"As long as leaves dance in the wind, fire will burn."
"The shadow of the fire will illuminate the village… and make new leaves sprout…"
Onstage, Namikaze Minato looked like he'd fully slipped into Hokage mode. Half of the speech was clearly borrowed straight from the Third's old rhetoric.
Down in the crowd, Yun rubbed his eyes. Izumi had been so excited about starting school that she'd talked his ear off until late, and he hadn't slept well.
Still… Yun's gaze drifted past the rows of families.
There—bright red hair.
Uzumaki Kushina held Naruto, not even a year old yet. Mother and son both stared up at Minato with light in their eyes.
And off to the other side—
Uchiha Mikoto, the late clan head's widow, was holding baby Sasuke. She kept glancing around with a worry she couldn't hide—especially toward the cool, distant child standing apart from the rest:
Uchiha Itachi.
"Haah…"
Yun let out a quiet sigh.
In the timeline he remembered, Itachi awakened his two-tomoe at eight, after a teammate died.
Now?
He'd awakened two-tomoe at barely five.
Over the past year, that "little philosopher" hadn't escaped the whirlpool of life and death at all. Half the time he was alone, muttering about questions no five-year-old should even be thinking about.
One change—Obito getting intercepted—had already twisted the future this much…
Who knew what Naruto and Sasuke would grow into now?
And Kū… still hadn't found a reliable "handle" on Obito.
Without Kakashi's Kamui as backup, an Obito who'd learned caution was hard to touch.
And Yun's biggest limit was still the same:
Six-year-old body or not, his chakra reserves were tiny.
Flying Thunder God was amazing, but he couldn't spam it.
Which also meant this whole "red hair = Uzumaki" assumption could get him killed if he got lazy with it.
Yun's mind jumped again, as it always did lately.
Where the hell is the cave Madara died in, anyway?
In a few years, he'd need to fish information out of Kakashi. That cave couldn't be far from where Rin died. He needed an excuse—somehow—to search for it.
The entrance speech finally ended, with most of the new students half-asleep.
Yun took Izumi and left the field. Tomorrow classes would start for real.
And Yun still didn't know Shadow Clones.
Headache.
He remembered Itachi using a forbidden Shadow Clone in first year… but who taught it?
Shisui?
Or Fugaku, before he died?
…Maybe he should ask Shisui.
—
"Big brother," Izumi said as they walked, "Mom said we should bring back some three-color dango at lunch."
"I remember," Yun replied. "We'll stop at the dango shop, then go home and eat."
Honestly, Yun didn't even like sweets.
But Izumi did, so their mother would sometimes send her to buy them.
And after the last year… money wasn't as tight either.
Kū had died three times out there already, taken black-market jobs for pay, and done more than a little "redistribution" to keep their home stable.
They were nearing the shop when a shout exploded nearby.
"Bastards! The pork cutlet portion is smaller again today!"
"And the booze too—tastes like water! Am I wrong?!"
THUD—!
The man was slammed to the ground.
Three men pinned him, wrenched his arms behind his back, tied him up, and hauled him upright like a sack.
"You just called us bastards?"
"You think a civilian like you can insult the Uchiha?"
"Drunk in the middle of the day—pathetic!"
"Wait until we take you to the Police. We'll see how tough you are then!"
Yun turned.
Three Uchiha, the fan crest on their backs, were dragging away a red-faced drunk who was clearly wasted.
Military Police.
And the drunk's slurred complaints were obviously nonsense.
As the Uchiha hauled him off, the civilians nearby started whispering.
"It's just a drunk… isn't dragging him to the Police too much?"
"Everyone knows what happens in there. If you don't pay, you don't walk out."
"Poor guy… his son finally became a shinobi, then died outside the village on a mission."
"I heard even the chūnin leading the team didn't make it back. The mission went wrong."
"Shh! There are Uchiha nearby. You want to get dragged in too?"
Yun swallowed a sigh.
Then a familiar voice sounded right beside him.
"So… it's getting worse again."
Yun turned his head. "Jōnin Shisui. Just got back from a mission?"
Shisui nodded, eyes heavy. "The resentment keeps piling up."
Then he softened, smiling at Yun and Izumi.
"If you're free this afternoon—Fourth Training Ground."
"Itachi will be there too."
"You two are officially enrolled now, so… I brought gifts."
Izumi's eyes lit up the moment she heard Itachi's name.
"I'm going too! Shisui-ni—did you bring a gift for me too?"
Shisui chuckled. "I did. But you're still too little, Izumi."
"Let Yun take it back for you."
Izumi puffed her cheeks instantly. "Big brother is only older than me by a tiny bit! What do you mean I'm too little—!"
Tap.
Yun lightly smacked the top of her head, then gathered her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail.
"Be good," he said calmly. "You have to wake up early tomorrow."
That one sentence shut her down immediately.
She grabbed his hand, obedient as could be.
After they said goodbye to Shisui, Yun walked Izumi home.
Since Fugaku's death, the Uchiha still hadn't chosen a new clan head.
Hawks and doves screamed at each other at every clan meeting—nearly came to blows more than once.
As the clan's number-one prodigy, Shisui carried more weight now than ever…
But compared to those old relics still clinging to power?
His age was a real disadvantage.
Fugaku's death had created variables Yun didn't like.
But if Shisui could actually rise to the top…
And Danzō—normally the snake in the shadows—had also changed.
With both the Fourth and Third alive, he'd become a turtle hiding in its shell.
Hard to cut his head off when he wouldn't stick it out.
Time was tightening.
If everything went right this time, Yun would have more than speed.
He'd have the "blue" after speed—and strength too.
Izumi suddenly asked, "Big brother… why don't you like Itachi?"
Yun glanced down at her. "Humble. Kind. Gentle. And the Uchiha's new genius."
"Girls will probably like him a lot."
"But those same traits are exactly why he's dangerous."
"In Itachi's mind, some things stop mattering."
He's always thinking about big, lofty questions—life and death, what it means to be a shinobi, what it means to be the village.
"He puts his thoughts way up in the clouds… and then he can't see what's right in front of him."
"That's a common sickness among shinobi in this world."
Yun squeezed her hand lightly.
"Izumi… someone who looks humble on the outside but keeps his mind on a pedestal isn't right for you."
"Liking someone just because others do—that's not love. That's just… teenage fog."
He paused, half-amused.
"And in this world, 'teenage' starts way too early."
Izumi blinked, completely lost.
She didn't understand his words—but she could tell they sounded important.
So she nodded anyway.
Tomorrow, school started.
Starting school with Itachi.
Yun couldn't help feeling a strange anticipation.
He looked at Izumi beside him, sighed, and didn't say anything else.
If that lunatic doesn't go lunatic, he's actually fine…
Should I just kill him early, before he awakens Mangekyō?
…But then he'd become a "little sister-obsessed" psycho himself.
Yun shoved the messy thoughts back where they belonged and stared into the distance.
One month.
In one month, the Information Exchange would open for the second time.
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