Kadoya, having served his one-week suspension, finally returned to school.
For Minato and his friends, it was a relief. For everyone else, it was a silent nightmare.
The moment he stepped through the classroom door, most students stiffened. Whispers died. All eyes locked onto him with poorly concealed fear.
After all, Kadoya had asked them to "dance", a phrase that, in his context, ended with multiple hospitalizations. Some students were still recovering in bed, their injuries more severe due to weaker bodies and slower healing.
Back in his usual seat, Kadoya sat down calmly. But the tension in the air was thick. Even Shikaku, normally the picture of composure, glanced at him once, then wordlessly stood up and moved to the opposite side of the room.
By the time Mayabi-sensei entered the classroom, she paused mid-step, blinking at the sight before her.
Kadoya, Minato, Saiguu, and Kushina were all seated together in one corner of the room. The entire rest of the class had huddled into the opposite corner, cramped together to the point where a few were sitting on the floor, clutching their backpacks like shields.
Mayabi opened her mouth to scold them back to their assigned seats… only to spot Kadoya staring into the abyss, unbothered.
She immediately understood the unspoken message in the room.
With a long, defeated sigh, she let it go. If it meant preserving peace (and hospital bills), she'd allow it.
When class ended, Kushina spun around with a bright grin, holding up an opaque, sealed box like it was a treasure.
"Guys! Guess what this is?" she beamed, wiggling the box in front of him.
Minato's face went pale. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple as he gave his brother a silent look of concern.
"Kushina… why would you think of making a bento?" he asked with visible unease.
Kushina's smile only widened, suspiciously innocent.
She didn't answer.
The story behind the mysterious box went back a few days.
During one of her casual chats with the Nine-Tails, Kushina had accidentally let it slip that she liked someone.
The ancient fox, who had been lounging lazily in her inner space like a bored housecat, perked up instantly, ears twitching, eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Oho? Someone's in love?" the Nine-Tails grinned, baring its fangs like it had just found a new favorite pastime. "Tell me everything."
With far too much enthusiasm for a creature of mass destruction, Kurama began prying into Kushina's love life, peppering her with questions and unsolicited advice like some overzealous aunt at a wedding.
Of course, Kurama had its reasons.
It still vividly remembered the fear and humiliation Kadoya Uchiha had inflicted upon it, not to mention the cold, terrifying warning: If you ever break free from Kushina… your next host will be me.
Between living inside the relatively cheerful, dumb, if occasionally loud, Kushina, or getting shoved into Kadoya's endless void of a world where sleep was a myth and chaos reigned, well, the choice was obvious.
At least with Kushina, the fox had a solid place to lie down. That alone made it tolerable.
Then, the night before school resumed, Kushina sought its advice again.
"Hey, Big Fox, what should I bring for my friends tomorrow?" she asked, plopping down in her mental space.
"Ugh, you're disturbing me again," Kurama grumbled, lifting one eye. "Why should I care what you bring to your little playgroup?"
"Because I want it to be something special," she said, then added with a slight blush, "especially for… them."
Kurama narrowed its eyes. "Then think about what your sweetheart likes and go from there."
Kushina sat there, genuinely pondering.
What did Kadoya and Minato like?
Several guesses and rejected ideas later, she sighed in defeat. "I don't know what either of them likes..."
"Seriously?" the Nine-Tails scoffed. "You're hopeless."
"Then help me think of something!" she demanded, puffing out her cheeks.
The giant fox groaned, muttering curses about meddling teenagers, before finally sitting up.
"Fine. Since you ask, let's me think..."
And so, after a long and unusual brainstorming session between a teenage girl and a centuries-old demon fox…
Kushina brought this to school.
Kadoya stared at the slightly blushing girl in front of him, then shifted his gaze down to the container of dark, murky, unidentifiable liquid.
"Are you sure this is plum juice?" Minato asked warily, sweat forming at his temple.
Saiguu opened her mouth, but no words came out. She wanted to say something, but how could she? Telling Kushina the truth would be cruel. Even she knew how terrifying cooking could be.
Kushina quickly nodded with her usual bright smile.
"Then... what's that?" Saiguu asked, pointing at a yellowish chunk floating aimlessly in the so-called juice.
"Mango!" Kushina replied cheerfully.
There was a pause.
Mango.
In plum juice.
Who in the world put mangos in plum juice? Whoever gave her this idea should be dragged out into the street and publicly reprimanded, or hanged. Either would suffice.
Kadoya finally spoke. "What the hell is this?"
"It's just… I'm still a little unskilled…" Kushina admitted, her voice getting smaller with each word. She, too, noticed that the plum juice looked more like… biohazard soup. But this had taken her hours of effort. Surely, that counted for something.
Kadoya exhaled sharply. "Give me your hands."
Kushina immediately stiffened, subtly trying to hide her fingers behind her back.
"Don't bother hiding them. I'm not blind," Kadoya said dryly.
