Late night.
Bright moon, sparse stars.
Yet the cold moonlight brought no comfort to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He sat in his chair with eyes closed, deep in thought — worrying about something, waiting for something.
When he opened his eyes again, a figure was already kneeling before him.
Hiruzen glanced past the messenger and looked at the corpse lying nearby.
"Mizuki?"
"He's the one who lured Naruto?"
Hiruzen's brows furrowed tightly, confusion clear on his face.
Mizuki was a homegrown Konoha shinobi, barely genin level in strength. While he was known to be two-faced and cunning, Hiruzen couldn't imagine him having the guts to pull off something like this.
"Lord Hokage, look here."
Kakashi answered the question with action instead of words.
He respectfully rolled up Mizuki's sleeve and held the pale arm under the moonlight.
A strange, dark curse mark stood out clearly on the skin.
"A curse seal… Orochimaru!"
Mentioning that name brought a mix of fury and disappointed sorrow to Hiruzen's eyes.
One of the legendary Sannin — now the village's greatest traitor.
But the emotions only lingered for a moment. Hiruzen quickly composed himself and spoke calmly:
"What is he planning?"
"The Scroll of Seals?"
He pondered for a long time but couldn't be sure.
He knew he wasn't particularly clever, especially in his old age. His thinking had grown rigid, making it hard to keep up with Orochimaru's twisted, flexible mind.
"Whatever. We'll deal with whatever comes."
He sighed again.
"…Sigh."
He had already lost count of how many times he'd sighed like this.
The weight of the entire village rested on his aging shoulders. Just carrying that burden was already suffocating.
But suffocating didn't mean he couldn't breathe.
His wrinkled hand moved in a sharp motion. A chunk of skin containing the curse mark was sliced clean off Mizuki's arm, flesh and all.
Hiruzen tossed the piece of flesh to Kakashi, his voice cold:
"Warn Danzō. If he and Orochimaru are only after the Scroll of Seals, I can turn a blind eye this time."
"But if they have any designs on Naruto…"
"Remind him that I am still the Hokage."
Kakashi lowered his head.
"Understood."
...
Early morning.
The roosters kept by the villagers began to crow.
Only then did Shikage, who had been completely absorbed in the Scroll of Seals, notice that dawn had broken.
He scanned the dense text covering the scroll and let out a heartfelt sigh of satisfaction.
"Having cheats really is the best."
Thanks to the [Absolute Learning Ability] from his Outsider title, in just one night he had completely mastered the entire Scroll of Seals on a theoretical level.
All that was left was real-world practice to fully integrate the techniques into his system panel.
However, due to time constraints and the fact that most forbidden techniques weren't useful to him right now, he had only fully learned one:
Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Looking at [Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu (Lv.0)] in his ninjutsu skills list, Shikage smiled with satisfaction.
He stored the Scroll of Seals back into his inventory, stretched lazily, loosened up his muscles, and headed toward the main house.
He was planning to mooch off his old man again — squeeze a bit more money out of the clan head.
Ever since the system shop had unlocked purchasing rights, Shikage had a strong feeling: you could never have too much money.
There would always be a use for it later.
As for whether mooching off your parents was honorable or not…
Please. He was the eldest young master of the Nara clan.
What's wrong with claiming his inheritance early?
Lost in shameless satisfaction, Shikage reached the corridor of the courtyard. Before he even got to the main house, he heard loud, chaotic voices.
He paused for a second, then dropped his good mood and walked toward the noise.
When he reached the front courtyard, he saw a fourteen-year-old boy cornering a seven-year-old child. The older boy's expression was vicious, clearly threatening him.
After taking a good look, Shikage's eyes turned ice-cold. He let out a low, mocking laugh.
"The Hyūga and Uchiha clans really have it good, huh…"
...
Nara Kizashi looked down at the boy in front of him. For some reason, the small figure reminded him of someone familiar from the past.
Thinking back, he narrowed his eyes and snorted:
"Shikamaru, be smart about this."
"Some things aren't up to personal choice."
"Lord Danzō taking an interest in you is your honor."
"Don't be ungrateful."
Shikamaru had never heard of "Root," but Danzō's name was infamous.
As the most powerful man in Konoha after the Hokage, almost no one could refuse him.
Though young Shikamaru was clever, his lack of experience made it hard for him to properly analyze the situation.
Faced with his aggressive clan brother, the seven-year-old's face turned pale and sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Oh? How come I haven't heard anything about this?"
The moment that clear voice rang out, Nara Kizashi's expression twisted horribly.
He tried to turn around, but suddenly found himself completely unable to move.
The next second, a crushing suffocating pressure slammed into him. Even as he struggled desperately, he could only make hoarse, choking sounds.
Shikage had appeared at some point. He crouched in front of Shikamaru, tugged on his little brother's pineapple-shaped ponytail, and spoke in a thoughtful tone:
"In our family… besides me, everyone else seems to have ridiculously stiff hair…"
"Big brother…"
"What is it?"
"Kizashi… is about to choke to death…"
"Oh, sorry. Almost forgot."
Shikage smiled awkwardly and casually released the Shadow Neck Bind.
The shadow hand, losing its chakra supply, slinked back into the darkness.
Nara Kizashi clutched his neck, gasping desperately for air. The painful sensation in his throat made him cough violently.
"Cough! Cough!"
Seeing him in such a miserable state, Shikage showed zero guilt. Instead, he greeted him like an old friend he'd just run into:
"Long time no see, Kizashi."
"I haven't seen much of you since you graduated last year."
"How's life as a genin? Which team did you join? Pay any good?"
The rapid-fire "relative check-in" questions made Nara Kizashi's face burn with embarrassment.
But he didn't let anger cloud his judgment.
First, Shikage's status was simply too high. Even though the Nara clan wasn't big on bloodline supremacy, he was still the clan head's eldest legitimate son.
Second, he knew he couldn't win in a straight fight.
Remembering how Shikage had completely dominated him back in school, plus that completely silent shadow technique from moments ago, Kizashi felt a mix of dread, fear, and bitter jealousy.
If possible, he really didn't want to mess with Nara Shikage.
But his father had given him clear orders. Even with psychological trauma toward Shikage, he forced himself to speak:
"Shikage, don't get cocky!"
"This isn't something you or I can decide."
"Even if the clan head comes, Shikamaru must join Root today!"