Training Alone

On Konoha's back mountain, lush greenery stretched to the horizon, a green ocean with no end in sight. A gentle breeze stirred the sea of trees, and the only sound in the tranquil woods was the rustling of branches.

This was the Uchiha Clan's private territory, an excellent place to train.

"Whoosh, whoosh~"

Somewhere in the woods, a figure leaped about alone.

His figure darted back and forth. Neither his subtle movements nor his steps seemed to follow any pattern. As he swung his arms, his hands were slightly curled, as though gripping weapons, yet his palms were completely empty.

Holding "weapons" made of air, he seemed to be fighting some enemy.

The figure was Shunren. To anyone watching, his solitary swinging would have looked exceedingly strange, but what he saw was another sight altogether.

Red hair, brown eyes, and casual sportswear found only in the three-dimensional world.

The young man before Shunren was Shirou Emiya.

Without a doubt, the Shirou Emiya before him was an illusion Shunren had created with Genjutsu.

Yes, Shunren had used Genjutsu on himself.

Shirou Emiya held the twin swords known as Kanshou and Bakuya.

And gripped tightly in Shunren's hands was an identical pair of swords.

Of course, with Shunren's current strength, he could not possibly sustain the creative power of Yin Release for long. Just as an outside observer would have seen earlier, Shunren's hands were empty in reality. The pair of swords he now held were merely something Shunren had made himself see, though they also felt no different from the real thing. Controlling the mind and senses was a Genjutsu ability to begin with. He might not have been able to make it so lifelike for someone else, but precisely because he had cast the Genjutsu on himself, he could create a more realistic sensation without resistance.

"Whoosh~"

A flash of sword light swept past.

"Clang!"

The crisp ring of blades meeting rang out.

Shunren's swords clashed with Shirou Emiya's!

They slashed horizontally and chopped vertically, meeting each other head-on.

Inside the Genjutsu, Shunren was locked in a fierce fight with Shirou Emiya!

Using the Genjutsu he had learned from Kurenai, Shunren created a sparring "opponent" to train in sword combat. With no strong backing, no training resources, and no teacher to guide him, Shunren could only improve slowly by feeling his way forward alone.

"Whoosh, whoosh~" Shirou Emiya darted rapidly from side to side, his footwork dazzlingly swift. Then he spun around and slashed, his blade sweeping toward Shunren's waist!

"Bang!" Shunren held his sword in a reverse grip and blocked Shirou Emiya's slash, but its tremendous force drove him back several steps.

Within the Genjutsu, Shirou Emiya's strength and speed were both set by Shunren himself. He had set Shirou Emiya's attributes, including strength and speed, at more than 1.5 times his own.

Shirou Emiya accelerated, leaped into the air, and came down with another jumping slash!

"Crack!" Shunren had no choice but to cross his swords in front of him to block. His arms were pressed almost to his shoulders before he barely managed to withstand the blow. He then rolled backward, avoiding the other's overwhelming strength.

Shirou Emiya was about to press his attack, but Shunren hurled the sword in his right hand at him with all his might. At the same time, he pushed off with both feet and lunged at his opponent, raising a sword high in both hands for a powerful, reckless downward slash!

"Clang~" A sword flew from its wielder's hand.

Shunren's sword cut through Shirou Emiya's body, and the latter dissolved into nothingness.

Shirou Emiya's panel stats were indeed far higher than Shunren's, but the former's approach to combat was predictable. By avoiding his frontal edge and using clever moves to strike from the side, it was still possible to overcome strength.

"Phew~" He let out a deep breath,

Shunren wiped the sweat from his forehead. This kind of training could not only hone his Genjutsu further, but also exercise his body. It was a unique training method he had devised himself. He formed the "Ram" seal with both hands.

"Release!"

The paired swords Kanshou and Bakuya vanished from his hands.

Shunren's expression shifted, and he turned his gaze to the side.

"Heh~ What a ridiculous way to amuse yourself." A group of youths wearing the Uchiha crest were slowly approaching from not far away, their eyes full of contempt and disdain as they looked at Shunren.

Shunren recognized them. The youth in the lead was named Uchiha Mangshan, and he was ten years old. The ninja Forehead Protector on his forehead made his status as a ninja plain to everyone. The normal graduation age at the Ninja Academy was twelve, and Mangshan's ability to become a Genin two years earlier than ordinary people showed that his talent was extraordinary.

"Haha, big brother Mangshan, was this kid dancing just now?" The speaker was a brat a year younger than Mangshan. He had already become a little lackey at such a young age, which was rather funny.

"I know him. Shunren, a brat a grade below me at school. I heard he's a Ninjutsu idiot too." The speaker was lackey number two.

"Is that so?" The contempt in Mangshan's eyes deepened as he looked at Shunren. "If you can't use Ninjutsu, all you can do is train in Taijutsu. But training in Taijutsu like that, you wouldn't become a ninja even in a hundred years."

Mangshan and the others had clearly seen Shunren training. In their eyes, Shunren's behavior was indeed a little strange and comical: he was alone, gripping "weapons" made of air and swinging them around at random.

Shunren offered no explanation, nor did he get angry. He merely smiled faintly, turned around, and left without wasting another word.

Seeing Shunren's response, Mangshan and the others were stunned for a moment before they burst out laughing. "What a spineless kid. Did the sight of us scare him? Pah! Letting trash like him stay among us Uchiha is an absolute disgrace!"

As Mangshan and the others saw it, Shunren was clearly backing down. He did not dare utter even half a word, making him a complete coward.

Hearing the openly malicious words behind him, Shunren could not help shaking his head and muttering to himself, "Kids these days really are mischievous..."

Shunren was mild-tempered and believed harmony was precious, so he did not readily make enemies. Besides, with an adult's mind, he naturally would not stoop to arguing with children. At the same time, with a major event approaching, he had no time to waste talking nonsense with Mangshan and the others.

The survival exercise organized by the Konoha Ninja Academy would take place three days later, on the western border of the Land of Fire.