After hearing Orochimaru's report, Mirai Uchiha showed a flicker of surprise. "I didn't expect you'd actually come to me with this kind of information, Orochimaru."
Hearing this, Orochimaru smiled faintly. "I'm just preparing an escape route for myself."
He had already lost trust in Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.
Right now Konoha was under attack from all sides—an excellent chance to seize glory. However, since returning from the battlefield at Cloud, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been trying every means possible to keep him inside the village.
The meaning behind it was clear enough.
If they really wanted to groom him as a successor, he should be leading the frontlines by now.
Since both parties had already developed distrust, he might as well invest in Mirai Uchiha.
Otherwise, if things went as Mirai predicted, he might end up branded a rogue ninja of Konoha.
"Mirai Uchiha, the teacher and Danzo inherited the Second's will and have always been wary of the Uchiha Clan. You'd better watch yourself too."
Recently, Mirai Uchiha's performance had been too extreme.
Defeating the Raikage, killing the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist, eliminating Rasa—
He even supposedly awakened the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan!
From what he knew of the teacher and Danzo Shimura, those two wouldn't just sit back and do nothing.
"Don't worry."
"In front of absolute strength, no matter how cunning the schemes are, they're all in vain."
Mirai Uchiha said lightly.
Looking at his confident expression, Orochimaru briefly felt dazed.
On that person, he seemed to see his own shadow from years ago.
Unfortunately, years of harsh reality had long stripped away his youthful ambition and optimism.
Thinking about it, Orochimaru couldn't help but remind, "Mirai Uchiha, sometimes strength isn't the only path to confrontation."
"Your opponent may very well strike you down from the moral high ground."
Just like what happened to Sakumo Hatake back then...
However, what surprised Orochimaru was that Mirai merely smiled slightly, "As long as my moral standard is low enough, they won't get to me."
Upon hearing this, Orochimaru paused, then laughed, "Mirai Uchiha, you really know how to keep surprising me."
"Alright, let's end our chat here." Mirai Uchiha waved his hand dismissively. "Orochimaru, do you have anything else?"
Seeing Mirai's dismissive gesture, Orochimaru feigned ignorance, his slitted pupils gleaming with curiosity. "I've heard your cooking skills are quite excellent—I'd like to taste them personally."
Before Mirai could refuse, Orochimaru quickly added, "Think of it as payment for going out of my way to bring you this intel."
Looking at Orochimaru's smug gaze, Mirai Uchiha smiled. "Then wait a moment. I'm hungry anyway."
Half a while later.
Mirai returned to the room carrying a large basin of steaming, thick soup.
Smelling the aroma, Orochimaru's heart stirred. "Smells great."
"Mirai, what kind of soup is this?"
*Snake Soup.*
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "I don't eat snake meat."
"Then you'll miss out on quite a lucky bite."
Before long, watching Mirai devouring the food with gusto, Orochimaru couldn't help but take a bite himself.
So delicious!
————
After seeing Orochimaru off, Mirai returned to his room.
He pulled out a small gourd he had bought earlier and started engraving Sealing Formulas onto its surface.
Back when he was on the battlefield in Sunagakure, whenever he needed to use Gold Dust, he had to summon it from a summoning scroll first. It wasn't just inconvenient—it also lacked any style at all.
So after returning, Mirai specially bought a small gourd that could be hung from his waist.
As long as the Sealing Formulas were properly engraved, he could seal vast quantities of Gold Dust inside the gourd. This would not only make it much more convenient to use, but also significantly cooler.
Although engraving the Sealing Formulas was exhausting work, looking cool was a lifelong mission—no compromises allowed!
All the way until evening.
Thanks to the rich experience gained from Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, Mirai finally completed his little gourd.
Strapping the gourd to his waist, Mirai concentrated his mind, and instantly the gourd's stopper popped open.
The next instant, Gold Dust poured smoothly from the gourd.
Then, under Mirai's control, all the Gold Dust flowed back into the gourd.
The entire process was incredibly smooth. Nodding in satisfaction, Mirai thought,
Success!
Just then, knocking came from outside the door.
Following that, Kurenai Yuhi's voice floated in. "Mirai, are you home?"
"Coming."
When Mirai opened the door, Kurenai immediately threw herself into his arms.
"Mirai, you've gotten taller again."
Back when they attended the Ninja Academy, Mirai and she had been almost the same height, but now he already stood a full head above her.
Mirai patted Kurenai's head and chuckled. "Why did you come find me at the clan compound?"
Kurenai pouted slightly, looking a bit wronged. "You never come find me, so I can only come find you."
Seeing Kurenai's expression, Mirai felt a twinge of nostalgia.
That once fiery, hard-to-handle little girl was clearly maturing into a graceful woman.
"Mirai, won't you let me inside for a visit?"
Hearing those words, Mirai's heart stirred slightly. "Then come in."
"Since I'm free today, I'll personally help you train."
---
The next day.
Mirai Uchiha dragged Kurenai Yuhi, whose face was flushed crimson, out of the house.
Only after reaching outside the clan compound did Mirai stop and look at Kurenai. He said solemnly, "Kurenai, your Taijutsu still has plenty of room for improvement."
"When I have time again, I'll properly guide you!"
Kurenai lowered her head and softly snorted, "You're such a jerk—don't even think about it!"
Watching Kurenai rush off in a fluster, Mirai chuckled lightly.
Just as he was about to return, an Anbu masked ninja suddenly appeared before him: "Mirai Uchiha, Lord Hokage orders you to immediately depart for the battlefield at Mist Village."
After speaking, the Anbu handed a scroll to Mirai.
Opening the scroll and glancing at it, a faint cold smile surfaced on Mirai's face.
They really don't want me taking even a moment's rest.
Hardly back from the Sunagakure-based battlefield, they were already sending him off to the Kirigakure-based warfront.
For ordinary Sharingan users, they'd probably go blind from exhaustion soon enough?
Too bad... Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo Shimura would never imagine that such actions would only make his strength grow even stronger.
Mirai rolled up the scroll and waved dismissively at the Anbu: "I got it. I'll leave tomorrow."
He had promised to have dinner at Minato Namikaze's house today—he couldn't possibly break that promise.
Hearing Mirai's reply, the Anbu's tone turned somewhat displeased: "Lord Hokage ordered you to leave immediately."
Mirai arched an eyebrow and slowly stepped closer to the Anbu: "Are you threatening me?"
Feeling that overwhelming pressure, the Anbu instinctively took a few steps back.
He just remembered—the teenager in front of him wasn't someone easy to deal with.
This was the ruthless killer who had struck fear into countless Cloud and Sand ninjas on the battlefield!
Realizing this, the Anbu ninja's voice slightly trembled: "I was merely emphasizing Lord Hokage's command."
Hearing this, Mirai replied indifferently: "You just return and report accordingly. I believe the Third won't object to my decision."
"If he does, let him come talk to me himself."
After Mirai left, the Anbu finally exhaled deeply.
While under Mirai's gaze just now, he truly felt like he could be killed at any moment.
"The Uchiha Clan is indeed not someone we should provoke. I mustn't act so rashly in the future."
After mentally warning himself, the Anbu activated the Body Flicker Technique and vanished into thin air.
Let the Third deal with this headache instead.
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