After taking just two steps, Sasuke paused at the voice behind him.
His earlier dejection instantly transformed at Kaito's call.
But remembering the infuriating words, anger flared again.
"Hmph!"
"None of your business!"
Despite his words, Sasuke had already turned to face Kaito, even adjusting the puppy in his arms slightly.
A silent acknowledgment.The words didn't reveal much, but his actions clearly indicated he was introducing his new friend to Kaito.
The Uchiha clan had an extremely poor reputation in the village. Villagers treated them like plague carriers, which meant ordinary Uchiha children had no friends outside their own clan.
To put it simply:
The Uchiha clan's descendants married and were married off among themselves.
The outsiders of Konoha couldn't stand them, and they couldn't stand others either.
With few playmates available to Uchiha children to begin with, compounded by having the clan head as their father...
The number of people in the clan who revered, envied, or pretended to get along with them was countless.
Fugaku not only taught his two sons to minimize contact with other village children but also warned them against playing with kids from their own clan.
Friendless Sasuke was lonely. He yearned for companionship, and sometimes when he saw other children laughing and chatting, he felt genuine envy.
But with a strict father at home who constantly reminded him that his words and actions must prioritize the clan above all else...
With no friends, he could only find solace in picking up a stray dog from the roadside.
Originally, Sasuke hadn't intended to engage with Kaito—not after the guy had just exposed his shortcomings.
But when he noticed Kaito's gaze fixed on the puppy in his arms, his expression suddenly turned smug.
"Beg me."
"If you beg me... I might let you hold it."
Sasuke felt rather pleased with himself, happy to share his newly made "friend" with his twin brother.
As the elder brother, looking after his younger sibling was only natural.
Even if this guy kept insisting on being called "big brother."
"Get rid of it!"
"Take it back to wherever you found it!"
Kaito's tone was uncharacteristically serious, his stern expression startling Sasuke.
Kaito didn't care if Sasuke wanted to keep stray cats or dogs—but first and foremost, they were members of the Uchiha clan!
From the moment he became aware, Kaito had been observing the clan's children. He noticed that many of them, at certain stages, would start keeping pets.
Cats, dogs, birds—there was no shortage of them.
But.
Without exception, these pets all died.
And they died in horrifying ways, right before the children's eyes.
Most of the children awakened their Sharingan because of it.
That was when Kaito realized it was intentional—the clan's doing.
All to trigger intense emotional fluctuations in the children, forcing an early awakening of the Sharingan.
In any case.
Kaito found the practice utterly despicable.
He had no intention of letting his not-too-bright younger brother experience such a terrible ordeal.
Hearing this, Sasuke gritted his teeth in fury. He shot Kaito a death glare but said nothing, turning to head straight for his room.
But Kaito wasn't about to let him leave. He grabbed the back of Sasuke's collar and yanked hard.
Caught off guard, Sasuke's vision blurred as he toppled backward.
To protect the puppy, he didn't even retaliate immediately.
"Hand it over."
Kaito tapped a pressure point on Sasuke's arm, numbing it, then swiftly grabbed the scruff of the puppy's neck.
"Yelp... yelping whines!!"
The dog yowled in pain. To Sasuke, the sound was like his own heart shattering like glass—his anger flared instantly.
"Kaito!"
"Let it go!!"
Sasuke flipped up from the ground, snatching a small stone and hurling it at Kaito's hand.
Swish—
Kaito sidestepped slightly, evading the projectile with minimal movement.He didn't exchange another word with Sasuke. With a dark expression, he walked straight toward the door, casually ruffling the dog's head before tossing it outside.
The entire sequence was executed in one fluid motion.
By the time Sasuke reacted and gave chase, he found Kaito already leaning against the front gate.
Judging by his posture, he had no intention of letting Sasuke leave.
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, glaring furiously at Kaito who stood blocking his way. He gritted his teeth and spoke word by word.
"Kaito! I'll never talk to you again!"
But the moment he spoke, Kaito's expression suddenly changed. He turned around, flung open the door, and dashed out to retrieve the puppy that hadn't run far, carrying it back.
At this moment, Kaito stared at the system prompt before him and fell into prolonged silence once more.
[Ding—]
[Defeat the Sky-Rending Demon Hound. Mission progress: 1/10]
Sky... Sky-Rending... Demon Hound?
Kaito lifted the puppy to eye level, scrutinizing it carefully, but couldn't find any connection between this little dog and those four words.
Not even the slightest.
"Whimper... woof!"
The puppy stretched its limbs, its eyes pitifully pleading. Even when trying to look fierce, it still appeared somewhat adorable.
Seeing this, Sasuke snatched the puppy away and, taking advantage of Kaito's momentary daze, stealthily ran back to his room.
"I get it now!"
"This system probably has cognitive dysfunction!!"
Kaito stroked his chin and came to this conclusion with great seriousness.
Abstract as it might be, this mission was indeed a beginner's task.
Setting aside the title of [Sky-Rending Demon Hound], all he had to do was go outside, find a few dogs, and beat them up one by one to complete the mission.
Perfect!
This mission's difficulty was practically nonexistent!
Thinking this, Kaito immediately sprinted toward the room.
Since Sasuke had found a puppy outside, he should know where to find more.
Pushing open the door, he saw Sasuke crouched in a corner, feeding milk to the puppy from earlier.
Kaito waited at the door for a full five minutes until Sasuke finished, then entered the room, grabbed the boy's arm, and pulled him outside.
Sasuke struggled violently, breaking free from Kaito's grip, then put on his usual cold expression reserved for outsiders and began issuing threats.
"Let go of me."
"Kaito Uchiha! I'm telling you, from now on, I'll never—"
Just as he reached the critical part of his speech, Kaito pulled out a banknote and held it before Sasuke's eyes.
This sudden change instantly made Sasuke's voice grow quieter, and by the end, he swallowed his words entirely.
He instinctively reached for the money, but Kaito lightly raised his hand, making the money-grubbing boy miss his grab.
"Keeping a dog is fine."
"Just not in the house."
Sasuke initially thought he was being toyed with, his eyes burning with rage, his angry expression fully prepared.
But upon hearing Kaito's words, it was as if all that anger had nowhere to go, forced back down inside.
It was truly unbearable.
But still...
It was great that Kaito agreed to let him keep the dog!
Having just issued his threat, Sasuke felt it would be too humiliating to back down now. He snatched the banknote from Kaito's hand, stuffed it into his pocket with practiced ease, and pretended not to care.
"I won't argue with you today."
"Only because I'm your older brother."
Kaito smirked disdainfully. "I was born a minute before you."
...