Although Kakashi had been ordered to arrange accommodations for Senju Haruto, it wasn't as if he was going to personally pay for a house for him.
Besides, it wasn't the kind of decision one could just make on a whim.
After thinking it over, Kakashi simply brought Haruto back to his own home.
He lived alone anyway, and there were plenty of empty rooms.
Naturally, Haruto had no reason to refuse.
Kakashi's house wasn't located in the heart of Konoha Village but in a quieter, more remote area.
"Looks like Kakashi's family situation isn't all that great…" Haruto thought as he caught sight of the place from a distance.
It was a single-story house built mostly from wood. Though not small, given the world of the Hidden Leaf, where land was abundant and houses tended to be large, it wasn't particularly unusual.
"This is it," Kakashi said as they arrived.
"Mm." Haruto followed him inside. Because it was a standard wooden house, it was surrounded by a wooden fence, creating a small courtyard.
The interior was plain but immaculately clean, clearly kept that way by Kakashi himself.
"Until you find a new place, you can stay here," Kakashi said, showing Haruto around before assigning him an empty room.
Only one room deep inside the house was firmly sealed off. Kakashi acted as if it didn't exist.
Probably his father's room, Haruto guessed.
"If that's all, I'll head to see the Third Hokage," Kakashi said, pausing a moment as if to see if Haruto had any other requests.
When Haruto shook his head, Kakashi turned and left without looking back.
Though they would be living under the same roof for a while, Kakashi had no intention of getting too involved. After all, it was only temporary.
"Alright," Haruto replied with a faint smile, watching Kakashi's retreating figure until he was gone, the smile fading from his face.
He let out a slow breath, then reached into his pocket and pulled out Shisui's eye — the greatest prize from his battle with Danzō.
But…
He wasn't planning on implanting it right away.
First of all, it would hurt.
Second, there was no need.
In the world of the Hidden Leaf, the Sharingan was indeed a powerful dōjutsu.
With just a single three-tomoe Sharingan, Kakashi had earned the title "Copy Ninja" and become famous across the shinobi world — not to mention the Mangekyō Sharingan, home to the legendary genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami.
For any ninja, the temptation of such an eye was immense.
But Haruto was different.
The sign-in system had already proven it could grant him not only Wood Release but also the Byakugan.
If the Byakugan was possible, why not the Sharingan too?
He simply needed to wait for his next sign-in reward to unlock it.
Most importantly, unless a Sharingan was implanted into an Uchiha, it couldn't be deactivated, constantly draining chakra.
And while Haruto's chakra reserves were larger than most…
He would also have to hide the eye in darkness, like Kakashi or Danzō.
Possible, yes — but not necessary.
If he ever needed to use Kotoamatsukami, he could follow Uchiha Itachi's example and store the eye inside an animal, retrieving it only when needed.
"For now, I just need to preserve it," he murmured, searching Kakashi's house for a suitable container.
Thanks to his Byakugan, he didn't need to rummage — one glance was enough to find what he wanted.
He placed Shisui's eye into a glass jar, then spent half the day preparing a nutrient solution to fill it.
"That should do it." Haruto gave the jar a gentle shake, eyeing the Sharingan floating inside. "Though… even if Kotoamatsukami is called the strongest genjutsu, it takes years to recharge after a single use."
"Wait — in the original story, didn't they say more than ten years?"
Haruto frowned, unsure if he was misremembering, but he could recall Itachi mentioning it.
The problem was… Shisui had once said he could use Kotoamatsukami to stop the coup — and then Danzō killed him.
Even if he had used it once before dying and given the other eye to Itachi, the latter was only thirteen at the time.
By the Fourth Great Ninja War, Itachi was twenty-one. That didn't exactly add up to "more than ten years."
"Forget it," Haruto muttered, shaking his head. No point overthinking it. Instead, his thoughts shifted to Hashirama's cells.
While he could use Wood Release, his version was simply boosted by massive chakra reserves. He didn't possess the true Yang Release nature of Hashirama himself, nor could he use Sage Mode.
He wasn't sure if his own cells could shorten Kotoamatsukami's cooldown.
"And I'm not about to do what Danzō did, grafting Sharingan all over my body… disgusting."
Sighing, Haruto decided to implant Shisui's eye into an animal for now, then slowly research ways to reduce the cooldown.
He carefully stored the eye away and sat cross-legged on the tatami.
"Come to think of it… wasn't the timing of the Third Hokage's arrival a little too convenient?"
Back then, he had been too focused on seizing Shisui's eye and killing Danzō to think about it.
Now that he had time to reflect, he couldn't ignore it.
After all, the Third Hokage possessed a secret jutsu no one else used — the Telescope Technique.
With it, as long as he knew someone's chakra signature, he could observe them remotely.
If he could keep tabs on Naruto at all times, then watching Haruto would be no problem either.
"If I recall correctly, Danzō gathered the Sharingan on his arm after the Uchiha clan was wiped out."
"But… what if he already had some before that?"
During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha fought on all fronts.
The Uchiha couldn't have sat it out.
In fact, Obito had died in that war.
And the Mist's Ao had acquired his Byakugan on the battlefield.
If Ao could do it, could Danzō have collected Sharingan during the war too?
"Izanagi…"
Haruto's eyes narrowed slightly.
Perhaps now he understood why some people, no matter how powerful, still acted with extreme caution.