"Shadow Clone. The dogs are in your care."
Kaito handed the leash to his clone.
"Got it. I'll dispel the jutsu when the timing's right."
As Kaito's shadow clone, it naturally understood the deeper intention.
Its job was to keep the two dogs active near the river while remaining hidden. On the day Shisui jumped from the cliff, the clone would disperse, and the memory transfer would instantly notify Kaito.
Kaito's home was roughly six kilometers away. His teleport range was only five hundred meters, so on the way back, he planned to stop by the kennel and buy more dogs, placing them in stages along the route.
As for whethe this would attract suspicion…
Probably not.
After all, he and Sasuke had already thoroughly ruined the Uchiha family's reputation.
The entire village was joking that Fugaku's two sons would someday rival the Inuzuka clan—
In ninja dogs.
With the dogs settled and the clone reminded to stay low-key, Kaito turned and left the Naka River.
"Yaaawn… looks like we're done hee."
Kakashi stretched lazily, yawned, and snapped his book shut as he quietly followed behind Kaito.
Eager to clock out, Kakashi didn't notice what he'd missed.
Or perhaps… he simply didn't care.
"I'm back."
Kaito timed his return perfectly with dinner. The moment he opened the door, the warm aroma of food filled the air.
"You're back."
His father stood in the courtyard like a gate guardian, greeting him flatly. Then his gaze drifted toward the sea of sunflowers.
"Dad… did something happen?"
Kaito could tell his father had been standing there for quite some time.
Was it clan business?
Had the clan decided to make a move against Konoha?
Had Danzo already acted against Shisui?
Kaito's mind began spinning at full speed.
Then—
His serious father raised a hand and pointed toward the sunflower field.
"Go drag your brotherrrrrr out."
With that, Fugaku clasped his hands behind his back and walked into the house.
Before disappearing, he shot Kaito a sharp glare.
"You're getting more outrageous by the day."
Fugaku had come home exhausted after the clan meeting.
And what did he see?
Sasuke squatting in the sunflower field.
Kids being childish was understandable.
But—
His youngest son had apparently lost his mind.
He had pulled two sunflowers out of the soil and taped them onto his shoulders.
While chanting:
"Talk!"
"Transform!"
"Spit something out already!"
The sight had left Fugaku completely speechless.
Out of fatherly dignity, he deliberately stood in the most visible spot, expecting Sasuke to notice him, come out, and admit his mistake.
Instead—
He stood there for over an hour.
Sasuke never noticed him once.
That was how Fugaku's patience finally collapsed—and how all his resentment transferred directly onto Kaito.
After all, Kaito was the lunatic who'd planted all these sunflowers in the first place.
"And one more thing," Fugaku added.
"Clean up the courtyard before dinner."
His deep voice drifted out from inside the house, leaving Kaito utterly baffled.
…So you stood there that long just because you hated my flowers?!
Why didn't you just say so earlier?!
Sighing internally at the hazards of living under a tyrant father, Kaito obediently started pulling up the sunflowers near his feet.
"Transform!!"
"Why won't you transform?!"
Sasuke's voice suddenly rang out from deeper in the flower field.
Kaito followed the sound and nearly lost his soul.
Sasuke was crouched in a corner, wrapped head to toe in transparent tape, with half-dead sunflowers stuck all over his body.
Everything except his head had been taped up.
Blended into the sunflower field, he was almost invisible unless you looked carefully.
Even worse—
Sasuke was slapping the sunflowers taped to his body while shouting commands.
From this behavior alone, Kaito could easily deduce what had happened.
After Kaito left, Sasuke must've touched the light orb and experienced its healing effect.
And now…
He was trying to summon his own "contract beast" from the flower field.
Kaito smacked his own forehead.
Yeah.
These flowers really did need to be cleaned up.
"What are you doing?"
Kaito appeared silently behind Sasuke, startling him badly.
Sasuke glanced sideways at the plastic bag in Kaito's hand and swallowed unconsciously—then stubbornly continued slapping the sunflowers.
His face was burning red.
Only continuing this ridiculous ritual seemed to ease his embarrassment.
"Transform! Talk!"
Kaito: "..."
At this moment, Kaito deeply regretted misleading his idiot brotherrrrrr earlier.
But there was no clean way to explain any of this now.
He even briefly wihed Itachi would suddenly come home and distract Sasuke.
"You're not training the dog clone anymore?" Kaito asked casually.
Sasuke didn't respond. His slapping only sped up.
"Didn't you say you were about to master it?"
"And are you really sure this will give you a summoning beast like mine?"
Kaito's words finally made Sasuke stop.
He clenched his teeth and shouted angrily:
"Don't worry about me!"
"I can become strong on my own!"
His voice trembled slightly.
Kaito's guess had been right.
After experiencing the healing orb, Sasuke realized just how wide the gap between him and Kaito really was.
He wasn't angry at Kaito.
He was angry at himself.
Angry that he couldn't become as strong as Kaito or Itachi.
Angry that he couldn't become his parents' pride.
Kaito's mouth twitched faintly.
Funny.
Wasn't this the same kid who had said this morning:
"Only idiots would believe you!"
"Thee's no such thing as ninja flowers in the ninja world!"
Kids really were hard to raise.
Kaito sat down beside Sasuke and handed him a skewer of sticky rice dumplings.
"Tomorrow, I'll train you."
"As for the dog clone…"
"It's not suited for you."
Sasuke's rigid back loosened slightly.
After a long pause, he spoke quietly.
"School starts the day after tomorrow…"
"Can we start tonight?"
When he'd touched the light orb, he'd realized it eased training fatigue.
Which meant—
If he had something like those sunflowers, he could train hard without worrying about injury or chakra exhaustion.
That was why he'd become so obsessed with summoning beasts.
Kaito knew part of Sasuke's drive came from not wanting to embarrass the Uchiha clan at school.
He didn't expose that fragile pride.
He only smiled lightly.
"Sure. We'll start tonight."
"Maybe…"
"You can try training in Lightning Release."
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