Guy and Kakashi

After leaving the Hokage Building, Uchiha Yuan headed to Konoha Hospital.

The three female ninja of Orochimaru Squad had disregarded their old injuries to tend to him.

Uchiha Yuan could not simply ignore them afterward.

What was more, Hyuga Ryo and Kurama Shion were kekkei genkai ninja. Their genes could also be fused and devoured.

These ninja-world social niceties could not be overlooked.

"Brother Yuan! We've been waiting for you forever!"

"Brother Yuan, Sasuke and I have been waiting too."

Shisui ran into Uchiha Yuan at a street corner with five-year-old Itachi, who was carrying Sasuke, not quite four months old.

"Brother Yuan, Father and Mother are always talking about you. Even Sasuke missed you."

The smile on Itachi's face was pure. He did not look at all like a depressed child who had been to war and pondered life alone.

Uchiha Yuan nodded to himself. Itachi's change was not bad.

In truth, Itachi's talent was exceptional.

He enrolled at six, graduated at seven, awakened his Sharingan at eight, became a Chunin at ten, and joined the ANBU at eleven.

Later, after he joined Akatsuki, which was filled with Kage-level ninja, Obito—the true controller of Akatsuki—remained deeply wary of Itachi.

But in Uchiha Yuan's eyes, Itachi was merely a pitiful soul who had gotten lost and could never find his way back.

Later, he was used by the Konoha Higher-Ups. Even his parents' sole understanding of him came only before he killed them.

And because of the clan massacre, he was hated by Sasuke, the younger brother he loved most.

In fact, after Fugaku took four-year-old Itachi onto the battlefield, he became a depressed child.

He stayed silent all day, unwilling to communicate with anyone, contemplating the meaning of life, the individual, the clan, and the village.

Meanwhile, children his age were still playing house.

Later, the Third Hokage had once remarked that six-year-old Itachi possessed the mindset of a Hokage.

As for whether those thoughts truly counted as a Hokage's mindset, Uchiha Yuan had no interest.

What he knew was that the so-called conflict between clan and village had twisted a normal child into a monster.

This was a dark corner born of the Ninja World's cruel rules, appearing in the Hidden Leaf Village, which claimed that the Will of Fire shone upon the entire village.

It was absurd and laughable.

So, Uchiha Yuan had tried to influence Itachi and Shisui.

He had always felt that Itachi and Shisui's relationship should have been more ordinary—or rather, more intimate.

Rather than the mutual recognition and respect they developed after becoming friends in the original story.

Itachi was good at thinking, but in the process, he overlooked the beautiful glimmers around him.

Shisui, on the other hand, was overly cheerful and straightforward. He easily earned the recognition of those around him, but lacked his own convictions.

In Uchiha Yuan's view, Itachi and Shisui should have learned from each other's ways of thinking and acting.

Thus, before Itachi went to the battlefield, he introduced the cheerful and straightforward Shisui to his younger cousin.

Four-year-old Itachi and ten-year-old Shisui had subtly influenced each other as children still growing up.

Now, the results looked quite good.

Later, Itachi had not done anything as foolish as testing his thoughts by jumping off a cliff in a suicidal act.

As for what came next... the issue lay with Shisui.

The two children had influenced each other well in their growth.

But to change the fate of the Uchiha Clan, this was still far from enough.

Still, what came afterward was not something those two little brothers could handle. When the time came, Uchiha Yuan would naturally step in.

"Even Sasuke came along. You two wouldn't happen to..."

Knowing that Brother Yuan had already seen through their little scheme, Shisui waved his hands repeatedly.

"No, Brother Yuan. Itachi was the one who insisted on dragging me here after he heard you were back."

Itachi asked curiously, "Brother Shisui, weren't you the one who told me Brother Yuan had returned? You also said we could practice Shuriken techniques to our heart's content again, so I brought Sasuke along."

"Hey, Itachi! You were clearly the one who suggested practicing Shuriken techniques! You little brat, have some conscience when you speak!"

Uchiha Yuan smiled. The two children had already become the sort of friends who loved to rib each other.

"Practice Shuriken techniques? Perfect. I have a new move I want to try. But first, I need to make a trip to the hospital. Do you want to come with me?"

Shisui and Itachi's eyes lit up.

"Of course!"

"Okay!"

Konoha Hospital.

Kakashi, his head full of silver hair, lay on the hospital bed with a helpless look on his face.

At his bedside, Guy, dressed in a green jumpsuit, was peeling an orange.

"Kakashi, my rival, a patient should act like a patient."

"Only after you recover can you have a youthful showdown with me."

Carefully stripping away the white fibers, Guy held an orange segment to Kakashi's mouth.

"Honestly... you..."

"Huh? When did that happen?! Kakashi, your taijutsu has improved again!"

Guy stared at his empty hands. At some point, his eternal rival had snatched all the peeled orange segments away.

He had not even seen how Kakashi had stuffed them beneath his mask.

"Hey! Kakashi! You want to compete with me in eating oranges, right?"

Guy was raising the fruit basket to settle the matter with Kakashi when the ward suddenly grew noisy outside.

"Hey, Guy, hold off on the competition. Go see what's happening outside."

After asking a nurse which room the three female ninja of Orochimaru Squad were in, Uchiha Yuan went upstairs with Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke.

A group of people in the corridor were arguing with one another.

That was not a common sight at Konoha Hospital.

Guy, dressed in a green jumpsuit, was holding a baby as he shouted at a middle-aged woman dressed as a nurse.

"As the Head Nurse, what right do you have to treat a child like this? I won't give the child back to you."

Beside him, Anko glared at the Head Nurse with an unfriendly expression.

It turned out that the commotion Guy had heard outside the ward had been caused by Anko.

While helping Shion and Ryo fetch medicine, she had unexpectedly seen the Head Nurse in the nursery, tears streaming from her eyes as she strangled a baby.

The baby, whose cheeks bore three symmetrical whisker-like marks on each side, had turned purple from lack of air. Anko immediately confronted the Head Nurse.

Yet the woman not only refused to admit her mistake, but instead accused Anko of disrupting the hospital's work.

After Guy rushed over and learned what had happened, he snatched the baby away and questioned the Head Nurse.

That was how the scene Uchiha Yuan saw had come about.

That baby should be Naruto Uzumaki. It's been half a month already—how do the Konoha Higher-Ups still dare leave the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in a place like the hospital?

He glanced at Shisui. Disputes like this would normally be mediated by the Police Force.

But Shisui, usually so straightforward, merely watched with a slight flicker in his eyes and showed no intention of intervening.

Uchiha Yuan nodded. Even Shisui had improved considerably.

"Anko! What happened? Why aren't you staying in the ward?"

He walked over.

At the same time, Root.

Several ninja wearing ferocious animal masks knelt on one knee before Danzo, awaiting orders.

Just as Danzo was about to speak, a ninja appeared in a Body Flicker.

"Yamato? Has something urgent happened?"

"Lord Danzo, members of the Uchiha Clan have come into contact with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. The ANBU have already taken action."

"Was it that Fugaku?"

"No. It was the Uchiha clan head's son, Uchiha Itachi; his nephew, Uchiha Yuan; his subordinate, Uchiha Shisui; and the infant, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hmm?"