Chapter 140: A Heartfelt Gift

"Today's training is over. It's already late, everyone go back." Mu Yue said gently.

At this time, it was already seven in the evening, and the sky had darkened.

"Mm, see you later, Teacher Mu Yue." Obito said excitedly, saying goodbye to Mu Yue.

"See you later, Teacher Mu Yue." Shisui also said goodbye to Mu Yue.

"Shisui, I won't go back with you today. I have something to do with Lin. You go back alone." Obito said to Shisui.

Since he wanted to give Shisui a surprise, he definitely wouldn't go back together.

"Mm, then I'll go back alone." Shisui nodded, his expression not changing much.

After finally saying goodbye to everyone, Shisui walked alone towards the direction home.

The moon of October 19 was also round. Under the moonlight, Shisui's shadow stretched longer and longer, lined up beside the trees, seeming not lonely.

"Same as usual..." Shisui recalled the day and found it no different from usual.

Thinking carefully, is the day you were born really so special worth celebrating?

For a ninja, wouldn't the day you master a powerful ninjutsu be more worth commemorating?

After leaving the Southern Forest, Shisui gradually entered the main city area, and the people around gradually increased.

Although it was a time of war, the warring parties had not yet exerted their full force. Konoha was not much affected. The main city area was still prosperous. Although it was night, there were still many people on the streets, and various shops were brightly lit.

"Be good, don't cry. When it's your birthday, Mommy will buy you a toy."

The child who had been crying for some reason quickly showed a smile again after being comforted by his mother.

"Dad, I want to eat that!"

"No, didn't you just finish eating?"

"But I want to eat it."

"Then only one."

Some children saw the fried food on the street emitting an enticing aroma and couldn't help asking their parents.

Some parents couldn't withstand their child's innocent little face begging, while others could use various techniques to make the child voluntarily give up.

"This is too expensive, our family is poor and can't afford it."

"If you eat this at night, the legendary Uchiha Madara will come and take you away."

Hearing this, Shisui felt a bit mixed. So that ancestor of his had reached the level of being able to stop children from crying at night?

Curious why so many children wanted to eat it, Shisui bought a fried meat patty and tasted it.

To be honest, Shisui only felt it was ordinary after the first bite. It was worlds apart from the tempura Mu Yue made.

With a mindset of not wasting food, Shisui finished it all.

As Shisui gradually approached the Uchiha clan's compound, the surroundings became quiet again.

When he was almost home, Shisui felt a sense of relief that today was finally over.

Although he knew Mu Yue would not help him celebrate his birthday, because Mu Yue didn't even know when his birthday was—he had never told Mu Yue.

But he couldn't help but have a glimmer of hope that the mysterious and powerful Teacher Mu Yue might know his birthday even without being told.

To be honest, Shisui hated that he had such thoughts. He thought if it were Obito, he would straightforwardly and happily tell Mu Yue that his birthday was coming.

Since he didn't tell the other person, why still hold expectations? Wasn't that hoping for something impossible?

"Shisui, you must learn from your grandfather Uchiha Kagami and become a strong and brave ninja who inherits the Will of Fire."

Shisui remembered the words his uncle said to him. His thoughts just now were hardly strong, even though he was only a six-year-old orphan without parents.

"Don't think too much. First, strengthen your strength. Then train the breathing method for two hours." Shisui thought to himself.

The ninja world is governed by strength. No matter how many thoughts you have, if you have no strength, it's meaningless.

Shisui skillfully walked to his home, which was pitch black from the outside.

After all, there was no one at home. It would be strange if the lights were on.

Although it was pitch black, it was his own home after all. As soon as he walked in, before turning on the light, Shisui keenly noticed something was off—there were some extra things.

He silently took a kunai from his ninja tool pouch, changed his breathing rhythm, and squinted as he observed the surroundings.

Suddenly, the light came on, and the dazzling white light of the electric lamp turned the once-dark room bright.

"Shisui, happy birthday!"

Shisui, who had been holding a kunai ready to fight, was dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of Muyue, Obito, and the others. With a clatter, the kunai even fell to the floor.

"Shisui, happy birthday." Muyue offered warm congratulations.

"Sorry, I wanted to give you a surprise, but it seems there was more shock than surprise." Muyue showed an apologetic expression.

