Anya let out a long breath after returning to the "so-called prison" once again. He no longer had much to worry about what was happening outside, and even found time to visit Kakashi. At that moment, Kakashi had Emperor Guy's company beside him and looked much better than he had been over half a year ago.
Seeing that Kakashi was doing fine, Anya quietly left. It had been rather unreasonable of him to blame Kakashi back then—after all, even if it had been himself guarding their teacher, the outcome would likely have been the same.
Meanwhile, Tsunade noticed Anya stir slightly and casually asked, "Back already?"
Anya gave a small nod, murmuring his thanks.
"Don't mention it," Tsunade replied. "The old Hokage just issued a warning. There won't be a next time." With that, she put up the barrier again.
Anya remarked meaningfully, "Looks like the Hokage still pays quite a bit of attention to me."
"Don't think too much into it," Tsunade seemed to know what he meant. "Someone went to complain to the Third."
"Oh, is that so?" Anya said nothing further.
Tsunade curiously pressed, "Aren't you curious who reported you?"
What was there to wonder about? Konoha always had its scapegoat—the infamous back-covering king; whenever something went wrong, he was the go-to guy to blame.
So, calmly, Anya replied, "Let's get back to our research. No need to waste time on such trivial matters."
Tsunade praised lightly, "Still full of motivation. Good."
Thus, the two resumed their research from before White Fang's incident—Tsunade handling the medical aspects while Anya focused on studying poisons, each contributing according to their specialty.
This time, Anya could unmistakably feel how much their teamwork had improved. Tsunade's attitude toward him had subtly changed as well, and their interactions became increasingly harmonious. The change made Anya somewhat uncomfortable, secretly wondering whether he was just a masochist at heart.
Anya had used poison attacks in real combat before, expecting significant effects. In reality though, they were neutralized quickly. One reason was the strength of the Seven Pursuers, but another probably lay in the inherent limitations of poison techniques—if not for large-scale dispersion methods like Hanzo's, these seemingly potent, portable poison pills were actually easy to counter.
Therefore, Anya specifically asked Tsunade if Medical Ninjas could achieve effects similar to Hanzo's by storing poison internally and combining it with their chakra natures. That way, so long as their chakra remained, they could replicate Hanzo's results.
However, Tsunade immediately rejected the idea. In her view, Hanzo's survival was purely luck—he possessed a unique physiology compatible with Sanshouo poison, something unrepeatable. For others, developing poisons compatible with one's own constitution alone would be an enormous undertaking. She doubted that even years of combined effort might yield success.
Anya agreed upon hearing this and abandoned the research direction. Considering Tsunade's personality, human experimentation was absolutely off the table, meaning progress would be predictably slow. But if collaborating with the Serpent Master instead, there wouldn't be such ethical concerns—and real success might truly be possible. Unfortunately, the Serpent Master held little interest in poisons, finding them childish. His research interests mainly focused on Body Modification and various Cursed Seals.
During his spare time, Anya continued to practice sword art. Although Tsunade verbally discouraged him from wielding a blade, she never actually stopped him. In fact, she set aside specific time each day for Anya to train and occasionally acted as his sparring partner when she wasn't busy. This once again changed Anya's perception of her, even sparking a vague thought in his mind—though he quickly dismissed it as impossible.
During this time, Minato would always drop by after completing missions, sharing amusing stories from his assignments with Anya. Once, he even brought Little Pepper along. That was when Anya's nickname changed from "Shorty" to "Whitey." Presumably because Anya had once tried to bite her and taste a bit of her blood, she had held a grudge ever since. The two then got into an argument. Perhaps they just didn't click from the start, but they had disliked each other from their very first meeting, leaving Minato stuck in the middle, constantly mediating between them.
After bidding farewell to those two, some time later, another pair came to visit him in prison—this time accompanied by a little kid who had just learned to walk.
When Anya saw the child, concern filled his eyes.
Mikoto, curious about Anya's expression, picked up the child and introduced, "Anya, this is my son, Itachi Uchiha."
"How adorable," Anya quickly replied with praise.
Inwardly, however, he could only manage a hollow smile. This kid must have been the very first person he intended to kill after his reincarnation. If the original owner of this body hadn't died on the battlefield, this child would have grown up to be one of the family members erased by him—dying silently and unnoticed.
At Mikoto's silent prompting, Fugaku stepped forward stiffly and offered an apology to Anya, "I acted recklessly last time. I'm sorry."
It seemed like people really did grow through hardship. Naturally, Anya bore no grudge against him anymore and casually replied, "I don't hold it against you. Your apology is accepted."
Seeing this, Mikoto happily said, "That's great! Anya, do you already have plans for what you want to do after you get out? Fugaku and I have discussed it already—we'll respect whatever choice you make."
Fugaku solemnly looked at Anya too. He was torn inside—filled with mixed feelings. He both hoped Anya would return to the clan and secretly worried about what it would mean if he actually did. With him present, there was no doubt the Uchiha Clan would rise to another level entirely. Yet here stood a completely uncontrollable person who felt no attachment toward the clan whatsoever—his sole bond being with his wife. As the clan head, words couldn't express how conflicted he felt inside.
So Fugaku had found out about my identity purely by accident, having nothing to do with Sister Mikoto, Anya realized inwardly. If that was the case, he'd simply go with it and save himself a lot of trouble.
"My arrangements have already been decided by Lord Hokage. After release, I'll be entering Tsunade's Medical Division. I won't be returning to the clan."
While relieved, Fugaku couldn't help but ask curiously, "May I know why? You seem reluctant toward the clan. Is it because of your parents' death? That was due to war—it was unavoidable."
He thought inwardly, *You wouldn't understand even if I told you.* Instead, he replied indifferently, "I'm used to being alone."
Fugaku knew he hadn't revealed the whole truth, but remembering their prior agreement, he refrained from pressing further.
Anya took Itachi Uchiha from Mikoto's arms and started playing with him nonstop, lifting him high into the air now and then, making Itachi laugh joyfully.
The poor kid had absolutely no clue what was going through Anya's head.
Should I just… let my hand slip a little? With my current Medical Ninjutsu skills, faking an accident wouldn't be hard—dropping him and turning him into a dummy would be a breeze.
Ah, forget it. He's Mikoto's son. I should give up. Now that I'm here, things are bound to change anyway. Why bother hurting this innocent child?
Seeing how much attention and affection Anya was giving Itachi, Mikoto suddenly blurted out, "Anya, how about becoming his godfather?"
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