Conflict

Five days after Katsuo made his promise, he used Chakra to cling to his feet and walked up a towering tree.

Six days later, he stood atop the water. His powerful mental strength granted him exceptional Chakra control!

Ten days later, looking at a mouse that had been frightened to death before him, he mastered his first genjutsu since gaining Chakra. It took him less than two hours to learn it!

With his immense mental energy, he possessed unparalleled advantages in both Chakra control and genjutsu.

Fifteen days later, standing on the grass and looking at the dense clusters of small burning spots before him, Katsuo nodded in satisfaction despite having exhausted his Chakra. He had mastered his first ninjutsu since gaining Chakra!

These two techniques were part of the inheritance his father had left behind. They were also two of the only three ninjutsu Uchiha Osamu knew. The scroll his father left behind contained not only the hand seals, but also his own insights and experience.

It was not actually difficult for Katsuo to learn them, but he did not have enough Chakra to practice freely. That was why even a mere C-rank ninjutsu took several days to fully master.

On the twentieth day, Katsuo still had no plans to learn the third ninjutsu. With his current amount of Chakra, even if he learned it, he would not have enough Chakra to cast all three techniques in succession!

Especially the third ninjutsu. Though powerful, it consumed a ridiculous amount of Chakra and was not particularly useful in actual combat.

After twenty days, he had finally barely made up for his previous nutritional deficiencies. His body had improved greatly; at the very least, he was no weaker than others his age.

Several pounds of compact muscle had appeared on his body. He was no longer that frail little skeleton of a boy!

He showed off his eye-searing arm "muscles" in front of Mikoto, making her blush so hard in embarrassment that she almost could not eat...

Leisurely eating his lunch, he watched another group of swaggering elementary schoolers flood into the classroom. This time, he unusually did not choose to avoid them!

Instead, he remained seated beside Mikoto, calmly taking one bite of lunch after another.

Seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku frowned. One of his lackeys noticed his Boss frowning and immediately stepped forward with tact.

"Little brother, could you eat somewhere else? My Boss came to see Miss Mikoto. Please give up your seat!"

He knew roughly what Class One represented. Every student who could attend that class had a Jonin backing them, so he did not dare act too arrogantly.

"This is my seat. Why should I give it up? I would not need to move even if your father came, much less your Boss!"

Katsuo said with a light laugh. His eating did not pause in the slightest, instantly angering the group Fugaku had brought with him.

"What did you say, bastard?!"

"You're acting so cocky. Never been beaten before?"

The shouting of the underlings immediately drew a crowd of elementary schoolers eager for gossip. They had just finished eating and had nothing better to do, so they gathered to watch the excitement.

At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku sized Katsuo up and asked uncertainly, "Are you Uchiha too?"

Katsuo's black hair and dark eyes did indeed make him look like a member of the Uchiha Clan, but there was no reason Fugaku would not know him. More importantly, Katsuo was a Class One student, making it even less likely that Fugaku would not recognize him, even if Katsuo was a year younger.

As the grandson of the Great Elder, the Uchiha Clan's highest authority, he had befriended the children of most of the clan's Jonin. There was no way he should have missed someone his own age who could attend Class One.

"Uchiha Katsuo," Katsuo said calmly.

"Uchiha... Katsuo?"

Uchiha Fugaku frowned in thought. Clearly, he had truly never heard that name before.

Just as Uchiha Fugaku was pondering, an elementary schooler from another class squeezed through the crowd with great effort, shouting, "Katsuo? Brother Fugaku, I know! I know which Katsuo he is!"

Upon hearing that, Uchiha Fugaku waved his hand and let the student come in.

After stepping out of the crowd and feeling everyone's eyes on him, he suddenly felt as if he had reached the peak of his life. This feeling of being the center of attention was wonderful!

The elementary schooler walked up to Katsuo, carefully examined his face once more, then said with certainty, "It's definitely him. He looks extremely similar to his mother. His father was a Chunin, and his mother used to work as a maid at my house," the elementary schooler said excitedly.

"A Chunin? Just a Chunin?"

"A maid's son?"

"Enough talk, beat him up!"

Seeing the crowd grow agitated, the elementary schooler shouted excitedly, "That's right, he really is a maid's son. His mother used to work at my house, but she was sick and always coughing. Once, I even saw her cough up blood! My father was afraid her illness would spread to my little sister, so he fired her. Her son was called Katsuo, Uchiha Katsuo!"

"Hm?"

Crack!!!

Katsuo stopped eating. Before he realized it, the pair of chopsticks in his hand had been crushed apart!

"So that was it... my mother..."

"Was this the last straw that broke the camel's back?"

Katsuo rose to his feet, his expression filled with sorrow and pain.

After a long while, he finally uttered those strange words in a trembling voice, leaving everyone baffled.

Already frail and sickly, then struck by the news of her husband's death, fired from her job, and subjected to Uchiha Kari's harassment—at last, all these factors came together and completely crushed that young, unfortunate mother!

"I never thought... Aah!!!"

The elementary schooler who had exposed Katsuo's background could not continue. He let out a piercing scream!

Katsuo's fist slammed into his mouth!

The punch was heavy. Not only did the elementary schooler spit out two teeth and fill his mouth with blood, but Katsuo's own fist was scraped raw.

If his body had not been so small and weak, losing two teeth would have been the least of it. Katsuo had put all his strength into that punch!

Ignoring everyone's shock, Katsuo kicked him in the stomach. The tremendous force sent him flying more than two meters away. This time, Katsuo showed no mercy!

Before he could make another move, Uchiha Fugaku acted as well!

He kicked Katsuo, who was a head shorter than him, in the chest, only for Katsuo to block it with his arm.

A powerful force traveled through his arm. Katsuo was forced back several steps before staring gravely at Uchiha Fugaku across from him.

My body really still isn't good enough! He shook his aching arm and thought to himself.

"Both of you are members of the Uchiha Clan. Isn't it a bit excessive for you to strike with lethal force like this?"

Uchiha Fugaku looked coldly at the elementary schooler lying on the ground and vomiting nonstop.

Those words won him the favor of many Uchiha Clan members present.