Editor’s Notes:
Chakra is a substance native to lifeforms on some planets; internal energy. Usually, the higher the chakra, the stronger the warrior.
Uchiha Teno returned home and shut himself in his bedroom. He opened the book Uchiha Tonan gifted him impatiently. The key points of the theory lessons were all in there, and they were all summarized.
Teno, who usually didn’t listen to the theory classes, could easily understand these. He touched the rough page and muttered, “This book’s paper quality is truly poor.”
Flipping through the pages, he noticed two were stuck together. Teno licked his finger to moisten it and rubbed the pages apart to continue browsing through it.
On the other side, Tonan, who had also returned home, headed straight into the kitchen. He opened the lid of a pot that had a transparent liquid in it and turned on the cooking stove. As the pot heated up, the liquid gradually evaporated and Tonan looked at it with a wooden expression.
“In this weather, it should take about three days to evaporate naturally. But that’s too long. It needs a slight nudge.”
Tonan narrowed his eyes slightly, as he turned off the fire, and washed the pot several times before filling it up with water and putting it back on the stove. He opened the refrigerator to select from various vegetables and different kinds of edible weeds to pick out what would be his dinner tonight.
In the past few days, his food comprised only these vegetables and weeds.
……
Teno woke up the next day with an unbearable headache.
“Did I not get enough sleep? Could it be because I stayed up too late reading?”
After contemplating for a bit, he planned to continue sleeping. It didn’t matter if he missed a day of class. In any case, there weren’t many newer things for the graduates to learn.
In the evening, he dragged his tired body to the clan’s northern training ground. Yesterday, he had promised that little imp to guide him in his training today. The Uchihas always abide by their promise.
“Cough, cough…” Teno sat on the meadow, looking around in confusion.
“That little imp hasn’t come yet. Perhaps, the sensei dragged out the lesson.”
On the other side, in the clan’s northwest training ground, Uchiha Tetsugo had been training hard since noon.
Suddenly, he heard a movement behind him and immediately stopped to look back.
He saw Tonan standing there puzzled, and looking around as if he was lost.
“Little imp, why did you come here?” Tetsugo asked indifferently.
Tonan seemed to be frightened by his expression, and said weakly, “I’m looking for Teno-san.”
“He’s not here, get lost.”
Tonan turned around to leave, but at the same time, he ‘tsked’ in a low voice.
Tetsugo heard it loud and clear and retorted, “Little imp, do you want to die?”
Tonan trembled and said in a quivering voice, “Why are you so aggressive? Since you cannot defeat Teno-san, are you targeting me to vent your anger?”
Tetsugo smiled, looked down at Tonan, and said, “Do you think I can’t defeat him?”
“Teno-san has already told me that only your theory exams grades are high. In terms of actual strength, you are no match for him.”
“He said that to you?”
“Humph!” Tonan snorted as if he had vented his anger. He turned around and ran away.
Tetsugo’s complexion, on the other hand, had become completely gloomy.
In the northern training ground, Teno had just finished doing warm-up exercises. However, he felt that his entire body was aching and weak.
“It looks like I have fallen ill. Did I catch a cold because I stayed up late?”
“Teno-san!” In the distance, Tonan called out as he ran over.
A smile appeared on Teno’s face, but he quickly hid it. He looked at the panting Tonan, and coolly said, “You are late.”
“Just now, I went to the wrong training ground, sorry for making you wait for so long.”
Tonan bowed respectfully.
Swish!
A kunai fell from the sky and stuck in the ground in front of Teno.
“Who is there?” Teno shouted, looking up at a tree.
“Teno-kun, usually, I don’t like to deal with you, but that doesn’t mean you can provoke me.”
On a big tree’s branch, Tetsugo’s figure became visible. He assumed a domineering position and looked at Teno condescendingly. His arrogance was apparent.
“Let’s duel, let me see your recent progress.”
Tetsugo jumped down and attacked Teno with a kunai.
“Damn it!” Teno cursed inwardly and raised a kunai in his hand to block.
Clang!
Teno felt a powerful impact, and couldn’t help taking a few steps back before he could stop.
“If I hadn’t been sick, how could you be so arrogant?”
Teno’s forehead was covered in sweat. He raised his head and glared at Tetsugo.
Swish, swish, swish~
Several kunai were thrown, they collided midair and changed the trajectory, which affected Tetsugo’s judgment.
Ding, ding, ding~
However, the scene before his eyes stunned Teno.
He saw Tetsugo maneuvering the kunai, perfectly blocking his attacks, one after the other.
“I haven’t even activated the Sharingan. In my eyes, you are also just trash.”
Tetsugo showed his one-tomoe Sharingan, and a victor’s smile appeared on his face. At the same time, he slightly moved his gaze and looked at Tonan, who had been standing there stunned.
Tonan’s eyes were filled with worry, disbelief, and a hint of disappointment…
Teno also noticed Tonan’s expression, and his heart thumped. A desperate feeling rose from the bottom of his heart.
“I’m not trash, I’m not trash! Sharingan, so what?” Teno roared. His eyes had turned blood-red with a single tomoe spinning rapidly in it, as he simultaneously made hand signs.
“Oh? Awakened,” Tetsugo was slightly startled, noticing that Teno was preparing to release the Great Fireball.
The corners of his mouth slightly rose, and his hands also became illusory, forming hand signs.
“Fire Style, Great Fireball Technique!”
“Fire Style, Great Fireball Technique!”
The two young Uchihas shouted out at once. However, just at the critical moment, Teno felt a severe burst of pain and the chakra flow in his body suddenly stagnated.
