Leaving the village

Qiu Shan Uchiha was caught off guard by Mikoto's sudden advance. He froze for a moment, then quickly recovered and returned her kiss with passion.

A long while later, their kiss finally ended. Although they were both Shinobi, with physiques far beyond those of ordinary people, they were still breathing heavily.

Qiu Shan Uchiha gazed at Uchiha Mikoto's flushed, lovely face and her beautiful eyes, which seemed to glisten with moisture. He could not help tightening his arms around her.

Uchiha Mikoto gazed at Qiushan's face, a little entranced, and could not help voicing the words she had kept hidden in her heart:

"Qiushan..."

"Hmm?"

"Let me..."

Qiu Shan Uchiha was a little surprised by Uchiha Mikoto's words. After all, he had only used Kotoamatsukami to change his place in her heart, nothing else. In other words, this was something Mikoto willingly wanted.

Seeing Qiu Shan Uchiha looking at her in surprise, Uchiha Mikoto grew embarrassed. In a moment of passion, she had blurted out what was in her heart.

Uchiha Mikoto looked away and offered an excuse. "Aren't you discussing with Uchiha Fugaku how to encourage our clansmen to have more children and increase the Uchiha Clan's population? As the clan head's wife, of course I should lead by example."

"Besides, Uchiha Fugaku injured himself down there on the battlefield a few years ago. It no longer works, so I'll have to ask you to make the effort, Qiushan."

As she spoke, Uchiha Mikoto suddenly lowered her head, her voice growing subdued. "Besides... besides, I'm so much older than you, Qiushan. In a few more years, I won't be as pretty as I am now. When that happens, you won't like me anymore. If I give you a child now, at least I'll have something to hold on to then, and you won't forget me."

Qiu Shan Uchiha listened to everything Uchiha Mikoto said. Her head was still lowered, leaving him unable to see her expression, but he could feel her sorrow.

Qiu Shan Uchiha cupped Uchiha Mikoto's lovely face in both hands. The tears brimming in her eyes moved him deeply.

Qiu Shan Uchiha said nothing more. Words were useless now. He simply nodded gently and agreed:

"All right. Then I'll be asking a lot of you, Mikoto, to carry on my bloodline."

With that, he leaned in and kissed her softly.

Looking at Mikoto's crimson face, Qiu Shan Uchiha gently kissed her cheek.

This woman had eyes and a heart only for him. How could Qiu Shan Uchiha not be moved?

Qiushan took another careful look at Mikoto before using his dōjutsu, Takamagahara, to bring her home.

Both Uchiha Mikoto and Qiushan now regarded each other as their one and only, so they moved together in perfect harmony. Their battle lasted until midnight. Only when Mikoto could no longer hold out did Qiushan finally call a retreat, falling into a deep sleep with her in his arms.

Before falling asleep, Qiu Shan Uchiha was still thinking about putting some furniture, food, and drinks in his dimension so it would be much more comfortable to spend time there.

Qiu Shan Uchiha once again woke to dazzling sunlight. Uchiha Mikoto was still asleep, perhaps exhausted from expending too much energy the day before.

After their morning exercise, Qiu Shan Uchiha did not linger in her tender embrace. He left the clan head's house directly, leaving the messy room for Mikoto to clean up.

After leaving the clan head's home, Qiu Shan Uchiha did not return to his own house. He went straight to Konoha's mission assignment office, intending to take a mission that would let him leave the village and stay outside for a while.

He lived alone. Ever since awakening his spatial dōjutsu, Qiu Shan Uchiha had packed up everything important at home and stored it in his dimension. Everything left in the house was expendable and could be abandoned at any time.

Since Uchiha Itachi had yet to return from his mission, the plan to fake Shisui's death could not be carried out for the time being. Qiu Shan Uchiha could take this opportunity to investigate the former site of the Land of Whirlpools and leave spatial marks along the way to make future journeys easier.

Ordinary Shinobi missions did not actually need to be assigned by the Hokage personally. If the Hokage had to handle even such matters himself, he would have no time for anything else and would have worked himself to death long ago.

Every ninja village had a dedicated place for assigning missions. Beyond assigning them, it also had to review them, determine their ranks, and gather intelligence. Once Shinobi completed a mission, there were follow-up matters such as collecting payment and obtaining feedback from the client. Without a dedicated department, all of this could not be handled properly.

Although Qiu Shan Uchiha was a genius of the Uchiha Clan and had some renown in Konoha, he had spent years attached to the police force and taken relatively few missions. He was also not close to the Hokage. Shisui Uchiha was close to the Hokage because he was a descendant of Kagami Uchiha, and both Kagami Uchiha and the Third Hokage had been students of the Second Hokage. That was why the Third Hokage treated Shisui with such warmth.

Qiu Shan Uchiha, on the other hand, was an ordinary Uchiha orphan. He had neither a reason nor a way to approach the Third Hokage and build a close relationship with him. Besides, Qiu Shan Uchiha did not want to get too close to the Third Hokage, lest he be sold out one day without even realizing it.

Qiu Shan Uchiha accepted a mission to hunt down and kill a Missing-nin at the mission assignment office. Simple and brutal, with no need to rack his brains.

The Missing-nin, Kojiro Shimamura, was a civilian-born Shinobi who, after many years of effort, had barely managed to become a Special Jōnin specializing in swordsmanship. His genjutsu and ninjutsu were mediocre, and only his taijutsu was passable.

He had defected from Konoha because he had killed one of his students during a mission-a youngster from a minor clan who had repeatedly mocked and provoked him. However, he had failed to cover his tracks properly, leaving evidence that aroused the suspicions of that minor clan in the village.

Kojiro Shimamura already had a guilty conscience, and after Konoha called him in for questioning just twice, he could no longer sit still. He defected while out on a mission.

Since Kojiro Shimamura had little standing in Konoha, was not particularly strong, and had no access to the village's secrets, the village did not take the matter very seriously. They did not even bother sending the Anbu, simply posting the mission at the mission center. Any experienced Jōnin was eligible to accept it, and Qiu Shan Uchiha's publicly known strength happened to meet that requirement.