Although Uchiha Hikaru was thrilled to have dodged two days of duty at the Konoha Military Police, his conscience had begun to sting just a bit.

Laziness. Absolute laziness.

As the de facto leader of the Uchiha Clan—second only to the clan head and commanding absolute authority over everyone else—how could he possibly justify skipping out on his responsibilities at the Police Department for two straight days after returning to the village?

Well... it's not like he hadn't gone at all. He did technically visit—only to be kicked out by that stubborn Fugaku the moment he walked through the door.

Everything at the department still seemed to be running smoothly. No major incidents. No noticeable issues.

Still, Uchiha Hikaru had no clue what to do today.

Maybe I should actually go and put in a day of honest work. See if anything interesting has come up in the village...

With that thought, Hikaru walked toward the front door of his house.

The moment he opened it—

There stood a woman he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Hikaru…"

Before she could even finish speaking, Uchiha Hikaru pulled her into his arms.

He pressed the corner of his lips gently against her ear, his voice low and warm.

"Long time no see, Kurenai."

Kurenai felt his broad, powerful arms wrapping around her waist—the very same arms that haunted her nights and filled her dreams. Her expression instantly softened. Her deep red eyes met Hikaru's, filled with affection and longing.

"Mm… long time no see."

"I came today because—"

"Shh~ We'll talk later."

Hikaru raised his index finger and gently pressed it to Kurenai's soft lips, tracing lightly along her face until his hand rested under her chin.

Then, he tilted her face up.

And leaned down.

"Mmm…"

At first, Kurenai instinctively tried to push him away. After all, they were right outside his house. What if some passing Uchiha saw them?

But soon, her resistance melted. She surrendered to his kiss—arms going limp as she collapsed softly into his embrace.

Hikaru couldn't help but feel thankful in that moment.

Thankful that Mei Terumi and Kisame had found things to occupy themselves with outside the village.

Thankful that he'd stayed in bed a little longer that morning.

Thankful that Kurenai had come looking for him.

Otherwise, he might've ended up wasting the day buried in paperwork at the Police Department.

But now that Kurenai was here… he had much better things to do.

Hikaru scooped her up and carried her toward the bedroom—where the sheets were still warm from this morning.

Kurenai didn't need any explanations. She nestled against his chest silently, lips curved in a small, blissful smile.

She knew exactly what came next.

More than three hours later, it was already noon.

Hikaru finally helped her into the living room.

Kurenai flopped onto the sofa, her long wavy hair tousled and sticking to her flushed cheeks from sweat. She was still breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling as she recovered.

Her clothes, though rumpled, remained intact.

It wasn't until Hikaru brought out the lunch he'd prepared that she was able to finally relax.

As they ate together, Kurenai suddenly remembered the actual reason she had come here today.

"Hikaru, I've hit a wall in my training recently."

"I feel like I've taken my genjutsu as far as my talent will allow."

"Is there any other way to improve my strength?"

"Or maybe a different path that would suit me better?"

At that moment, Hikaru was thumbing through a business proposal he'd drafted the night before.

Kurenai's question made him pause.

He thought about her performance in the original timeline.

It was true—neither ninjutsu nor taijutsu were her strong suits. Even though he'd provided her with various chakra-enhancing herbs to support physical training, the results were limited.

Physically, her stamina had definitely improved—as evidenced by the last three hours.

But things like flexibility and reaction speed were largely innate.

That's why she was feeling like she'd reached a ceiling.

For a profession as high-risk as a ninja, an elite Jonin was usually the upper limit for most people. With Hikaru's help, Kurenai had already gotten there.

As the saying goes, the rich rely on tech, the poor rely on mutations. In the ninja world, it was more like: clan-born shinobi rely on technique, commoners rely on bloodline limits.

Unless Kurenai could awaken a new Kekkei Genkai by herself, her only other option was Orochimaru's body modification methods...

"In terms of strength, you're not wrong."

"You come from a civilian background, and you don't have a bloodline limit."

"If you want to go further, you'd need to develop one yourself…"

"Or, like Anko, you could train under Orochimaru. I could talk to him for you."

The moment Hikaru said Orochimaru, Kurenai shook her head vigorously.

"Orochimaru?"

She instantly thought of the eerie man who always carried an unnatural aura.

Though her ninjutsu talent was average, as a genjutsu specialist, Kurenai was extremely sensitive to Yin Release chakra.

Every time she'd encountered Orochimaru before, she could clearly feel it—he was no longer human.

His chakra felt more like a snake's than a person's.

Even Anko, who didn't emit any strange chakra, had developed habits that resembled a snake's.

Kurenai had no desire to become like that. She loved beauty—her own sense of femininity mattered to her.

Sure, Anko was beautiful too, but… that wasn't the kind of woman Kurenai wanted to become.

"No thanks… I'll try finding a different path."

Then, she scooted her chair closer to Hikaru and glanced at the papers in his hand.

"…Is this a business plan?"

"Oh?"

"You're actually writing one?"

What Hikaru held was indeed a business proposal—but just a rough draft. It was mostly scribbled keywords and a few looping arrows connecting them. Nothing polished yet.

He'd been planning to hand it off to Shikaku Nara for refinement.

But now… Kurenai had glanced over it once and already grasped the gist of it.

That surprised him.

Ninjas typically scoffed at things unrelated to battle.

You could see that during the Chunin Exams—most struggled with the written portion.

Shinobi only bothered to learn things useful in actual combat. Even theoretical knowledge had to be combat-related.

As for stuff like agriculture, commerce, or tech? Completely outside their realm.

Hikaru turned and looked at Kurenai, intrigued by her curiosity.

"Then tell me what you see."

"If you can actually make sense of it, I'd rather have you handle this."

"I was originally planning to hand it to Shikaku…"

"…But maybe you're more suited to the role than he is."

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