Itachi's mind went blank.
Watching Kai bicker and joke around with Teuchi and Ayame, he felt a strange sense of unreality.
How… How is this possible?
He was still young, but as the clan head's son, he understood well enough the Uchiha's situation in the village.
The Uchiha name—
was rotten.
Other than the police force, most clan members rarely stepped foot outside their compound. Interacting with the rest of the village? Almost unheard of.
And yet—Kai?
How could he get along with villagers so naturally?
This scene clashed violently with everything he thought he knew.
Too much for his young mind to process.
"Uncle Teuchi, four deluxe pork-bone ramens."
At that moment, Namikaze Minato entered with his three students, sitting down right beside Kai and Itachi.
His sunny smile shone, the kind that instantly put people at ease.
But with them joining, the space around the counter suddenly became crowded.
"Yo, Minato!" Teuchi grinned. "Got it, coming right up."
Ayame hurried over to greet the new guests.
But when her eyes fell on Kai, her brows twitched.
"Kai, can't you see we're busy? Hurry up, finish eating and help out!"
Kai sighed helplessly.
Still, he quickly slurped down the last of his noodles, stood, and went to the back.
Teuchi handled the noodles, Ayame served the customers, and Kai busied himself with prep work.
He even tossed a pile of garlic onto the counter in front of Itachi.
"Itachi, peel these."
Itachi's lips twitched.
But instead of complaining, he quietly finished his food and began peeling garlic.
Minato and his three students exchanged looks, slightly stunned.
Two Uchiha helping out at Ichiraku? That just didn't fit.
Especially Itachi!
Minato knew him—Kushina and Mikoto were good friends, so he had met the boy before.
Seeing him here now, he couldn't help but ask:
"Itachi, that man is…?"
"My teacher," Itachi said softly. "His name is Uchiha Kai. He's the only one in our clan who has awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Father told me to take him as master today. Then he brought me here."
"I don't know much else."
Minato blinked, then nodded slightly.
As a core member of the Hokage's circle, he knew more than most about this new Uchiha powerhouse.
Fugaku entrusting his son to Kai made sense.
But what surprised him was Kai's closeness with Teuchi's family.
Is he really Uchiha?
Besides Obito, he had never seen another Uchiha so willing to mingle with the village.
"Sensei, Uchiha Kai was in my year," Obito said.
"But I don't know him well. Back then, he was nothing special—just some kid in Class B. Who'd have thought he'd awaken Mangekyo?"
His fists clenched. "But I won't lose to him. One day, I'll wake up too!"
Obito's voice was proud, but also tight with frustration.
Yes—
he might be bottom of Class A, but still, that was Class A.
And Kai?
The Class B dead-last, suddenly awakened the Mangekyo and became the clan's so-called genius.
How could he swallow that?
Kakashi cut in.
"I've seen him here before. He's been coming to eat ramen for years—at least since seven or eight years ago."
Rin added softly:
"I know a little about him too. Some of my friends were in Class B."
"Back then, Kai was well-known—but not as a genius. In fact, he was a dead-last like Obito."
"What made him stand out was how badly he was treated in the Uchiha clan."
"He was… very lonely."
"If Obito was merely looked down on, at least he still had us as friends. But Kai… in the clan, he was outright bullied."
"People saw it often—other Uchiha picking on him."
Silence fell.
None of them had imagined Kai's childhood to be so miserable.
Even young Itachi was shaken to the core.
He had never heard of this before.
Now he understood why Kai's name had never come up in clan discussions—even after awakening the Mangekyo.
For a clan that lived on pride, to ignore such a feat was unimaginable.
But if Kai had been humiliated so deeply as a child, then of course he would harbor no feelings of belonging.
The clan must feel equally conflicted seeing him rise.
Itachi suddenly felt like he understood his teacher a little better.
At that moment, Ayame came over.
The girls were naturally curious, and seeing everyone discussing Kai, she couldn't resist joining in.
"You still don't really know Kai."
"After his parents died, their compensation was stolen. The clan ignored him completely—just left him to fend for himself."
"You can't imagine it. He was barely four years old, yet he came to my father, asking if he could eat here every day for cheap."
"After hearing his story—losing his parents, abandoned by his clan—my father's heart softened."
"You know our shop doesn't open in the morning, right?"
"From then on, Kai not only ate lunch and dinner with us, but my father insisted he come for breakfast too."
"As for money, his parents had left him a little. To respect his pride, my father accepted it—but even if Kai had nothing, Dad would never have turned him away."
"So in truth, Kai is practically half my father's son."
"And he's helped out here since way back too. He had school, so he only worked during prep time—that's why you never saw him."
Ayame's words spilled out quickly.
She was bright and cheerful by nature, and Kai's past wasn't exactly a secret.
She also knew he had almost no friends, so she saw him as a younger brother, someone to protect.
And she knew Minato's reputation.
So, after a pause, she said earnestly:
"Now you understand, right?"
"Kai's childhood was miserable. Only recently, after becoming a shinobi, has life gotten better."
"Because of that, he's very withdrawn. He's had almost no friends all these years."
"Minato-nii, I know you're a good person."
"So if you can… I hope you'll look out for him. Even just being his friend would mean a lot."
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