Uchiha Kage had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan at birth.
One eye possessed the power of space, capable of creating a realm akin to the ninja world.The other eye was a copy—able to replicate anyone it came into contact with into its own pupil-space. With enough chakra, the copied body could even wield the same abilities as the original.
"Now it seems both abilities are unusable… but they've somehow fused with this 'dream space.'"
Could it be that when he accidentally traveled decades into the future, his Sharingan underwent some strange change—one that resulted in the appearance of this "Dream Space" ability?
As Uchiha Kage pondered the connection between his Sharingan and this bizarre realm, he continued to test the functions of the Mangekyō Sharingan he had lost… and now partly regained.
Aside from enhanced motion perception and chakra-flow detection, the only remaining special ability was—
"Void!"
Reaching toward the mirror before him, Uchiha Kage focused.
Sure enough, his entire arm passed through it, as though the glass were mere air.
"It just eats through chakra far too quickly…"
Barely moments later, his chakra reserves were too low to keep the Mangekyō active.
"It's back… but only a fraction of its former strength."
Still, looking at the blood-red kaleidoscope pattern in the reflection, Uchiha Kage felt a small spark of satisfaction.
Once masked, with only those eyes visible, he could probably scare most enemies without lifting a finger.
"Hmph. Now I've got my own tragic god-tier ability worth telling stories about."
Finally—finally—he had some means of protecting himself from Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzō.
"But… now that I think about it, I never did figure out last night who's bigger—the big rabbit or Tsunade…"
When he'd stepped into Tsunade's office last night, his eyes and thoughts had been completely taken over by all that soft, irresistible beauty. Comparing her with anyone else at that moment would have been a crime against good sense.
Of course, it would be nice to someday have the two of them lying side by side… for scientific comparison.
Unfortunately, he couldn't take Tsunade, Kaguya, and Hinata out of their respective worlds.
"M-Mr. Kage… good morning…"
Hinata had arrived early at Team 8's mission meeting point—only to find Uchiha Kage already there.
It seemed she'd been delayed recently… mostly because she had to wash certain undergarments every morning after waking up from certain dreams.
The thought of those "dreams," and the clothing changes they required, made her flush with shame.
Worse still, because of them, every time she saw Uchiha Kage she recalled the scandalous positions he had put her in—in those same dreams.
When she heard his voice, she remembered the sweet, heated words he whispered in her ear.A brush of his arm against hers made her recall the feeling of his hands on her skin.A glimpse of his lips… and suddenly she could feel his mouth on her everywhere.
The maid at home had once said that if a girl had that kind of dream every night, there was only one word for her—coquettish.
"Oh, I'm such a shameless woman…"
Every day, Hinata had to work hard to suppress the strange reactions that rose whenever she was near Uchiha Kage.
If he knew what she thought about in private, he'd surely keep his distance—or worse, despise her.
In her mind, if a boy fantasized about her daily, she'd look down on him without hesitation.
"Absolutely—absolutely—I mustn't let Kage-san see anything unusual!"
She tried to stifle the heat rising in her face and body just from looking at him, vowing to keep her composure.
From Uchiha Kage's point of view, however…
Could the little breast-grab incident during sparring at the academy have had that big of an effect on her?
He found her behavior amusing—the shy little rabbit with white eyes, blushing every time she saw him, unable to meet his gaze.
If Hinata weren't a kunoichi, he thought, one punch might make her cry for hours.
"Hm? Hinata, do you hate me?"
"No! No, I—"
Her reply came without hesitation. Of all the options in her mind, "hate" wasn't one.
"Then why are you always so far away from me?"
Every time he took a step forward, she stepped back—until her shoulders pressed into the wall. Finally, she lowered her head, resigned, no longer dodging his gaze or the closeness of his presence.
"I…"
No—too close! If he gets any nearer, I won't be able to control myself…
With him leaning in, about to pin her between himself and the wall, Hinata felt her mind overheat.
I'm going to faint… And if this keeps up, I'll… leak again…
"It's bad luck to have to watch you two being lovey-dovey so early in the morning."
Luckily, Aburame Shino arrived just in time to interrupt Uchiha Kage—and to rescue Hinata from her impending collapse.
"N-no! Shino-san, Kage-san and I weren't—"
Hinata quickly denied the "misunderstanding." It wouldn't matter if someone thought that way about a shameless woman like her… but if Uchiha Kage were misunderstood because of her, it would be a disaster.
"Shino? You're here early today."
"The teacher said there's a new mission."
Shino had thought he'd joined a good team. The Uchiha, the Hyūga, and himself—surely they could work together to clear missions easily and steadily grow stronger.
Instead, these days, he mostly played the role of third wheel and mission tool.
Two teammates drowning in unresolved romantic tension… and a teacher who played favorites.
He was the only one actually putting effort into the village's daily assignments.
And after all his work, that Uchiha even had the nerve to say things like, "Shino, your bugs are really useful. That cat-and-dog catching job was done in seconds."
It was enough to make a man weep.
"New mission?"
Uchiha Kage thought back—it was true. With the Aburame clan's insects and the Hyūga's Byakugan, Team 8 could breeze through most low-level village jobs.
To keep them from getting complacent, Kurenai-sensei had decided to request some higher-level work.
Still… if he wasn't mistaken, this new "mission" was probably just a front from Sarutobi Hiruzen. The real objective—
Uchiha Kage remembered being summoned to the Hokage's office by the Third himself… as an Anbu operative.