She hesitated, then reluctantly extended her hand. It was bandaged and faintly stained with blood.
He stared at it, speechless.
A small cut had been bleeding since morning? When did Uzumaki's healing factors get this fragile?
Something was definitely wrong. Someone had clearly been giving her terrible advice.
Whoever it was... don't let me find you, Kadoya silently swore. He wasn't above beating someone half to death under the excuse of "righteous fury."
Kushina smiled slightly as a gentle green glow emitted from Kadoya's fingertips, the wound on her hand rapidly healing.
Inside her mind, she was practically bouncing with glee. "Ohhh! It's working! Big Fox, you're amazing!"
"Of course," Kurama said smugly. "I once used this very tactic to deceive- cough, cough -never mind, let's not talk about that."
Then, with grim sincerity, it added, "By the way, let me give you some advice, don't let them drink or eat that thing. It's far beyond the realm of food. It should be classified as a biochemical weapon."
"What did you say?!" Kushina huffed in her mind. "If you keep talking like that, I won't ever undo your seal!"
"I'm just saying," Kurama muttered. "If they takes a sip, you better pray their body can survive it."
And so, under Kushina's hopeful yet nervous gaze, Kadoya and Minato both reluctantly raised their cups and carefully took a sip.
Kushina leaned forward. "Well? How is it?"
Silence.
Then, Minato clutched his throat, his face turning a shade of purple, his voice hoarse and trembling as he croaked out: "I-It… tastes… great!"
But anyone paying attention could clearly hear the strain in his voice. It sounded like he'd just gargled sandpaper.
"Ughhh…" Kadoya groaned, his legs wobbling. As he leaned against the table for support, his signature black ahoge fell off.
Everyone: "!?"
Nobody knew what that meant.
Then suddenly, a thick, dark aura erupted from Kadoya's body. He raised his head, and his usual black eyes had become sharper, colder.
The dark aura along was enough to send chill down everyone spine and even some students began making a run for it.
"...Clock Up."
His body blurred the next instant, there was a human-shaped hole in the wall.
Not through the door. Not even the open window. No, Kadoya had chosen violence and crashed through the middle of the classroom wall.
Everyone: "…"
Nobody said a word. They were too busy trying to understand what just happened.
Just then, another brave, or perhaps foolish, soul stepped forward. An Inuzuka boy.
The class held its breath.
His face was red as a tomato, and his steps wavered like a baby deer learning to walk. He hesitated for a long moment before blurting out,
"U-uh… K-Kushina! Are you free after school today?!"
The words exploded from him like a jutsu misfire.
Clearly, this confession had been brewing for weeks. And now that Kadoya had literally exited the room through the wall, this was his moment.
Unfortunately…
Every student in the class slowly turned their heads toward the scene, gossip instincts kicking in at full throttle. Eyes wide. Ears perked.
Meanwhile, Kushina was still mentally reeling from her plum juice disaster, internally discussing new strategies with the Nine-Tails.
Then someone called her name.
She blinked, looked up… and saw some unfamiliar Inuzuka kid awkwardly standing there, his expression a blend of fear, hope, and desperation.
Kushina stared.
Wait. What?
You're asking me out NOW?!
I'm already feeling down, and now you're asking me out after school?!
Right after I emotionally flatlined over plum juice?
Are you KIDDING me?!
Her expression darkened.
This guy was the first person who ever laughed at my red hair!
Sure, Kadoya also laughed that day, but not at her. He laughed like a lunatic when she yelled about becoming Hokage. Then he called her gutsy and challenged her to prove it.
That was different.
This? This was insult on injury.
Kushina stood up slowly, fire in her eyes.
"Who the hell are you?" she snapped. "Get lost."
The Inuzuka kid froze, eyes wide, then silently slinked away, face pale, heart shattered.
Some swore they heard it break. Like glass.
After some time, Mayabi-sensei returned to class only to notice a teen-sized human-shaped hole on the wall.
Mayabi: "What the!?"
She turned to her class looking for an explanation, but when she didn't see her problem child anywhere, she understood who created that hole. She would report this to the Hokage later and let him cover the repair cost.
...
In the Uchiha Compound,
As Kadoya moved silently through the Uchiha Clan Land, the dark aura surrounding him drew anxious glances from every clan member he passed. Whispers followed in his wake, heads turned, and the air tensed with unease.
He was walking, but the pressure he gave off felt like a storm creeping over the horizon.
Sensing movement behind him, Kadoya halted and slowly turned. In the distance, Sentaro Uchiha and a few shinobi were approaching fast.
"Clock Over," he muttered.
In an instant, his motion ceased, and five minutes later, the shinobi finally caught up, appearing before him.
"Clan Head Kadoya!" one of them greeted, dropping to one knee in formal salute.
The Uchiha took a cautious step forward. "Is something troubling you?" he asked, voice calm, though his eyes flicked nervously between the bodies in the training ground.
