Kagaya watched Shisui walk away, a helpless smile on his face.
Today, Shisui had called him out to assess his strength, talent, and views on the current state of the Uchiha and Konoha. Yet, Kagaya hadn't learned anything in return. By all accounts, it felt like a bit of a loss.
More importantly, Kagaya wasn't sure how Shisui and Itachi would view him after learning his thoughts.
Still, he had no regrets. He had his own bottom line. All he wanted was to escape the impending Uchiha massacre with the people he cared about. He would never become a blade to slaughter his own clan. Besides, he didn't even have the qualifications for that—surviving was already a challenge for him.
With these thoughts, Kagaya started walking home.
In a dense forest, Shisui met with Itachi again and shared the details of his conversation with Kagaya.
Itachi's brows furrowed slightly, his calm demeanor tinged with a barely noticeable trace of confusion. "Shisui, if he's seen through the situation and the crisis, why is he still hung up on petty clan grudges? The bigger picture should come first. Konoha is the foundation of the Uchiha. Without Konoha, the Uchiha won't survive!"
To Itachi, if Kagaya were like most people, with a narrow perspective focused only on the Uchiha's grievances with the village, he wouldn't blame him for siding with the clan. The problem was that Kagaya clearly understood everything yet still chose to stand with the Uchiha. Itachi couldn't comprehend it.
"To protect the Uchiha, you first need to protect the village!" Itachi declared, his words carrying a maturity far beyond his years.
But Itachi didn't know that, in Kagaya's eyes, as long as Danzo was alive, there could never be a good outcome between the Uchiha and Konoha. If Kagaya got involved, he saw only two possible futures: either he'd end up like Shisui, targeted and killed by Danzo, or like Itachi, becoming a blade to slaughter the Uchiha.
Neither option was acceptable to Kagaya, so he decided to firmly plant himself on the Uchiha's side and stay out of the conflict.
Shisui, however, smiled—a bright, genuine smile, unlike the enigmatic one he wore during his talk with Kagaya. This was a smile from the heart.
"No, Itachi, I think this is a good thing."
Itachi looked at him, puzzled. "Shisui?"
Shisui explained with a smile, "Itachi, don't forget, we're both Uchiha. The current situation between the Uchiha and the village is a crisis that threatens Konoha's survival, so we've both chosen to prioritize the village without hesitation. First the village, then the clan—our belief is correct. But think about it: isn't this a bit unfair to the Uchiha? Now, someone who wholeheartedly cares for the clan has appeared. Isn't that a good thing? From now on, we can focus entirely on protecting Konoha."
Itachi looked at Shisui in disbelief. "Shisui, are you saying you think Kagaya is someone we can entrust with the Uchiha's safety? We strive to protect Konoha, and he strives to protect the Uchiha?"
Shisui nodded. "Yes."
Itachi felt this wasn't right. "Shisui, your idea is good, and upon reflection, I agree with it. But you and I both know the situation between the Uchiha and the village can only hold for two more years at most before it explodes. Two years from now, how old will he be? Eight! How strong can an eight-year-old be? Even if he has great awareness and cares deeply for the clan, his biggest flaw is that he's too young."
Shisui shook his head. "No, I mean the future."
Itachi replied instinctively, "The future? Once we get through this crisis, we can focus on fighting for the clan—wait! Shisui, do you mean…"
Shisui nodded, speaking with an ease that Itachi found hard to accept. "Yes. For some reason, I have a feeling I won't make it through this Uchiha and Konoha crisis. I don't think I have a future. That's why I'm glad to see a genius like Kagaya in the clan. I want him to protect the Uchiha in the future in my place. And you, Itachi—you protect Konoha for me."
Half a month later, at the Ninja Academy's training field, Kagaya crossed the finish line first.
Iruka announced, unfazed, "Kagaya is first in this training."
A few seconds later, Sasuke crossed the line as well.
In the first year of the Ninja Academy, training focused mainly on physical fitness and shuriken skills.
In the half-month since training began, Kagaya had taken first place in every single exercise, shining brilliantly.
Sasuke consistently placed second in most exercises.
The Uchiha duo had already made a name for themselves at the academy.
After school that afternoon, Kagaya didn't go home. Instead, he went to an empty training ground. Since the day Takayuki taught him hand signs and nature transformation, Kagaya had been coming to the training ground every day to practice before heading home.
Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger.
This was the hand-sign sequence for the Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu, a technique Kagaya had learned from Takayuki in the days following. Of course, Kagaya couldn't perform it yet, as he hadn't even mastered nature transformation.
"Hm, progress isn't bad," he mused.
Half a month ago, when Kagaya first learned hand signs, he was so unpracticed that forming a single sign took nearly two seconds—painfully slow. Now, he had improved to just over a second per sign, around 1.2 seconds.
With chakra, Kagaya's perception had been steadily improving, giving him a good grasp of time.
After practicing the hand signs for a ninjutsu, Kagaya casually picked up a leaf and held it in his hand. A moment later, a faint spark appeared at the leaf's edge but quickly fizzled out.
"Still not good enough."
This was practice for nature transformation, which was extremely difficult. Kagaya could only produce a tiny spark at the leaf's edge. Only when he could set the entire leaf ablaze would his fire nature transformation be considered preliminarily mastered.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Four shuriken flew out simultaneously, colliding in midair before hitting the bullseye at a clever angle.
"Whew, not bad."
Kagaya's shuriken skills had improved the most. Over the past half-month, Shisui had trained him every day. At first, Kagaya was puzzled—since their ideals clashed, he thought Shisui would at least distance himself, if not ignore him entirely.
To his surprise, the next day, Shisui acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to train him with patience and dedication. This was why Kagaya's shuriken skills had progressed so quickly.
In fact, every bit of Kagaya's progress over the past half-month owed much to Shisui's guidance.
Kagaya didn't know why Shisui was doing this. He only knew two things. First, Shisui was a kind and cheerful person who, even in battle, stopped short of causing irreparable harm, making him someone worth befriending wholeheartedly. Second, over the past half-month, Shisui's kindness made Kagaya feel, at times, like he had an actual older brother.
That was enough. If Shisui treated him like a brother, Kagaya would treat him the same in return.