Boom~
A huge fireball expelled from Tetsugo’s mouth and engulfed his vision.
Damn it!
Teno’s complexion was hideous. He wanted to dodge, but he discovered that his heart was in unbearable pain as if thousands of ants were biting it, and he felt as if the sky and earth were spinning. He lost consciousness.
The fireball seemed to hit something, and there was a sound of something heavy falling on the ground.
“Substitution technique? Where is he?” Tetsugo frowned looking at the burning torch on the ground. He looked all around to search for his opponent.
Not there.
Not there either.
Suddenly, Tetsugo smelled burning flesh and his heart skipped a beat.
“Murder!” Tonan screamed and ran towards the clan.
“Impossible, how can he die so easily?” Tetsugo couldn’t believe it.
He was clear about Teno’s strength. In a fight without using the Sharingan, he just had a fifty percent chance of winning, not to mention Teno too had awakened his Sharingan today.
“How can he be so weak today? Could it be that I’m too strong?”
No, it was more likely that he made a mistake while doing the hand signs, and failed to release the fireball. And he was so clumsy that he forgot to dodge.
That was the only possibility.
Tetsugo suddenly recalled the Anbu’s terror, and the clan’s strict rules and trembled.
“I must not let this matter spread. I’ll die if that happens.”
Tetsugo viciously looked at Tonan, who was running towards the clan, and immediately raised a kunai to attack him at full speed.
At this moment, the fleeing Tonan felt power welling up within his body, and he slightly narrowed his eyes. He had a hunch what this sensation was.
In the very next moment, his eyes had turned blood-red and a tomoe slowly spun around the black pupils.
This power was addictive.
“How can this little imp run so fast?” Tetsugo muttered with an ugly face.
Tonan was about to reach the clan but Tetsugo couldn’t let that happen. His Sharingan spun at full speed, and he made hand signs while running.
Tonan, who was fleeing for his life, sensed his attacker’s movements, and his hands also became illusory, beginning to make hand signs.
As soon as it was completed, Tonan turned around and yelled,
“Fire Style, Great Fireball Technique.” x2
Tetsugo vaguely saw a one-tomoe Sharingan in Tonan’s eyes. The worst was that the fireball released by the so-called trash nearly rivaled the one he had released.
What!!!
Boom~
The two fireballs collided, blocking Tetsugo’s vision, and in the next instant, several kunai pierced through the flames headed right at him.
These kunai clashed with each other midair, changing their trajectory and compromising Tetsugo’s judgment.
“Damn it, is this little imp really using Teno’s move? And he is even better at it than him.”
Tetsugo had no time to dodge. He could only raise the kunai in his hand to block the strike.
However, at this time, a kunai appeared from his blind spot and gashed his thigh.
“I’m injured. How’s this possible? Is there such a skilled person in the world?”
Tetsugo endured the pain and looked at Tonan, who was standing on a branch, in disbelief. Tonan too was looking at him with an indifferent expression.
Tonan looked down, and said, “Tetsugo-san, I never thought that after seeing Teno san awaken his Sharingan, you would be so afraid of him catching up to you that you would kill him. Did you know he was like a brother to me? Now that I have awakened the Sharingan, I will personally avenge Teno-san.”
Tonan put the serious charge on Tetsugo’s head at the first chance he got.
Tetsugoalso thought that he had killed Teno. And as an Uchiha, he disdained to resort to sophistry. He said coldly, “Little imp, even if I have accidentally killed Teno, only clan elders can judge me. In my eyes, you are still a nobody.”
Tonan slowly raised a kunai, pointed at Tetsugo, and said, “A first-year student like me is definitely not Tetsugo-san’s opponent, but Teno-san is someone I cherish. I will spare no effort to avenge him even if it brings certain death.”
In the next moment, the tomoe in Tonan’s eyes spun, and he jumped to attack Tetsugo.
Ding, ding, ding…
Tetsugo’s mobility was affected by his thigh injury. He could only stand in the same place and resist head-on. Tonan’s attacks were fruitless, so he retreated a couple of steps.
But then a white mist rose and three Tonans jumped out, rushing towards Tetsugofrom different directions.
“Clone Technique? Which one is the real body?”
The tomoe in Tetsugo’s eyes spun as he looked with fixed attention.
Not this one…
There is a shadow on the ground… Someone is above!
Tetsugosuddenly looked up and saw that a figure had already jumped high into the air. Moreover, the other party’s hands were making hand signs rapidly.
“So, this was his plan. He wanted to use three clones to distract me, and then use the Great Fireball to burn me to death.”
“Little imp, your tricks are too naïve,” Tetsugogrinned hideously and yelled while his hands made hand signs even faster.
“Fire Style, Great Fireball… uh…”
Puff!
A kunai deeply stabbed into Tetsugo’s abdomen.
“You…” Tetsugo looked at Tonan in shock and slowly knelt on the ground.
“Enough.” A deep voice resounded.
The Uchiha clan’s Great Elder and a group of clan members surrounded Tonan and Tetsugo.
The Great Elder noticed Tonan’s spinning one-tomoe Sharingan and a tinge of praise flashed through his eyes. He asked in a deep voice, “What happened?”
Tonan’s expression seemed to suddenly change. First, he looked confused, then he seemed to remember something, and looked alarmed, full of grief and indignation.
Finally, as if he seemed to have found someone to rely on again, with eyes filled with tears and a face full of grief, he whispered, “Teno-san.”
With that, he fainted.