Kadoya had moved so fast earlier that without his dark aura, none of them would've noticed him at all. The thought that someone this fast had "danced" with them before… and held back... sent a chill down their spines.
At just nine years old, their Clan Head has shown that he could already kill a room of jonin in a blink.
That was a terrifying kind of pride.
Kadoya stared down at them, expression unreadable.
"…I'm bored," he said plainly. "Do you wanna dance?"
The Uchiha shinobi: "…"
They began sweating bullets.
Some took an instinctive step back, haunted by fresh memories of last time. The so-called "dance" had ended with most of them sprawled across the ground in varying degrees of consciousness.
Kadoya casually cracked his neck, loud pops echoing across the silent field.
Behind him lay several unconscious, beaten Uchiha, groaning and twitching. One of them, Yuto Uchiha, struggled to prop himself up.
"Y-your movements are stiff," Kadoya muttered, looking down at him. "Your breathing... what the hell are you even trying to do?"
Yuto coughed, clutching his ribs. "Kadoya-sama… we were just… trying to mimic your breathing… from before…"
Kadoya's eyes narrowed.
Then it clicked.
The Uchiha were copying his Hamon-style breathing using their Sharingan, but without any knowledge, preparation, or training.
"You've gotta be kidding me." His voice dropped, dangerously calm.
"You tried to copy an advanced breathing technique without training your lungs?"
The silence answered for them.
"Foolishness!" Kadoya's voice thundered.
The shinobi flinched, even the conscious ones wincing at the outburst.
"This is a breathing-based taijutsu! If you don't train properly, your lungs won't be able to keep up, maybe even choke yourself to death!"
They all froze.
Now that he mentioned it… a few of them had nearly blacked out from hyperventilation.
Kadoya sighed in frustration, rubbing his temple.
"Fine," he grumbled. "I'll write a basic training scroll and stash it in the clan archive. Until then, tell everyone to stop doing this is."
He paused, voice sharpening.
"If I find anyone dead because they choked on air trying to copy me, I swear, I'll build a grave for you in the middle of the compound with your name and 'Died from breathing too hard' carved into it."
"…Yes, Clan Head Kadoya!" they all shouted in ragged unison, despite many of them still unable to stand.
...
At a VIP room in a casino somewhere in the Land of Fire.
"Well, it's an honor to finally meet the legend himself, Kadoya Tsukasa." The Fire Daimyo said with a smile, sitting face to face with Kadoya Tsukasa.
After all, Kadoya Tsukasa has become somewhat famous in the gambling community, someone who is blessed by the Goddess of Luck and is unable to fail in any bet.
The Fire Daimyo is interested in Kadoya Tsukasa's ability and wanted to know what trick he used, and he could also teach him those tricks.
"The honor is mine, Daimyo-sama." He quickly greeted back, knowing that his plan to draw out the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had worked. "Daimyo-sama, is there any reason for a noble such as yourself to meet a commoner like me in person?"
"Well, since you are so eager and get right to the point. I won't bore you with pleasantry. I want to know how you're so good at gambling? Just you alone was enough to dry out three casinos." Fire Daimyo said with a smile, although he didn't lack money, winning every bet would certainly give him an edge over the other Daimyo in their next meeting.
"This, I'm not sure Daimyo-sama, I'm currently still trying to discover the reason for this. My current guest is that I'm somehow blessed by the goddess of fortune." He said respectfully, making the Fire Daimyo scratch his chin, feeling a bit disappointed by his answer, but decided not to push him too much.
After all, the other part already said that they didn't know and are trying to discover the cause. If he keeps pressing, and what the other party said is true, that would only create unnecessary distrust between them.
"By the way, Daimyo-sama, did you know about the new Uchiha Professional Guard Service?" Kadoya suddenly asks, causing the Fire Daimyo to raise a brow in surprise.
"Oh? The Uchiha now have a professional guard service?"
"Yes, it's newly established, but after the war began. Getting any clients is a bit difficult for them." Kadoya calmly lies without even flinching as he turns to his bag and pulls out a scroll, placing it on the desk and pushing it toward the Fire Daimyo.
"I managed to get one of their contract scroll, but I currently have no need for them. So I think it would be more fitting if you actually use this."
"Oh? Interesting." The Daimyo has one of his guards come up and pick up the scroll, and open it for him.
"Just think about it, Daimyo-sama, your entourage would certainly look more impressive guarded by Uchiha with their distinctive Sharingan than by ordinary guards." Kadoya said, his voice magnetic almost sounding like a devil whisper.
The Fire Daimyo thinks about it, but just the thought of showing off to his brothers his impressive Uchiha guards, a smirk appears on his lips.
"Indeed, that would sound quite impressive." the Daimyo said with a smile, snatching the scroll and pocketing it.
Kadoya just smiled, seeing that the big fish he was waiting for had taken the bait.