After hearing the requirements, Granny Cat asked Kiyoshi and Mikoto to wait there for a moment, then sent a ninja cat to retrieve a ninja sword that matched Kiyoshi's demands.
"I'm going to stock up on some supplies, too."
Mikoto took out a sealing scroll and asked Kiyoshi to wait there while she went to purchase some ninja tools.
Ninjas have high attrition rates during missions, and Jonin like Mikoto, besides maintaining order in the Hidden Leaf Village Police Force, also needed to undertake some high-difficulty missions for the village.
This was because Jonin were a scarce resource.
Kiyoshi walked around the area, found an unoccupied spot, and immersed himself in refining chakra and performing Lightning Release: Iron Armor.
Since Mikoto had taken out a sealing scroll, she was likely purchasing a large quantity of goods.
Since Kiyoshi was idle, he figured he might as well continue his training to improve his strength.
Thin streams of current spread across his body.
Even in his spare moments, Kiyoshi was constantly evolving and growing stronger.
"What a coincidence."
Not long after starting his practice, Kiyoshi heard footsteps. Looking out, he saw Hazuki Uchiha and the man he had seen at the hospital that day walking in.
The Uchiha clan was treated as honored guests here, but that didn't mean the shop only serviced the Uchiha clan.
"Is he a member of your clan?"
Yasuhiro Yamada noticed the flame fan crest on Kiyoshi's Uchiha robes.
"Yes, he is... Kiyoshi Uchiha."
Hazuki Uchiha nodded.
After the secret assembly finished last night, Kiyoshi had left immediately.
She herself hadn't expected to run into Kiyoshi Uchiha here.
"Then you two catch up. I'll go buy some shuriken."
Yasuhiro Yamada flashed a smile, revealing his white teeth. He looked very honest.
Seeing that it was Hazuki's clan member, he didn't think much of it, scratched his head, and walked inside.
"Okay."
Hazuki Uchiha nodded softly.
Her relationship with Yasuhiro Yamada was good, and her only current wish was for it to remain stable.
At this moment, only Kiyoshi and Hazuki Uchiha remained here.
"Kiyoshi, you came to buy ninja tools too," Hazuki Uchiha said, initiating the conversation.
"Mhm."
Kiyoshi nodded coolly.
Hazuki Uchiha could sense the coolness in Kiyoshi's words and felt somewhat awkward.
She was already implicitly certain that Kiyoshi had only pretended to be simple and honest that day to avoid offending her.
'I should have treated him better.'
Hazuki Uchiha sighed faintly.
Who could have known that Kiyoshi was completely unlike the stereotype of the Land of Lightning, appearing instead as an Uchiha who was just developing slightly faster than others?
"Sister Hazuki, are you here to purchase ninja tools as well?" Kiyoshi inquired.
"I accompanied Yasuhiro to buy them."
"Is that so? Then are you two in a relationship?"
"N-not yet, no."
Hazuki Uchiha quickly waved her hands, slightly embarrassed.
How could she, a woman, be the one to state that?
"That sounds truly wonderful."
Kiyoshi spoke, seemingly lamenting.
Just as Hazuki Uchiha thought Kiyoshi was offering a blessing, Kiyoshi abruptly changed his tone:
"Am I, an outsider, not worthy of happiness? The Ninjutsu that should have been given to me was delayed for a month. I know, Sister Hazuki, that you still harbor prejudice against me deep down, don't you?"
Kiyoshi stared at Hazuki Uchiha.
The Uchiha are the clan of "Love."
It sounds ludicrous.
But in fact, the Uchiha possessed "Love" far more than the Senju, the Uzumaki, or even all other ninja clans in the world.
So much so that this "Love" needed to be sealed away.
The reality was that the Uchiha's emotions were so abundant that their personalities and methods of action tended to be overly extreme and self-centered, or what could be called black-and-white thinking.
Itachi went to the extreme of exterminating his entire clan. Sasuke went to the extreme of wanting to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village. Fugaku went to the extreme of sacrificing his life for his son.
Madara went to the extreme of planning the Eye of the Moon Plan to realize his ideal.
And there is no need to mention Obito, driven mad by love, who turned the ninja world upside down.
Even when Sarada awakened her Sharingan, when everyone disagreed with her, her first reaction wasn't to suspect she was wrong, but to stubbornly believe that everyone else, the world, was wrong.
Therefore, the Uchiha are inherently arrogant and self-centered beings.
Hazuki Uchiha was no exception. Her attitude that day was actually a subconscious reflection of that.
"No, that day I was just..."
Hazuki Uchiha was taken aback, wanting to explain the situation clearly.
"And that day, I wasn't even allowed to choose the Ninjutsu I wanted to learn."
Kiyoshi brought up another issue.
This was something Hazuki Uchiha had done just to save trouble, not even letting him select which Lightning Release Ninjutsu he wanted.
"Lord Fugaku didn't specify which one you should learn, only that it was D-rank," Hazuki Uchiha immediately countered.
"But Lord Fugaku didn't say I couldn't choose, did he? Besides, didn't Lord Fugaku say we should be united?"
Using the authority of the leader?
Anyone could do that.
Kiyoshi directly brought Fugaku into the conversation.
To be honest, the fact that Hazuki Uchiha dragged her feet on this matter was undeniable.
She caused Kiyoshi to wait a whole month before receiving the Ninjutsu!
This matter could, of course, be smoothly explained away.
For example, by claiming it was to let him adjust more to the Ninja Academy.
But Kiyoshi didn't give Hazuki Uchiha any more time to think, continuing:
"Tell me, how disappointed would Lord Fugaku be if he knew you treated me like this?"
As he spoke, a scarlet hue appeared in Kiyoshi's dark eyes.
A black tomoe spun ceaselessly in each eye, emitting an eerie sensation.
"!"
In her extreme shock, Hazuki Uchiha also activated her Sharingan.
The two pairs of scarlet Sharingan eyes met in silent confrontation.
Kiyoshi Uchiha actually showed no mixed-blood flaw, capable of activating both eyes normally!
Hazuki Uchiha frowned deeply, biting her lower lip, the lines on her full lips clearly visible.
'This is bad'
She already thought Kiyoshi Uchiha was a genius. Now, with both eyes awakening the Sharingan, he perfectly inherited the Uchiha clan's bloodline.
How many people in the Uchiha clan at this age awaken their eyes?
To be honest, outside of the period of the Great Ninja Wars, Hazuki Uchiha had never seen anyone awaken their eyes this quickly in peacetime.
Kiyoshi was only a newly graduated Genin!
"Sister Hazuki, it seems you've only changed your mind about my talent, but I am a person, too."
Kiyoshi sighed.
"What do you want?"
Hazuki Uchiha asked the same question that Samui had once asked.
"I want to repair the bond between us."
Kiyoshi looked at her equally scarlet Sharingan, and a smile curved on his lips.
The Uchiha clan, whenever intensely emotional, instinctively activates the Sharingan.
"How do we repair it?"
The inexplicable unease in Hazuki Uchiha's heart began to intensify.
She didn't believe the words of this kid, Kiyoshi, were meant literally.
Kiyoshi took one step after another toward Hazuki Uchiha.
Hazuki Uchiha, despite being a Chunin, began to retreat until she was backed against the wall.
This wasn't because she was afraid of Kiyoshi's strength.
Instead, it was the worry of what punishment she might face if this was reported to Fugaku.
Given Kiyoshi's talent and unique status, Fugaku would likely handle the matter severely.
If she were punished by being transferred to the border or some similar place, what would become of her relationship with Yasuhiro Yamada?
***
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