During a break, Chiren swaggered to Minato's seat, arm around his shoulder, grinning like a thief.
"Minato, look at this."
Minato, nearly breathless, tried pushing him off but failed. He opened the scroll, eyes lighting up. "Chiren! Where'd you get this? A detailed Shadow Clone scroll like this isn't on the market!"
From an ordinary family with a Chunin father, such a treasure was rare.
Chiren, oozing "money's no object," said, "Small stuff. I learned it already, so it's yours. How long will a genius like you take to master it?"
"You learned it?!" Minato gaped. "This surpasses Clone Jutsu! You're giving it to me?"
Chiren brushed his nose. "Learned it ages ago. It's yours."
He pulled Minato close, nearly nose-to-nose. "Minato, if we hit it big, don't forget me. If you're Hokage someday, you won't ditch our friendship, right?"
Uncomfortable but solemn, Minato nodded. "Of course…" How's he so sure I'll be Hokage?
A jealous voice cut in. "What're you two doing, clinging in class!"
Kushina appeared, yanking them apart.
She'd watched them get cozy. If she didn't act, their bond might turn… weird!
Novels always started wrong relationships like this!
She could enjoy—er, critique—others' drama, but Chiren was hers. No way!
Dragging Chiren away, he called to Minato, "Two weeks to learn it. I need to test my plan—er, your potential!"
"No getting cozy with that blond Minato!" At the training ground, Kushina puffed her cheeks, fists clenched, ready to fight.
Since the Kumogakure kidnapping hadn't happened, she still saw Minato as "that effeminate blond."
"Don't call him blond. He's with us daily; it's weird," Chiren said.
"Hmph, defending him!" Kushina's punch flew at his face.
Chiren dodged, commenting, "Not bad, Kushina. Made new friends? That punch has a Hyuga Gentle Fist vibe."
"Exactly!" she said proudly. "Today, I'll last till the bell!"
"Not enough. Try tomorrow."
His figure flickered behind her, tapping her knee pit. She yelped, falling into his arms.
"Payback for yesterday!" He pecked her forehead.
"Ah!" Kushina's face reddened. She shoved him, hair nearly exploding.
Thinking she was mad, Chiren started to apologize, but she shouted, "Kissing me on the training ground! Everyone saw! Now we have to get married!"
Chiren's eardrums rang. You want the world to know, don't you?
Sure enough, the training ground and classroom windows erupted with shocked, envious, gossipy stares.
Kushina stood proudly beside him, waving at classmates, staking her claim.
Chiren shook his head, warmth flooding his heart. He'd never felt such raw emotion in his past life.
Taking her hand, he murmured, "Seems I've met the right person."
They returned to class, hand in hand, under everyone's gazes.
After school, Chiren convinced clingy Kushina to let him go home.
He ate, practiced Sharingan and taijutsu, then slept early.
For the first time in this world, he felt true happiness, diluting the looming survival crisis.
---
The next morning, mist lingered.
Chiren yawned, taking a secluded shortcut to school to check Minato's progress.
Entering the shortcut, his brows furrowed. He pushed off, springing back!
Thud, thud, thud!
Three shuriken grazed his nose, embedding in the wall.
A masked ninja stood on a rooftop, spinning a kunai. "Uchiha Chiren? As expected of a genius, your alertness is sharp."
Facing a pre-graduation student, he thought the mission was too easy.
"Too bad, even a genius shouldn't cross Lord Danzo. I'll break two ribs—a warning. Surrender."
"Too chatty."
Chiren's eyes chilled. Six shuriken flew in two waves.
The ninja sneered, deflecting three with his kunai. Seeing the others miss, he scoffed, "Can't even aim?"
Chiren yanked a hidden steel wire. "Manipulating Shuriken Technique!"
The ninja, startled, heard the shuriken whip back. He learned that?
He turned to block, but the shuriken's erratic paths were off—pulled clumsily by wire.
Tricked me!
Furious, he spun back, but Chiren was already close.
Hand-to-hand? He's dead!
As the ninja grinned, he met crimson eyes with two spinning tomoe.
Not good!
Sharingan: Genjutsu!
The ninja froze, eyes dimming.
Chiren exhaled. His "Manipulating Shuriken Technique" was a crude wire trick. The shout was to distract for the Sharingan.
Pondering the Root ninja—clearly Danzo's revenge for the "eunuch" jab—Chiren thought, Really, Danzo? Over a nickname?
Killing or releasing him wasn't right.
His eyes darted to a nearby compound. A plan formed.
He tied the ninja in humiliating turtle-shell bondage, tempted to parade him.
If you kill without breaking their heart, are you running a charity?
--------------------------------------------
The plans are now available.
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