"Obsessive Uchiha"

He gazed out through the transparent glass window at the playground.

The trees towered overhead, the grass grew lush, and morning dew still clung to everything.

These were only basic techniques. He'd learned them ages ago; he was listening only to show respect for the teacher.

"What are you talking about?"

Yan nudged Yayoi and asked in a low voice.

She was so bored. These little chakra tricks were easy enough for anyone.

Besides, this cool, distant Hyuga girl had actually started talking to someone else of her own accord. Yan was curious what was going on.

"Discussing the origins and transmission of chakra?"

Yayoi turned to the side, caught a glimpse of purple, and knew Yan was making something up on the spot.

"The origins and transmission of chakra? Impressive. Can I join in?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You're not supposed to whisper to each other in class."

"You two!"

As their homeroom teacher, Sakurai Utsugi felt she had been patient enough with her students.

But why did you have to talk to one person right under the teacher's nose, then so "openly" turn around and keep talking to the classmate behind you?

How brazen and disrespectful. It was infuriating.

"You—you two, get outside and stand as punishment!"

Watching the teacher suddenly fly into a rage, Yayoi covered his forehead with a helpless expression.

Damn, he'd messed up.

There was no choice. He could only obediently go outside and stand.

Rin had been startled awake by the sudden shouting. Her pure white eyes looked bewilderedly at the teacher and Yayoi, who had stood up.

She didn't know what had happened. The teacher looked as if she wanted to say something to Rin, who seemed to have just woken from a deep sleep, but in the end she held back.

Yan, meanwhile, went outside and stood properly, looking unconcerned.

When she saw Yayoi coming over, she even patted the wall beside her, inviting him to stand there.

"Are we close?"

Yayoi asked helplessly, addressing this very un-Uchiha-like Uchiha.

"Aren't we classmates?"

Yan tilted her head and said.

"Uh, I mean, why did you suddenly start talking to me? No, that's not it. I mean, why are you suddenly acting so familiar with me?"

Yayoi wanted to object, but his objections sounded too cold. He tried to rephrase, but for a moment couldn't think of how.

Unless absolutely necessary, he really didn't want to get involved with the Uchiha.

They were too dangerous and unpredictable.

"You treat me differently from the other students. Can you tell me why?"

Yayoi gathered his thoughts, then spread his hands helplessly.

"I want to observe you?"

The girl seriously said something that sent a chill through Yayoi.

"Huh?"

Yayoi's mouth fell open. He seemed unable to believe that could be the answer.

That was ridiculous. What kind of reason was "observe you"? Or was she finally about to reveal her identity as a mad scientist, having disguised herself as a little girl so she could study him?

Yayoi's mind was full of frantic complaints.

"You're strong in the face of loneliness. You're lonely, just like me, but you're different, too.

"You don't play with the other students, and you don't care what people think. You just do what you want. I can't do that. I want to learn from you."

Yan sounded a little envious.

"Could it be that you're the one who's isolated everyone else?"

"No."

Yan shook her head.

"I'm different from them."

"How are you different?"

"They're too childish, and I'm not quite like them."

"..."

"At your age, you should be thinking about getting more practice with your sword, not dwelling on philosophical ideas like loneliness."

"Then observe me if you want. Just don't disturb me while I'm reading."

After all that, Yayoi had been successfully persuaded. He decided to give up resisting.

He didn't have any secrets worth hiding anyway, and once Blood Rage was activated, it would take effect gradually on its own.

On the surface, he was no different from a normal person. There was no fear of anyone discovering anything.

It wasn't as if she'd follow him home. If she did, he could call the police.

Wait, weren't the police Uchiha? Would he get dragged off instead?

"I want to be your friend."

Yan said out of the blue.

Yayoi fell silent.

"What, running short on material to awaken your eyes?"

The last time he'd gone quiet had been the last time.

At that moment, Yayoi felt as if a thousand mud horses were stampeding through his mind.

He was in Konoha and had become friends with a genius Uchiha girl.

No matter how he looked at it, he was going to be marked down as a tool for awakening her eyes.

After thinking for a few seconds, Yayoi said:

"We'll discuss this later."

Dusk.

Yayoi continued to work up a sweat in the Konoha Great Forest.

His arms were wrapped in bandages as he struck the sturdy tree trunk again and again.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Each blow sounded heavier and hit harder than the last.

The tree groaned in protest, its trunk covered in scars. At last, it crashed to the ground under one of Yayoi's punches.

Yayoi wiped away his sweat and walked over to sit beneath another tree and rest.

This tree sure was thick. It had withstood a whole month of his training.

Mixed Bloods were different from dragons. Their strength lay in their Word Spirits.

Their physical abilities were far beyond those of ordinary people, but not to an absurd degree.

And sadly, in a true battle, Word Spirits weren't all that useful against the Dragon Clan.

Even a Dragon King's strength was limited without a dragon body, let alone Yayoi, whose bloodline was only A-rank at the moment.

On top of that, Yayoi had deliberately chosen the thickest tree around, so it had taken a month of training before it could "retire with honors."

Unlike Ninja, who dealt high damage but had low defense, Yayoi had awakened his Dragon Clan bloodline and decided his path would be that of a three-in-one ultimate boss: able to fight, defend, and heal.

So aside from his Word Spirit, he also had to train hard in hand-to-hand combat.

Although practicing hand-to-hand combat didn't do much to improve his ability to take a hit, he couldn't just slack off.

With perseverance, he'd eventually reap the rewards.

After resting for a while, Yayoi stood up and activated his Mirror Eye, practicing his fighting techniques over and over.

Some had been taught by instructors, some he'd practiced with his parents as a child, and others he'd learned from books.

He rehearsed them again and again. The Mirror Eye let him see the flaws in himself and his movements, and then he corrected them one by one.

In his previous life, he'd joined Kaser, but he'd died in an accident not long after graduating. His fundamentals still needed work.

And Konoha-style taijutsu wasn't just crude, shallow martial arts. It included many techniques suited to Ninja with chakra, which gave Yayoi plenty of inspiration.

His corrections were slow. Often, he could fix only one movement after going through the routine once.

Yayoi didn't dare keep his Mirror Eye activated for long. Its energy consumption was terrifying.

Honestly, without a renowned teacher to instruct him, Yayoi had no choice but to become his own teacher.

That was the misery of being a commoner.

Wait, wasn't he a Senju?

Never mind. Oh, right. Boo-hoo.

Who could have imagined the pain of a fallen noble family?

Whenever he thought of it, Yayoi clenched his fists, putting more and more strength into every blow.

He kept going until he had wrung every last bit of strength from his body. Then his Mirror Eye shut down, and Yayoi slumped to the ground.

He stared blankly at the sunset clouds, slowly turning crimson, and the sun sinking beneath the horizon.

When the sky had grown dark, Yayoi got up and prepared to head home.

Day after day, year after year.

Yayoi walked along this same path every day.

Dragging his exhausted body along, Yayoi spotted his home, but the next moment his eyes narrowed.

A red-and-white ping-pong paddle was slung across her back. She wore long sleeves, and her purple hair was tied in a neat, high ponytail.

There wasn't a second person in the Uchiha Clan with that look and hair color.

Without a doubt, it was Uchiha Yan!