#12 - Samui's bottom line, Qingsi's way of opening his eyes

"?"

Samui froze.

Her eyes showed incomprehension.

What was Kiyoshi Yatsuki saying?

That she had caused him to fall out with Kumogakure.

Had she done such a thing?

"This isn't the place to talk."

Kiyoshi said.

Samui had no choice but to suppress the doubts in her heart and take Kiyoshi to a private room on the second floor of the sushi restaurant.

Only she and Kiyoshi were in the private room.

"Kiyoshi, what do you mean by what you said?"

Samui asked, her voice tinged with wariness.

She had always heard that the Uchiha clan's behavior was extreme, their thinking twisted, and the things they did were abnormal.

Could it be that Kiyoshi had inherited this trait after returning to the Uchiha?

"I heard everything you guys said on the third floor that day."

Kiyoshi suddenly dropped a bomb, his tone as casual as if he were talking about the weather.

Samui's pupils constricted:

"...What?"

That day, she had personally seen Kiyoshi walk away, and only after making sure no one was around did she communicate with Samoto.

Could a Sharingan with only one eye open have such powerful insight?

Samui looked at Kiyoshi before her.

He was clearly just a kid who had just entered the ninja academy and had luckily awakened the Uchiha clan's bloodline limit.

Kiyoshi didn't answer, but simply raised his eyebrows slightly and made a few silent mouth movements.

It was exactly what she had said that day: "Kiyoshi Yatsuki probably doesn't want to return to Kumogakure."

"So what if I did? I was just saying."

"Your 'just saying' chilled me to the bone. I originally wanted to return to Kumogakure, but I didn't expect someone to say that about me behind my back. Isn't that questioning the place of the Uchiha clan and Kumogakure in my heart?"

Kiyoshi said.

"!"

Samui's face paled slightly.

Kiyoshi's words were far-fetched.

So far-fetched that it was making a mountain out of a molehill.

But no matter how far-fetched it was.

She had indeed said those words.

Even if she was sure that Kiyoshi didn't care much about Kumogakure, she absolutely couldn't say that.

Some things don't weigh much until you put them on the scale, but once you do, they can weigh a ton.

If the higher-ups knew that because of her, even if there was a 1% chance that it was the reason Kiyoshi wouldn't return, she wouldn't have a good time.

If it were just her words, Samui could endure the consequences.

But she also had a younger brother, Atsui, who would definitely be affected.

He was the only family Samui had left.

"No matter what, I was born in the Land of Lightning. You should be someone Kumogakure sent to win me over, but you don't have any trust in me. If I really returned to Kumogakure, I guess everyone would say behind my back that I'm a Konoha spy. How would I dare to go back?"

"I hope Samoto doesn't mind this, after all, he's very confident that I'll return to Kumogakure."

Kiyoshi said leisurely, as if he were stating a fact.

He was taking advantage of the fact that Samui cared about her family.

Whether in the manga or anime storyline, Samui had a younger brother, Atsui.

He knew that his bloodline limit was very valuable to Kumogakure, but not to the point of ignoring everything else.

For example, the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails beasts in Kumogakure were worth ten Kiyoshis.

However, compared to Samui and Samui's family, Kiyoshi's value was undoubtedly higher.

The air suddenly fell silent.

"...What do you want?"

After what seemed like a few breaths, Samui pursed her lips and said.

Kiyoshi smiled upon hearing this.

A spy from Kumogakure, huh.

She really got it right away.

"My request isn't high."

Kiyoshi continued, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear.

"Give me another ninjutsu scroll. I want a body strengthening ninjutsu, and D-rank will do."

Kiyoshi stated his request.

His eyes fixed on Samui.

Samui was a head taller than him, so Kiyoshi had to look up at her.

As a result, two dark shadows covered Kiyoshi's face under the light.

"...D-rank?"

A trace of relief flashed in Samui's blue eyes. She crossed her arms, as if supporting her precarious, full curves.

Just a D-rank ninjutsu.

Samui knew that if Kiyoshi had insisted a little more that day, Samoto might have given Kiyoshi a few more D-rank ninjutsu.

This kind of technique for genin-level students wouldn't cause any trouble.

Many ninjas from families would receive more extra education in their families.

Only civilian ninjas could only learn E-rank ninjutsu during the ninja academy stage.

"Okay."

Samui agreed to Kiyoshi's request.

She pulled off her long gloves, revealing a white bandage on her wrist.

Under the bandage were several small sealing scrolls.

Poof.

Samui opened a sealing scroll, took out a pale yellow scroll, and threw it to Kiyoshi.

"This is a lightning-style body strengthening ninjutsu that can activate muscle cells, called 'Lightning Release: Iron Skin'."

He didn't rush to open the scroll, but instead put it in his arms and looked back at Samui.

Samui's face was full of exotic charm, with a high nose bridge and three-dimensional features.

Then there was her plump body, round and high thighs, and just standing there, there was a faint fragrance.

Her figure was quite good.

Kiyoshi's brain was faintly secreting a special chakra.

The Uchiha clan didn't just have the path of "pain" to open their eyes.

In fact, it was more about stimulating the spirit, the kind of stimulation that completely covered one's emotions and made the brain tremble.

What was needed was a strong emotional fluctuation to promote the brain to secrete a special chakra.

Even awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan didn't necessarily require "the death of the closest person".

For example, Sasuke didn't evolve into the Mangekyō Sharingan when he killed Itachi.

It wasn't until Obito told him the truth and the series of things Itachi had done behind the scenes.

Itachi's image and the meaning he had always insisted on seemed to have always been "misunderstood".

This truth was the trigger for Sasuke to open his eyes.

There was also Sarada, who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan because no one believed in her, including her own biological father.

And Kiyoshi didn't necessarily have to use "pain", "shock", "guarding", "guilt", and so on.

He also had emotional fluctuations for tasting "good things".

"Good things" refer to... people like Samui.

Perhaps it was Kiyoshi's undisguised scrutiny that made Samui frown slightly.

"Isn't this enough to show Kumogakure's sincerity to you? If you return to Kumogakure, A-rank and even S-rank ninjutsu won't be impossible."

"Thank you, Miss Samui,"

Kiyoshi said in a flat tone, withdrawing his gaze. "It seems Kumogakure is indeed very sincere."

Kiyoshi didn't say the second half of the sentence.

That was, it was only enough sincerity for today.

How could a D-rank ninjutsu fill Kiyoshi's stomach?

The reason he chose a body strengthening ninjutsu was just to get his body stronger faster.

And he could only learn D-rank ninjutsu at most now. Any higher than that would be a waste of time and energy.