Chapter 260: Apprenticeship 1

With his previous plans ruined, Rei decided to be a bit more passive in his future approach, and most importantly, he now always consulted his plans with Konan.

Well... not that he had any other option anyway after the last debacle... right?

Kumo and Iwa were totally forgotten and left to their own devices. These two were frankly the strongest villages in the Elemental Nations and as such, Rei deemed it far too troublesome to even try subverting them in some way, especially since they had no idea about the existence of the Village on the Other Side yet.

Iwa, despite losing a sizable bulk of their force in the third ninja war, was quickly on its way to full recovery. The thing was, Rei was only aware of that thanks to the monitoring of their purchases from the Biri-Biri company and Konan's spy network. Onoki was damn good at keeping things under the wraps. They were eighty percent recovered and nobody had any idea. Iwagakure really deserved its moniker of the most militaristic hidden village.

Kumo, on the other hand, didn't have many losses in the third war despite their borders being penetrated by Kiri. Their forces were bolstering and the village enjoyed its momentary title of the strongest hidden village. After all, after the Kyuubi attack, Konoha really had no way to contend for it.

Instead of expanding, Rei decided that solidifying their secret hold on the three foreign villages and developing them was the way to go. After all, there were still numerous either financial, political, or militaristic problems present in these villages, just waiting to be resolved.

And while that was going on... the Village on the Other Side was in dire need of more high-level personnel too.

...

Izumi Uchiha nervously fidgeted while sitting on the waiting sofa right outside Konan's office. She had no idea why she was called in by the woman and her mind was fabricating various scenarios that made her quite jumpy.

Konan was widely known as one of the most important kunoichis in the whole village. As a member of the Uchiha clan, which was totally new in the village and wanted to prove itself, Izumi wanted to make a good impression on Konan. The problem was... Konan did not socialize a lot. Not outside of her job or family. Hence, the people in the village had no idea what to think about her or the personality she hid behind that cold exterior of hers.

Yes, she was extremely respected... but so was Itachi Uchiha, and look where that led the Uchiha clan.

At that moment, Izumi let out a whiny sigh as she realized that such a comparison was a bit too much and completely unfair to the people who saved her clan from assured extermination.

'Calm down, girl. You are too tense. What's the worst that can happen?' Izumi wryly thought, trying to think up and compare the worst imaginable fate to calm her nerves. 'It's not like she could drown me in even more paper than my clan already does.'

With that reminder, her mood plummeted and she didn't even notice how her nerves calmed down as her mind was filled with annoyance. Elder Isamu seemed to be grooming her for the leadership position in the future, which entailed a lot of paperwork on top of a lot of other paperwork, spiced up by some more paperwork, and to top it off, she got paperwork... At times, Izumi wondered if Isamu was making fun of her. Wasn't being a clan head supposed to be a bit more exciting?

Unknown to her, it was simply a test if she was smart enough to use Sharingan for it. Which... she didn't pass. Hence, her current predicament.

The door finally opened and Konan looked at the grouchy Izumi, lifting her eyebrow, "Good morning. Come in." She said and went back in.

Not long after that, Izumi found herself sitting opposite Konan who watched her like a hawk with a judgemental gaze, making her feel uncomfortable. Izumi, though, refused to budge or show her discomfort. To appear confident no matter how squeamishly shitty you felt was the very first lesson Elder Isamu instilled in her.

Konan opened a file on her table and looked at it, "Izumi Uchiha. Most promising of the current generation of the young Uchihas. Already awakened her Mangekyo Sharingan. Tsukuyomi confirmed. Preferences for genjutsu, meaning a keen intellect and good chakra control." That's where Konan paused for a bit before reading out loud the next part. "Moderately stupid as far as using her bloodline goes. Never found the trick of using Sharingan for the paperwork. Watching her wrestle with it is funny as heck, though. Signed, Isamu Uchiha." Konan looked back at Izumi with amusement written on her face, enjoying the slack-jawed expression the girl portrayed.

"That jackass had me doing the paperwork for a month without telling me about the shortcut!?" Izumi exclaimed in deep disbelief while subconsciously standing up before bonelessly slumping back into her seat.

There was a lot of paperwork involved in the assimilation of the Uchiha clan to the village. Especially for the Uchiha clan leader. It was nice to know Isamu Uchiha had an unparalleled work ethic and knew the trick of making others do his job for him.

'Looks like I have no reason to worry for the future of the Uchiha clan.' Konan inwardly mused.

A wide range of emotions flickered through Izumi's face before Konan deemed her entertainment satisfying enough to move on. "Do you know why you are here, girl?"

