Uchiha Sora

Early the next morning, Xia Yan got up right on time.

Once his biological clock had settled into a fixed rhythm, Xia Yan had hardly ever considered changing it. Even though he had only rested for a few hours, that was enough for him.

Even now, he still felt that the Anbu was no place for normal people, but he had to admit that his time there had given him some very valuable things.

For example, in his previous life, he had suffered from a degree of insomnia for various reasons, but after joining the Anbu, he had mastered a very special ability.

Whenever he wanted, he could enter a deep sleep.

With sleep like that and the aid of chakra, he only needed a little rest to recover completely.

"Another rare holiday begins."

Xia Yan stretched as he quietly headed outside. When he passed the elder's wooden cabin, however, he discreetly slipped a scroll inside before slowly leaving.

As a member of the Senju Clan serving in the Anbu, he knew very well what his role really was.

To put it bluntly, he was a spy-a spy the clan had planted in the village.

Thus, whenever he went on a mission or the Anbu took action, he had to report it to that elder.

Xia Yan did not like how that felt, but he also knew he had to do it.

On a personal level, Xia Yan might not have felt much sense of belonging to the Senju Clan.

But he had to admit that, after he came to this world, the Senju Clan had given him a measure of protection.

At the same time, the Senju Clan had provided his basic ninja training, as well as the various ninjutsu he had acquired afterward.

In truth, he also knew that the clan had directed resources toward him entirely because he had shown some talent. Without that talent, he could never have obtained those things.

But he had received them, and Xia Yan would not quibble over this or that.

It was only natural to try to repay that kindness within his abilities, provided he could ensure his own safety.

Besides, if he wanted to complete that mission, unifying the Senju Clan was inevitable.

Sometimes, Xia Yan also wondered whether it would have been better to be reborn into the Uchiha Clan or the Senju Clan.

After turning it over in his mind, he felt there really was no good answer. The two clans were much the same in that their strengths and weaknesses were all too obvious.

The Senju Clan's advantage was that it was still fairly stable internally, but its current influence was extremely weak, and it had lost far too much of its strength.

The Uchiha Clan's advantage was that it still had tremendous influence and considerable resources at its disposal.

But it was divided internally, and externally, it was also estranged from the village. On top of that, Konoha's major powers were watching it closely.

To put it more bluntly, the Uchiha Clan probably would not last another seven or eight years before tumbling into the dustbin of history, just as it had in the original story.

And after another seven or eight years, the Senju Clan's influence in Konoha would be completely erased, until everyone forgot who they were-even the clan members themselves.

"Simply put, neither of them will come to a good end."

Xia Yan shook his head, looking with a hint of mockery at the four statues standing atop the distant mountain.

Of the two clans that had founded Konoha, one had been thrown into the dustbin of history by force, the other by policy. The sheer irony was hard to imagine.

If someone insisted that the two clans still had successors, that was not entirely wrong. After all, one still had Tsunade, and the other still had Sasuke.

But put that way, the Uchiha Clan had gotten the better deal. Its survivor was a savior, after all.

"But none of that has anything to do with me. Whichever ending it is, I probably won't have much of a future."

Shaking his head, Xia Yan headed toward a training ground.

Konoha had many training grounds specifically for its ninja to use. Xia Yan had no interest in going to the abandoned training grounds in the forest.

First, they were too far away. Second, the events of the previous night were still vivid in his mind. Root was not in very good shape right now, and those people were clearly not up to standard.

Xia Yan did not want trouble. Even though he could guess that those people from last night would not meet a pleasant end, he still knew to learn from experience.

"Besides, what I'm going to train isn't anything major. Maybe I can even find a sparring partner."

With that thought, Xia Yan soon arrived at a training ground. He had to admit that Konoha's ninja were quite enthusiastic.

It was only around six or seven in the morning, but a few figures were already there. Unfortunately, to Xia Yan's disappointment, there were still too few people.

With so few people, Xia Yan could not find anyone suitable to give him a hand.

"That was hasty. Looks like I came a little too early."

Xia Yan swept his gaze around, extending his perception along with it to examine the chakra of everyone present. He found that, in terms of chakra, there was simply no suitable candidate.

Although chakra was not a good way to judge someone's strength-Xia Yan himself did not have much chakra, yet his strength had reached jonin level-

It was certainly a good way to judge someone's basic capabilities. After all, someone with powerful chakra was unlikely to be all that weak.

Unfortunately, Xia Yan did not see many people there with powerful chakra. Most were at roughly the same chunin level as him, and some were even only genin.

Besides, watching them train also let Xia Yan judge that their current abilities in actual combat probably were not much to speak of.

Constantly engaged in real combat himself, Xia Yan was always particularly sensitive to an opponent's strength. He was especially familiar with the fundamentals.

Shaking his head helplessly, Xia Yan decided he would be better off training by himself. If he really found a sparring partner, there was no telling who would be helping whom train.

"Hm?"

But as Xia Yan continued farther in, intending to find a quiet place to train, he unexpectedly spotted a somewhat familiar figure.

She had long black hair, but to make training easier, she had tied it into a high ponytail.

She wore a black, formfitting combat outfit, with a red-and-white emblem on its back that looked like a table tennis paddle.

Clearly, she belonged to the Uchiha Clan!

Xia Yan paused when he saw her. Then she hurled the kunai in her hand, inadvertently revealing a trace of chakra, and Xia Yan was almost certain who she was.

Barring any surprises, she was most likely his old deskmate.

If he remembered correctly, her name was Uchiha Sora?