The man straightened and reached up to his face. His fingers hooked under the smooth wooden mask, lifting it away in one steady motion.
The first thing I noticed was how young he looked. Sharp features, messy black hair that seemed like it had given up on ever lying flat, and calm dark eyes that felt like they could cut right through you without even trying. No scars, no grim veteran scowl. Just a steady, unreadable calm. For someone who had moved like a blade at our throats minutes ago, he did not look like he carried that kind of weight.
He wore a standard Konoha flak jacket over dark shinobi clothes. Nothing flashy, nothing to give away who he was, yet everything about the way he stood made it obvious that he could drop anyone here without breaking a sweat or losing any sleep over it.
I pushed myself up slowly, annoyed at how much dirt clung to my new clothes. Sena rose too, moving with her usual grace. By now Kaen had also managed to get to his feet. There was something strange in his expression, a mix of restrained pride and faint irritation, though I could not guess which side was winning.
He spoke. His voice was smooth, almost casual, but there was steel under it.
"Hello there. I am Shisui Uchiha, and I will be your jonin-sensei."
The name rang a bell, though at first it was buried somewhere in the dusty attic of my memory. I started digging, tearing through mental shelves like I was hunting for a lost file. After some rummaging, the pieces fell into place. Shisui Uchiha… one of the brightest stars of the Uchiha clan. Known for absurd speed, even faster than most jonin could track. A prodigy who, If I remembered right, Shisui was still in his late teens when he was already a feared prodigy. That's barely older than I ever got in my past life. People called him "Shisui of the Body Flicker," claiming he could vanish and reappear so quickly that even a Sharingan had trouble keeping up.
If that was true, then I had just spent the last few minutes sparring against the human embodiment of "you can't touch this." Fantastic.
Then another, much less pleasant memory surfaced. His death. If I remembered the timeline right, Shisui did not get to enjoy old age or a peaceful retirement. He was supposed to die young, not in some glorious blaze of defending the village, but in a political disaster that chewed up loyalty and spat it out as a corpse. I remembered only vague outlines. Itachi's involvement, Danzo's name lurking in the background like the smell of something rotten, but not enough detail to piece together the full picture.
And here he was, standing right in front of me, breathing and talking, looking like none of that was ever going to happen. I could not decide if I should feel relieved or if I was staring at a walking tragedy with a ticking clock over his head.
That thought came with another headache. If my memories were right, this probably meant I was now on a fast track to crossing paths with Danzo again. That was depressing on a whole new level, considering I had only escaped our last encounter thanks to the literal richest man in Konoha. Hirotaka Yamanaka had thrown around political weight like it was spare change, somehow without worrying about Root retaliation.
Thankfully, my lightning chakra circulation was not running today. I had shut it down before the meeting, expecting our new sensei might want to test us.
Sena spoke first, cutting through my thoughts. "Thank you for the tough but fair lesson, sensei." Her voice was steady and polite. Shisui seemed pleased with her words, though his eyes held a flicker of curiosity, as if wondering whether the sentiment was genuine or part of a deliberate effort to make a good impression.
Kaen lowered his head respectfully. "Thank you, Shisui-sensei, for the valuable demonstration."
Shisui nodded at him, offering a small smile. Kaen's face was stiff, the kind of stiffness that came from trying to hold back something. nerves, maybe, or excitement.
Then Shisui's gaze turned to me, clearly expecting me to say something. I was still half lost in my thoughts, trying to untangle timelines and possible futures, until Sena gave me a sharp nudge in the side. I blinked, looked around, and realized all three of them were waiting for me.
"What?" I said flatly. "We just got our asses kicked. I'm not exactly in the mood to thank anyone for it."
Shisui let out a short laugh, clearly not expecting that. Then he smiled, and there was something genuine in it.
"You're an interesting bunch," he said, before turning to Kaen. "Your ninjutsu speed is impressive, and choosing a wide-range jutsu in an open area was a smart call against a fast opponent. But you did not account for your teammates being within your range. You are now part of a team. You will need to start thinking that way. You are not fighting alone anymore."
Kaen nodded, his posture rigid, as if etching the words into his mind.
Shisui shifted his gaze to Sena. "Your sensing ability is exceptional, and your reaction speed in combat is equally strong. But you rely too much on your clan's secret technique. It is powerful, yes, but it takes too many hand seals and precious seconds to complete. In a high-speed fight, that is a dangerous delay. While relying on your teammates is good, you need to have a backup option for when they cannot reach you. Practice abandoning a jutsu mid-way if the situation changes, and flow into your next move without hesitation. That difference in timing can mean life or death."
Sena nodded, smiling faintly as she began jotting down his points. She even highlighted certain lines in her notes, as if already cataloging them for future drills. Her writing speed had always been absurd.
Finally, Shisui's eyes landed on me. The three-tomoe Sharingan spun to life, the crimson glow catching the light in a way that made it look almost alive. The tomoe turned with deliberate smoothness, like a predator lazily tracking prey it knew couldn't escape. I could swear those eyes were peeling back my skin, layer by layer, checking every secret I had no intention of sharing.
He grinned. "Your speed is incredible, both in movement and in jutsu execution. For someone your age, it is almost absurd. On top of that, your chakra reserves are larger than any child under ten I have ever met. That gives you options many shinobi your age could only dream of. But you rely entirely on lightning techniques, and in that last duel you inflicted a serious injury on your own teammate. On the field, that could have been a disaster. You also coordinated well with Sena, but not with Kaen."
I lowered my gaze slightly as he placed a hand on my shoulder. His voice shifted, addressing all three of us. "I know this was your first time fighting together, so I am not blaming you for not moving like a perfectly tuned machine. Today was about finding the cracks in the shield. From here, we can start building something stronger."
We all looked at him. His smile widened. "I will work with each of you individually to address your weaknesses and turn them into strengths. At the same time, we will build proper teamwork and coordination so you can trust each other completely in the field."
We all nodded. Shisui seemed pleased that his new team accepted criticism without argument. Of course, each of us had our own reasons. Sena was surely aiming to impress him for something down the line. Kaen likely saw him as a living pillar of the Uchiha clan. And me? I just wanted to make sure I never ended up with a teammate's jutsu in my back being the last thing I felt.