Early Morning.
Hokage's Office.
"Still haven't found Uzuki Yugao?"
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, took a drag from his pipe and exhaled thick white smoke.
"No."
"We've searched all of Konoha but found no trace of Uzuki Yugao."
"We're still not sure if she's missing or if she's defected."
A masked ANBU member kneeled before the Third Hokage, responding respectfully.
Upon hearing this, the Third Hokage walked to the window, looking out at Konoha, deep in thought.
Uzuki Yugao was an ANBU member he personally promoted, possessing exceptional swordsmanship talent. The Third Hokage couldn't believe she would defect.
Now that there was no trace of her, the likelihood of her meeting a grim fate was high.
After pondering for a moment, the Third Hokage instructed,
"Continue the search with full force, and keep a close eye on Root's movements."
Uzuki Yugao's sudden disappearance within Konoha likely meant she discovered some unspeakable secret.
This made the Third Hokage suspect Danzo.
"Yes."
The ANBU member acknowledged, then used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear.
...
"Ah~~~"
Shishou woke up and stretched.
He glanced at his insect breeding space, noticing the evolution of the Phosphorescent Worm and Healing Worm was complete, while the Caterpillar remained in its cocoon.
Seeing that more than half of the Phosphorescent Worms were gone, Shishou felt a bit distressed.
It had taken him days of searching for "good-hearted animals" to breed them.
After washing up, Shishou transformed into his 7-year-old self, getting ready for school.
"This is really inconvenient."
The feedback from the Phosphorescent Worms accelerated his growth, bringing many benefits, but also some trouble.
For instance, every time he went to school, he had to use the Transformation Jutsu to revert to his younger appearance, which was quite troublesome.
Fortunately, he lived alone; otherwise, it would be even more problematic.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Shishou had an idea. He undid the Transformation Jutsu, revealing his Mangekyou Sharingan.
Then, his right eye began to spin, and as it did, Shishou's body proportionally shrank until he was the size of a 7-year-old.
Mangekyou Sharingan · Right Eye · Body Enlargement: Able to enlarge or shrink the target's body size to about three times its original size.
"This makes things much easier."
Shishou was delighted, realizing an additional use of his Mangekyou Sharingan.
Though it wasn't a true transformation back to youth, this proportional shrinking could still be quite useful.
Next time, I'll make sure Mikoto really feels my strength...
Thinking this, Shishou walked out the door.
Today was the last day of the school year, with the final exams taking place. Shishou intended to see for himself how it went.
"Oh, it's snowing."
"Come to think of it, it is winter now."
Seeing the snow outside, Shishou returned to get a scarf and a hand warmer.
When he arrived at the classroom, he saw many students shivering with cold.
Naruto Uzumaki had a runny nose.
Shikamaru was huddled next to Choji, sleeping.
Though Sasuke appeared expressionless, his hands were red from the cold.
Kiba Inuzuka was hugging Akamaru for warmth.
Seeing this, Shishou chuckled inwardly, feeling even warmer with his hand warmer.
After finding an empty desk and sitting down, he noticed a pair of cold hands in his warmer.
Turning, he saw Ino Yamanaka sitting next to him, her hands inside his warmer.
"Hehe, Shishou, you don't mind, right?"
Ino squeezed closer to Shishou, her cheerful and bold nature showing no sign of ladylike restraint.
Shishou didn't mind at all.
He even covered her cold hands with his warm ones, making Ino blush.
Seeing Shishou and Ino so close, Hinata felt a bit envious and sad.
She wanted to sit next to Shishou but was too shy.
As she was lost in thought, she suddenly found a scarf wrapped around her. Looking up, she saw Shishou walking away.
"Shishou-kun..."
Hinata's pale face turned bright red, even her ears blushing.
"Tch, I'm cold too. Why didn't you give me a scarf?"
"Do you like Hinata?"
When Shishou returned, Ino loudly complained.
"You already have this, don't you?"
Shishou put his hands back in the warmer, deliberately squeezing her hands.
"Tch."
Ino blushed and fell silent.
Soon after, Iruka entered the classroom, announcing the start of the final exams.
The exams included written tests, shuriken throwing, and taijutsu combat.
The school would rank students based on their scores.
The top ten students would receive a set of shuriken as a reward, a small incentive.
A set of shuriken included ten shuriken and five kunai.
These items were nothing special to ninja clan children but were valuable to civilian children.
Many civilian children couldn't afford their own shuriken sets until they graduated and completed some low-rank missions.
Some even pooled money to buy a set and shared it.
Ironically,
The civilian children who needed these items the most were the least likely to make the top ten.
While the ninja clan children, who didn't need them, often held the top ten spots.
For instance, in Shishou's year,
Uchiha Sasuke was the favorite to take the top spot.
Next was Shishou Aburame.
With his insect interception skill that could block Iruka's chalk, Shishou had caught the attention of the teachers, becoming the top student after Sasuke.
After the morning's written test and shuriken throwing, the afternoon brought the combat tests.
After the first round of elimination, only about twenty students remained from all the classes.
Iruka, holding a list, started the second round of matches.
"Ino Yamanaka versus Mizusuke Sarutobi."
Hearing her name, Ino excitedly ran to the center of the field.
A boy from another class also stepped forward, and the match began.
Before long, Ino lost due to an injury to her arm, gritting her teeth in frustration.
"Damn it, damn it."
"How dare Mizusuke Sarutobi be so ruthless. Next time, I'll make him pay."
As a child of a ninja clan, Ino naturally knew Mizusuke Sarutobi, and losing to him made her very unwilling to accept it.
"Give me your hand."
Shishou took out a Healing Worm from his insect breeding space and used it to heal Ino's injury.
Holding hands with Shishou in public made even the bold Ino blush.
The matches continued, and soon it was Shishou's turn.
"Uchiha Sasuke versus Shishou Aburame!"