Chapter 17: Not Much Time Left
The moment Obito saw Seiji stepping onto the water, he hurriedly peeled off his track jacket and—with a splash—jumped straight in.
"Idiot. The goal is to stand on the water, not dive into it," Kakashi said dryly.
"Hey! You're the idiot, Kakashi! It's hot—I'm just cooling off, alright?"
Obito popped his head above the surface, his orange goggles now speckled with water.
"Is that so." Kakashi's tone didn't change.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Watching the bickering between the two boys, Rin couldn't help but giggle.
"Alright, alright, cut it out, both of you." As always, she was the one to defuse the tension.
Seiji didn't care to get involved in their antics. He focused entirely on his training.
Truth be told, the only two people who ever truly got through to Obito were Kakashi and Rin. Always had been.
Seiji thought back to the tragedy: watching the girl you love get killed by your closest friend. That single moment shattered Obito's world and poisoned him with hatred—for everyone.
He hated Minato for not arriving in time, despite being the fastest ninja alive.
He hated Kakashi, the genius, for failing to protect Rin.
He hated the Mist Village for abducting her in the first place.
That hate was the seed of the Moon's Eye Plan.
It was the root of his descent into extremism.
Even Minato and Kushina—who treated him like family—were discarded without hesitation when he snapped.
"Rin... she might be worth getting closer to." Seiji mused quietly.
She had real potential. Given time, she could very well become a secret card up his sleeve—perhaps even a countermeasure against Obito.
After all, Kamui was arguably the most effective Mangekyō Sharingan ability in history. Way more impactful than Amaterasu, which, while deadly, rarely finished the job.
But dealing with Obito was more dangerous than infiltrating the Cloud Village.
At least the Cloud had a known history of covert ops—like the time they tried to kidnap Kushina and were caught only near the border.
Seiji had factored in all of this when choosing to make contact.
But with Obito? Who knew if Madara had already planted some White Zetsu spies in the village to watch him?
Obito's fall into darkness wasn't unlikely—it was inevitable.
Seiji needed every advantage he could get to survive what might come.
As time passed, golden sunlight faded into a dark, star-strewn sky.
Night had come.
From a distance, the village streetlights cast shimmering reflections over the water's surface.
The Third Training Ground wasn't far from the village center.
Obito's grandmother came to pick him up. Rin was fetched by her parents.
They had all informed their families about their training location beforehand.
A man wearing a standard green flak jacket walked over. He had the same white hair as Kakashi.
"Kakashi, time to head home."
"Yes, Father."
Kakashi nodded and followed him. The only one left at the riverbank was Seiji, still quietly training.
Sakumo Hatake patted Kakashi's head affectionately, leading him away. After a few steps, he glanced back at the lone figure still practicing by the water.
"So that's Uchiha Seiji... the one from the Land of Lightning?" he said aloud.
The recent news of the Uchiha clan retrieving a long-lost relative from outside the village had caused quite a stir.
After all, this was the first time in history a Konoha clan's bloodline had surfaced beyond the village walls.
Even the Hyuga clan—also famed for their dojutsu—had never lost a single Byakugan to the outside world.
And clans with weaker bloodlines—like the Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Akimichi, and Nara—had never faced such an incident either.
All eyes were on Uchiha Seiji now.
Most people couldn't help but wonder:
Could a boy from the Land of Lightning—who had never received a proper Konoha education in his childhood—truly inherit the Will of Fire?
"That's Uchiha Seiji," Kakashi said, glancing back.
They were already some distance away now, and Seiji was just a shadow practicing by the water.
"He seems like a determined child," Sakumo Hatake observed, his sharp intuition seeing much more than just the surface.
At this point, Seiji could barely keep his feet above the water. His legs sank halfway in, the current lapping around his ankles.
But even so… from the time he first enrolled until now, how long had it even been?
"Looks like Uchiha Seiji might become a worthy rival for you—maybe even more formidable than Might Duy's son," Sakumo said seriously.
Besides his Uchiha lineage and the Sharingan, Seiji was rumored to possess the bloodline talent of the Yotsuki clan as well.
Mixed blood among shinobi clans only ever yielded two results:
1. The rare, fortunate few who inherited both bloodlines and became stronger than any pure-blooded shinobi.
2. The far more common outcome: conflicting genes nullified each other, and the child ended up ordinary.
The latter was overwhelmingly more likely.
That's why shinobi from different clans seldom intermarried.
But Uchiha Seiji… was clearly the former.
His rapid learning, his physical resilience—this wasn't something the Uchiha clan alone could produce.
Sakumo glanced at Kakashi's forehead. It was drenched in sweat.
Clearly, this level of extended training would've worn out even his genius son.
"You're right, Father," Kakashi agreed softly.
He had felt little when his father once told him Might Guy would be a formidable rival.
But now, watching Seiji's steady, focused steps and rapid growth… he understood.
If Seiji hadn't joined as a transfer student, and had trained alongside them from the beginning—how strong would he be now?
Kakashi didn't know the answer.
But he did think one thing:
Uchiha Seiji might one day be called a genius, too.
The two figures—father and son—walked farther and farther away.
Once they were truly gone, Seiji finally looked in the direction they had left.
"Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha…"
It wouldn't be long now—he would be driven to suicide, unable to bear the village's condemnation after a failed mission.
"Time is running out," Seiji murmured.
Sakumo's mission record had been documented in the academy's formal books:
A staggering 27 S-rank missions. 123 A-rank missions.
He was an elite, hardened by countless battles.
A man who'd faced death more times than most could imagine.
And, like all true ninja, he was no stranger to the darkness of espionage and assassination.
His hands were not clean.
Yet that man—chose to die by his own hand.
Worse, it was Kakashi who had found his body first.
To witness your idolized father die like a coward… that trauma left an unhealable scar.
What truly drove Sakumo to suicide?
Only the White Fang himself could say for certain.
But odds were, it had something to do with politics.
When Minato introduced Kakashi to Obito, he once said:
"Even the Legendary Sannin are said to fear him."
Whatever the truth, Seiji knew only one thing:
He needed to get stronger. Fast.
If someone like Sakumo could fall, what about him?
He was a "foreigner from the Land of Lightning," a "Yotsuki," and an "Uchiha."
These labels made him a walking paradox—someone both dangerous and controversial.
Danzo Shimura, or someone like him, had probably already marked him as a threat.
The only way to survive… was to become powerful enough to not be easy prey.
Seiji turned back to his training.
It was still early.
Nightlife in Konoha's lively streets was just beginning to bloom.
He still had time.
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[Trait — "Water Walker (White)"]
Condition: Walk steadily on water using chakra control through both feet.
Progress: 25%
Effect: Your chakra control becomes more refined in special terrains. Chakra stamina increases by 5% over baseline.
Note: Can be upgraded.