The next day, Gojo Satoru sprawled out on the tree at the Training Ground, utterly listless.
So boring.
Why had everyone gone off to take jobs these past few days?
Were they all trying to score a big payday before the holiday and stash away some spending money?
Even that kid Itachi had been dragged off on a mission.
Wasn't child labor illegal?
Speaking of which, wasn't his birthday coming up?
What should I get him?
Nobody knew the answer to that better than the birthday boy himself.
The corner of Gojo Satoru's mouth crooked upward as he suppressed a mischievous grin.
All right, that settled it. I'd just ask him directly.
If Uchiha Satoru asked, he definitely wouldn't get an answer.
But what if Satoru-ko asked?
Heh heh, he wouldn't stand a chance.
Then what surname should I use?
Definitely not Uchiha.
Gojo Satoru glanced at his own head of white hair, and an idea popped into his mind.
White hair, silver hair-they looked pretty much the same anyway.
Perfect. Hatake Satoru-ko it was.
Gojo Satoru ducked into the house and turned the cabinets and trunks upside down.
After a flurry of activity, a cross-dressing version of Uchiha Satoru made a dazzling entrance, white hair hanging loose, a Forehead Protector covering half his eyes, and a mask over his face.
Gojo Satoru stepped in front of the mirror.
His short white hair fell in a tousled mess, while a mask and Forehead Protector identical to Kakashi's concealed his face completely. He wore a long blue dress.
Hahaha, what a lovely little beauty.
Who knew women's clothes would suit yours truly so well?
Gojo Satoru propped his chin on his hand and praised himself in a strained voice.
Still, I really did look like Kakashi in a dress.
"I'm Kakashi's cross-dressing double, Hatake Satoru-ko."
"Hahahaha."
Gojo Satoru pinched his voice into a bizarre pitch.
"Just what you'd expect from me. Even a dress looks this good on me."
Gojo Satoru examined himself carefully in the mirror, then pushed the door open and walked out.
He should be somewhere nearby by now.
"Secret technique: Teleportation," he murmured.
The essence of Blue was "absolute attraction." It could generate a powerful attractive force that compressed the distance between multiple targets to "negative infinity."
It could be understood as a miniature black hole.
Teleportation relied on this property of Blue: first pinpoint the destination, then compress the space between the two points, shifting the user across.
Before long, Gojo Satoru vanished from the house and appeared in a dense forest.
They should have reached this area by now.
Itachi had taken an ordinary escort mission. Judging by their traveling speed, they should already be in this area.
Up ahead lay a stretch of road they had to pass through. The terrain was uneven and winding, so no matter how fast they traveled, they couldn't get very far.
As Gojo Satoru pondered this, his body suddenly went weak.
Exhaustion seeped out from deep within his bones.
What was going on?
Was this body too young to handle repeated teleportation?
That made sense. I'd used Blue-based teleportation over and over during yesterday's exam.
And I hadn't rested today, either. No wonder my body was protesting.
Forget it. No more teleporting today.
It was the perfect chance to experience the treatment a delicate young girl deserved.
A sly grin flickered across Gojo Satoru's face.
He opened his exposed eye, its azure iris seeming to swirl with the depths of the cosmos.
Let me see where you are.
Nothing could hide from a sweep of the Six Eyes. No matter how far away it was, he could see it perfectly.
Of course, he could see just as well with his eyes closed.
How could this be?
Oh, no.
Uchiha Itachi was eight this year, which meant this was the year he would awaken his eyes.
He remembered that in the anime, Itachi had awakened his two tomoe after witnessing Obito Uchiha kill his teammate.
He hadn't expected it to happen today, on this very mission.
But there was something else he hadn't expected.
Clang.
Gojo Satoru flashed over with the Body Flicker Technique, appearing out of nowhere in front of Itachi and taking Obito Uchiha's attack head-on.
Facing Obito, who radiated murderous intent, Gojo Satoru tugged at the corner of his mouth and managed a somewhat shaky smile.
This was bad.
I still hadn't recovered from that bout of weakness.
Now I was in serious trouble.
But how on earth had Itachi survived this guy in the anime?
Obito hadn't held back in the slightest with that attack.
Doubts stirred in Gojo Satoru's mind.
"Who are you?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Obito Uchiha's eyes.
Who was she?
How had she appeared without the slightest warning?
And...
That outfit looked uncannily like his-Kakashi's.
At that thought, Obito's gaze grew even more sinister.
He had only intended to kill the mission's target.
He hadn't expected the escorts to be shinobi from Konoha.
Then I might as well slaughter them all.
In the end, only this Uchiha brat remained.
Seeing the boy awaken his eyes with two tomoe right from the start had piqued Obito's interest.
Perhaps this brat could be useful to the plan someday.
Obito had intended to spare him and let hatred take root within him.
But then he had spotted something belonging to Kakashi fall from the boy.
He must be someone Kakashi cared about.
That bastard had killed Rin with his own hands, yet here he was, hiding away in Konoha, clinging to life, and even making new friends.
I couldn't let him get away with it.
Everyone connected to him had to die.
Just as Obito was about to kill the Uchiha brat, this girl, who looked as though she and Kakashi had been cast from the same mold, had jumped out and blocked his attack.
Who on earth was she?
Obito Uchiha's gaze darkened.
Gojo Satoru forced his expression to remain steady and flashed a brilliant grin.
"Huh?"
"Are you asking me?"
"I'm Satoru-ko. What can I do for you?"
Before you continue