The thirteen years old young woman blinked at Konan... before instantly straightening up in her seat when she realized she was still in front of her immediate superior. Gulping, she tried to give a composed reply, "N-No." And promptly scolded herself for the small stutter.

"You are here on recommendation from Isamu Uchiha to become my apprentice." Konan informed her.

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Izumi furrowed her brows and pointed at herself, "Me?"

"You." Konan nodded.

"Why?" Izumi asked in bewilderment.

"Why not?" Konan tilted her head. "You don't want it?"

"But..." Izumi frowned. She thought she would be the next clan head. That would mean working under Isamu Uchiha and learning the ropes of leading the clan. Not... doing grunt work for Konan. Sure, working for Konan meant her future was assured if she did well but... she simply didn't understand.

"Your Mangekyo... you have Tsukuyomi and Kamui, right?" Konan gave the girl a knowing smirk, causing Izumi to stiffen.

"H-How?" Izumi's head snapped back to Konan and her tone became guarded. She didn't reveal the second ability of her Mangekyo even to the Elder Isamu. There was no way Konan could have known!

"I am not the village's spymaster for nothing, girl. You tried your Mangekyo in one of our training grounds. Did you really think I wouldn't know?" Konan rolled her eyes.

All of the trees in the village were made by the Wood Release. It was a child's play for Konan to connect her chakra to these trees with her own Wood Release, having them act like her own sensory field. She might not be able to keep herself informed of all the happenings in the Village on the Other Side to the degree Mei could with her Boil Release but that didn't mean Konan did not monitor the village at all.

"Er..." Izumi looked at her hands, "If you chose me because of my eyes, then I am sorry but I can't use my Mangekyo. I would go blind." She fearfully whispered. That single attempt at using her abilities scared the living heck out of her. The searing pain in her eyes told Izumi enough about the damage that was being caused to her eyes. She grew up as an Uchiha. It was instilled in her that her eyes were the most important part of her. Any thought of damaging them sent a chill crawl up her spine.

After that particular training session, despite her hatred for Itachi, Izumi found a newfound respect for her peer. She couldn't even imagine the determination he had to have to keep damaging his eyes for power.

Konan looked at Izumi and sighed. The girl was serious. "You know... the guy who helped Itachi with the massacre was a master at using Kamui." She revealed. As classified as that information was, Konan would rather have a motivated student than a fearful and depressed one. "I chose you as my apprentice because, firstly, the Uchiha clan needs a connection to the higher-ups of the village. The Uzumaki, Kaguya, and other clans do have ninjas in reasonably high positions so this could even the political playing field for the Uchiha clan."

In the village on the Other Side, Rei ruled. What he said went and there were to be no questions asked. That was a fact.

But Rei didn't begrudge the clans playing politics and pursue self-betterment to a degree. That sparked a desire for development and strengthening themselves. Seeing other clans in the village getting richer or stronger made their co-habitants determined to reach the same heights. This competition was good as long as the clans had no say in the most important matters.

"The second reason for why you are here is," Konan continued, "Your fighting style with Kamui and genjutsu could be very similar to mine once trained enough. Like Itachi Uchiha, you are a hit-and-run type of ninja. So... are you willing to become my apprentice?"

"Do I even have a choice?" Izumi meekly asked.

"Of course you do." Konan rolled her eyes. Except… no she did not. 'But the girl doesn't need to know that.' Konan inwardly frowned. The second Isamu Uchiha recommended Izumi for this position, it was obvious her chances at becoming the clan leader were null and void. 'Ah, well, I created a miracle with Mei and Ringo… I am sure with Rei's help, I can make another one. Who knows, maybe she will end up as the clan head if she does well.'

Izumi silently contemplated her situation. This would take her away from the clan for quite a significant amount of time and most likely hurt her chances of becoming the clan leader. On the upside, she would definitely grow strong. Extremely strong if Konan does right by her. But then again, Konan was not doing this out of the goodness of her heart either. It was obvious this apprenticeship would simply be grooming to fill some kind of position in the village.

After a while, Izumi just shook her head, "Even if this was not extremely beneficial to me, there is no way I could turn down the opportunity to get a connection between the Uchiha clan and the village's leadership going on. If I did, I would have been made into an outcast in my own clan." She emptily chuckled. "I accept."

Konan simply snorted. She always found clan politics ridiculous.

"So... what's first?" Izumi curiously asked, causing a particular glint to pass through Konan's eyes.

Konan warmly smiled, "Why... you gotta learn how to properly do the paperwork, of course!"

And suddenly, Izumi started regretting her choice...

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