"Really? That's great news! I'm so happy for you!"
Uchiha Mikoto beamed with joy when she heard the update.
She knew how much Genkei had longed to train, but his health had always held him back. Now, it seemed he had finally broken free of that constraint.
"Genkei, are you back? Come help finish setting the table! It's time to eat!"
Came Chiri's voice from the kitchen.
"Coming!"
Genkei quickly responded and joined Mikoto in the kitchen. In no time, the remaining dishes were all placed on the table.
"Mm! Aunty Chiri, your cooking keeps getting better! So good!"
As soon as Mikoto tasted the food, her eyes lit up and she couldn't help but praise it.
"Hehe, I'm glad you like it! Eat up!" Chiri chuckled, then asked with a sly glint in her eye, "Besides the taste, do you feel anything else?"
"Huh?"
Mikoto blinked in confusion, glancing at Chiri's now-serious expression. She focused her senses.
She quickly noticed something was very different about today's meal.
"There is something! It feels… unusually nourishing. There's this warm flow spreading from my stomach throughout my whole body."
"It's even easing the fatigue I've felt from training lately."
"My cells feel like they're… craving this warmth. It's incredible."
"Aunty, what kind of meat is this?"
Chiri smiled mysteriously and gestured toward Genkei. "You'll have to ask him—it's all thanks to him."
"Oh?"
Mikoto turned to Genkei with curiosity and a puzzled gaze.
Genkei didn't say much. Instead, he calmly raised a hand and conjured a glowing, arcane symbol between his brows. The symbol floated toward Mikoto.
"Touch this sigil," he said, "and agree. You'll understand everything."
"Eh…"
Mikoto hesitated, staring at the glowing mark. Since when did Genkei have such mysterious abilities?
Well, now that she thought about it—he'd been acting cryptic all evening.
She glanced once more at Chiri, who gave her a supportive nod.
Taking a deep breath, Mikoto reached out and touched the sigil.
A voice echoed in her mind, asking if she would accept a contract with Genkei. The contract promised immense benefits—but also meant she would, to a degree, be bound to him.
After a moment's hesitation, Mikoto accepted.
She trusted Genkei and Chiri completely.
The sigil vanished into her palm, then rose to her brow and settled in her spiritual sea—transforming into the shape of a gateway symbol.
Suddenly, information surged into her mind—about the Dimensional Gate, the Pirate World, and far more than what Chiri had received.
Genkei had intentionally embedded much more information this time—no need to repeat everything later.
It took Mikoto a while to digest everything.
When she finally opened her eyes again, she looked at Genkei and Chiri with wide disbelief. "Is this… all real? Another world? So this meat came from a creature over there—a Sea King?"
"Exactly," Genkei nodded. "Eat more—it'll strengthen your body, your vitality, and increase your chakra reserves."
"Starting tomorrow, I want you to come with me each day to train in the Pirate World and temper your physique."
He would've asked her to help with map-marking, but at nine years old—with only average genin strength—Mikoto wasn't ready for that kind of danger.
For now, it was best she stayed and trained until her power caught up.
"Eh?" Mikoto hesitated, then looked toward Chiri, who nodded in agreement.
"Alright, then! I'll rely on you, Genkei!" she said cheerfully. "But you know I still have to attend class. I'll only be free after school or in the evenings."
"No problem," Genkei replied. "Can you use the Shadow Clone Technique?"
"Yes!" Mikoto nodded. As the granddaughter of the clan's second elder—and a known prodigy—she had learned it early on.
"Then just send a clone to school during the day. Your real self comes with me to train in the Pirate World."
Genkei made the call decisively.
"I can do that... Except for combat class. I'll attend that in person."
She wasn't going to waste the chance to train in another world. If even Aunty Chiri endorsed it, there was no way she'd pass up such a huge opportunity.
"Deal, then. After dinner, I'll bring you over to get familiar with the place and meet a few people."
"After that, come and go as you please."
Satisfied, Genkei resumed eating.
Once the meal ended, Genkei brought Mikoto to Drum Island in the Pirate World and took her to meet Dr. Kureha.
"Dr. Kureha, this is my cousin Uchiha Mikoto. She'll be coming by often to train. I'm showing her around."
"Mikoto, this is Dr. Kureha—she's one of the best doctors in the world. Super impressive."
"Oh?" Kureha glanced up from her book. "Another Uchiha, huh? I'm Kureha. No need to be formal, girl."
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Kureha," Mikoto bowed politely.
Kureha chuckled. "Polite one, aren't you? Relax. No rules around here."
"Look at your cousin—he's basically treating my place like his own."
"Yes, ma'am."
Mikoto gave another little bow, clearly still stiff.
After showing her the compound, Genkei finally brought her to the room he'd designated as their training hall.
"Alright. First, I'll teach you a skill called Longevity Breathing."
"It restores energy, relieves fatigue, heals internal damage, strengthens your body—and even helps extend your lifespan."
"It also improves your absorption of Sea King meat—making your training more effective."
"Come. Follow my lead."
For the next half hour, Genkei patiently taught her. He corrected her posture, guided her breathing—until finally, Mikoto managed to grasp the basics and enter the initial stage.
Honestly, that was already pretty quick.
But compared to Chiri's nearly instant success, Mikoto's pace still felt a little sluggish.
And that was with her Sharingan activated.
At age nine, Mikoto had already awakened her two-tomoe Sharingan, making her one of the most promising young kunoichi in the clan.
For reference, Fugaku—five years older at 14—also only had two tomoe.
It really made you think.
"No wonder the future Uchiha produced monsters like Itachi and Sasuke," Genkei mused wryly. "It was probably thanks to Mikoto's genes."
"In the original timeline, she married early and focused on motherhood instead of developing her full potential."
"But if she had kept training... she could've easily reached the level of Mangekyō—or even higher."