"As long as it worked."
Brother Shui said gently, "With you leading the clan, I can rest easy."
Clearly, Brother Shui's words were also filled with approval of and confidence in Haruma.
After all, those eyes that could see the future were simply far too unbeatable.
With him leading them, surely the clan's situation and its conflicts with the village could all be properly resolved.
"With me here, nothing will go wrong."
Haruma gnawed on a rib, mumbling, "I'll make another trip tomorrow and get that brat Fugaku to give you a pair of Sharingan first."
"This is the recuperation area, a remote corner where even birds won't shit. There aren't any ninja watching you at all. You can't keep wearing those bandages every day, cosplaying Satoru Gojo."
"Huh?"
"Cos-who?"
Brother Shui frowned and asked, "Who's Playgo? Is he someone who'll influence the direction of the clan's development next?"
"Cough, cough."
That was close. He had almost choked to death on a rib.
What the fuck was 'cos-who' and 'Playgo'?
"No, no." Haruma laughed it off. "I just can't bear seeing you lying here reflecting on life every day like an old man when you're still so young."
The corners of Brother Shui's mouth lifted. "Don't worry about me. With you and Itachi..."
Mentioning Itachi reminded him of the future Haruma had described to him, and Brother Shui quickly corrected himself. "With you here, I can rest easy. Even if I lose my sight forever, I won't mind."
"You won't mind, but I will!"
Looking at Brother Shui, who wanted to give up and retire, Haruma raised his voice in agitation. "Do you know how much money taking care of you every day wastes?!"
"A year! A whole year! Food, drinks, treatment-it's been tens of thousands of ryo! That was all my grandparents' nest egg!"
"Hurry up and get better, then go on missions and earn me some money. After a year, even the worst injuries should be pretty much healed, right?"
Haruma scoffed, "You didn't think I saved you just so you could retire early, did you? Dream on."
"At your age, at this stage, you want to sleep-pah! You want to retire? Do you think you get to retire?!"
"Tomorrow, you're going to behave and get those light bulbs installed in your eye sockets! I've still got missions for you afterward!"
Having vented his anger and eaten and drunk his fill, Haruma dropped his bowl and chopsticks and went straight into his room.
Leaving Brother Shui alone, utterly bewildered in the wind~
Only when the sound of the door closing came from inside did Brother Shui come to his senses and smile in understanding.
A light breeze blew past, and Brother Shui's thoughts returned to a year ago.
Danzo had ambushed him and stolen his right eye, and he had escaped using the Body Flicker Technique, unwilling to let his clansmen learn the truth and further intensify the conflict between the village and the clan, causing a war.
After writing his suicide note and putting his affairs in order, Shisui had made it look as though he had destroyed his own eyes. He had arranged to meet his best friend Itachi beside the Naka River, handed over his remaining left eye, then jumped off the cliff in despair.
After falling into the water, in the last moment before his consciousness faded, he had felt someone swiftly pull him out. When he woke, he had been in the recuperation area of the clan compound, where Haruma had cared for him for an entire year.
Even now, Haruma was the only person who knew he was still alive.
According to Haruma, his waiting by the river ahead of time had been no coincidence. He had simply seen it.
Eyes that could see the future-while Shisui had been astonished, he had also realized how terrifying that ability was. He had rejoiced that hope had appeared for the Uchiha Clan.
And during that year spent together day and night, Shisui had taught Haruma every Ninjutsu he knew and shared every secret.
In Shisui's heart, he had long since regarded Haruma as a best friend he could trust with his life.
Though this best friend had a somewhat strange temper and was a little greedy, and sometimes frequently said baffling things, like pyramid-scheme brainwashing and getting his hands on his grandparents' coffin money. Or having fingers in his head that also needed to eat money, and so on.
At one point, it had made Shisui question whether his best friend was mentally well.
Having fought on battlefields and spent some time in the Anbu, Shisui was also proficient in deciphering codes.
Yet there were still far too many things he did not understand, like a big rooster that played basketball and even wore overalls.
Why would a rooster play basketball? And wear overalls? Could it be a new summoning land Haruma had discovered?
And which country's ninja was Jini Taimei?
Jini seemed to be a family surname from the Land of Iron. How did Haruma, who had never left the village, know about it?
With so many questions, and wanting to understand his best friend's mental problems, Shisui had cautiously asked several times, only to be brushed off and have the subject changed.
Meanwhile, Haruma, who had just returned to his room, still seemed to have some lingering anger on his face.
"Dream on. After spending tens of thousands of my ryo, he actually wants to retire and log off!"
"Going by the Land of Fire's-no, the entire Shinobi World's! Forget it, I'll use the repayment interest rate of Blue Star's high-interest banks. Fifty thousand lent out for a year at twenty percent interest."
Haruma's little brain launched into a flurry of high-speed calculations.
"Was that twenty percent annually, monthly, or daily again?" Haruma muttered, looking slightly puzzled.
"Forget it. I'll calculate it as daily interest. I'm sure Shisui won't mind a little thing like that."
A moment later, Haruma nodded solemnly. "Compounding interest on interest on interest... I'll round it down. Once he pays me five billion ryo within a month, he can retire in peace."
Five billion ryo! At that thought, $$ signs seemed to flash faintly in Haruma's eyes again.
"I saved his life. Surely he won't default on his debt?"
After thinking it over, Haruma still felt a little uneasy. He found paper and a pen in his room, wrote out an exorbitant IOU, and walked out.
"Shisui!"
When he needed him, he called him Brother Shui; when he didn't, it was Shisui.
Hypocrisy was the name of the game.
"Haruma, what is it?" Shisui answered, pulling himself out of his thoughts.
"There's a document here. Sign it yourself." At that moment, Haruma's voice sounded like the evil whisper of a demon from the abyss.
"What document? Does someone else know I'm still alive?" Shisui asked in confusion.
"Don't worry. Nobody knows you're still alive." Haruma answered solemnly, "This document is a classified mission I'm personally assigning you as the current clan head. Once you can see tomorrow, you'll need to get ready to carry it out."
After hearing Haruma's explanation, Shisui felt something seemed a little off. "Then why not wait until I've recovered tomorrow before I sign it?"
Pah. Nice try.
If I actually waited until you could see again, would you still sign it?
I'm making you sign now precisely to take advantage of the fact that you can't see!
Seeing that Shisui still hadn't moved, Haruma said impatiently, "What's with all the questions? Would I ever harm you?"
True.
He saved my life. What's wrong with signing a document? Would my best friend really harm me?
With that thought, Shisui took the paper and pen and, following Haruma's instructions, signed his name in the designated spot.
"Oh, and add the date and time on the line after your name. A fingerprint would be best, too."
Shisui froze at that, feeling that the procedure seemed rather like the IOUs issued by gambling houses. Could this be an IOU?
Impossible! Shisui smiled. Haruma is my best friend and saved my life. How could he take advantage of my blindness to do something so underhanded?
A minute later, having completed the process, Haruma took back the IOU with a broad smile, carefully folded it, and tucked it inside his clothes against his chest.
Thoroughly satisfied, Haruma patted Shisui on the shoulder and said, "Brother Shui, if you've got nothing else to do, get some rest early. Once you've recovered tomorrow, your little brother will still need your help with plenty of things."
This sudden warmth left Shisui bewildered again.
Was it time for another of Haruma's intermittent episodes?