Chapter 23.3- One Thousand Hands

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“Well, now that that is all in order. Happy Birthday Uzume” I said, taking a wrapped gift box out of the storage seal on my bracers in one movement and passing it over to her. I ignored the way her face flushed red at the reminder. We had been friends for years now, and if there was one thing I knew for sure it was that her family did not celebrate birthdays. Most of the Uchiha clan did not, in fact. So that meant that when Toshiro and I had given her gifts for her first birthday as a member of the team, she had blushed and run away from embarrassment of the situation.

Now, she was more well adjusted for such things. “As always, Pretty boy. I don’t need any presents for the day. But if you must, then thank you” She said with an easy tone and picked up the box from my hands. As always, she wasted no time in ripping open the packaging. She frowned as she did so, because the first layer of packaging just parted to reveal another layer of packaging. One thing I could not reject was the urge to make each of these a prank of some sort.

She ended up ripping through four sets of wrapping papers before she realised the trick. When she did so, she turned to me with literal fire in her eyes, but she was still one alive Toshiro away from having that particular ability so I met her gaze unflinchingly.

“I hate you” She said as she began slowly unravelling the wrapping paper and I smiled at her as the paper fell away to reveal the gift within. It was an intricate work of fuinjutsu. Thankfully, I’d figured it out a long while before ever needeing to give her the gift or I would have found myself in quite a pickle. The wrapping paper was essentially locked in space. It would replicate itself if it was bypassed with brute force, but would give way if slowly and steadily unravelled. Simple, but oh so complex. Just like the best seals tended to be.

She took out the leather gloves with an appreciative hum. I’d left the fingers bare just like most shinobi wore theirs so it would not mess up her chakra control for jutsu, hand seals, and the sort. The rest of it though, I’d gone to town.

“What do they do?” She asked eagerly.

“I’ll leave that to you to figure out” I told her in reply. The gloves did a shit ton of stuff, and I was practically vibrating in excitement at the thought of getting to see her figure them out in real time.

“So what next guys?” Izuku suddenly piped up, finally done looking at himself in the icy mirror I’d conjured. I looked at my creation with pride for a few moments before sending it hurtling towards the training ground’s pond.

“Now, we go for dinner at mine. I’ll be cooking”

“I definitely don’t need a birthday dinner” Uzume called out in consternation.

“Not everything is about you, birthday girl. It’s not everyday you get a fully matured Sharingan, is it?” I said in reply as I pulled her and Izuku along.

“Besides, I don’t think you guys have met my little Cousin yet. She’s a fireball”