At noon, Shin and Kushina left the Academy. School was out, and they were heading home for lunch.
"Shin, wait up!"
Shin stopped and turned to see Nawaki running towards them.
"Shin, you're new to Konoha, right? You probably don't know your way around. Would you like me to give you a tour?" Nawaki offered enthusiastically.
Shin thought it over. Familiarizing himself with Konoha was a good idea, and having Nawaki as a guide wouldn't hurt.
"Sure, that would be great, Nawaki."
"Awesome! Let's grab some food first. My treat! Ramen, anyone?" Nawaki grinned.
"Thanks for showing us around, but lunch is on me," Shin insisted.
They had a decent amount of money saved up from their allowance in Uzushiogakure.
"Well, if you insist..."
Nawaki considered his meager funds. He probably didn't have enough to treat them, so he didn't argue.
Despite being the grandson of the Shodaime Hokage, Nawaki was perpetually broke, thanks to his gambling-addict sister.
Nawaki led them to a small street lined with food stalls near the Academy. They entered a ramen shop.
"Looks like a lot of Academy students eat here," Kushina observed.
"Yeah, it's too much trouble to go home and come back. We'd lose all our lunch break. Most of us either bring our own lunch or eat here," Nawaki explained.
"Makes sense. There's only a little over an hour for lunch break. Going home would be cutting it close," Shin agreed. If your house was close to the Academy, it wouldn't be a problem, but if it was far, you might be late.
"Hey, Mikoto-san, you're here too?"
Shin scanned the ramen shop and saw Uchiha Mikoto sitting quietly in a corner, eating her ramen.
"Wow, you have good eyes. You spotted her all the way over there," Kushina said, a hint of jealousy in her voice.
"Shin-san?"
Mikoto looked up in surprise.
"Mind if we join you?" Shin smiled as he walked over. Kushina trailed behind him, shooting Mikoto a hostile look.
Nawaki hesitated, then followed.
He wasn't thrilled about sitting with an Uchiha. The feud between the Senju and Uchiha Clans ran deep.
"I didn't expect to see you all here, Shin-san, Kushina-san, Nawaki-san," Mikoto said with a gentle smile.
"Knowing this, I would have rather gone home," Kushina muttered under her breath, loud enough for only Shin to hear.
Shin ordered a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen. Kushina ordered the same. Nawaki went for Miso Ramen.
Perhaps because of Mikoto's presence, Nawaki, usually a chatterbox, was unusually quiet.
Kushina waited for her ramen, chin resting on her hand. Mikoto ate quietly. The atmosphere was a bit awkward.
The ramen shop, however, was bustling with activity.
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A while later, their ramen arrived. As Shin slurped his noodles, the shop suddenly fell silent.
He looked up, confused. Then he saw a ninja enter the shop and understood.
The ninja's uniform bore the same clan symbol as Mikoto, the Uchiha fan.
'The Uchiha Clan sure has a presence,' Shin thought.
"He's a Jōnin from our clan. He has a bad temper," Mikoto explained.
'An Uchiha Jōnin, huh?'
Shin thought of his Replication System. 'System, can a Common Replication Card copy his Sharingan prowess?'
He wanted to Copy, not the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai itself, but the ocular prowess it granted. He wasn't sure if it was possible.
"His strength is at Jōnin level. Copying is feasible," the System confirmed.
Shin looked at the Uchiha Jōnin. [Use one Common Replication Card to Copy his Sharingan Prowess.]
He felt a tingling sensation in his eyes. A surge of power flooded his vision.
Surprised by the sudden change, Shin quickly covered his eyes. Three black tomoe swirled momentarily in his eyes.
"Shin, what's wrong?"
Kushina asked, alarmed.
"Nothing, just got some soup in my eye," Shin said with a chuckle, removing his hand.
"Oh, be careful."
Shin continued eating, but his mind was racing. He had copied the Uchiha's Sharingan prowess, his one-tomoe Sharingan instantly evolving to three-tomoe.
A five-year-old with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan? If the Uchiha Clan found out, who knew what they would do?
'This System cheat is insane. What's the point of training when you can just copy everything?'
But even with this cheat, he couldn't slack off. He had to work hard, or it would be a waste of the System's potential.
'If I keep accumulating Sharingan prowess, can I keep evolving my [Sharingan]?'
Shin theorized that with enough Ocular Power, he could evolve his Mangekyō Sharingan into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan without needing a sibling's eyes.
Sharingan prowess was essentially Yin Release, the manipulation of spiritual energy. Genjutsu, for example, relied on Yin Release.
So, theoretically, with enough spiritual energy, he could even awaken the Rinnegan.
No, the Rinnegan probably wasn't that simple. It seemed to require a combination of Yin and Yang Release.
But regardless, Shin felt he had stumbled upon another way to obtain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Hey, Shin, why are you spacing out while eating? You're getting noodles in your nose!"
Kushina nudged him, bringing him back to reality.
Kushina, Mikoto, and Nawaki were all staring at him. Shin felt his cheeks burn.
"Just thinking about something," he mumbled, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He'd contemplate this later, at home.
After finishing their meal, Shin paid for everyone's ramen, including Mikoto's.
Mikoto tried to pay him back, but Shin insisted, saying they were friends.
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