Hate Yourself for Not Having These Eyes!

He passed through a deep corridor.

He arrived at an empty courtyard with only an old tree.

Watching Uchiha Chi standing beneath the tree,

Uchiha Yashiro's clenched fist loosened slightly.

He had thought Uchiha Chi had lured him inside to ambush him under cover of darkness in one of the rooms.

That was why he had not intended to follow.

Yet the other party had actually questioned his magnanimity...

Behind him stood the Konoha Military Police Force, the representative of order.

No one could look down on the Military Police Force, not even fellow clansmen.

That was why Uchiha Yashiro had resolved to follow him.

Even if he was ambushed, he would prove his magnanimity to this brat who still reeked of milk!

But now, he had reached the courtyard without incident... Nothing had happened.

"Hmph!" Uchiha Yashiro crossed his arms and snorted coldly. "At least you had the magnanimity of an Uchiha and didn't launch a sneak attack."

Hearing Uchiha Yashiro's voice,

Uchiha Chi, who had been looking up at the sky beneath the tree, turned around.

When he saw Uchiha Yashiro standing at the courtyard entrance,

his gaze remained calm, though surprise appeared on his face.

"I didn't expect you to actually follow me. Is this the magnanimity of the Military Police Force?"

"Of course!"

Uchiha Yashiro's expression was stern, but the corners of his mouth kept rising. "This is my magnanimity!"

"You brat, if you don't want to suffer, you'd better obediently come to the Military Police Force with me..."

"But this isn't your magnanimity." Uchiha Chi shook his head and interrupted him, saying seriously, "It's the magnanimity of the Military Police Force."

Uchiha Yashiro frowned, unable to understand what Uchiha Chi was trying to say. "What's the difference?"

"Of course there's a difference." Uchiha Chi patiently explained, "In reality, you personally didn't want to follow me, or you wouldn't have taken so long to get here.

"It was because you considered your identity as a member of the Military Police Force and didn't want to damage its reputation that, after struggling with it, you chose to follow me into the courtyard."

Uchiha Yashiro fell silent for several seconds.

Uchiha Chi was indeed right. Personally, he really had not wanted to come.

But what was the point of distinguishing between the two?

"So?" Uchiha Yashiro asked coldly. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"So, this isn't your magnanimity. It's the magnanimity of the Military Police Force."

Uchiha Chi showed no displeasure at Uchiha Yashiro's impatience.

Like a good teacher caring for a poor student's feelings, he wore a smile, deliberately slowed his speech, and tirelessly explained a point the poor student could not understand.

Yet looking at Uchiha Chi's gentle expression, Uchiha Yashiro only grew more irritated.

That was because those eyes reminded him of his childhood days at the Uchiha clan school, when teachers had given him special attention.

Back then, his teacher had worn the same expression as Uchiha Chi, correcting his wrong arithmetic problems again and again.

"Yashiro, your top priority right now is remembering the difference between the plus sign and the multiplication sign. Three plus three doesn't equal six. We're learning addition, not multiplication..."

"What? You wrote six because you didn't know how to write five? Then why were you able to calculate '6 - 1 = 5' in the next question?"

"What? You mean that wasn't five, it was four? Uh..."

"Ahem... It's all right. We'll learn it slowly."

Even after more than twenty years, Uchiha Yashiro could still recall his teacher's wonderful expression from back then, which made him feel especially stifled now.

What use was learning knowledge properly?

In the end, they had still died on the battlefield, leaving him with one more grave to visit every year.

"What the hell are you babbling about? I don't care about any of that!" Uchiha Yashiro glared at Uchiha Chi and raised his fist in anger. "Quit feeding me your crooked logic. The only truth I acknowledge is strength!"

"Is that so? I understand."

Uchiha Chi let out a faintly regretful sigh. "Since you refuse to listen to reason..."

The next second, dust trembled beneath his feet. His whole body sprang forward as if mounted on a spring, and in the blink of an eye, he was before Uchiha Yashiro.

"Then I happen to know a little about fighting, too."

