Kyōichi, Konoha’s Life Mentor

To be precise, this wasn't a ninja technique or secret technique, but rather the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's ability.

"Hm?"

As Kyōichi's chakra spread out, he quickly sensed a figure hiding in the darkness around him, but from their position, they could clearly see into his courtyard and even partly into his house.

ANBU?

Kanda Kyōichi didn't turn his head.

He knew that right now, they were probably watching him.

Searching further out, there was another ANBU presence in a different position around his house, but nothing beyond that.

Two ANBU!

Kyōichi withdrew his chakra and pondered for a moment, already understanding in his heart.

Previously, he was just a chūnin, and those above surely knew his capabilities well, but after returning from injury, he had improved significantly, and his constitution had strengthened.

The Third Hokage might have guessed.

The current surveillance was partly precautionary and partly to confirm the situation.

The two ANBU had probably been following since yesterday.

"Senju bloodline..."

Kyōichi contemplated for a moment, narrowed his eyes, but ultimately said nothing, pretending not to know about the ANBU around his house.

However.

He wasn't just thinking about the Third Hokage.

There was also Danzō.

Most of Konoha's dirty work was connected to him - attributing nine out of ten conspiracies to him wouldn't be wrong.

That's why in his previous life, Danzō was called the Scapegoat Shadow.

Previously, Kyōichi thought he was quite pitiful, spending his whole life taking blame for the Third, but living in Konoha now, he had to consider Danzō's influence—

That old bastard must be secretly researching Hashirama cells these years, right?

Previously, Konoha's only true Senju bloodline member was Tsunade, and with her immense strength and prestige, Danzō wouldn't dare touch her.

However.

He was different.

The Kanda family only had him left, just a chūnin - if something happened to him in secret, no one would dare say anything.

The more Kyōichi thought about it, the more dangerous it seemed.

Currently, Konoha was ruled by the Third and Danzō, and it was hard to predict what these two crafty old men might do.

Fortunately, he had gained chakra sensing.

With this sensing technique, at least he could anticipate their movements in advance.

"Actually, if it were just Hashirama cells, getting them would benefit me greatly, but dealing with Danzō... it's no different from making a deal with a tiger."

...

"Today's class is over, many of you still haven't mastered the Three Basic Jutsu."

"You'll need to keep practicing at home."

Another day of classes finished.

Kyōichi was somewhat tired.

This class had quite a few prodigies, but there were still many with weak chakra control—

As students, they were certainly good enough.

However.

As genin who would be heading to the battlefield, they were still far from ready.

Among them, Obito had made rapid progress.

He could already climb trees!

This guy indeed had decent talent, but unfortunately he kept going on about the Sharingan, as if awakening it would let him destroy the world.

Kyōichi couldn't help but internally mock this.

After class ended and he left the school, he secretly observed with his chakra sensing.

The ANBU were gone.

"They left?"

Kyōichi pondered privately.

If it were Root, they definitely wouldn't give up so easily.

It seems they were the Third's subordinates.

This was good news.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then patted his pocket and let out a long sigh.

He had originally planned to find someone to forge him a sword.

But...

He was poor!

He understood Kakuzu now.

Because at this moment, he too wished he could find some wanted criminal and capture them for money.

A chūnin's salary was too low.

Never mind.

Exercise first.

The sword matter could wait until payday.

Kyōichi began running toward the outskirts along Konoha's roads.

However.

Before long, he sensed someone following behind him.

He continued forward without showing any reaction.

As Shisui followed from behind and was about to catch up, suddenly, a cold kunai was pressed against his neck.

The person running ahead turned into a mere illusion.

"A clone!"

Shisui was surprised.

"Sensei, you noticed me?"

"What's so hard about noticing you? Don't you still have class?" 

Kyōichi joked, then put away his kunai.

Shisui bowed slightly.

He looked like he had something to say but was hesitating.

"Come on, want to run together?"

"Yes!"

Seeing that his sensei didn't press further, a hint of joy appeared on Shisui's face.

Then.

He followed behind Kyōichi as they ran out along the path one after another.

After getting quite far from Konoha, Shisui caught up and said quietly, "Sensei, when I went home yesterday, the clan head hoped I could graduate this year, and then... join the ANBU."

"Your clan head? Uchiha Fugaku?"

Kyōichi raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

No wonder they had to run so far to talk about this. At the same time, he was surprised that Shisui would discuss these things with him.

This kid...

Really trusted him.

"Hah, what does he know!"

"Huh?"

Shisui was stunned for a moment.

His sensei...

Actually saying such things, it surprised him a bit.

"Shisui, you're a smart person, and I'm touched that you trust me enough to discuss these things. Do you understand what your clan head means?"

"I can guess."

Shisui lowered his voice.

Although young, he was intelligent and mature, already understanding many things.

For instance.

The clan head's intention was clearly hoping he could quickly demonstrate his talent and show loyalty to Konoha, then join ANBU to serve the Uchiha clan.

However.

He felt this wasn't quite right.

"Shisui, have you had any unpleasant experiences at the ninja academy?"

"Unpleasant? Hmm... not really, just that other students don't want to get close to us Uchiha."

"Do you know why?"

Kyōichi smiled slightly.

Shisui shook his head.

"You're still young, there's much you can't control, and even if I explained, you might not fully understand. But you can maintain your own thoughts and observe and think with your own mind."

"Like this problem you've encountered, you can think about the reasons - consider it an extra assignment for skipping class today."

After saying this, Kyōichi immediately picked up speed.

Think about the reasons?

Shisui was stunned for a moment, then quickly caught up.

He pondered while running.

However.

Shisui had never thought about these things before.

Previously, he just thought that if those classmates didn't want to interact with him, he wouldn't interact with them either.

After all, he would graduate soon anyway.

But.

Examining the reasons deeply...

Was it just because they were from the Uchiha clan?

But.

Why?

Thinking carefully, he found it quite strange.

Without realizing it, he had run quite a distance following Kyōichi, becoming out of breath. Kyōichi had actually slowed down, but Shisui seemed not to notice and kept running.

Soon.

They ran back to Konoha.

"Alright, that's enough for today. When you figure it out, we'll talk more."

Kyōichi smiled.

Class conflict was something Shisui wouldn't understand if told directly.

Better to let him think about it himself.

Moreover.

There was a good example right here.

"Yes!"

Shisui nodded heavily.

As Kyōichi left and he was about to return to the Uchiha district, Shisui caught a glimpse of someone unexpected.

Obito!

Why was he here?

This was a small village on the edge of Konoha, mostly inhabited by civilians and elderly people. Obito seemed to have a good relationship with them, laughing and chatting while eating fruit given by the old ladies.

Why?