Chapter 243 – Don't Forget Your Name
"Do you think Kenta will succeed?"
On the way back to the Police Force headquarters, Hyūga Ayaka glanced curiously at Uchiha Kei.
During Kei's conversation with Imai Kenta earlier, she had kept quiet the entire time. But even in silence, she had gleaned details she hadn't paid attention to before.
Driving Orochimaru out of Konoha wasn't exactly shocking. After all, it was the perfect chance to strike hard at Hiruzen Sarutobi's faction.
Before the Fourth Hokage ever took office, Kei had already used Orochimaru's downfall as leverage. Though the results had been inconclusive—and later buried once the Fourth was inaugurated—everyone's attention conveniently shifted toward the new Hokage.
Ayaka never believed such a turn of events happened without someone pulling strings from the shadows.
Yes, the Fourth Hokage was a bright star, a popular subject for the village to rally behind. But for Orochimaru's case to vanish so quietly? Impossible without deliberate suppression.
What she really wondered now was how Imai Kenta planned to move forward. Could he really convince the elders of his clan?
"I don't know. Honestly, whatever the result, it doesn't matter much to me."
Kei's voice was calm, indifferent. "He was the one seeking deeper cooperation, not me. We'll know tomorrow—no need to rush."
"You're right. We'll have our answer tomorrow." Ayaka smiled faintly. "It's strange, isn't it? Our team, the one practically abandoned from the start, not only survived but ended up together again."
Kei tilted his head slightly, saying nothing. Fate was strange indeed.
Back then, the three of them had been divided, distrustful, and tossed into a mission with almost no chance of survival. They had guarded against each other, secretly hoping the others might die and make things simpler.
Yet, that cursed mission had bound them together like grasshoppers on the same rope.
They completed it, yes, but their relationships hardly improved.
Especially during the second mission in the Land of Grass—that had nearly torn them apart completely. Kei had even gone so far as to plan Kenta's recruitment, fracturing the team so it would be easier to move against them.
But who could have predicted? That very event sparked an insight for Ayaka.
She uncovered some of Kei's secrets, and, combined with her own resentment toward the Hyūga clan's suffocating traditions and her yearning for freedom, their near-broken bond had unexpectedly begun to mend.
It wasn't warmth that bound them now—it was cooperation. But sometimes, cooperation under a shared goal was better than fragile camaraderie.
And now, Imai Kenta—the first person Kei had ever drawn in, though he had long hovered at the margins, feigning foolishness and hiding behind his civilian-born identity—was finally considering deeper cooperation as well.
But Kei had given him a nearly impossible test. The demands he raised weren't things easily agreed to.
Kenta had accepted, but both he and Ayaka knew it would be hard to push through without convincing the old guard of his clan.
Some of Kei's conditions even Ayaka thought excessive—like demanding the Senju clan's research on the Sharingan.
And Kei hadn't stopped there. He had even disclosed some of their own research to Kenta—clarifying it had nothing to do with Orochimaru, and offering a few samples as proof.
But who would be pleased with such an experiment? Ayaka still remembered the way Kenta's face had darkened as he left, looking as if he were about to choke on his own fury.
"Whether we stay united depends on tomorrow. You're thinking I shouldn't have told him about our research, aren't you?"
Kei, sensing her thoughts, asked bluntly.
"That's your decision." Ayaka shrugged, unconcerned. "But really, Kei-kun… weren't you just giving him a reason to strive harder? After all, we're talking about the First Hokage's cells."
She saw through it at once. Kei wasn't simply laying his cards down; he was giving Kenta a long-term goal. Letting him know others were also in the game.
It was, in its way, a gesture of honesty. Someone like Kenta would inevitably weigh who to trust, who to fight, and what means to use.
By the time he reached his conclusions, Kei and Ayaka's work would likely already be complete. No need to fear him meddling.
"Still," Ayaka asked lightly, her voice carrying a teasing lilt, "how can you be sure that this 'cell bearer' of yours is someone Kenta will even get the chance to meet?"
Kei heard the mockery in her tone, as if she were waiting for a good show.
"Who can say?" Kei chuckled. "Maybe they'll cross paths tonight. Or maybe not for several months."
Yes… several months.
Uchiha Obito. I've kept everything unchanged just to wait for you. Don't let me down.
---
"You dare? How dare you!"
In a modest, old-fashioned room within Konoha's civilian district, Senju Shōma glared at Imai Kenta with blazing fury.
