By afternoon, classes ended at the Ninja Academy. Kagami and Sasuke walked side by side toward the Uchiha compound.
As they chatted, Kagami's mind wandered back to what he had seen that morning.
That "starry sky" was clearly some kind of system. It claimed it had found him, an unparalleled genius in a hundred years, back on Earth, and had brought him into this world. Supposedly, it could even send him to other worlds in the future.
At the time, Kagami's first reaction had been to leap up and curse it to hell.
Crossing into the Naruto world? Great.
Being born an Uchiha, one of the most overpowered clans? Even better.
But arriving right before the massacre? That was the worst possible timing!
If this broken system had sent him a bit earlier, say, to Kakashi's generation, being a Uchiha would have been an absolute trump card. Or even further back, into the Warring States Era, then the Uchiha name would have been practically a cheat code.
But to land in Naruto's generation was just cruel. Near term, the clan's massacre was looming. In the long run, Naruto had a notorious power curve. In the early arcs, fights were tactical, hand seals, clever tricks, and strategy. But from the moment Itachi's Susanoo appeared, the scale exploded, meteors, titanic constructs hundreds of meters tall, godlike powers everywhere.
Naruto and Sasuke had the plot armor of chosen ones, their strength soaring to match. Kagami, however, had no such guarantee. If he couldn't keep pace, he'd likely end up crushed under Obito or Madara someday. For the sake of survival, he had no choice but to force his power upward and fast.
The problem was, could he really keep up? Those two were walking cheats. At twelve, fresh from the Academy, they were weaker than most genin. Five years later, at seventeen, they were at the Sage of Six Paths level!
Five years. Just five. What kind of absurd growth rate was that?
No matter how he looked at it, Kagami felt the system had set him up to fail.
The system, of course, denied everything. It claimed with righteous confidence that everything was "random."
"Kagami! Kagami!"
"Huh?"
Kagami blinked back to reality. Sasuke was looking at him helplessly.
"We're at my house already. Stop daydreaming."
Kagami scratched his head awkwardly.
"Ah, don't mind me."
"I don't, really."
But before Sasuke could finish, a calm voice came from behind them.
"Oh, Sasuke, Kagami. You're back already? Beat me home this time."
Kagami turned, and his breath caught.
A tall, slim young man stood there in ANBU attire, a short blade strapped to his back. Two tear-trough lines marked his face, unmistakable.
Uchiha Itachi.
A pivotal figure in the entire Naruto saga. For Kagami, perhaps the single most important person in the coming half-year.
Itachi was five years older than Kagami and Sasuke, around eleven now. Yet in appearance, he seemed sixteen or seventeen, not a boy barely into double digits. By the time of the massacre, he would be twelve. Twelve! To imagine a child of that age raising his blade against his entire clan, shouldering all the blame and hatred willingly, what kind of resolve did that take?
Was it countless hands pushing him down that path? Or did he know he could never turn back and choose to walk it alone?
For a moment, Kagami wanted to ask him:
"Does it hurt?"
Or maybe… looking at Sasuke beside him…
"Does it also make you happy?"
While Kagami wrestled with his thoughts, Sasuke bounded up happily to his brother.
"Big brother! Kagami's come to learn from you again. Teach us today, please?"
Itachi smiled gently and flicked Sasuke's forehead with a finger.
"Sasuke, I just came back from a mission. I'm exhausted. Next time."
Then he stepped past Sasuke, came to Kagami, and flicked his forehead in the same way, still smiling warmly.
"And you too, Kagami. Next time. You'd better head home, or Lord Takayuki might scold me, hehe."
Kagami rubbed his forehead and answered helplessly.
"Got it, Itachi-nii."
Sasuke, holding his own forehead, pouted resentfully at his brother. Itachi, however, just smiled as always and went inside.
Later, Kagami left for home. Itachi, after dinner, sat across from his father.
"Itachi, that boy Kagami, came to see you again?"
The speaker was a stern-looking man in a kimono, with a square face and commanding presence, Uchiha Fugaku.
Itachi nodded.
"Yes, Father."
Fugaku frowned slightly.
"I've observed him. He works hard. I can't say how great his natural talent is, but his diligence alone is worthy of the title 'genius.' If you have time, you should teach them. Our clan's relationship with the village leadership is… strained. We need the younger generation to grow stronger as soon as possible."
Itachi's face was unreadable.
"I understand, Father."
Meanwhile, Kagami, on his way home, ran into someone unexpected.
A man in black, with a short blade on his back, and the rare "button nose" trait of the Uchiha.
Kagami's eyes widened.
"Shisui-nii? What are you doing here?"
Uchiha Shisui smiled faintly. Like Itachi, he always gave off the warmth of spring when speaking to children like Kagami and Sasuke.
"Oh, Kagami. Nothing really, just wandering. And you? Where are you headed?"
Kagami answered honestly.
"I just went with Sasuke to Itachi-nii's house, hoping he'd train us. But, as expected, he turned us down again."
Shisui couldn't help laughing.
"As I thought. Haha!"
Suddenly, Kagami blurted out, almost desperately:
"Shisui-nii! Could you teach me ninjutsu?"
Shisui paused mid-laugh, pointing at himself.
"Huh? Me?"
Kagami nodded quickly.
"Mm! Yes!"
Shisui thought for a moment, then smiled again.
"All right. Go home and tell Lord Takayuki. Tomorrow after school, wait for me at your house, I'll come find you."
Kagami's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
Shisui chuckled at his excitement.
"Of course."
After a few more words, Kagami continued home, while Shisui remained where he was, watching the boy's retreating figure, lost in thought.
Because just moments ago, Kagami hadn't noticed something important.
During their conversation, Shisui had secretly cast a genjutsu on him.
Within it, he had asked a single question:
"Why are you so interested in Itachi?"
Both Shisui and Itachi had noticed Kagami's unusual fixation. If it were nothing more than childish admiration, they'd have been pleased, even amused. But in these tense times, with Uchiha and Konoha drifting further apart, they couldn't afford to ignore the possibility that Kagami was a spy, planted among them by the village elders.
Even a child couldn't be dismissed outright.
But under genjutsu, lies were impossible. And Kagami's answer… was very interesting indeed.
Remembering those words, Shisui made a decision.
He had to go find Itachi immediately.