"Sister Mikoto brought me here to pick up a ninja sword, and I'm also in need of some high-quality chainmail."
Hazuki Uchiha was slightly taller than Kiyoshi. After Kiyoshi backed her into an inescapable corner, he continued to approach.
At this extremely close distance, Kiyoshi could even smell the fragrance on her.
"I won't ask for much, just prepare three sets for me."
Kiyoshi placed his hand against the wall, looking up at Hazuki Uchiha.
Beneath his high-collared outer jacket was a simple white inner shirt.
Upon graduating from the Ninja Academy, one only received basic gear like a ninja headband, a ninja tool pouch, shuriken holsters, gloves, and leg wraps.
A scroll bag had to be prepared by the ninja themselves.
It was only upon promotion to Chunin that a green ninja vest was awarded, which included built-in scroll pouches capable of storing six scrolls.
As for chainmail, it naturally had to be prepared individually as well.
The more expensive it was, the better the quality, and the more damage it could shield a ninja from.
This was why almost every ninja wore chainmail even late into the Shippūden arc.
"You..."
Hearing this child, Kiyoshi, extort her, a trace of anger flashed across Hazuki Uchiha's face.
She stared at Kiyoshi's outwardly decent face.
She couldn't reconcile this appearance with his utterly despicable inner nature.
'He truly is from the Land of Lightning!'
Hazuki Uchiha took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"Five sets."
Before Hazuki Uchiha could speak, Kiyoshi suddenly raised his demand.
"You... you said three sets?"
Hazuki Uchiha was so angry her teeth gnashed.
"Hesitating and being so calculating between clan members—is this your sincerity?"
Kiyoshi tightly grasped Hazuki Uchiha's wrist.
The force was entirely unnatural for Kiyoshi's age. The sudden grip caused Hazuki Uchiha's fair, delicate wrist to turn red.
She quickly channeled chakra to her wrist to feel some relief.
'What enormous strength!' Hazuki Uchiha thought.
Although she was taller than Kiyoshi and looked down upon him, she suddenly felt as if Kiyoshi were the taller and more robust one.
Moreover, a tingling sensation of electric current was constantly spreading from her wrist.
The current was very weak.
It was not strong enough to cause injury, but wherever it passed, it left a prickly, numbing feeling.
This made Hazuki Uchiha's heart sink even further.
Kiyoshi's talent in Lightning Release chakra nature transformation was also quite good.
The ability to transform un-attributed chakra into things like current, water flow, stone, or a whirlwind is what defines nature transformation.
Neither of them spoke after that, only their two pairs of Sharingan stared at each other.
"Hazuki, let's go."
In the midst of their standoff, a voice was faintly heard in the distance.
It was Yasuhiro Yamada's voice.
Hazuki Uchiha's face changed slightly. She bit her lower lip and said:
"Five sets it is, then!"
She just wanted to pay money to get rid of this disaster.
After that, she would have absolutely no further connection with Kiyoshi.
"Heh-heh, it seems Sister Hazuki still considers me an outsider, with no sincerity at all. If you don't want to give it, then don't."
Kiyoshi let go of her hand, looked regretful, and turned to leave.
"Then how many sets do you actually want?" Hazuki Uchiha called out to Kiyoshi.
"That depends on whether Sister Hazuki considers me family or an outsider. I imagine Lord Fugaku would also be very concerned about this question."
Kiyoshi turned his head. He saw Hazuki Uchiha's tightly furrowed brow.
She seemed to be agonizing over how many to give Kiyoshi, looking incredibly conflicted.
Kiyoshi's eyes swirled with a rush of heat.
'Excellent, this is exactly the feeling'
The look of reluctance combined with utter helplessness.
However, Kiyoshi did not linger and left the area.
In the desolate underground passage, only Hazuki Uchiha remained.
'How many sets should I give this guy?'
Ten sets?'
That would be a considerable expense.
And even if she sent them, given his speed in changing his mind, it might already be too late.
Hazuki Uchiha secretly felt wretched.
If only this guy were a normal child. But no, his talent had to be so exceptional.
He might very well become an influential figure in the clan in the future.
"Hazuki?"
Yasuhiro Yamada walked over, the white cast still strapped to his arm.
He had just bumped into Hazuki's clan member and felt he was a rather honest child, lacking the haughty air of some other Uchiha.
He was about to ask Hazuki Uchiha his name, but Hazuki Uchiha was frozen in place. He called her several times, but she seemed not to hear at all.
"Is something bothering you?" Yasuhiro Yamada asked.
"I was just lost in thought. Let's go."
Hazuki Uchiha snapped back to reality, forcing a smile.
She took two steps forward but found her feet felt weak.
It was the lingering effect of the electric current.
The weakness in her feet was very slight, and Hazuki Uchiha paid it no mind.
It was only when she was near the exit that she noticed a sticky sensation on her body.
***
"If you run too far, you might get lost."
Mikoto was waiting there. Kiyoshi took a while to return, and she didn't know where he had gone.
She waited for a moment, sealing the sealing scroll and placing it into the scroll pouch on the front of her green ninja vest, while reminding Kiyoshi to be careful.
"Understood, Sister Mikoto."
Kiyoshi's dark eyes reflected Mikoto's actions as she put things away.
Even now, the warmth of the hot rush that had swirled through his eyes still lingered.
In his sight, the scene was subtly clearer than before. He could see Mikoto's pink fingernails fastening the buttons of the pouch.
His Dōjutsu power had increased after that encounter.
If a single-tomoe Sharingan was represented by a cup, then quite a bit of water had just been poured into it. He estimated that just one or two more such incidents would cause the cup to overflow.
Once the Dōjutsu power reaches its limit, the second tomoe will appear, evolving it into a two-tomoe Sharingan.
The capabilities of the Sharingan would be comprehensively amplified.
It would be faster and stronger than the single-tomoe Sharingan.
"Let's go. Time to pick up your ninja sword."
Mikoto Uchiha, without further thought, flicked her slender finger, signaling Kiyoshi to follow.
Kiyoshi nodded, stepping quickly forward.
Kurenai Yūhi was a long-term project. Samui was waiting for him to continue exploiting.
And the unfriendly Miss Hazuki had now received her punishment.
She was likely currently racking her brain to figure out what he wanted so that she could turn the page on this incident.
Everything was full of potential, waiting for Kiyoshi's next move.
But Kiyoshi wasn't in a hurry.
He would proceed step by step.
His current physical condition dictated that he needed to wait until he was older. Kiyoshi would not do anything that might affect his physical development.
Furthermore, "savoring beautiful things" lay in personally witnessing its slide from the peak.
Establishing contact was only the first step, the next was a gradual descent into corruption.
Only this would bring Kiyoshi pleasure.
"Beauty" is appealing not for its inherent qualities, but for the contrast it presents when it is destroyed.
The more beautiful something is, the more dazzling it becomes when it is defiled.
In short, the best days were still ahead!
In the flickering light of the passage, Kiyoshi's shadow was stretched and distorted, looking like a devil was being nurtured within it.