Uchiha Hikaru silently cursed himself—he knew he'd just made a wrong move.
He had completely forgotten to prepare a gift for Mito Uzumaki.
Now it was too late. All he could do was force a smile and say:
"Grandma Mito, it's not New Year's yet, right? When it comes, I'll definitely prepare a gift for you."
Of course, a reason like that couldn't fool Mito Uzumaki. She could see the awkwardness and helplessness in Hikaru's eyes with a single glance.
But to Hikaru's relief, she didn't press the matter further.
She gave him a faint smile, then turned back to the scroll in her hands, seemingly engrossed in its contents.
After a while, Mito returned the scroll to Tsunade and said solemnly:
"Keep this scroll safe. Don't let anyone else know about it. Do you understand?"
From Mito's expression, Tsunade could tell the scroll really did contain Wood Style training methods—and that made her thrilled beyond words.
Telling her not to show it to others was clearly to protect her.
After all, if someone took the risk to steal it, Tsunade wasn't nearly as strong as Uchiha Hikaru.
She nodded excitedly and ran straight to Hikaru's side with the scroll in hand.
Her cheeks were flushed red with joy, and she looked at Hikaru with deep gratitude.
"Thank you, Hikaru. I really love this New Year's gift."
Hikaru simply smiled and gently patted Tsunade's head, which only made her cheeks even redder.
"It's nothing to me," he replied lightly.
But Tsunade shook her head seriously.
"It might be nothing to you, but to me… this is the most precious thing."
Hearing her words, Hikaru met her gaze. Tsunade stared right back at him.
In that moment, that strange feeling in her heart came flooding back again.
Off to the side, Mito had a full-on auntie grin. She was clearly enjoying the drama as a bystander.
But in the middle of this romantic moment, Hikaru, ever the oblivious iron-hearted man, suddenly turned to Nonō Yakushi and said:
"Nonō, I haven't prepared your New Year's gift yet either, but I promise I'll give it to you on New Year's Day."
That single sentence caused all three women present to experience a cascade of different emotions.
Nonō, naturally, beamed at him with joy. Mito stared at him like he was a hopeless case.
As for Tsunade—she pouted, let out a cold snort, and stormed back to her room.
This straight-up move from Hikaru shattered the tender moment in an instant—but it didn't stop Mito from enjoying her drama.
Hikaru, meanwhile, looked slightly confused. He shook his head, still not understanding what he'd done wrong.
He didn't know how to read minds, after all, and this sudden mood swing left him at a loss.
So, he didn't think too much about what was going on with Tsunade. Sometimes, women were just… hard to figure out.
Instead, Hikaru turned back to Nonō and said:
"Your gift is also a secret technique scroll. Look forward to it."
That's right—he was giving her a training scroll too.
In the future, Nonō would become a Medical Ninja capable of learning the Healing Palm Jutsu, which meant she clearly had great talent in Chakra Control.
And since Genjutsu also relied on precise Chakra manipulation, it made perfect sense for her as well.
Not to mention her natural ability as a spy—her perceptiveness was top-notch.
So, Hikaru figured Genjutsu would suit her perfectly.
His plan was to learn a Genjutsu himself and set it to Idle Training. Once it reached the blue rank, he'd teach it to her.
While the Idle Training System wasn't as fast at reaching purple as before, anything below blue ranked up rapidly.
And the system even hinted that his own influence could affect how the skill evolved after leveling.
So, he guessed that once Genjutsu reached blue, it might unlock something like multi-sensory hypnosis.
Of course, the blue-ranked ability might not be that powerful—but it would still be more than enough for Nonō.
Nonō, already overwhelmed with happiness at receiving a gift, smiled brightly, her rosy lips curving and her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Hearing that the gift was the same type of secret technique scroll as Tsunade's, her joy only deepened.
Her eyes were full of surprise and emotion—it was like the whole world had lit up for her.
But once again… Hikaru proved himself to be a full-on straight man.
After dropping that bomb, he turned and walked away, leaving the two girls utterly baffled.
The reason Hikaru left was simple—he had serious business to take care of.
Ever since his three abilities reached purple rank, he had started sensing the presence of White Zetsu lurking in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Today, he could sense them with perfect clarity.
Just as he'd suspected, most of the White Zetsu were concentrated in the Uchiha district, with fewer scattered elsewhere.
Especially in the Senju compound, the Hokage building, and certain nearby streets.
All places that Mito Uzumaki frequently visited.
While the White Zetsu there didn't pose much of a threat anymore, he wasn't about to tolerate their presence.
No one snores beside my bed, he thought.
So Hikaru resolved to wipe them out completely.
Because of their Mayfly Technique, which let them escape quickly, he needed to go all out.
'Come to think of it… I've never gone all out before.'
Smiling to himself, Hikaru closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the Mangekyō Sharingan had appeared.
Meanwhile, underground beneath Uchiha Chiri's home, three White Zetsu were keeping watch.
Uchiha Madara's plan required a proxy.
So he had long since set his sights on the Uchiha, searching for gifted individuals.
Uchiha Chiri was one of their targets.
But after Uchiha Ang awakened the Mangekyō, they started paying even more attention to this family.
Uchiha Ang, Uchiha Noboru, and Uchiha Chiri—each had a White Zetsu watching them closely.
Right now, the three White Zetsu were huddled underground, chatting.
"The boss told me to watch that little girl, but all she does is go to school and train. Nothing else."
"Yeah, same here. The old guy I'm watching just drinks tea and handles paperwork. Sometimes he beats up his son when he's bored."
"Why are we even talking about this? Hey, by the way, do you guys know what it feels like to poop? One of the Zetsu asked me that, and honestly, I'm kinda curi—"
Before he could finish the sentence—
Every single White Zetsu in the Hidden Leaf died instantly.
Uchiha Ang and Mito Uzumaki both turned toward the same direction with shocked expressions.
That direction… was where Uchiha Hikaru stood.