Morning, Ninja Academy.
After a night's rest, a refreshed Uchiha Shinji arrived at the academy's training field, free of fatigue.
Since Shion now had Yamato as her jonin instructor, Shinji no longer needed to oversee her training as he once did.
He made his way to an unoccupied corner, stretching his body while observing his fellow students training on the field.
Shion appeared to be practicing hand seals, but her frequent head-scratching suggested she wasn't making much progress.
Yakumo and Sasuke were engaged in a taijutsu spar.
Yakumo's Koryugan surpassed Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan in both minute observation and penetration, yet Sasuke held a slight edge in their bout.
It was clear that the recent challenges Sasuke faced hadn't been in vain—his strength had noticeably improved.
Naruto and Kiba were also sparring, though their session leaned more toward playful roughhousing than the serious focus of Sasuke and Yakumo.
Shinji's gaze shifted to Karin.
Under Haku's guidance, Karin was practicing hand seals.
Shinji smirked inwardly.
He could tell Karin was holding back, only practicing half the seals out of fear of accidentally unleashing a ninjutsu.
A thought struck him, and Shinji closed his eyes, discreetly activating Jikibi to sense Karin's spiritual body, confirming that it was still growing stronger.
"Karin's body continues to generate All Creation Power. The dojutsu power of her Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan is likely…"
Shinji sighed inwardly.
Just moments ago, he'd felt that if Karin resisted, she could sever his Jikibi connection at any moment.
This meant her dojutsu power had clearly surpassed his own.
Sweeping the field again, Shinji spotted Kimimaro and Neji.
When designing the biological exoskeleton, he'd accounted for concealment. After implantation, he'd used the Byakugan controlled by his Susanoo Tomoshibi to inspect it multiple times, confirming its secrecy.
When inactive, the exoskeleton was masked by sealing jutsu, making it nearly undetectable to most sensory or dojutsu shinobi. At most, they might notice slight swelling on Kimimaro's or Neji's chests.
As the exoskeleton gradually assimilated, even when activated, it would be difficult for typical sensory or dojutsu shinobi to notice anything amiss.
In the distance.
While Shinji observed covertly, Neji, practicing Gentle Fist alone, suddenly felt a pull and looked toward Kimimaro.
Almost simultaneously, Kimimaro, engrossed in his own training, turned his head toward Neji.
Their gazes collided.
This wasn't unusual—they were rivals at the academy, and locking eyes during training was commonplace.
But for some reason, Neji averted his gaze, feeling oddly guilty.
After looking away, Neji was puzzled, thinking, "What's wrong with me? Why does my heart race when I see Kimimaro?"
Across the field, Kimimaro had also wanted to look away but reacted a beat slower.
He then pondered seriously, "Strange, why does Neji exert such a strong pull on me?"
This scene caught Shinji's eye, making his expression turn peculiar.
The exoskeletons implanted in Kimimaro and Neji were each half of a whole. Only together did they form a complete biological exoskeleton, creating a strong attraction between the two halves.
Shinji hadn't anticipated that this attraction would transfer through the exoskeletons to their hosts, causing Kimimaro and Neji to feel drawn to each other.
"It shouldn't cause any problems… right?"
Shinji muttered before beginning his own training.
The assimilation cycle of the biological exoskeleton was lengthy, potentially spanning months, and its absorption of Kimimaro's and Neji's chakra was gradual. For now, Shinji could only wait.
Only when the exoskeletons fully assimilated and cultivated new cellular tissue in their cores could he attempt to awaken the Tenseigan.
Outside the Ninja Academy.
Mitarashi Anko, munching on dango, strolled toward the academy.
She was there at Kakashi's request, tasked with taking Shinji as her apprentice.
Truthfully, she wasn't fond of the Uchiha, finding them an arrogant bunch. But unable to refuse Kakashi's persistent pleas, she reluctantly made the trip.
Just as Anko reached the academy's gates, a figure suddenly blocked her path.
Anko's face showed surprise. "You…"
The figure raised a hand, gesturing for her to follow, and led her to a nearby grove.
In the grove, the figure asked, "You're going to the academy to take Uchiha Shinji as your apprentice, correct?"
"Yes," Anko nodded.
The figure said, "I have other plans for Uchiha Shinji. You don't need to go."
Anko, already reluctant to take an Uchiha apprentice and mindful of the figure's authority, nodded again. "Understood."
After Anko left, the figure beckoned.
Swish!
An Anbu landed before them, saluting. "Lord, your orders?"
The figure instructed, "Continue spreading the rumor in the village that the Hokage's office doesn't want any jonin taking Uchiha Shinji as an apprentice."
The Anbu responded crisply, "Yes!"
The figure added, "Be cautious. Don't let the Third's people or Root detect you."
The Anbu assured, "Please rest assured!"
The next day.
A rumor surfaced at the Ninja Academy: the reason Shinji, the academy's top student, hadn't been chosen by a jonin was that the Hokage's office didn't want any jonin to take him as an apprentice.
Since it was already odd for a genius like Shinji to lack a jonin mentor, the rumor spread quickly, gaining widespread belief.
As a result, some of Shinji's peers began avoiding him, and a subtle undercurrent of isolation and exclusion emerged at the academy.
Shinji didn't mind, but he was puzzled why the Hokage's office would target him.
In his view, if his identity as the Akatsuki's 'A' had been exposed, the village leadership would have taken decisive action, at least approaching him. If it hadn't, there was no reason for them to single him out.
The village leadership's ambiguous behavior—neither acting decisively nor openly targeting him—left him scratching his head.