Early the next morning.
Masahiko was up at dawn for his workout.
The Village remained peaceful, as if last night's commotion had been a mirage; even the Uchiha and the Konoha Military Police Force showed no sign of anything unusual.
But.
There were still differences.
At the corner near the Uchiha Clan Compound, Masahiko swept his gaze across the woods.
There—Itachi flickered out of sight, Body Flickering deeper into the trees.
A few seconds later he stopped beside a river.
"Shisui isn't dead."
He looked at Masahiko, face calm, as though unmoved by his best friend's survival. "Last night he appeared at the Naka Shrine and killed several Anbu."
Masahiko's expression wavered slightly, then settled back into calm.
"He's alive… that's good. But I'm afraid the next time we meet, we'll be enemies."
"Yeah."
Itachi sighed softly.
Then he drew a small booklet from inside his jacket.
"Take this."
"What is it?"
Masahiko accepted it, flipped through a few pages, and a trace of surprise crossed his face.
If he guessed right… these were Shisui's notes, annotated and expanded with Itachi's own comments.
For any genjutsu-user, it was priceless material.
He lifted his gaze to Itachi.
"Why give this to me?"
"You were Shisui's friend, Sasuke's teacher… I hope you'll pass what's inside to Sasuke for me. The rest—do as you see fit."
Itachi answered.
Masahiko frowned. "What happened?"
"Sorry—Anbu mission. I can't tell you."
Itachi shook his head.
Masahiko was silent for several seconds, then sighed. "All right… I'll do it."
"Thank you very much."
Itachi bowed lightly and, before Masahiko could return the courtesy, vanished with a Body Flicker.
Masahiko stowed the booklet away, stared at the river for a long while, then finally sighed and jogged back to his usual training route to continue his morning workout.
Itachi…
That brain of his… Well, with the Uchiha, being abnormal is normal.
Someone like Shisui is the real freak.
Thinking that, Masahiko felt better.
About the Uchiha, all he could do was milk a few more advantages and save a few talented, worthwhile people as seed capital.
The rest… respect other people's fate.
Hokage Office.
Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Homura Mitokado were all present.
But.
Sarutobi Hiruzen kept smoking without saying a word.
"Hiruzen…"
"This mess was Danzo's doing, but now that Shisui has openly turned on us, we have to deal with him."
Koharu and Homura spoke in succession.
Hiruzen glanced at them. "You think I haven't issued orders?"
He looked at Danzo.
"I suspect he's hiding in one of the Training Grounds, so I've had Anbu intensify their search there."
"Today, from the Forest of Death to the Naka River, several Anbu reported being knocked out."
Hiruzen's gaze was icy.
"Up to that point he still hadn't resolved to kill our Ninja—only at the very end. Do you know what that means?"
"A third party extracted him after all."
Murderous intent flashed in Danzo's eyes.
Hiruzen's anger surged. "It means that, until last night, Shisui had not decided to betray the Village!"
He grew angrier.
"Ruining everything and helping no one!"
Danzo offered no retort, letting the tirade wash over him.
"You drove away a powerful ally and handed him to someone else, all for an eye of limited use—and you call that 'for the sake of Konoha'?"
Bang!
Hiruzen slammed his pipe into Danzo's head in fury.
Blood trickled down.
Danzo's expression didn't change.
"Dangerous power must be brought under control. Sentimentality is the greatest irresponsibility toward the Village."
His voice was flat. "Do it again, and I'll still act."
"Danzo… enough."
Koharu cut in.
She glanced at Hiruzen, her tone softening: "Hiruzen, what's done is done. We need to think of how to fix this, and we must investigate the group that rescued Shisui."
"We will investigate."
Hiruzen snorted. "Someone pulled off something this big right under our noses; how can we rest until we root them out?"
He looked at Danzo.
"Focus on Orochimaru and the Hidden Mist Village. I'll keep watch over the Uchiha."
"Very well."
Danzo nodded, wiped the blood from his forehead, and left calmly.
Koharu and Homura hesitated, then sighed and followed.
Soon after, an Anbu was summoned to the Hokage Office.
Hiruzen stared at him: "Itachi, have you made your decision?"
…Meanwhile, at Konoha's Ninja Academy.
Itachi's hope-filled little brother was fleeing with Sakura Haruno and Uzumaki Naruto close behind, while Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Ino Yamanaka pursued them.
"Dead-last, get out of my line of sight!"
"Idiot Sasuke, you're the weak one! You always blame others—what kind of teammate is that hard to get along with?"
"Naruto! How can you talk to Sasuke like that?"
"…"
I'm going crazy!
What teammates are these?!
Isn't this matchmaking system downright absurd?
A vein throbbed on Sasuke's forehead as he glared at Yagyu Masahiko, who stood at the side with a faint smile; Masahiko answered with a gentle grin.
Facts proved… even with his coaching, oil and water still wouldn't mix.
At least in the short term, the odds of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke cooperating closely were practically zero.
But.
To grab some screen time, he'd done it without hesitation.
After last night's big incident, the rift between the Uchiha and the Village would only widen, yet neither the Third nor Danzo had summoned him.
Masahiko knew his chances of appearing next episode were slim; if he didn't milk every detail, his screen-time might plunge to thirty percent—or worse.
For stronger visuals and hotter topics.
And to repay Itachi for those notes… let Sasuke suffer a bit, Naruto can take the blame!
Of course.
It wasn't just Sakura and Naruto.
In truth, he'd give others chances too—Kiba, Shino, Hinata, even some civilian kids with ordinary talent.
But.
Sasuke's chances of drawing decent teammates really were low.
That morning's class was weight-bearing training, pure torture.
Still, he survived it.
After class, however, Sasuke didn't rush off; he waited until Masahiko had finished fending off all the girls, then approached with a dark look.
"Teacher, next time can you assign me some normal people?"
"A-hem, actually your teammates are quite normal."
Masahiko coughed lightly.
Sasuke's face was frosty. "Normal? Then why aren't they with Naruto or Inuzuka Kiba?"
"This is also weight-bearing training."
Masahiko lowered his voice. "With your talent you'll be an elite Jonin sooner or later, maybe even run S-rank missions and lead Genin squads—think of this as early practice."
…?
For a moment Sasuke didn't know whether to feel flattered by the high expectations or curse Masahiko for selling him a fantasy—
He was only seven!
He ground his teeth. "Thanks a lot!"
"No need, no need…"
Masahiko's eyes curved in a smile; then a shout came from the edge of the field and he looked over—
It was Watanabe Shōji.
Grinning, he called, "All right, teacher has business to attend to. See you next class, Sasuke!"
With that, he Body Flickered and vanished.
"Childish."
Sasuke turned and walked away.