Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto happened to get pregnant at the same time.
They even ran into each other outside the hospital examination room the very first day.
After that, they frequently met during checkups.
Naturally, the two women began to grow closer.
Not close enough to be arranging a betrothal between their children—but enough that they'd begun visiting each other occasionally.
Of course…
Kyoichi and Minato privately suspected this was Uchiha Fugaku's handiwork.
That guy was absolutely capable of doing such things.
But even at his craftiest, Fugaku's "schemes" never went very far.
He was the type who dreamed of grand accomplishments but was far too protective of his own hide-more like one of those nobles from old legends who talked of glory yet never stepped onto the battlefield.
That said…
When push came to shove, Fugaku could make a decisive call.
That much still had to be acknowledged.
Since Kyoichi was preparing to leave the village eventually, he still needed to observe Shisui's situation one more time.
He didn't need to go to the Uchiha compound to find him.
Even though Kyoichi was no longer ANBU Commander, finding Shisui was ridiculously easy—
all he had to do was wait at a mission site.
In today's Konoha, D-rank missions no longer consisted solely of chores like hauling water and pulling weeds.
On top of the traditional errands, new tasks had been added, including helping the Research Division and Medical R&D unit gather materials and perform simple fieldwork.
In fact, those kinds of tasks were now the majority of D-rank missions.
After all, what household needed firewood chopped every single day?
But the Research Department always needed extra hands—
cleaning, sorting, moving equipment—
since its members were busy researching, not doing janitorial labor.
Hiring genin for such work greatly reduced the manpower burden.
Of course…
Only trustworthy ninja were assigned these tasks.
You had to be "rooted in Konoha," with a clean background.
If your origins were suspicious, getting such a mission was nearly impossible.
For example…
Yakushi Kabuto…
Anyway, there wasn't much left that Kyoichi needed to teach Shisui.
A master could only guide the student to the doorway; the rest depended on the student himself.
Shisui's foundation was already rock solid.
The only things Kyoichi could teach now were leadership experience and more advanced ninjutsu principles—
and all of those required years of accumulated insight.
Kyoichi reviewed some of the educational manuscripts he was writing while waiting for Shisui's team to arrive.
Before long, Shisui appeared—leading a genin squad assigned to weed a medicinal herb garden.
He no longer worked with Kurenai's group.
Kurenai, while not specializing in medical jutsu, showed good talent in the field for her age and spent part of every month training at the hospital.
So…
Staying on a team with Shisui no longer suited her path.
Shisui's current teammates were Iruka, Mizuki, and other next-generation genin.
He wasn't in a hurry to take the chunin exams.
Instead, he quietly trained, focused entirely on sharpening his foundation.
But today, as he approached the field, he faintly sensed his teacher's chakra.
Shisui knew—
if Kyoichi didn't want to be found, not a single soul in the world could sense him.
So the fact that he could feel him meant Kyoichi was deliberately signaling him.
Without hesitation, Shisui created a shadow clone to take his place and slipped underground with an Earth Release technique.
Moments later—
"Sensei…"
"No need for formality. Sit."
Kyoichi had already set up a stool.
Shisui bowed and sat, quietly awaiting instruction.
"Don't be so tense. I called you here just to talk. How's your training going? What stage are you at now?"
"Three tomoe. My kenjutsu has reached a technical bottleneck—I probably need more real combat to improve further.
But since I'm getting older, my physical strength keeps increasing, so my overall progress hasn't stopped."
Shisui answered.
"Then join a chunin-tier team. Or go to ANBU.
Pick whichever you prefer.
But in the next few years, finding real combat will be difficult. The shinobi world is heading into a peaceful stretch."
Kyoichi said.
Shinobi improved fastest through life-and-death battles—
especially the Uchiha, whose eyes awakened greatest potential under intense pressure.
But in recent years, opportunities for such battles had dwindled.
"With three tomoe, I already have enough. Going higher might not be a good thing."
Shisui's expression was calm.
"A peaceful life is better for everyone. Uchiha's ancestor didn't want endless fighting either—that's why Konoha was founded, wasn't it?"
Kyoichi nodded.
"Yes, both Madara then and now sought peace. He was only misled by hidden hands… A tragic thing, really."
If Madara and Hashirama had remained allies, the shinobi world could have known five or six decades of uninterrupted peace.
But one stone tablet shattered everything.
"I don't know much about Madara, but I did sneak a look at that stone tablet. The writing is extremely provocative.
If you know nothing, it seems harmless—but the more you understand, the more seductive it becomes."
With three tomoe, Shisui could already read a portion of it.
And even that portion was enough for him to imagine how terrifying the rest must be.
"One hidden lie… and an entire era collapses."
Kyoichi sighed.
"You're already sharp enough. There's little left for me to teach you.
Only one thing:
keep practicing the Sage training method I taught you. If there are people in the clan you can trust, you may teach it to them as well."
"Th-this… Isn't that inappropriate?"
Shisui was stunned.
Only someone who had trained in Sage Mode understood how powerful it was.
If pursued to completion, it might truly allow one's body to approach the level of the Sage Body.
Teaching that to the Uchiha?
Was he joking?
"There's nothing inappropriate.
The Sharingan is powerful, but if you want the clan to stop obsessing over it, you must offer an alternative path to strength. Otherwise, you can ignore the Sharingan—but can everyone else?"
"Uh…"
Shisui scratched his head.
He had to admit… that made sense.
If the talented abandoned the Sharingan while the less gifted were ordered to abandon it with no substitute—
that was impossible.
Someone would rebel eventually.
"When there's a fast path to power, darkness can sprout at any moment. That's why the Second Hokage always feared the Uchiha."
"Is there really no way to solve it?"
Shisui asked, unwilling to accept that fate.
According to Kyoichi's logic, even if this generation stayed peaceful, future generations would split again.
"No one can control the darkness within human hearts. What we can do is create laws—structures that restrain it."
Kyoichi added:
"And these laws must restrain not just others… but ourselves. Because many disasters start from the top."
"Yes!"
Shisui's expression turned solemn.
He understood.
In clans like Uchiha, if the upper ranks fell into darkness, that corruption would inevitably seep downward.
Stop evil early—before it grows.