"Hehe, so even you can make a face like that, Shisui." Obito chuckled as he looked at Shisui, whose eyes were wide open and face completely bewildered. It was a pity he didn't have a camera, or he would definitely have taken a photo as a souvenir.

"Shisui, happy birthday! Your youth is steadily moving forward." Might Guy gave Shisui a thumbs-up in celebration.

Shisui swept his gaze across his home, looking at the festive decorations everywhere, and felt an indescribable joy in his heart.

The more disappointed he had been along the way, the happier Shisui was now.

"Teacher Muyue, how did you guys know today is my birthday?" Shisui asked, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from lifting.

Although he was very excited inside, Shisui was genuinely curious about how Muyue had found out his birthday. It wasn't like he had gone to ask his uncle, was it?

"I don't know, Teacher Muyue told us." Obito answered.

"This is the wisdom of adults." Muyue said with a mysterious expression.

He was Shisui's homeroom teacher after all; something like this was too easy—just a look at Shisui's records was enough.

At that moment, Shisui had many things he wanted to say to Muyue, but when the words reached his lips, he didn't know where to start.

He really hadn't expected that a fantasy buried deep in his heart would actually come true. If he hadn't run into a child celebrating a birthday on the way home, Shisui might not have even noticed he had such a fantasy.

Muyue had miraculously learned his birthday, and then brought Obito and the others to give him a huge surprise in the evening.

"I…" Shisui's mind was a bit chaotic.

"Thank you, thank you, Teacher Muyue, and everyone." In the end, all the thousands of words in Shisui's heart turned into a single "thank you."

He was truly grateful. Even if Muyue hadn't gone to such trouble to decorate the room and give him a surprise, just a simple "happy birthday" would have made him very satisfied and excited.

Because he had never told Muyue about his birthday, and had never planned to trouble Muyue to celebrate it for him—this whole thing was an unexpected joy.

"Look at the cake—we picked it together! Even though it's not as big as the one we chipped in to buy for Teacher Muyue, it's still pretty good." Obito opened the lid covering the cake.

"Shisui, this is my birthday gift for you. From now on, let's keep training hard together and become strong ninjas." Might Guy gave Shisui a green tight suit, the same style as his own.

"Guy, thank you for the gift. I'm very happy." Shisui expressed his thanks.

He decided to keep this outfit as a souvenir; wearing it himself was out of the question—it would feel too strange.

"This is the kunai I won first place with in the last Youth Ninjutsu Tournament. Time was short and I couldn't think of anything good to give, so I'll give this to you."

Obito handed his previously won silver kunai to Shisui, with a hint of reluctance in his eyes.

The time was too short—he couldn't think of what to give. The only decent thing he had on him was this silver kunai from winning the tournament.

"Obito, thank you for the gift. But since it's so meaningful, why don't you swap it for an ordinary kunai? Keep this one for yourself." Shisui said.

The fact that Obito was willing to take out something he treasured so much as a gift already made Shisui very happy—the intent was more than enough.

"No way, how can I take back a gift I've given? Shisui, you take it. I'm definitely not taking it back." Obito firmly pressed it into Shisui's hand.

Seeing how insistent Obito was, Shisui didn't refuse and accepted Obito's kindness.

He planned to casually go win first place in that Youth Ninjutsu Tournament next time it started, and when Obito's birthday came, he would also give him a first-place silver kunai.

Rin Nohara's gift was a handmade item. Due to time constraints, it looked a bit rushed, but Shisui still saw the thought behind it and nodded in thanks.

"I'm truly grateful to everyone." Shisui said, taking a deep breath.

This surprise was completely unexpected—he was overjoyed.

"Shisui, you haven't even seen my gift yet. Don't rush to thank us." Muyue said with a chuckle.

Muyue handed a rectangular gift box to Shisui and said, "Open it now. I hope you like it."

Shisui nodded, and without hesitation, opened the gift directly as Mu Yue had instructed. He was very curious about what kind of gift Mu Yue would give him.

After opening it, Shisui wasn't sure what to call this gift at first.

Calling it a kunai would be odd, because it was much longer than an ordinary kunai—normal ones are usually around eighteen to twenty centimeters, but Shisui saw Mu Yue's gift had to be at least thirty centimeters. Calling it a knife wasn't quite right either, but "short blade" fit perfectly.

Besides, the short blade looked rather plain, not even as refined as Obito's silver kunai.

Suddenly, Shisui noticed Mu Yue's hands.

At that moment, Mu Yue's hands were not wrapped in bandages. His originally fair and slender hands were covered in many scars, as if they had endured a great deal of hardship.

Looking at Mu Yue's injured hands, recalling that Mu Yue had mentioned he was learning to make ninja tools, and then glancing at the plain-looking short blade in his own hands, Shisui instantly understood everything.

Mu Yue learning to forge ninja tools was never about the needs of a powerful shinobi, nor about Obito's nonsensical ninja tool shop—it was to personally craft a weapon for him.

In that moment, the previously unremarkable short blade became the best ninja tool in the world in Shisui's eyes, surpassing that silver kunai from the first-place youth ninjutsu tournament by a hundred streets.

Really, Shisui had never imagined Mu Yue would go this far for him.

Even his uncle, when celebrating his birthday, would at most buy some things as gifts—not go learn to forge ninja tools and then personally craft one.

After all, Mu Yue was very busy; his teaching time alone was as long as the time they spent training.

"Haha, don't let the looks fool you—this short blade is actually pretty useful. When forging it, I had the owner mix in a little chakra metal, so its chakra conductivity is better than ordinary weapons," Mu Yue said with a smile.

It's not that only chakra metal weapons can conduct chakra; it's just that chakra metal has better conductivity, and weapons made entirely of pure chakra metal can even extend the edge's reach.

Mu Yue did want to add more chakra metal to the weapon, but on one hand, the ninja tool shop didn't have that much in stock for such a sudden request, and on the other, he couldn't afford the price.

"But forging materials are really expensive. The materials alone cost several hundred thousand ryō, so from now on, there won't be any expensive ingredients in your lunches and dinners," Mu Yue said in a joking tone.

"Several hundred thousand ryō!" Might Gai stared at the short blade in Shisui's hands in shock, never expecting such an ordinary-looking thing to be so costly.

"No, I think this weapon is already very beautiful. I really like it—I like it very much." Shisui held the short blade in both hands, examining it carefully, and noticed that each side of the blade was engraved with one character: "Shi" and "Sui."

At that moment, Shisui's heart was filled with gratitude beyond words; he almost felt he didn't deserve for Mu Yue to go this far for him.

Had he known Mu Yue for long? Actually, no—not even a year.

He wasn't even Mu Yue's only disciple, just the first one.

Yet, without Shisui ever telling Mu Yue about his birthday, Mu Yue had given him such a huge surprise.

In the midst of his busy schedule, Mu Yue had even learned to forge ninja tools just to prepare a gift for him, and had injured his hands by rushing too much.

Whether it was the details of the ninja tool or the materials added to it, Shisui could feel how much Mu Yue valued and cared for him.

At that moment, he somewhat understood those children who begged their parents for snacks and toys.

From Mu Yue, Shisui experienced a feeling he had never felt before.

What kind of feeling was that? Someone who takes the initiative to answer your questions when you're in trouble, thinks about everything for you, and gives you the most anticipated hope when you're feeling down...

A little mist appeared in Shisui's eyes—a rare sight for him, because he was the strong and brave Uchiha Shisui, the one who would inherit the Will of Fire.

He placed the short blade close to his body, looked at Mu Yue's injured hands, and said:

"Teacher Mu Yue, you've worked so hard for me. I..."

As Shisui spoke, he didn't even know what else to say. Faced with such regard from Mu Yue, what could he offer in return?

At that moment, Mu Yue placed his hand on Shisui's head, showing a warm smile, and said:

"Shisui, you need to understand: I am your teacher, and you are my disciple. That's enough."

Hearing Mu Yue's words, Shisui could no longer hold back. He hugged Mu Yue and let tears of joy flow.

"Teacher Mu Yue, I will definitely live up to your expectations!" Shisui's emotions burst forth completely.

The three disciples watching nearby were also deeply moved.

"I wonder what kind of birthday gift Teacher Mu Yue will give me when the time comes?" Obito couldn't help thinking.

"Teacher Mu Yue is such a good teacher," Rin Nohara thought inwardly.

"What a youthful scene," Might Gai thought approvingly.

Seeing the message pop up from the system, Mu Yue's smile became even warmer.