Ming Jing and Itachi!

Since the Kurama Clan started making money, Ming Jing had begun to enjoy life. The clothes he wore had to be cut from the finest fabrics, each piece with a different pattern and style. The food he ate every day had to be the freshest, with no dish repeated on the table within seven days. The horse he rode to school had to be a pure-blooded white horse, and the sedan chair he used for daily travel was made from the best fragrant wood. The small courtyard he lived in was specially built according to the Suzhou gardens in Ming Jing's memory, drawing on the dual advantages of Lion Grove and the Humble Administrator's Garden; Ming Jing named it Xiaoxiang Bieyuan.

Every day, the beautiful and meticulous Tsukishiro Yuexi attended to his waking and washing, while the loyal and reliable Qing Yan guarded his door. The entire Kurama Clan was under his control, operating according to his will. This kind of life was what they called "drunk on a beauty's lap, awake to hold the world's power"! Ming Jing even had a feeling that if he didn't find some amusement for himself soon, he'd end up amusing the whole of Konoha—and that would be no small amusement.

Thinking this, Ming Jing quickly crawled out of his warm nest. He looked around, and a super brother-con with built-in beauty filters just appeared!

"Good morning, Itachi!" On a bright, sunny morning, Ming Jing rode atop a tall white horse, looking down with a smile as he greeted Uchiha Itachi.

"Morning." Itachi glanced at Ming Jing. He knew the Kurama Clan had made a lot of money from running restaurants. So the whole clan seemed to have switched from being ninjas to an ordinary wealthy family—they'd actually started enjoying life! In the cruel world of ninjas, that was absolutely asking for death.

So in Itachi's view, the Kurama Clan had completely split into a different world from the Uchiha Clan.

This was a ninja clan corrupted by worldly money!

That was Itachi's assessment of the entire Kurama Clan.

"Itachi! Winter break is coming soon. Konoha's hot springs aren't authentic—how about we go to Oita Prefecture together? The Beppu Onsen there is the best in the world." Ming Jing invited cheerfully.

"No." Itachi shook his head directly, refusing.

"Eh? Why? Soaking in hot springs is good for your health—it relieves stress, promotes blood circulation, and speeds up metabolism!" Ming Jing continued to invite.

"I train in winter." Itachi paused, then explained anyway.

Ming Jing dismounted from his horse and walked side by side with Itachi, saying meaningfully, "Life is short. You should enjoy it when you can—after all, no one knows what will happen tomorrow!"

Itachi gave Ming Jing a strange look, then after a moment said, "That's why I have to train hard to make myself stronger!"

"I seem to have heard some perverted creep's inner thoughts like 'That way I can protect my dearest little brother! Ah! My little brother is definitely the cutest little brother in the world!'" Ming Jing said seriously.

A vein popped on Itachi's forehead. This bastard! A few words and he veered off into weird territory!

"Oh, really?! I seem to have heard some guy's inner plans like 'My cute little sister, she's going to get married in a dozen years! What do I do! Should I kill my future brother-in-law now?' or some such terrifying scheme!" Itachi actually retorted—he actually retorted!

Ming Jing stared at Uchiha Itachi in shock!

Could this guy be Sasuke in disguise?

Thinking of this possibility, Ming Jing jumped back and stared at Itachi warily, saying, "Admit it! You're actually Sasuke, right? My Itachi would never say something like that! Sasuke, you foolish little brother, you think just because you're pretending to be your brother I can't tell? I'm your brother's lifelong friend and lifelong rival!"

Aish!

Itachi took a deep breath. In a way, this bastard before him really was his lifelong rival! Only in front of him could he not stay calm—when had this started?

No, no! If he didn't fight him today, his heart wouldn't find peace!

"Follow me!" Uchiha Itachi said coldly, then turned and walked toward his usual training ground.

"Tch, I'm a good student in the teacher's eyes, a role model among classmates, a fine young master to my clan—I'm not skipping class with you!" Ming Jing refused with great righteousness. At this moment, he was Captain America incarnate; he was justice!

Uchiha Itachi was so stimulated by the "light of justice" radiating from Ming Jing that his Sharingan almost activated! And yet Itachi had no comeback!

Forcing down the urge to beat Ming Jing up on the street, Uchiha Itachi headed straight for the school. He didn't want to see Ming Jing for even a second now!