Kenta stood with his head bowed. He looked as though he were repenting—but his face showed not a flicker of remorse. Almost as if he had expected this confrontation all along.
After leaving the so-called "friendly dinner" with Kei and Ayaka, Kenta had come straight here, seeking out Shōma.
The conditions Kei had raised were outrageous.
The first demand—expanding the Police Force and providing manpower—that Kenta could manage.
The second—demonstrating their clan's influence—that too posed little concern.
But the third… that was where Kei bared his fangs. He wanted the Senju clan's research on the Sharingan.
No one knows you better than your enemies.
Kei clearly lived by that creed—and pushed it to the extreme.
Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage, had conducted more research than anyone could count—much of it bordering on the forbidden. By now, nearly eighty percent of Konoha's forbidden techniques could be traced back to his experiments or proposals.
And when it came to the Uchiha clan, Tobirama had been their most relentless opponent. The Third Hokage and his faction had merely inherited that stance.
Of course, Tobirama had studied the Sharingan extensively. Kenta himself had read through plenty of those files—especially once Uchiha Kei became his teammate.
And now Kei dared demand them.
Truth be told, Kenta had no desire to hand them over.
Still, for the sake of future cooperation—and the looming confrontation with the Third Hokage's faction—Kenta gritted his teeth. Sharing what he knew with Kei wasn't impossible.
But the last condition… that was too much.
Kei had bluntly revealed that he and Ayaka were conducting research of their own—research that might involve none other than Hashirama Senju's cells.
He even handed Kenta a sample, brimming with vitality.
It was only a sliver, almost nothing at all, yet Kenta could feel the terrifying energy within it.
Kei claimed it had been taken from a strange shinobi they encountered in the Land of Grass—an Uchiha, or so it seemed.
Kenta didn't believe him. Not entirely. But he also knew he had no better choice. For now, he shelved his doubts and turned to the more urgent matter.
Orochimaru.
Though he hadn't stepped foot in the man's underground lab, the list Kei had shown him said enough.
The list contained no names, so it wasn't ironclad evidence. Orochimaru's laboratory had already been destroyed. But this wasn't the kind of thing one could simply fabricate.
As Kenta expected, when he handed the list to Senju Shōma, the old man immediately understood what it implied.
And when he learned that Kenta had hidden this matter for so long, his fury was instantaneous.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner!?" Shōma thundered, his face dark with rage.
"Forgive me, Grandfather Shōma," Kenta said, head bowed. "I wasn't completely certain. I also had to consider whether Uchiha Kei was deceiving me. But I don't think he forged this. Some of the children listed disappeared without any reports being filed. Kei has no way of knowing that—unless the Fourth told him. Either way, this is an opportunity."
"I know all of that!" Shōma snapped. "What I want to know is why you only tell me now!?" His anger all but clouded his judgment.
"Because Kei will use this as leverage—he already has." Kenta lifted his head at last, his tone eerily calm. "I've met with him. He knows who we are. And he has already named his price."
Of course Shōma's fury was no surprise. This involved Hashirama Senju. The desecration of the First Hokage's remains—the violation of the dead.
Kenta, however, recounted his meeting with Kei in a steady, almost detached voice. He left out plenty, of course. He wasn't a fool; he knew what could be said and what must remain unsaid.
"So what you're saying is," Shōma growled, fists clenched tight, "if we want to move forward, we'll have to play by his rules? That damned brat—how dare he!"
"He dares because he can," Kenta replied softly, lowering his head again. "He's the head of Konoha's Police Force. And we… are only civilians wearing shinobi headbands.
Senju is no longer the Senju of the past, Grandfather."
Shōma fell silent.
He studied the boy before him—the one he had placed all his hopes upon.
And though he despised it, he could not deny Kenta's words.
The Senju were not what they once were. The Uchiha were not what they once were.
Both clans had lost their former glory.
One had disappeared in name. The other had been pushed to the margins.
Finally, after a long silence, Shōma spoke.
"In those days, the Senju cooperated with the Uchiha for the sake of Konoha. Today, the Senju can do so again.
But remember this: the Uchiha are forever our rivals. Do not forget your blood. Do not forget your name. You are Senju Kenta."
"…Yes. I understand."
Kenta bowed his head respectfully. His expression was deferential—but within, his heart grew heavier, darker.
He had always felt confined to a small, narrow cage.
And now, that suffocating weight pressed down on him more than ever.