At the Uchiha clan's training ground, two small figures sat leaning against a tree, taking a break.
"Shisui, do you have any dreams for the future?"
"Why ask that all of a sudden?"
Shisui turned to look at the younger boy beside him.
Itachi's bright eyes gazed at him earnestly. "I'm curious. You're so amazing—what kind of person do you want to become?"
Shisui chuckled softly. "Why should I want to be like anyone else?"
He stood up and looked at the distant sky painted by the evening clouds.
"Shouldn't it be that others will want to be like me in the future?"
Itachi's small face showed a look of surprise. "Do you want to be Hokage?"
Shisui was taken aback. "Why would you think that?"
Itachi explained, "Because only the Hokage is truly one of a kind."
Shisui thought for a moment before nodding. "Maybe. But I don't plan to become Hokage. The current Hokage is still very young. By the time he retires, I'll probably be old too."
"Then what do you want to do?"
"I want to join the Crown Guard."
"The Crown?"
"I was lucky enough to see Kakashi-senpai and Hakumen-senpai spar once. They're incredibly strong, stronger than anyone I've ever seen. They're part of the Crown Guard. So I want to join them and become the Hokage's right hand."
Itachi said, "You're so strong, Shisui—you'll definitely get in."
Shisui smiled. "Kakashi-senpai became a Jonin at twelve. I'm still just a Genin. I have to work even harder."
"You just graduated, though."
Shisui then asked Itachi, "What about you, Itachi?"
Itachi frowned slightly and said, "I want to help my father."
Shisui was surprised. "Don't tell me you want to join the Fire Department?"
Itachi asked back, puzzled, "Is that not allowed?"
Shisui looked conflicted.
The Fire Department was now essentially managed by their clan.
He couldn't outright say it was a bad idea, but he was genuinely confused.
Why had the Uchiha transitioned from the prestigious Police Force to something like the Fire Department?
It used to be so glorious, but now they ran errands and handled odd jobs for the village every day.
The last place Shisui wanted to work in the future was the Fire Department.
"Why don't you aim to become part of the Crown Guard like me? You could still assist the clan leader that way."
Itachi pondered for a moment and said, "I'll think about it."
As they spoke, a sudden flurry of birds took flight from the nearby woods, drawing their attention.
Shisui said in surprise, "Are there other clan members training here today?"
"Let's go take a look!"
The Uchiha training ground was vast, surrounded by a large forest on the outskirts of Konoha.
The village had turned this forest into multiple training and combat simulation grounds, some public, others private.
The two headed toward the source of the noise, pushing through the underbrush until they saw three figures practicing with shuriken.
Shisui and Itachi exchanged glances, both surprised.
These three weren't members of the Uchiha clan.
"Their shuriken skills are pretty decent," Shisui commented.
"That white-haired one is almost catching up to you, Itachi."
Considering the three were a few years older than Itachi, Shisui's remark sounded almost insulting.
But that wasn't his intention.
The Uchiha were known for three things in the ninja world: Fire Release, shuriken techniques, and the Sharingan.
Their shuriken techniques were unrivaled in the entire ninja world.
By saying that, Shisui was acknowledging that these three were already quite skilled for their age.
"Are they students about to graduate from the academy?" Shisui wondered aloud.
"If they're a year below me, how come I haven't seen them before?"
Itachi shook his head. "I've never seen them either."
One of the three suddenly became alert and shouted sternly at Shisui and Itachi, "Who's there?"
The three appeared to be around the same age as Shisui, and one of them was a girl.
"Why are you spying on others training?" one of them, wearing a black beret, said with displeasure.
He noticed the forehead protector on Shisui's head and swallowed the harsher words he was about to say.
Shisui chuckled and countered, "Why are you training in our training grounds?"
"Your training grounds?" The boy was momentarily stunned, just about to retort when his companion pulled him back.
The other boy looked somewhat refined and slender, with silver hair and a pair of glasses.
"Urushi, they're from the Uchiha clan."
Urushi then noticed the fan emblem on Shisui and Itachi's sleeves.
