Konohagakure.
Uchiha Mirai was in the middle of educating Ōga and Tangno Karashi on some essential knowledge when someone called for him from outside.
"Mirai, the Hokage is looking for you."
"Got it."
With a short reply, Mirai went back to what he was doing.
It wasn't until just before noon that he finally stepped out of the room and made his way to the Hokage's office.
As soon as he entered, he saw Hyūga Neji jump to his feet, visibly excited.
"You're the Hokage now. Try acting like one."
Seeing Neji flustered like that, Mirai gave him a calm reminder.
Neji chuckled. "In front of the Emperor, I don't need to pretend to be all serious."
Mirai looked at the much more polished and tactful Neji and asked,
"So, what did you call me here for?"
Neji got straight to the point.
"This morning, a spaceship crash-landed just outside the village. According to the reports, it's not a vessel made by the Divine Nation."
Mirai raised an eyebrow. "Did you find anything on board?"
Neji handed him a file from the desk.
"There was a boy onboard—he has Roman numerals etched on his face—and a few scattered documents. The report has all the details."
Mirai glanced at the file and let out a curious smile.
The information clearly stated the boy's name: Kawaki.
He was chosen by Ōtsutsuki Isshiki to be his perfect vessel.
Under normal circumstances, Isshiki would've placed immense value on Kawaki. But now, the ship carrying him had crashed just outside Konohagakure?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Thinking back to how Koji Kashin had deliberately leaked intel about Kara to Uchiha Itachi not long ago, Mirai instantly pieced together the situation.
Something had gone wrong within the Kara organization.
Someone didn't want Isshiki to successfully reincarnate into Kawaki.
Mirai turned to Neji. "Where is the boy—Kawaki—now?"
"He's being treated by the medical unit."
"Understood. You don't need to worry about this anymore. I'll handle it myself."
With that, Mirai vanished and reappeared inside the room where Kawaki was being treated.
The two Anbu guarding the boy immediately bowed and left the room.
Kawaki was already awake. When he saw Uchiha Mirai appear, he showed no signs of panic—just calm indifference.
"You're Kawaki?"
Kawaki let out a cold snort and turned his head away without a word.
Mirai didn't take it personally.
He placed his hand on Kawaki's head and, without any finesse, began probing his memories.
"Ahhh!!!"
Kawaki screamed in agony as his mind was forcefully invaded.
He tried to struggle, but his body wouldn't move. It was like being paralyzed while burning from the inside out.
Thankfully, the pain didn't last long. Within moments, Mirai withdrew his hand.
"Wipe the drool off your chin."
Mirai looked at him with faint disgust.
Kawaki snapped back to his senses, glaring at Mirai with hatred.
"What the hell did you just do to me?!"
Mirai shrugged. "I figured you wouldn't cooperate, so I just went ahead and read your memories."
"You—!" Kawaki's expression twisted.
His past had left him emotionally closed off. He rarely spoke to anyone, let alone opened up.
And now his memories—his most private thoughts—had been ripped from him?
To Kawaki, that felt worse than being killed.
"Abandoned by your mother, forced to live with a drunk who beat you daily..."
"Then eventually sold off to Jigen."
Mirai spoke casually, ignoring Kawaki's burning glare.
"After that, the torture began—endless training, punishment, conditioning..."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"
Mirai shook his head in mock sympathy.
With a background like that, if this were my past life, he'd be the top-tier massage parlor worker... though we'd have to change the gender.
"Shut up!!"
Kawaki roared and lunged at Mirai.
With a single finger, Mirai casually flicked him to the ground.
"If you hate it here so much, then you're free to leave."
Kawaki froze, stunned by what he'd just heard.
"W-What did you say?"
"I said," Mirai repeated calmly, "you can go."
Kawaki stared at him in disbelief.
This guy had already seen his memories. He definitely knew who Kawaki was.
And yet he was letting him leave?
No way. This had to be a trick.
Seeing the storm of suspicion on Kawaki's face, Mirai chuckled.
"Relax. You think I'd bother wasting time on a brat like you?"
Kawaki finally asked the question burning in his mind.
"Aren't you trying to gather intel on Kara? Why let me walk away?"
Mirai rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If you really need a reason... I don't like being used."
"What do you mean?"
Mirai sat back in his chair with a smile. "Since you asked so sincerely, I'll be generous and explain."
"There's a traitor in Kara. They sabotaged your ship so it would crash near the village."
"The whole point was to use me to stop Ōtsutsuki Isshiki from claiming you as his vessel."
Kawaki's frown deepened.
He snorted. "Then they made a mistake. Isshiki may have bought me from that scumbag, but aside from the hellish training, he never treated me special."
"He wouldn't risk everything just to come for me in the Leaf."
As an inner member of Kara, Kawaki knew full well who Mirai was.
Jigen had made it clear: avoid conflict with Uchiha Mirai at all costs.
Everyone in Kara understood that.
No one in their right mind would expect Mirai to draw out Isshiki just by holding Kawaki.
But what surprised Kawaki was that Mirai actually laughed at his words.
"Hahahahaha… Kawaki, you're more naive than I thought."
"You're the vessel. Probably the only one in Kara who doesn't realize what that really means."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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