The following afternoon, at the Konoha Military Police Force Headquarters, inside Chiya's office.
Chiya leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, resting.
Not far away, Uchiha Mikoto was carefully reading through the documents in her hand and making corrections.
She had been flipping through them for nearly ten minutes when her delicate brows furrowed slightly.
She had clearly run into a problem in the documents.
She raised her head and was just about to ask Chiya, but found that he had already fallen asleep.
Judging by how deeply he was sleeping, it seemed he had been out for a while.
"Chiya-nii, you have been so busy with work lately. You must be exhausted."
Mikoto murmured softly, a trace of concern flashing in her eyes.
Ever since her Chiya-nii became clan head, he seemed to be getting busier and busier. Even when she went to bring him dinner in the evenings, the door would be locked.
She figured he must have been working himself to the bone for the Uchiha Clan and never went home.
Thinking about that, her gaze drifted to Chiya's robe lying nearby.
She tiptoed over, picked it up, and gently draped it over him.
Looking at Chiya's sharp, defined profile, her expression softened further.
She could not help wanting to reach out and touch his face, but then she saw Chiya's brow suddenly tighten.
Her slender, delicate hand was still mid-air and had not yet pulled back when it was directly grabbed by another hand.
Mikoto was startled by the sudden motion and forgot to pull her hand away.
"Mikoto."
Hearing Chiya's voice, she finally came back to her senses.
A trace of embarrassment crept into her eyes.
"Chiya-nii, you, were you already awake this whole time?"
Chiya let out a yawn and felt refreshed.
That nap had lasted from right after lunch all the way until now.
Wonderful.
Lately he had been running back and forth between Tsunade and Nono, and staying busy until deep into the night.
Especially with Nono. The effect of the battle attire was far too "fresh," and Chiya could not bring himself to stop, completely absorbed in it.
With such hard nights, it was only natural to feel tired during the day.
Looking at the young girl in front of him, Chiya grabbed her hand and pulled her gently, bringing her right into his arms.
A warm, soft fragrance settled against him.
Chiya buried his face in the side of her neck and breathed in deeply.
'This is the scent of youth and vitality.'
"Chiya-nii, this is still the office."
Uchiha Mikoto stiffened at Chiya's action, her eyes rippling with a spring warmth.
"Alright, alright. This is the office. We need to be proper. Then let's go to my place later."
Uchiha Mikoto froze for a moment, then understood.
Looking at the teasing glint in Chiya's eyes, her face grew even warmer.
"Chiya-nii, you are making fun of me again."
The girl's playful bashfulness made Chiya feel a pleasant itch in his heart.
Looking at Mikoto in front of him, it really proved the saying that a girl changes greatly as she grows, and she kept getting more beautiful.
Having spent so much time with Mikoto day after day, Chiya had personally witnessed this real, tangible change of her growing a little more each day.
"Mikoto, how is your training going lately?"
At the mention of "training," although Mikoto's cheeks still carried a flush, a look of seriousness appeared in her eyes.
Mikoto leaned against Chiya and thought for a moment before speaking.
"The Fire Style jutsu you had me train has been fully completed, and I have already successfully trained three of the genjutsu you gave me."
A flash of surprise crossed Chiya's eyes.
Aside from the Fire Style jutsu Chiya had personally taught her earlier, the remaining Fire Style techniques and genjutsu had all been handed to Mikoto in scroll form.
Although they came with notes, for her to have successfully trained them in such a short time clearly meant she had been putting in a lot of practice on her own.
Mikoto really was this diligent and hardworking in private.
"Oh? That impressive! Then I will have to properly check the results of Mikoto's recent progress."
Uchiha Mikoto smiled warmly at Chiya and nodded gently.
"Please give me your guidance, Chiya-nii."
Just then, the sound of footsteps came from outside.
"Clan Head."
Hearing Uchiha Yashiro's voice, Mikoto reluctantly left Chiya's embrace and smoothed out the wrinkles on the front of her clothes.
"Come in."
Only after she had straightened herself did Chiya speak.
The door creaked open.
"Clan Head, these are the morning documents."
Yashiro glanced discreetly at Uchiha Mikoto standing in the distance, then respectfully handed the documents over to her.
Chiya took the documents Mikoto passed him and opened them directly.
There was a lot written inside. What caught Chiya's attention the most was naturally the matter concerning Yakushi Nono.
Tsunade's proposal to the Third Hokage that Yakushi Nono serve as the director of Konoha's orphanage had received the Third's approval and had been formally passed.
This was within Chiya's expectations.
After all, Tsunade's status was special, and on top of that, it was a sensitive time.
Even if the Third had objections, he could not help but weigh the current troubles before acting.
"From now on, unless something urgent or especially important comes up, once a month or once every three months will be fine."
Chiya closed the documents and handed them back to Yashiro.
What he was referring to were the village intelligence reports.
"Understood."
Yashiro nodded and withdrew with the documents.
"Let's go, Mikoto. Work is over for the day."
"Let me check your training results. If you do well, I will give you a reward."
Chiya glanced at the time on the wall and grabbed Mikoto's soft hand.
"A reward?"
Mikoto's eyes lit up.
The two left the Military Police Force headquarters one after the other.
At that moment, inside an ordinary courtyard.
A man with half his body wrapped in bandages was sitting in the yard, basking in the sun.
He was the one who had been placed under house arrest, Danzo.
Danzo swept his gaze over the two Anbu ninja standing at the entrance. A trace of contempt flashed in his lone eye.
Those two ninja at the door.
Although their strength was decent, if it truly came to a fight, he could cut them down easily with his Wind Style.
Thinking about his current situation, Danzo suppressed the violent killing intent stirring inside him and raised his head to look at the sky.
After a long silence, he let out a sigh.
'Hiruzen.'
The face of Hiruzen Sarutobi flashed through Danzo's mind.
'Back then, if I had not agreed to become the darkness of Konoha, the Root, would things have ever come to this?'
Danzo muttered quietly and rolled his bandaged shoulder.
His gaze fell on the small sapling growing in the courtyard.
He had grown it last night, using a simple Wood Style technique while no one was watching.
But even a simple Wood Style technique.
Why was this power falling so far short of what he had expected?
"This Wood Style is the power of the one who ended the age of chaos. And yet on my body, it has only this much strength. At best it can suppress a Sharingan for a moment. What a complete waste."
Danzo muttered with self-mockery.
Then he suddenly thought of something.
A look of contemplation appeared in his eyes.
'When the cells were transplanted, my age and the defects in my body caused some rejection of Hashirama's cells. Could it be that Hashirama's cells can only reach the true power of Wood Style if transplanted into a young child?'
A look of grave seriousness settled on Danzo's face.
Danzo suddenly stood up.
"If that is the case, then the experiments absolutely cannot stop."
Danzo's gaze locked onto the two Anbu ninja standing outside. One hand reached up to the bandages on his body.
He began unwinding them, one layer at a time.
The Anbu ninja outside had not yet noticed what Danzo was doing.
All the way until the final layer of bandage, he stopped.
"You two."
Hearing Danzo's voice, both of them turned around in confusion.
At that exact moment, Danzo pushed the bandage above his eye upward.
A crimson Sharingan appeared before the two of them.
Its light flickered.
Before either of them could react, their eyes turned blank and vacant.
"The Sharingan. It really only comes in handy at times like this."
Danzo lowered the bandage back down and covered that crimson eye again. He brought his hands together in front of his chest and formed a seal.
In an instant he dissolved into a puff of smoke and vanished from where he stood.