Sarutobi was numb. The thing he feared most had finally come...