Hearing the words "Martial Soul," Nara Shikamaru spent a full ten minutes in deep mental turmoil.
Yet no matter how hard he searched his memory, he couldn't find a single Bloodline Limit that matched the description.
Originally, Shikamaru had guessed the other person was about to mention the Sharingan, but instead, an utterly unfamiliar and incomprehensible word came out of their mouth.
Shikamaru suspected this guy was messing with him, yet the other's expression didn't seem fake.
At this moment...
Nara Shikamaru suddenly realized that the wisdom of the Nara clan was somewhat inadequate for understanding the thought processes of the Uchiha clan.
The conversation between the two fell into silence.
Suddenly, Naruto, who had been squatting on Sasuke's desk, looked up and noticed Kaito's presence at the back of the room. Grinning widely, he shouted toward the corner.
"Big bro! It's you!"
Naruto's voice was so loud that it immediately drew everyone's attention toward Kaito.
Interrupted mid-conversation, Kaito turned his head and saw Naruto squatting right in front of Sasuke. His pupils shrank to the size of beans.
He opened his mouth to warn his foolish little brother to move away, but in the next second, Naruto lost his balance from waving his arms. He swayed back and forth before toppling straight toward Sasuke.
Sasuke, already mentally exhausted from Kiba Inuzuka's betrayal, having his "big brother" lie exposed by Kaito, dealing with a blonde woman eyeing his little brother, and now being harassed by a blonde man—his mind was a mess.
Now, seeing this kid suddenly looming larger in his vision, he froze on the spot, unable to dodge in time.
Squelch—
A sound echoed through the classroom, and the room fell dead silent.
Sasuke's fangirls were all left gaping, including the pink-haired Sakura Haruno.
What the hell is this guy doing?!
Sasuke's first kiss was supposed to be mine!!
Cough! Cough!!
Murderous intent radiated from them as they lunged straight for Naruto Uzumaki.
Sasuke and Naruto remained pressed together for a full three seconds before they snapped out of it. Both clutched their own necks, tilting their heads as they frantically spat.
"You bastard…"
"I'll kill you!"
Sasuke was on the verge of breaking down.
His cool, aloof image had crumbled on the very first day of school—right in front of so many people.
And worst of all…
Uchiha Kaito was still here!!
Naruto was the first to sense the murderous intent from the girls. By the time Sasuke reacted, he had already bolted for the door.
The girls chased after him, storming out of the classroom.
In the corner of the room, Kaito and Shikamaru's eyelids twitched violently.
Kaito felt both helpless and exasperated, certain that his foolish little brother was about to be dragged into the messy depths of Leaf Friendship.
As for Shikamaru…
He was truly at a loss for words.
He had thought the Uchiha beside him was already outrageous enough, but who knew his little brother would be just as bad.
"Your brothers… are quite special."
Shikamaru cautiously muttered this, trying to be polite while also fearing a beating.
"No, this is Leaf Friendship. You wouldn't understand."
Leaf Friendship?
Hearing this, Shikamaru shot Kaito a bewildered glance before looking at Sasuke, who was still wiping his mouth at the front of the room. His mind involuntarily replaced the image of the blonde with Kaito's little brother—but with himself instead.
Yikes!
Horrifying!
The thought vanished as quickly as it came, and Shikamaru shuddered as he looked back at Kaito.
He… sort of understood what this man meant now.
Kaito happened to meet Shikamaru's gaze. He had no idea what the other was thinking—he just wanted some constructive advice, even if it was just a rough idea.
"Should we… continue?"
"I actually had more to say earlier."
Though he had reworded the system task into something less abstract, Kaito could still understand Shikamaru's reaction.
It was normal.
Even he had questioned his life a little when he first saw the "Fox Repays a Favor" mission."Are you sure the Bloodline Limit you mentioned isn't the Sharingan...?"
"Or is it some unique naming convention your clan uses?"
After calming down, Shikamaru sought confirmation once more.
However...
One thing Shikamaru could be certain of.
This guy before him didn't seem to be lying.
"It's the Martial Soul."
Kaito nodded, motioning for Shikamaru to sit, then began recounting the tale of the Martial Soul...
A minute passed.
Kaito slowly unfolded a worldview entirely different from the Shinobi World, casually mentioning a story about a reincarnated individual.
At one point, Shikamaru shot a sidelong glance at the peculiar Uchiha beside him, half-jokingly, half-seriously asking,
"Are you a reincarnated person too?"
Kaito: !
Shikamaru's suspicion wasn't unfounded—he'd never come across this version of the story in his clan's extensive archives.
After all, the Nara clan possessed the most comprehensive collection of texts in the Shinobi World.
Sometimes, facing someone with absurdly high intelligence really made you want to curse.
But.
Kaito firmly believed one thing.
The Nara clan's intellect could never comprehend the abstract nature of the Uchiha.
"Yes."
Kaito admitted openly. At that moment, Shikamaru pinched his own thigh in shock, his face displaying unprecedented panic.
Just as Shikamaru's mind raced, Kaito continued,
"I'm the reincarnation of Uchiha Madara."
Kaito glanced at Sasuke, who was rinsing his mouth. "If you help me complete this mission, I'll awaken all my memories."
"Once I become Hokage, I'll appoint you as a Hokage Advisor."
Nara Shikamaru: ...
Alright, alright.
I overestimated this guy.
Shikamaru suddenly began questioning whether Kaito's condition might be contagious—why else would he waste brain cells considering such absurd claims?
Uchiha Madara...
What a joke.
Why not say your brother is the reincarnation of Uchiha Izuna while you're at it.
"Go on."
Shikamaru sighed, clearly dismissing the idea that the other was a reincarnated person, treating the Martial Soul story as either something he'd never encountered or a figment of Kaito's imagination.
Another ten minutes passed...
Kaito narrated from the tale of twin Martial Souls to the protagonist entering the academy.
One spoke with fervor, the other listened intently, neither noticing the other boys in class gathering around them.
Even Sasuke, who'd been cleaning his mouth, pricked up his ears from a distance, his expression unusually focused on Kaito's story.
"And then?"
"Wait—bro, don't stop now! We're at the climax—how do you obtain the spirit rings?"
"Keep going! Please, I'm begging you, just one more part!"
When Kaito paused his story, the surrounding students groaned in agony, desperate to know what happened next.
Meanwhile, Kaito and Shikamaru sat expressionless in their seats.
After listening to nearly half an hour of storytelling, the only thing Shikamaru could confirm was...
Uchiha Kaito was genuinely unwell!
Shikamaru subtly shifted closer to the window. But when he turned to look outside again, he spotted one of the academy teachers.
A scar ran across the bridge of his nose, and his stern face added an air of intimidation.
Yet, the next words out of the teacher's mouth nearly made Shikamaru fall off his desk.
"This story... what happens next?"Kaito instantly recognized their homeroom teacher, Iruka Umino, by the scar on his nose bridge.
This only darkened his expression further.
"Gone!"