He gathered all the strength in his body into his right fist and drove it straight at Uchiha Yashiro's face with a fierce gust of wind.

"Not this again!"

Uchiha Yashiro cursed under his breath. Knowing he could not take the punch head-on, he quickly bent his knees and lowered his body.

After dodging the fist that had been about to strike him, he leaped backward, pulling away from Uchiha Chi as his hands rapidly formed seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Uchiha Yashiro shouted, spewing a scorching fireball from his mouth toward Uchiha Chi.

Yet almost the instant he opened his mouth, he heard the young man's shout from the other side.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

In the empty courtyard, two fireballs converged from different directions and collided, scattering layers of brilliant sparks that instantly lit up the surrounding walls!

What an utterly arrogant brat...

He had been a Jonin for nearly ten years, while Uchiha Chi had graduated less than a month ago. Yet he actually dared to clash with him using the same ninjutsu?

How arrogant!

Uchiha Yashiro sneered inwardly and silently accelerated the flow of his Chakra, causing his fireball to swell several times larger.

He intended to overpower Uchiha Chi head-on.

However...

The other fireball did not budge in the slightest, showing no sign of being driven back.

What was going on?

Confusion flashed through Uchiha Yashiro's eyes. Refusing to believe it, he sent another surge of Chakra into his throat.

The flames opposite him instantly surged. The fireball expanded until it was taller than the house behind him, crashing toward him like a tidal wave!

"What!?"

Bang—

Before he could voice any more surprise,

with the lush old tree as the dividing line, blazing fire swept across half the courtyard!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

The flames burned through the entire patch of turf, and thick black-gray smoke covered everything.

Tap, tap...

Unhurried footsteps sounded as Uchiha Chi strolled back beneath the tree.

"My courtyard uses premium turf exported from the Land of Grass. It costs fifty thousand ryo per square meter on average, and there are at least one hundred square meters here..."

"Senior Yashiro, if you're still alive, remember to promptly repay those five million ryo. Otherwise, my interest rates are quite high... Oh, right."

Looking toward the smoke-shrouded area, he raised one finger, his face full of a gentle smile. "I don't take invoices, only cash..."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three shuriken flew from the smoke, interrupting Uchiha Chi.

Clang, clang, clang!

Uchiha Chi drew a kunai from his waist and knocked all three shuriken away.

At the same time, a chilling growl rose from within the smoke.

"Brat... You're asking to die!"

The instant those words fell, two red gleams flashed in the smoke. The next moment, a charred black figure burst from the thick haze—it was Uchiha Yashiro, burned black.

The Three Tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, and a savage grin pulled at his mouth. He instantly reached Uchiha Chi's side, the kunai in his hand whirling and dancing.

Clang, clang, clang...

Dense clashes of metal rang throughout the courtyard as Uchiha Yashiro fought more fiercely with every exchange!

With the dynamic vision granted by the Three Tomoe, he easily dodged all of Uchiha Chi's attacks this time.

Thrust, slash, flick, chop—his smooth movements crashed down like an avalanche, completely suppressing Uchiha Chi within just a few breaths!

"What's the use of saying so much?"

"What's the use of being skilled with ninjutsu?"

"Hate yourself for not having these eyes!"

With a roaring shout that tore through the air,

Uchiha Yashiro gripped the kunai's handle and laughed wildly as he delivered his final blow at Uchiha Chi from an exceptionally tricky angle!

Clang—

Blocking the kunai that rapidly enlarged in his vision,

Uchiha Chi tilted his head slightly and smiled at the astonished Uchiha Yashiro.

"Three Tomoe? How impressive..."

"But... I have them too!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Chi no longer concealed himself. His aura surged, and the tomoe in his eyes began spinning rapidly!

One Tomoe, two Tomoe... Three Tomoe!

Looking at Uchiha Yashiro, whose gaze had frozen,

"HAHAHAHA... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Uchiha Chi burst into even more arrogant laughter than Uchiha Yashiro had moments ago!

P.S. I originally wanted to end the chapter here and put the next four hundred characters in the next chapter, but no matter where I cut it, it felt awkward, so I put them back...