In the village, only members of the Uchiha clan wore clothing adorned with the flame-patterned fan.
He realized they might have really wandered into someone else's territory.
But simply turning around and leaving would be too embarrassing for Urushi.
He had brought his two companions here after discovering this secluded training ground, hoping to train harder to meet the increasingly strict evaluation standards set by the orphanage matron.
He muttered under his breath, "Uchiha think they're so great."
This made Shisui and Itachi frown slightly.
They hadn't intended to pursue the matter, so why was this guy being so antagonistic?
Fortunately, Kabuto pulled Urushi back and bowed slightly toward Shisui and Itachi. "Sorry, we came to the wrong place. We'll leave now."
Seeing that Kabuto was reasonable, Shisui smiled. "It's fine. No one from our clan is using this place right now anyway. By the way, what's your name?"
The white-haired boy was momentarily surprised before responding, "I'm Yakushi Kabuto."
The boy with the beret shouted loudly, "I'm Urushi!"
Shisui didn't even glance at him. "I didn't ask you."
Urushi immediately fumed with anger.
Turning back to Kabuto, Shisui said, "Yakushi Kabuto, huh? Your shuriken skills are impressive. Have you graduated yet?"
Kabuto hesitated for a moment before replying, "We're not students at the Ninja Academy."
This surprised both Shisui and Itachi.
Kabuto's shuriken skills were already at the level of a Genin, and at his age, he should have enrolled in the academy long ago.
Urushi grumbled in annoyance, "Kabuto, why are you even talking to these guys?"
Kabuto said nothing more, simply nodding politely at Shisui and Itachi before turning to leave with his companions.
Watching the trio's departing figures, Shisui suddenly called out, "Yakushi Kabuto! This training ground is rarely used. If you want to come here to train, it's fine."
Kabuto turned back, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "What's your name?"
Shisui smiled warmly. "I'm Uchiha Shisui, and this is Uchiha Itachi. He's the top student at the Ninja Academy, you know."
Kabuto gave Shisui a long, thoughtful look. "Uchiha Shisui. I'll remember that."
On their way back, Urushi grumbled, "What's so great about Uchiha Shisui? He's just an arrogant guy who looks down on people."
Kabuto replied, "Urushi, you were the one who had a bad attitude first."
The girl beside them chimed in, "Exactly. The matron told us to always be polite and not to cause trouble."
Urushi, knowing he was in the wrong, muttered, "You guys are so annoying."
"Come on, let's find another quiet place to train. If we get back too late, the matron will be upset."
"Alright."
The three returned to their residence by dusk.
Kabuto initially wanted to see Nonou, but he found her door tightly shut, with faint sounds coming from inside.
Unable to resist, he pressed his ear to the door, trying to listen to the subtle noises.
It sounded like the matron's voice...
Suddenly, a hand tapped his shoulder. "What are you eavesdropping on?"
Kabuto was startled and turned to see Urushi.
He was about to gesture for Urushi to be quiet when Nonou's voice came from inside. "Is that you, Urushi?"
Creak—
The door opened, and Yakushi Nonou stood there.
She was wearing a casual sweater and pants, her gold hair casually draped over her shoulders.
Her glasses resembled Kabuto's, and her demeanor was both gentle and intellectual—though she could be strict at times.
"Matron!"
Kabuto and Urushi quickly bowed upon seeing her.
"Do you need something?"
"No," Kabuto quickly replied, "We were just passing by."
Urushi gave Kabuto a suspicious look.
"You just finished training, right? Have you taken a bath? You're covered in sweat."
"We'll go right away."
Kabuto tried to push Urushi to leave, but Nonou called out to him.
"Kabuto, wait a moment."
"Matron..." Kabuto froze, wondering if she had caught him eavesdropping and whether he should admit his mistake.
He hadn't really heard much; as soon as his face touched the door, Urushi had come up and ruined it.
All he'd caught was the matron's breathing, which seemed a bit heavy...
"Come inside." Nonou told him.
With a nervous heart, Kabuto walked into the room, only to find there was someone else in the matron's bedroom.
"Lo...Lord Hokage!"
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