"Where are you going, Shiki?" A short, redheaded figure with cute rounded features asked, displeasure clearly heard in her voice.
"Mito-obaa-sama said it's getting dangerous outside the village!" She chirped.
"And it's about to get even worse because a dangerous guy like me is about to go wandering around." A white haired boy responded as he readied storage scroll filled with travelling supplies
A dangerously cute pout rounded out the girl's face even more.
"Don't worry Kushina, Mito-sama would stop me if she thought I would be in danger." Shiki, the white haired boy claimed, ruffling the girl's crimson red hair.
'Not that she knows what exactly I have planned.' He added in his mind before vanishing in front of Kushina's eyes with a burst of speed she had no hope of following.
The girl angrily stopped on the ground.
"I HATE IT when he does THAT!"
"
Years had passed, the world had changed and so had Shiki and those around him.
Nawaki had successfully avoided his prophesied death.
Kushina had come to Konoha at nine, precisely as she did in the original timeline, though she was a bit different, not as lonely and more self assured than she would have been underneath her usual bravado.
Maiko, the girl Shiki rescued from Root, was now capable of moving around by herself perfectly and even learned to tolerate the presence of others though she still refused to communicate with anyone beyond Shiki.
Benihime had gotten to know a rather special pair of sisters from the Hyuga clan, gaining two close friends near her age, the first beyond the white haired boy.
They had originally approached her under their clan's direction due to the interest the Hyuga developed regarding Beni's Shuigan but had swiftly become fast friends.
As for Shiki himself, he had dedicated this period of time to honing himself, converting as much of his accumulated resources and knowledge into actual, usable power.
He had grown rather close to Kushina, mainly because they lived in the same house and, as Mito's ward, the boy was essentially the redheaded little girl's guide around the village.
Officially, his mistress designated him as Kushina's Protector, an official title within the Uzumaki clan for those not bearing the surname but he treated the girl like a little sister, one who had grown excessively clingy, much to the chagrin of the other girls in his life.
Shiki was now twelve, almost a teen and even looked slightly older than he was.
His cuteness was giving way to beauty because handsome seemed far from enough to properly describe him.
The boy's features were sharp and angular, undeniably boyish even if not yet manly but the overwhelming beauty of his face still made him look quite androgynous, something he hoped would no longer be the case when he grew up.
As funny as gender misunderstandings sometimes were, Shiki had no intention of being the subject at the core of that spectacle.
Either way, his appearance had netted him quite a fan following, one the girls closest to him seemed to utterly despise.
But there was good too.
With his body maturing, Shiki paid more attention to the opposite sex than before despite his focus remaining in training. This motivated the girls to no end as, after all this time, they were finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
*
Back to the present, the boy exited the village from the front gate, his privileges within Konoha having grown enough for him to be given leave to come and go when he pleased.
The world awaiting him outside however, was also far different that it had been the last time he travelled . . .
All the nations had stockpiled resources as best they could for what was coming.
War preparations were complete and every Hidden Village worth the name was in a state of complete combat readiness.
Borders were patrolled more frequently and regular missions were growing rarer and rarer as each village endeavored to keep its shinobi ready for immediate deployment.
The tension that covered the Shinobi World was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
It was the eve of the Second Great War.
But Shiki was not very worried yet.
There was one last step each village had to take and that was mass mobilization of forces.
That kind of large movement was impossible to mask and took time to arrange so the boy knew he had time to react and return after it had already begun.
It was the final preparatory step but once started, it was like an arrow loosed from a bow, you couldn't pull it back, the war would be triggered.
'I wonder how a perfect surprise attack on Uzushio to start the war was possible . . . That kind of mobilization can't be hidden can it?' Shiki thought to himself.
Uzushio was far better prepared this time around and it had its own intelligence network set up rather than relying on Konoha, just in case.
That said, there were still options on how to crush Uzushio in a perfect surprise attack before anyone could react . . . they were just too outrageous for the boy to consider.
Time would tell what they would be.
For the time being though, Shiki's mind was focused on something else.
'Uchiha Hikari. I finally have enough strength to feel confident in retrieving her though I think I will be keeping her out of this war . . .' The boy mused.
His reasons for getting her in a rush before the fighting started were something that had just come to mind a short while ago.
He had been assuming no one would mess with the girl's seal because in the original timeline, no one did until the Boruto Era.
But Shiki had already changed things so much that he suddenly realized that might not remain the case.
'At the very least, there is one individual certain to know of Uchiha Hikari's existence, likely down to the location of her seal and my existence and actions might lead him to seek her out.' The boy was, of course, thinking of the most filial mama's boy, Black Zetsu himself.
The current Shiki was quite confident he would not need the girl's power for the upcoming war, that said, he did not want to risk Black Zetsu to go for her as a back up in case the war did not progress in a way they found favorable.
As such, even if he did not need Hikari's power himself, the boy was still determined to deny its use to his future enemies.
Beyond this, Shiki also needed to do a little set up for actions he planned to take under the cover of the war's chaos.
And finally, there was also a little mission Mito had given to him which, technically, was meant to be the whole reason he was wandering outside the village at such a critical time.
Since he was planning on bringing back Hikari with him and did not want to give her a first row seat to his other actions, unsealing her was left for last.
Shiki's intuition told him there would be trouble regarding his mistress' request so that would be second to last.
'So my little set ups are first on the list.' The boy told himself, speeding towards the Land of Grass . . .
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -