"Come on, Clan Head—doesn't Shisui already mentor Itachi?"
Uchiha Yorin looked at Fugaku across from him and spoke as sincerely and gently as he could:
"You know Shisui's strength—it's no less than mine. With Shisui as his teacher, coming to ask me as well isn't really appropriate."
Hearing that, Fugaku had to admit Yorin had a point; the little resentment he'd felt over Yorin refusing before melted away.
So that's how it is.
Yorin was sparing Shisui's feelings and didn't want to step on his toes—aha… then it's fine… not.
There's no explicit rule in the Naruto world against having two masters.
Later on, Naruto takes Kakashi as his teacher, then trains under Jiraiya; and the teacher he respects most is Iruka from the Academy—he even has Iruka stand as the groom's representative at his wedding.
But with Yorin using that as an excuse, Fugaku didn't know how to respond, and the matter stalled.
Just as he was wondering what to do, he saw Yorin walk over to his wife and start chatting with her.
Judging by her belly, the baby would be born in a few months.
One of the two protagonists of the ninja world—Uchiha Sasuke—was about to make his grand entrance.
"Never did he cultivate virtue,
Sees a man—goes 'hah!'—won't flinch.
Rouses Amaterasu when he's riled,
Unfurls Susanoo to show himself.
Naruto's Rasengan roars in,
Sasuke's nowhere left to run."
Even so, "Second Pillar" is still much better than Itachi.
And anyway, in canon you're the protagonist.
But on my if-route, you're just a small-fry cameo. Don't daydream about that "Valley of the End" finale—train properly and get ready for an Ōtsutsuki invasion.
When the time comes, Sako and Naruko, the two of you will be the main force—put the Ōtsutsuki clan on their knees.
With that thought, Yorin had an idea:
"Leave Sasuke to me," he said.
He turned to Fugaku and Mikoto. "Once he's born, let me be the one to train him. How about it?"
"If it's you, then we'll trouble you with him."
Yorin had shown sincerity and explained his reasoning; there wasn't much more to say. Fugaku was satisfied.
They chatted a bit more. When Yorin mentioned joining a mission at Sannin level, Fugaku grew uneasy and gave a few more cautions before leaving, letting Yorin get back to training Raijin Armor.
After they'd walked a while, Itachi couldn't hold it in and said to his father, "Father, I feel like Brother Yorin… doesn't really like me."
"Don't talk nonsense—he has no reason to dislike you."
In truth, Fugaku had sensed Yorin's coldness toward Itachi, too. But he chalked it up to an adult's indifference to a child and didn't care much.
Not everyone values early childhood education like he does.
Back then, when Itachi was just a little thing, Fugaku took him onto the Third Ninja War battlefield. In Fugaku's heart, Itachi was already an adult then.
Itachi: "Mm…"
He felt his father was wrong, but he didn't argue.
Young as he was, his Uchiha pride had already awakened. He just answered "Mm," and fell silent.
…
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yorin trained Raijin Armor and thought:
"Second Pillar's nature is far better than his brother's. Temper him properly and he'll be great. If that guy Itachi acts up in the future, I'll let Second Pillar handle him. Settled."
The thought of recreating the classic "brother battle"—only with Sasuke going full power and beating the Weasel senseless—actually got Yorin a little excited. He sprang into motion; eerie violet-red lightning wrapped his body, and his power surged, spiked, exploded.
And with that, Lightning Release Chakra Mode was happily mastered.
…
The next day.
Under Minato's eager hopes, the Find Tsunade squad set out.
The team had three members: Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Uchiha Yorin.
Once they found Tsunade, they'd "transform" into the Ame Raid Team and head for the Land of Rain to take on Akatsuki.
Kakashi had planned to join, too.
But after some thought, Minato decided his good student should remain in Anbu.
Back in the day, Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, served as Anbu commander.
White Fang may be dead, but the Anbu network he left behind still exists. Yorin figured the Fourth wanted Kakashi to recruit through Anbu's connections and ultimately fold the assassination corps neatly under his banner.
Konoha's three big military arms: the shinobi army—Minato's base; the Police Force—close cooperation with the Uchiha; and next, take Anbu—a three-in-one, no-blind-spot, Perfect Hokage Form.
Uchiha Yorin: "Good luck."
He figured the Third and Danzō wouldn't sit on their hands. The raid on Orochimaru's lab would likely hit turbulence.
He wasn't alone in thinking that—Orochimaru did, too.
After leaving Konoha, Orochimaru said, half joking, half serious, "This will be my last time leaving Konoha."
"Don't jinx it," Jiraiya grumbled. "We'll still have missions together, won't we?"
Yorin nodded happily. "Mm, mm, that's right. By the way, Jiraiya-sensei—do you know where Tsunade-sama is?"
"Not exactly, but hit the izakayas, the casinos—that kind of place—and we'll find her. Don't underestimate my intel network."
Jiraiya dropped the classic line, and Yorin couldn't help looking forward to it.
As the King of Hokage Smut and as Yorin's future "main consort," meeting Tsunade for the first time was… exciting.
Even though Yorin had decided to use Orochimaru's synthetic-human tech to complete the "expand the clan" task—
Natural reproduction is still a crucial supplement.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh~ The Legendary Sannin," Yorin chuckled, making Jiraiya and Orochimaru exchange a puzzled glance.
No matter how smart those two were, they couldn't guess Yorin's "spicy" motive for meeting Tsunade.
That takes not only brains—but imagination.