In Naruto with the Flame-Flame Fruit-Chapter 492: Mitsuki

Not long after, one of the artificial humans created by Orochimaru — the one he treated like his own child — Mitsuki officially enrolled in the academy and became classmates with Kiyosuke’s son, Shinichi.

Kiyosuke made a point of asking Shinichi to invite Mitsuki over for dinner.

"Excuse me for intruding."

Mitsuki had short pale-blue hair, golden eyes, and a bright smile that looked a little unnatural. His skin was as pale as Orochimaru’s.

"It’s fine. Mitsuki, right? You can call me senpai."

"He said to call you Kiyosuke-sama," Mitsuki said with a smile.

"Ignore him. Just call me senpai."

Kiyosoke didn’t care what Orochimaru wanted. He thought this kid was pretty good.

Mitsuki tilted his head and said, "Alright, senpai."

"What’s going on, Dad? Is Mitsuki related to Orochimaru-san somehow? Why didn’t I know? Wait—doesn’t this make me younger than my classmate?"

Shinichi suddenly realized that his generation ranking had dropped, and he couldn’t accept it.

"Everyone uses their own system. If you really want to get technical, Boruto should be calling you uncle. Has he ever called you that?"

"No."

"Then it’s fine. Don’t worry about these things. Hm... your chakra feels really familiar. Sage Mode from Ryūchi Cave? No, not quite."

Kiyosuke sensed a strange chakra inside Mitsuki — similar to the power of the Ryūchi Cave sages, yet a bit different.

"You noticed? Just like he said... you’re very sharp."

"Oh, there’s a curse mark mixed in. So he’s still researching that... looks like he managed to stabilize it. No wonder he was willing to send you to Konoha. Mitsuki, how are you finding Konoha so far?"

Mitsuki was one of the artificial humans Orochimaru created by combining various superior genetic samples. Orochimaru hoped that, like the moon, Mitsuki would shine under the light of a sun-like person, illuminating the darkness and living a life different from Orochimaru’s own.

And so, Mitsuki was sent to Konoha to join the academy.

Curiosity aside, Kiyosuke didn’t pry further and said,

"Your teacher Shino was once my student. He’s really skilled, so make sure you pay attention in class. Shinichi — especially you. Don’t think you can ignore Shino just because you’re familiar with him. I heard about what you and Boruto pulled the other day. Instead of learning good things, you got into trouble. I even heard you got into a fight?"

"Yes." Shinichi lowered his head, looking guilty.

"Did you win?"

"I won."

"Good. Did you use your ability?"

"No, I used Wind Release."

"That’s fine."

Kiyosuke nodded. Kids fighting was normal. He wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.

It was good enough that Shinichi hadn’t used his ability to bully someone. Back in the day, he had used that ability to bully plenty of people... cough...

Returning to the main point, he said to Mitsuki, "This is Konoha, so you need to follow Konoha’s rules. Remember — unless there’s absolutely no choice, don’t kill."

"Alright." Mitsuki smiled. "It seems you place great value on life."

"Once you’ve seen the weight of a life, you’ll understand. But when killing is necessary, you kill."

Kiyosuke took a sip of tea.

"For you, it might not mean much. But for those of us who came from the battlefield, life is heavy. Also — you came to Konoha because of Boruto?"

"Yes."

Mitsuki didn’t hide it. Boruto was the sun-like person Orochimaru chose for him.

"To be honest, Boruto’s personality isn’t the best fit. That kid isn’t bad at his core, but he’s a handful. He complains about being the Hokage’s son, but also uses that identity to cover for his pranks. Looks like I’ll need to straighten him out soon."

"Should I kill him?"

Mitsuki asked expressionlessly, saying something horrifying in the calmest tone.

Kiyosuke shook his head.

"Not that far, not that far. Don’t go straight to killing. You’re not in Otogakure anymore."

"Alright."

"Forget it. Let’s eat first."

Mei had already brought out the dishes and smiled.

"Shinichi rarely brings friends home. Mitsuki, right? Sit down."

"Thank you."

Mitsuki was polite — something he inherited from Orochimaru.

After sitting down, he took a few bites, then stopped eating.

Yuka asked, confused, "Mom’s cooking is really good. Why did you stop?"

"I’m full. And... I don’t actually need to eat. Sorry."

Mitsuki could eat, but didn’t need to. He could live without food — Orochimaru had stuffed all sorts of strange things into his body.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll eat. You’re Orochimaru-sensei’s kid — that’s normal."

"It is absolutely not normal," Shinichi muttered. "You’re not like this at school. You always seem... well, weird."

"I need to blend into the environment," Mitsuki replied mechanically. He had only recently been created and had no real understanding of the world, relying mostly on what Orochimaru taught him. And considering it was Orochimaru...

It was already impressive that Mitsuki hadn’t been taught to be a killer.

After dinner, Mitsuki returned to his own residence. Just then, a bug flew past — obviously Shino was looking for him.

Kiyosuke said a quick word to Mei and left the house, heading to a small street stall.

Shino was already sitting there, drunk.

"Sorry, Kiyosuke-sensei... calling you out this late."

"Go on. Is this about Mitsuki?"

Kiyosuke sat beside him and asked the owner for a beer and some snacks.

"You guessed right."

Shino nodded and drank quietly.

Kiyosuke chuckled.

"It’s fine. Mitsuki understands the world differently from others — he’s like a newborn experiencing things for the first time. He doesn’t understand much yet."

"And isn’t it normal for an academy class to have troublemakers? Back then Naruto and Kiba were like that. I skipped class, fought, and went fishing in the river all the time — with Asuma and Obito joining me. But we all grew up."

"But with Shinichi and Boruto already being a handful... and now Mitsuki... heh. Good luck."

"I might not be cut out to be a teacher..."

Shino drooped. He had thought he would be good at teaching, but reality proved otherwise.

"You really aren’t suited to teaching. Your personality makes it hard to handle energetic kids. But don’t give up so easily. You’ve worked hard for years — don’t quit now. I can only trust you with Shinichi. Other teachers wouldn’t be able to keep him in line."

Kiyosuke knew his son well.

If it weren’t for Shino, Shinichi would probably skip class every other day.