"Brother..."
"Hyuga Hizashi, tomorrow, select five Jonin from the branch family who are good at reading the situation and have them report to the Root organization, to Hiruzen Sarutobi's place," Hyuga Hiashi said.
Hyuga Hizashi nodded slightly, sighing, "I didn't expect the Uchiha to choose sides so quickly."
"The Uchiha's situation is more complicated than ours. Don't be fooled by the fact that they hold the real power of the Konoha Military Police Force. In reality, this is not a good thing for them, but rather a constraint. Fugaku Uchiha is quite decisive."
"But we Hyuga are different from the Uchiha. There's one thing we must see clearly: the reason we Hyuga haven't been targeted by the higher-ups isn't just because they need us to counter the Uchiha, but also because we Hyuga don't compete. By not competing, we don't create a sense of crisis for the higher-ups."
Hyuga Hiashi said, narrowing his eyes, seemingly seeing the situation in Konoha very clearly.
"I understand," Hyuga Hizashi nodded slightly.
Hyuga Hiashi sighed, "We Hyuga originally had no conflict with Danzo. This time, Sarutobi Hiruzen has pushed us into this situation. I'm afraid it won't be so easy to stay out of it in the future."
Regarding Hyuga Hiashi's pessimism, Hyuga Hizashi didn't think things were so bad. "But the change of Konoha's high-level officials is imminent. The Third Hokage and Danzo will both become things of the past. If Minato Namikaze successfully becomes Hokage, then Danzo won't be able to stay. Sarutobi Hiruzen isn't the best choice, but he is the most suitable choice."
"Indeed, by getting involved in the competition for the Hokage position, we Hyuga will probably not be able to be so calm in the future. Although Sarutobi Hiruzen isn't the Hokage, he has the support of the Third Hokage and has a very good relationship with Minato Namikaze. He is a suitable choice," Hyuga Hiashi agreed.
"So, brother, there's no need to think too much. Just send people to report tomorrow. Even if things change later, the Uchiha will be at the forefront."
"Mm."
...
...
On the other side.
Kaze took Itachi to Konoha's famous mochi ball shop, and then ordered a large pile of sweet mochi balls, mostly brown sugar flavored.
Itachi stared blankly at Kaze, who looked particularly generous, not knowing what to say.
It wasn't until the boss brought the mochi balls that he came back to his senses, "Teacher... what are you... doing?"
Kaze directly picked up a string of brown sugar mochi balls and stuffed them into Itachi's hand, "Eat it. I know you didn't dare to eat anything at the Hyuga house. You must be starving, right?"
Hearing this, the young Itachi was stunned again.
He blinked, looking at Kaze, smelling the glutinous rice fragrance of the mochi balls, and feeling his empty stomach...
Indeed, he was a little touched.
If Itachi had previously become Kaze's disciple because of Fugaku Uchiha's orders and Shisui Uchiha's influence, then now, it was an affirmation from his heart.
Itachi was indeed a genius of the Uchiha clan, intelligent and precocious since childhood, and his talent as a ninja was also quite outstanding.
But because of this title of genius, he carried too many things on his shoulders.
From the time he could remember, he had been trained by Fugaku Uchiha. Before he was old enough to cultivate chakra, he started with shuriken throwing and hand seals.
Heaven knows how much time the young him spent in order to have shuriken throwing skills and normal hand seal speed that were not inferior to a Genin.
Except for his mother, others only knew that he was a genius, but never cared about him.
Even Fugaku Uchiha was the same.
The greatest affirmation to him was probably the sentence "As expected of my son," which Itachi didn't know how much effort he had to put in to earn.
But now, there was one more person who cared about him.
Even though what he was being treated to was mochi balls that he had never eaten before.
He took a small bite, and his eyes lit up instantly.
Delicious!
The sweet taste, the glutinous texture, the fun of pulling the strands.
Really delicious!
Itachi's big eyes were full of surprise.
Kaze smiled and rubbed his head, "Children should look like children. Now that you have become my disciple, then from today onwards, all the training tasks your father arranged for you, forget them all!"
Childhood only happens once in a person's life, how can it be wasted like this?
"But..." Itachi opened his mouth.
"There's no 'buts'. If your father asks, just say I said it. Tell him to come find me," Kaze waved his hand.
Itachi pursed his lips, still not daring to agree.
Kaze glared, "You go back and tell your father that if he makes you train again, don't let me be the teacher. I can't handle it."
Seeing that Kaze seemed a little angry, Itachi whispered, "I understand."
"Very good," Kaze smiled, then added, "These mochi balls are the first gift your teacher gives you. Don't waste a single one. Eat them all!"
"Ah?"
Itachi was dumbfounded.
Delicious is delicious, but isn't this... too much?
Kaze had ordered ten skewers in total, which even a normal adult couldn't finish.
"What 'ah'? You can only grow taller if you eat a lot. Look at you, how skinny you are!" Kaze turned his head away. He was a puppet, and he couldn't store that much stuff anyway. He had already filled up at the Hyuga house.
Could Itachi finish it?
He didn't care. Anyway, he couldn't stand wasting food. It was all bought with money.
Itachi could only lower his head and obediently stuff the mochi balls into his mouth one by one. They were delicious, but really, really filling.
Finally.
Itachi, in a very strange posture, supported his waist and left the mochi ball shop with Kaze.
"Burp - Teacher, why did you want the people from the Hyuga family to enter the Anbu too?"
While walking, Itachi, who had finally gotten closer to Kaze, couldn't help but ask.
Kaze glanced at him and said lightly, "Guess."
Itachi: "..."
But he really started to guess, "Teacher hopes to combine the strength of us Uchiha and the Hyuga to rebuild the Anbu and fight against... certain forces?"
