Shisui

The rain had stopped.

The next evening, Kiyoshi sat in his room with a soldier pill resting against his palm.

It was a system reward, an R-rank Instinct Soldier Pill.

He turned it over and over, studying it for a long while, then sniffed it. It had no particular smell. Its surface was smooth, unlike the rough texture of an ordinary soldier pill. He hadn't dared eat it, either, afraid something might go wrong.

He set the soldier pill on the table and glanced at the numbers in the upper-right corner of the system panel.

[Awkwardness value: 1368, face value: 772]

Enough for one ten-pull.

He opened the draw pool.

The Comeback Pool.

Its description read, "The harder you are on yourself, the greater the rewards."

He remembered training in the rain and felt that this pool really hadn't lied to him.

He took a deep breath and tapped.

Ten beams of light descended.

Two white, seven white fragments, and the last one pure purple.

Two R-rank items: Instinct Soldier Pill ×2. Shuriken Set ×1.

Seven white fragments, three types. The Jiahao Badge appeared three times, and the remaining four fragments were a Silver Bracelet, a Ninja Tool Scroll, a Taijutsu Manual, and a Chakra Guide.

So many fragments?

Was this system sponsored by the Naruto mobile game?

Still, at least there was one purple SR-rank item.

Was that the pity drop?

Well, having a pity system wasn't bad. He shook his head, refusing to think about his past life's Arknights, which had no pity, or Three Kingdoms Kill, where everyone got pity drops.

He took a proper look at the item: Danzo's Evidence: Human Experimentation.

A block of text popped up beneath the system panel. After reading it, he sank into thought.

It stated that Danzo had conducted Hashirama cells and Sharingan transplant experiments in an underground laboratory. Dozens of test subjects had died, while the survivors had their memories erased and were inducted into Root.

He stared at the words "Sharingan samples" for a long time.

Danzo was collecting Sharingan. I knew that, but did you really have to include pictures?!

Even a brief glance at the mangled corpses and piles of eyeballs sent chills down his spine.

This stuff... I could understand the cold-blooded Orochimaru doing it. Danzo... fine, I could understand him, too.

What could I use this memory storage device for?

Watching it myself was pointless. If it turned out to be single-use, that would be a waste.

Then who should I show it to?

Itachi? That guy was flat-out sick in the head. Not an option.

Fugaku? One cowardly, incompetent clan leader. Not an option, either.

All right, Shisui, you're the one. You cared more about the clan than Itachi, had more guts than Fugaku, and had the strength to back it up.

He closed the panel and put the memory storage device into his system inventory.

Then he glanced at the upper-right corner of the panel.

His awkwardness value had dropped from 1368 to 368. His face value hadn't changed, remaining at 772.

He stood up, pulled open a drawer, and put the soldier pill inside. The Mentality Band he'd drawn last time was in there, too.

When his fingers touched the soldier pill, he paused.

The system called this thing an "Instinct Soldier Pill." How was it different from an ordinary soldier pill?

He took it out and looked at it again.

I couldn't just eat it blindly.

I needed to figure out what would happen if I ate it first.

He closed the drawer, shut his room's door, and headed outside.

The cafeteria was about to serve dinner, but he didn't feel like eating. He slung on his ninja tool pouch and went out.

The sun was about to set, and there weren't many people on the streets. He headed toward the Training Hall.

His body was still sore after yesterday's training in the rain. But stopping felt even worse.

He entered the Training Hall, chose a corner, and laid out a mat.

He settled into a horse stance and punched.

One punch, then another, then another.

Sweat streamed down his forehead.

As he punched, he was still thinking about that soldier pill.

Something from the system had to work better than an ordinary soldier pill.

But how much better, for how long, and were there any side effects? I didn't know.

After punching for a while, he stopped to catch his breath.

The Training Hall was quiet, with only the sound of his breathing.

The corner was poorly lit and a little dark, but no one came to turn on the lights.

He rested for a bit, then continued.

After training a while longer, he heard footsteps at the entrance.

He didn't stop, continuing to punch.

The footsteps drew closer. They weren't a student's footsteps, but a ninja's: light, steady, and almost silent as they touched the floor.

He glanced over out of the corner of his eye.

Someone stood in the doorway.

He had short black hair, eyes curved in a smile, and a sword resting on his shoulder.

Shisui Uchiha.

Kiyoshi's fist paused in midair before he continued.

"Senior Shisui." He bowed, his movements a little stiff.

Shisui smiled and walked in.

"You're Kiyoshi?"

"Yes."

"Misa mentioned you." Shisui stood in front of him, looking down at him. "Still training after school?"

"Yeah." Kiyoshi nodded. "My Taijutsu fundamentals aren't very good, so I wanted to work on them."

Shisui glanced at the sweat marks around his feet and nodded.

"Have you been practicing straight punches the whole time?"

"Yes."

"Good." Shisui patted him on the shoulder. "Build a solid foundation, and whatever you learn afterward will come faster."

Kiyoshi murmured an acknowledgment without saying much else.

His heart was beating a little fast.

The memory storage device containing Danzo's human experiments was still in his pocket.

He clenched his fists, then relaxed them.

Should I give it to him now?

No.

It would be too abrupt.

I was a six-year-old kid meeting him for the first time, and I'd be showing a jonin something like this.

Shisui wouldn't believe me. He'd just find it strange.

He suppressed the thought.

"Thank you, sir," he said.

Shisui looked at him again, smiled, and turned to leave.

At the doorway, he looked back and said, "Don't train too late."

"Got it."

Shisui left.

Kiyoshi was alone in the Training Hall again.

He stood where he was, unmoving.

It was his first time meeting Shisui. A living, breathing Shisui.

He looked down at his hands.

In a year, this man would die. Danzo would take his right eye, and then he'd jump off a cliff to kill himself.

And Danzo would use his eye for experiments.

The evidence was right there in his pocket.

He took a deep breath and settled firmly into his horse stance again.

He resumed punching.

But his mind kept turning. How to get close to Shisui, how to earn his trust, and how to show him the memory storage device at the right moment. And there was that soldier pill, too. He needed to figure out its effects first.

His punches grew faster.

Sweat struck the floor in small splashes, one after another.

He didn't stop until it was completely dark.

On the way back, he walked beneath the streetlights, his shadow stretching long behind him.

He wasn't walking fast. His legs felt a little weak, and his arms ached.

But his mind was clear.

Starting tomorrow, I'd study that soldier pill.

He kept feeling that its effects weren't as simple as just "restoring stamina."