With a clear grasp of his abilities, Yuzuru turned back to his room and fell asleep.
With so many things suddenly added to his mind, his spirit was still a bit exhausted.
By the time he woke, the sun had already set.
After a quick wash, he heard a knock at the door.
"Yuzuru, are you home?"
"One moment."
Yuzuru straightened his clothes, opened the door, and saw the gentle face of Mikoto.
"Yuzuru, dinner's ready. Father is waiting."
"Got it."
He nodded and followed Mikoto to her house.
"Hahaha… Yuzuru, congrats on becoming Squad Leader. Come have a drink with me."
The moment he saw Yuzuru, Lihuo Uchiha beckoned with a grin.
Mikoto chided at once. "Father, Yuzuru has to observe the three shinobi prohibitions. No drinking."
Hearing this, Lihuo chuckled, "Mikoto, Yuzuru proposed a policy at the Clan Meeting to encourage clan members to marry and have children. I see he has the guts to lead by example, so what's a little drink?"
At his teasing, Yuzuru sat at the table, expression calm. "I'd love to lead by example. I'm just afraid some people won't part with their precious daughter."
After speaking, Yuzuru glanced at Mikoto.
Under Yuzuru's undisguised gaze, Mikoto's face flushed with shyness, and she lowered her head, continuously fiddling with the corner of her clothes.
'Strange. Why does Yuzuru feel a little different today than before?'
In the past, whenever the topic of the two of them came up, he always said training came first.
He'd even said things like, "I don't have time to play dating games."
But today he seemed like a different person.
'Could it be… that hard head finally figured it out?'
"Um… you two start without me. I—I—I have laundry to do."
Lihuo's smile stiffened as Mikoto fled in a fluster.
Yuzuru was excellent, and he and Mikoto were childhood friends; it was only a matter of time. Still, the feeling of his carefully grown cabbage being munched by a pig was hard to shake.
And right in front of him!
Just then, Yuzuru spoke again. "By the way, the ninja tools I bought will be delivered tonight. Keep an eye on them for me, will you? Don't let them go missing."
"They won't get lost. If they do, I'll compensate you." Lihuo grumbled.
"Good." Yuzuru smiled, lifting his chopsticks. "I've got night duty later. You drink; I'll just eat."
Watching Yuzuru dig in, Lihuo tossed back his cup, aggrieved.
'Is this kid for real? In front of this little punk, me—the future father-in-law—has zero authority.'
—
After he'd eaten his fill, Yuzuru took his leave.
In the original story, Mikoto married Fugaku. But with him here now, that wouldn't happen.
He wouldn't surrender such a perfect wife template, who was also his childhood sweetheart, to someone else.
Under the cover of night, Yuzuru arrived at the Police Force gates.
Squad Seven's members were already waiting.
Counting everyone but Yuzuru, there were twelve, organized into four teams.
Aside from the newcomers Inabi and Yakumi, the rest knew each other well.
When Yuzuru appeared, they straightened at once, spirits high.
Satisfied, he had Yakumi and Inabi introduce themselves, then assigned patrol routes to each of the four teams.
Their beat was the residential belt near the village walls of Konohagakure.
Most residents there were civilians, but it was often a hotspot for trouble.
Once their zones were set, the teams slipped into the night one after another.
Yuzuru planted his long blade beside him and sat cross-legged atop the village wall, overlooking the whole of Konoha.
"Right now Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō are in their prime, Sakumo Hatake is still alive, and aside from Tsunade with her hemophobia, Orochimaru and Jiraiya are likely already Kage-class."
"Add Anbu, the Sarutobi, the Shimura, the Mitokado and the Utatane, and the Ino–Shika–Cho trio…"
"As we are now, the Uchiha can't match the Hokage faction."
He tallied Konoha's power quietly and felt his resolve harden.
With the Uchiha's current strength, staying meant being choked at every turn, and Sarutobi and the others would never sit by while the Uchiha clan grow stronger.
If it were only him, with Dual Kamui he feared no one.
Worst case, the two sides would just go to war.
But he was bound to the Clan System; his strength rose with the clan's prosperity. He had no wish to see his people die in battle.
If the Uchiha were to grow strong, they first had to escape Konoha's pit.
Given enough time, Yuzuru was confident in leading the Uchiha clan back to Konoha.
When that day came, he would reclaim everything that belonged to the Uchiha.
As for being hounded by Konoha and other villages once they left?
Yuzuru believed that if they showed the Uchiha's might and settled in a strong shinobi village, the problems would evaporate.
After all—
The Uchiha, who were not accepted in Konoha, were the Shinobi Clan that other Shinobi Villages would desperately want!
For the sake of the Sharingan, what did it matter if they fought against Konoha?
—
At dawn the next day—
After buying a map of the shinobi world, Yuzuru headed home.
At his door, a red-haired girl popped into view.
"Yuzuru, you're back?"
He opened up with a smile. "Kushina, seeds don't sprout that fast."
"I just wanted to check," she said, already crossing into the yard.
Helpless, he followed her toward the vegetable patch.
—
So it went: by night Yuzuru patrolled, scouted relocation sites for the clan, and left Kamui markers around Konoha; by day he tended the garden with Kushina.
Sometimes he'd grab a meal or a movie with Mikoto. Life was easy.
Half a month slipped by.
Seeing the tender green seedlings, Kushina couldn't help a delighted grin.
"Yuzuru, we did it!"
He didn't quite get why she was so happy. "Kushina, we are just growing vegetables. Why are you so determined?"
He originally thought Kushina was just curious for a moment, but to his surprise, Kushina had come to see him almost every other day for the past half month.
This level of enthusiasm was quite unexpected.
Kushina lowered her eyelids and answered without looking up. "It's not like I have anything else I'm allowed to do. I'm a shinobi, but I sit idle. Better to pass the time growing things here with you…"