Although Izumi still felt like the system had completely screwed him over, the mission was at least complete—meaning he wouldn't be erased.
He tapped "Mission Complete," and immediately received a mission reward pack. When he opened it, he was nearly driven to the brink of rage.
"You've got to be kidding me, you damned system! The mission reward is five kunai? Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea that I starved and scraped just to buy over ten kunai for the Itachi ambush, and now you're telling me my reward is five more? You're playing with me. You must be playing with me!"
> "The mission itself wasn't difficult. You were just stupid. Who else can you blame?"
Hearing that cold, mechanical voice, Izumi felt like he might explode from sheer frustration.
"You win. You're absolutely sent from the heavens just to make my life miserable."
> "Actually, the reward isn't just five kunai. The kunai are just a bonus. The real reward is the throwing techniques for shuriken and kunai."
It was as if the system had sensed Izumi's despair and decided to stop toying with him—at least for the moment.
"Throwing techniques? You mean the kind our Uchiha clan specializes in?" Izumi perked up immediately. Right now, anything that could improve his combat ability was desperately needed. In just three years, the Uchiha Massacre would occur. Before then, he had to build enough strength, or he'd be wiped out in the first round.
> "That's correct."
A flood of knowledge suddenly poured into Izumi's mind, and he could feel subtle changes in his body. Yet when he checked his stats, there were no visible changes.
"That's it?"
> "What else did you expect? Your kunai and shuriken skills are now roughly on par with an average Uchiha chunin."
Hearing that, Izumi finally felt satisfied. The Uchiha's proficiency with weapons like kunai was far superior to most shinobi, and reaching chunin level in this field was no small feat.
Just as he was about to exit the system and test his new skill, he noticed a new mission in the task list. Opening it made his blood pressure spike all over again.
> "Ding! New Main Mission: Become friends with Uchiha Itachi. Raise his affection to 100. Reward: ???. Time limit: one month. Failure will result in erasure."
"You've got to be kidding me, system! I just completed a mission to ambush Uchiha Itachi, and now you want me to be friends with him? Are you trolling me? And a one-month time limit? And again with the 'failure equals erasure' threat? Is that all you know how to do? And what's with the reward being question marks again? You're not going to hand me a few more kunai, are you?"
> "Oh, you don't like kunai? Then I'll change it to soldier pills."
This shameless system's voice rang out again.
Izumi decided then and there that he would never exchange another word with the system. One more conversation, and he'd probably die from anger. He had planned to test his new throwing skills, but now he had no mood for it at all. He simply lay down in bed to rest.
What he didn't know was that, from the moment he'd woken up, a pair of eyes had been quietly watching him from nearby. Every move he made had been seen. Thankfully, all his conversations with the system happened only in his mind—otherwise, the fact that he had a system would already be known to Uchiha Itachi.
Once Izumi fell asleep, Itachi finally left.
He still found the ambush strange. Izumi and he had never interacted before, yet the boy had suddenly attacked him. That flimsy excuse from earlier hadn't convinced him in the slightest.
---
The next morning, Izumi woke early. After breakfast, he ran straight to Training Ground Seven. Knowing the plot, he was well aware that the Itachi who went to class was only a shadow clone; the real Itachi spent his time with Shisui.
If he wanted to get closer to Itachi, this was the place to wait for him. Besides, now that Itachi was already a genin, this was one of the few places he might actually see him.
He couldn't walk up tree trunks like a shinobi yet, but climbing was no problem. Finding a sturdy branch, he sat quietly to wait. What he didn't expect was that the first person to arrive wasn't Itachi—but Shisui.
"Who are you?" Izumi asked, feigning ignorance despite recognizing Shisui's appearance. After all, Uchiha Izumi had never actually met him.
"I'm Uchiha Shisui. You're the little guy Itachi mentioned, the one who tried to ambush him, right?" Shisui was intrigued. Even among the battle-loving Uchiha, few would target Itachi. Meeting Izumi in person, he sensed none of the usual aggressive aura of a fighter.
"I'm Uchiha Izumi. Yeah, I ambushed Itachi-nii yesterday… but it turned out to be just a shadow clone. If Itachi-nii hadn't saved me, I'd probably be dead by now."
At this point, Izumi's face flushed. Failing to ambush someone and then being saved by that same person? That was beyond embarrassing. This was something he'd hide for life.
(System: I have photo evidence. And video.)
"Itachi-nii, huh? Hah. He's your big brother now? Did you come here today to wait for him?"
"Yeah. Yesterday I only got his clone. I figure if he doesn't have a mission, he'll come here. And… I don't really know anywhere else to look, so I might as well wait here."
"I see. So why are you looking for him? Judging by your expression, you're not here to ambush him again. Are you planning to beat him head-on this time?"
"No, I want to learn from him. I can't attend the ninja academy right now, so I can only come to Itachi-nii. Shisui-nii, are you here to see him too?"
Of course Izumi knew exactly why Shisui was here, but he had to keep up the act. If Shisui suspected anything unusual about him, that would be bad.
"Izumi?" Shisui was about to explain his relationship with Itachi when the boy himself appeared.
"Itachi-nii, I want to learn from you!" Izumi immediately abandoned Shisui and ran to stand before Itachi.
"Well, since Izumi's already calling you 'nii,' why don't you give him some pointers?" Shisui spoke up, knowing Itachi well enough to expect a refusal—and preempting it.
"…Alright."
If Shisui said so, Itachi wouldn't refuse. He nodded in agreement.
Izumi had expected he'd need to work hard just to be allowed to stay, but Shisui's single sentence had solved the biggest obstacle. In Izumi's mind, if he could win Shisui over, his relationship with Itachi would naturally follow.
The three entered the training ground together. Just as Izumi was about to speak, Itachi demonstrated his shuriken techniques.
"You should start with the basics. This is shurikenjutsu. Practice well."
"Got it, Itachi-nii."
With Izumi beginning his practice, Itachi and Shisui headed deeper into the training ground. Izumi didn't mind—he knew they'd never actually stay to personally teach him.
Once they were gone, he focused on his training, throwing shuriken again and again. With the system as his cheat, he quickly began hitting the bullseye every time.