But before Itachi had taken a few steps, Ming Jing caught up and started babbling a torrent of words: "Hey? That's more like my lifelong friend Itachi! Itachi, you might not know, but I just saw your little brother Sasuke pretending to be you to trick me! Lucky I'm sharp-eyed and saw through him right away. When you get home, you really need to teach your little brother a lesson—how can he be so naughty?..."

Ming Jing suddenly found that making Itachi angry was such a fun thing to do. So every day, he tirelessly teased this future S-rank rogue ninja, for no reason at all. Finally, on another sunny day, Itachi challenged Ming Jing! For a peace-loving guy like Itachi, this was unbelievable—yet he did it anyway.

Still just a kid after all!

Ming Jing laughed inwardly. No matter how mature, he was still a child!

Led by Itachi, Ming Jing arrived at Itachi's usual training ground. With him came the ever-present Qing Yan and Tsukishiro Yuexi. Once at Itachi's exclusive training spot, Ming Jing looked around like a curious child.

Itachi stopped and looked at Ming Jing, his expression turning serious. Itachi never underestimated his opponents, even if they seemed like goofballs!

"Um..." Ming Jing scratched his head, a bit awkwardly asking, "What do I need to do?"

"!!" Itachi frowned slightly. It seemed the Kurama Clan's decline was faster than he'd imagined!

"Just like our sparring sessions at school." Itachi explained, then immediately drew a kunai and said to Ming Jing, "Careful, I'm coming!"

"Wait, hold on—" Before Ming Jing finished, Itachi's kunai was already flying toward him. At the same time, Itachi himself kept moving, throwing kunai from all angles.

Ming Jing stood still. At some point, a gorgeous longsword had appeared in his hand. Facing the kunai from every direction, he seemed not to move at all, yet all the kunai around him snapped in half and fell to the ground.

Hidden in the shadows, Uchiha Itachi saw this and inexplicably felt a wave of relief. Maybe deep down, he really didn't want his friend to have truly fallen!

"The Young Master's Sword Drawing Technique is even faster—I didn't even see when he drew his sword." Qing Yan said excitedly from a distance.

"Indeed! So fast!" Tsukishiro Yuexi nodded in agreement.

Itachi moved between the trees, tossing out several kunai. Just as they were about to hit Ming Jing, the kunai miraculously collided with each other a few times, changing their trajectories to come from other angles.

Ming Jing turned slightly, using the same move again. In an instant, his sword flashed, deflecting all the kunai. Itachi instantly moved behind Ming Jing and, with a hand-seal speed that surprised even Yuexi, completed a jutsu: "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

When Ming Jing turned around, what he saw was a massive fireball filling almost his entire field of vision!

"As expected of Itachi! Your movement, hand seals, and jutsu release are all surprisingly fast!" Ming Jing praised sincerely. After releasing the jutsu, Itachi hid again. He didn't think Ming Jing would be taken down by a C-rank jutsu. And indeed, Ming Jing drew his sword again—a cold light slashed through the great fireball from top to bottom, splitting it in two!

At just six years old, Uchiha Itachi hadn't yet awakened his Sharingan, but when he focused, he still caught Ming Jing's movement—a pure, unadorned speed, a speed pushed to the extreme!

"You're clearly an illusion expert—why did you train in such swordsmanship?" Itachi couldn't help asking.

"Don't you think my heroic figure in a white robe with a longsword is especially handsome?" Ming Jing smiled slightly, casually twirling his sword in a flourish, preening.

Itachi was silent for a moment before speaking: "This is exactly why I have to beat you up!..."

"Because I'm better-looking than you—I've always known that." Ming Jing nodded seriously.

Watching from the sidelines, Tsukishiro Yuexi couldn't help covering her mouth to stifle a laugh: "The Young Master like this—you only see it when he's with Young Master Itachi!"

"Yeah!..." Qing Yan twitched the corner of his mouth. The steady, wise, calm, beautiful, humble, elegant, generous, clean, kind, bright, serious, conscientious, considerate, striving, dedicated, reliable, dutiful, cautious, passionate, straightforward, pure (five thousand words omitted here) Young Master in his heart was nothing like this! Who was this sarcastic, narcissistic guy? Get out of my adorable Young Master's body!!!