The whole day passed just like that.

In the evening, Uchiha Hikaru even took Shizune out to dinner at the Akimichi clan's barbecue restaurant. The two of them dined alone together.

Hikaru didn't even order pork like he usually did—he remembered well that Shizune hated pork, and he hadn't forgotten.

There was quite a bit of physical contact during the meal, enough to turn Shizune's face red more than once.

But after dinner, they parted ways.

Shizune was a quiet, reserved woman. Sometimes, things moved better when they weren't rushed.

With that, Uchiha Hikaru decided to take the opportunity to stop by the Konoha Police Department and check in on how Fugaku and Itachi had been managing things lately.

…

As soon as Hikaru arrived and opened the door to Fugaku's office, he saw two familiar figures.

"Patriarch Fugaku, hasn't Hikaru come to the Police Department today?" asked the elegant woman.

"Not yet," Fugaku replied to the refined woman in the floral-patterned kimono and the girl standing beside her in an Uchiha combat uniform.

But then he saw Hikaru standing in the doorway.

He immediately raised his hand and pointed, "Ah, speak of the devil. Hikaru's here. You can talk to him yourselves."

The woman in the light purple kimono and the girl beside her turned around simultaneously, both fixing their gazes on Hikaru.

"Ara ara~ I've been coming by so many times~" the woman said with a soft lilt, her voice tinged with charm. "And I finally get to meet the elusive, busy Uchiha Hikaru~"

For a moment, Hikaru froze.

Uchiha Yeyue? What does she want from me?

I haven't even visited their family's tailor shop recently…

Then he noticed the girl—Uchiha Izumi—quietly lowering her head, fingers gripping the sash at the back of her mother's kimono.

A soft blush colored her cheeks.

"Oka-san! Don't speak to Lord Hikaru like that…" she whispered, embarrassed.

Hikaru blinked.

Izumi? Wait, could this be about that Uchiha boy-band and girl-band idea?

Ever since the Police Department's celebration event, that idea had kind of been forgotten.

But considering Konoha had just emerged from a war with Kirigakure, things hadn't exactly settled down enough to talk about talent troupes.

Hikaru glanced at Fugaku, silently raising an eyebrow.

Fugaku simply lowered his head and rubbed his forehead, waving dismissively at Hikaru.

Don't ask me—I can't help you.

But Hikaru misinterpreted it as: It's not about the dance troupe.

Oh. Then what could it be…?

"Hikaru-kun~" Yeyue chimed again, "why don't we talk outside~?"

"We wouldn't want to disturb Patriarch Fugaku's work, now would we?"

Fugaku nodded rapidly. "Yes, yes. Go talk outside. The Police Department's buried in paperwork lately—I've got my hands full."

"Take Yeyue and Izumi outside for a proper chat."

So the three of them moved to the stone pavilion just outside the Police Department.

Under the moonlight, Yeyue's graceful silhouette glowed softly, and Izumi's delicate profile looked especially charming.

Izumi sat quietly beside her mother, hands clenched on her knees.

She looks nervous. Could something have happened? But Yeyue doesn't seem troubled…

Hikaru still hadn't figured out what this was all about.

"Lady Yeyue," he asked directly, "is there something you and Izumi needed from me?"

"If there's anything I can help with, please don't hesitate."

Yeyue suddenly reached across the stone table and clasped Hikaru's right hand in both of hers.

Hikaru instinctively tried to pull his hand back, startled.

"Lady Yeyue—this isn't really appropriate…"

Hearing that, Yeyue's expression stiffened, and her cheeks—rarely flushed in recent years—blushed faintly pink.

"Hikaru-kun… what kind of thoughts are running through your head~?"

"It's about Izumi~"

That brought his attention to Izumi again.

Izumi? But didn't Fugaku just signal it wasn't about the troupe? Then what's this about?

"What's going on with her?"

Still holding Hikaru's hands, Yeyue glanced back at her daughter, who now looked like a mortified ostrich, clearly wishing she could bury her head somewhere.

"Aaah~" Yeyue sighed softly.

"Izumi has hit a bottleneck in her training. Her Sharingan is still stuck at one and a half tomoe. Her squad leader is also an Uchiha with a fully awakened three-tomoe Sharingan."

"You know how it is, Hikaru-kun. Once we awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan, we tend to focus everything on developing it."

"That means Izumi isn't really learning anything new from her current mentor."

"You've taken in a few students recently… perhaps Izumi could join them?"

At last, Hikaru understood what she was asking.

Ah, so that's it.

"That's no problem at all, Lady Yeyue."

"Just have Izumi meet me at the training field tomorrow afternoon. I'll test her skills one-on-one."

"I'll also see what chakra nature and abilities she leans toward."

"Then she can join the others under my guidance."

Though Hikaru said this with ease, he already understood the subtext.

Yeyue, despite being a widow now, had once been married to the youngest elder of the Uchiha Clan. She herself was an elite Jonin with a fully developed three-tomoe Sharingan.

If this were merely about helping Izumi train, she wouldn't need to come to him.

After her husband's death, Yeyue had chosen to retire rather than take up an elder position, focusing instead on raising Izumi.

Now, Izumi had been out of the Academy for over a year. But due to the unrest in the village, she'd had no real chances for promotion over the past six months.

Yeyue likely wanted to place Izumi under his direct supervision. That way, even without the Chunin Exams, she could be promoted through special task-based evaluation—and perhaps more importantly, build the standing needed to succeed Yeyue as an elder in the clan when the time came.

Both of Izumi's parents had been elite Jonin. She had the potential. Her father had died in battle. Giving her that future wasn't a favor—it was justified.

Even if she didn't become his student, Izumi was still destined to become an Uchiha elder as long as she continued growing.

After all, in the original timeline, Izumi was a prodigy who awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan at a young age—and Hikaru hadn't forgotten that.

And now, he was sure he understood exactly what Yeyue meant.

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