---
[Time: 4:05 AM – Uchiha District, Kagami's Room]
He had been awake since 2:40 AM.
Not out of worry or fear.
Out of obsession.
His notes were everywhere. Three new schematics—one based on Tobirama's folding barrier tags, another inspired by Uzumaki chakra seals he had secretly obtained through the clan archive's encrypted tier. And the third was different—more personal.
> "Chakra anchor for breathing stabilizer array, keyed to maternal genetic frequency."
He wasn't a medical ninja. Not officially.
But even the best ones he knew could only slow the decline. Kagami wanted to reverse it. And to do that, he needed to engineer the impossible.
Today's project: a chakra filtration talisman designed to trap internal pathogens and deliver targeted chakra bursts directly to the lungs.
He adjusted the ink nozzle.
Drew again.
And again.
And again.
---
[Time: 5:47 AM – Garden Washbasin]
Kagami stood in the half-light of pre-dawn, his hands soaked red with bitter herbal resin. His fingers stung—he'd spilled solution into the cuts on his knuckles.
He didn't flinch.
Instead, he turned and rinsed the bowl for his grandmother's tea.
Each drop mattered.
He dried his hands on a clean cloth, smoothed it, and folded it with clinical precision.
Routine was survival.
---
[Time: 6:18 AM – Grandmother's Room]
She was asleep still.
Her lips were pale. Breathing shallow. But not worse than yesterday.
He checked the pulse in her wrist. 65 bpm. Acceptable.
Kagami pulled the small chakra-thread monitor he'd rigged from his sleeve and pressed the soft pad over her collarbone. A tiny light blinked green.
He exhaled once.
Then leaned in close and whispered, so quietly not even the room would remember:
"Hold on."
---
[Time: 6:40 AM – Kitchen]
Obito walked in with wild hair and mismatched socks. "Morning!"
Kagami: "Your left sock is inside-out."
Obito blinked. "What?"
Kagami didn't answer. He was already sliding a plate of rice and grilled pickled egg over to him.
Obito grinned, took a bite, then winced. "Whoa. Spicy."
"I added shichimi. Capsaicin helps with chakra flow if you're going to train today."
"Ohhh. You do love me."
Kagami, without blinking: "Incorrect. I tolerate you."
Obito roared with laughter.
---
[Time: 7:55 AM – Path to the Academy Quarter]
They walked side-by-side again.
"I heard Itachi passed another exam," Obito said. "Three years younger than me. It's insane."
"He memorized three of the scrolls I rewrote last year," Kagami said flatly. "I corrected twenty-three errors in those jutsu formations. If he's smart, it's because someone did the foundational work."
Obito laughed. "So humble."
"I am humble."
"You once wrote 'entire academy curriculum insufficient' on your own report card."
Kagami looked away. "It was insufficient."
---
[Time: 9:10 AM – East Uchiha Training Field]
Kagami didn't train like others.
He didn't spar, didn't yell, didn't launch flashy jutsu.
He stood alone with a row of chakra control boards he had constructed himself—each attuned to different frequencies. Today's goal: refining precision control through microchannel manipulation.
Most Genin could burst a log.
Kagami was carving sigils into invisible air currents.
By 9:38, he had succeeded in slicing a falling leaf without disturbing its arc.
By 9:59, the wooden boards were vibrating in tune to his chakra heartbeat.
By 10:12, his nose began to bleed from overuse.
He stopped.
He was not foolish. Obsession must serve the mission.
Not devour it.
---
[Time: 10:46 AM – Medical Library, South Sector]
He read with silent, sharp intensity.
Two medical-nin glanced at him and whispered, "Isn't that Obito's brother?"
"Yeah. The creepy one. They say he makes seals like Tobirama."
Kagami heard them.
He ignored them.
He was reading a case file on cellular chakra saturation and its effects on disease reversal. A single paragraph confirmed one of his suspicions—chakra could act like a white blood cell carrier if precisely coded.
He copied the passage, then left.
---
[Time: 12:03 PM – Rooftop, Lunch in Hand]
He didn't eat in the mess halls. Too loud. Too messy.
Instead, he sat on the roof of the administration tower with a bento he made himself.
Rice, pickled plum, salted eel, and stewed root vegetables. Obito would call it "boring."
But to Kagami, it was measured. Balanced.
He took each bite without emotion.
Then reached into his coat and pulled out a small, sealed test scroll.
He set it on the roof.
Stared at it.
Then ignited it with a flick of chakra.
Inside the scroll, a tiny synthetic lung he'd made vanished into ash.
"Failure #64."
---
[Time: 1:30 PM – Uchiha District Boundary]
He was walking past the guard post when he saw it—a small boy training, hurling shuriken into a tree over and over again.
Poor form. Sloppy wristwork.
But there was determination.
Kagami stopped. "Your grip is weak."
The boy blinked. "Huh?"
"Choke higher on the handle. Let the spin do the work."
"…Okay…"
Kagami watched. The boy tried again. Better. Not perfect.
Kagami nodded once, then walked away without another word.
The boy stared at him.
Later, the boy would say, "That ghost boy helped me."
---
[Time: 3:10 PM – Home]
Yuki was awake.
Kagami knelt by her futon.
"How's your chest today?"
"A bit tight. But I dreamed of your grandfather. He was lecturing the Shodai again."
Kagami blinked. "You never told me that story."
She smiled softly. "It's a long one."
"I like long stories."
So she told it.
As she spoke, he watched the rhythm of her breaths. Measured her pupils. Listened to her voice for tremors.
Love, for him, was observation.
---
[Time: 4:40 PM – Obito Returns Home]
"Oi! I'm back!" Obito shouted, slamming the door.
"Quiet," Kagami said immediately. "She's resting."
"Ah—right. Sorry." Obito tiptoed in, saw Kagami's newest scroll design. "What's that? A chakra sword?"
"No. It's a precision-conversion field for chakra filters."
"Sounds cool. You gonna give me one?"
"No."
Obito pouted. "Mean."
Kagami stared. "Do you know the difference between a chakra thread and a chakra vein?"
"Uh…"
"Exactly."
---
[Time: 6:00 PM – Dinner]
They ate quietly.
Yuki only managed half her soup. Kagami didn't comment—but adjusted her herbal dosage in the tea later.
Obito told a story about Kakashi falling into a pond.
Kagami nearly smiled again.
---
[Time: 8:12 PM – Lab Room]
Kagami stood before a suspended crystal core connected to a chakra wire net.
"Begin Phase Two test."
The core lit.
Then exploded.
Glass slashed his cheek. Blood dripped down.
He ignored it.
Wrote: "Failure #65. Resonance field overcharged."
Then slowly cleaned the floor.
---
[Time: 10:30 PM – Grandmother's Room]
She was already asleep.
He sat at her bedside for thirty-seven minutes, just listening.
Her breaths.
The creak of the house.
Obito's muffled snore.
He relaxed for the first time all day.
Then stood and whispered:
"Tomorrow I'll succeed."
---
[Time: 11:50 PM – His Bedroom]
He lay on the floor.
Blank scroll open.
A single line written:
> "What is the value of genius if I fail the ones I love?"
He didn't sleep that night either.
But he didn't feel tired.
Would you like me to continue with Part 4, starting the next morning with a major step forward in Kagami's medical invention—and showing a shift in Obito's missions and rumors of war outside the village?