Uncle

Konoha.

Uchiha Itachi walked down a quiet, deserted alley and stopped in front of a gym at the far end.

He looked up.

A prominent sign caught his eye. Five large red characters were carved into it:

Physical Transformation Department.

Itachi shook his head, his gaze tinged with helplessness.

He didn't like running errands, especially when the person he was about to see was someone who wasn't exactly pleasant.

Unfortunately, that guy was his uncle.

"Phew~"

Taking a deep breath, Itachi pushed open the gym's front door and went inside.

At the front desk, a young blonde woman with blue eyes rested her chin in her hand, looking languid and yawning from boredom.

Itachi remembered her name.

Samui.

The young woman had fair skin and beautiful features, and her ample chest was especially eye-catching.

But even such a beautiful receptionist couldn't save the gym from its usual dismal attendance.

Gyms like this...

Itachi had heard they were quite popular in the northern Cloud Hidden Village, but they clearly had little market in Konoha.

"Itachi, are you here to see the Gym Director?"

Samui spotted him too and greeted him with some surprise.

Itachi nodded.

The Gym Director she meant was his uncle, Uchiha Dan.

"The Gym Director is training in the Equipment Area. I can show you the way." As she spoke, Samui stepped out from behind the counter. She was bored anyway.

"No need to trouble yourself. I'll go on my own."

Itachi replied calmly, then politely bowed to Samui.

As she watched Itachi walk away, a strange glint passed through her sea-blue eyes.

She had come to Konoha three years ago. On the surface, she worked at this gym, but in truth, she was a spy from the Cloud Hidden Village.

According to the information Samui had gathered,

Uchiha Itachi was the son of the Clan Head of Konoha's most powerful family, the Uchiha Clan. At only ten years old, he had taken and passed the Chunin Ninja Exams all by himself.

Not long ago, Itachi had made history once again, becoming the youngest member of Konoha's Anbu at the age of eleven.

A genius like him was one of the key people Samui had been assigned to watch.

Now that she finally had a chance to get close to Itachi, how could she, as a spy, let it slip by?

So she followed him discreetly.

The spacious training area was packed with all kinds of gleaming equipment: Power Racks, Bench Presses, Chest Press Machines, Seated Row Machines... There were also rows of dumbbells and barbells, all shining with a cold metallic gleam.

It was enough to make anyone's eyes swim.

Itachi had once heard his mother say that three years ago, his uncle had made a special trip to the Cloud Hidden Village to import all this equipment, spending a lot of money and effort.

Unfortunately,

the luxurious equipment was matched by a complete lack of customers. There wasn't a single one in the gym at that moment.

Come to think of it,

who would come when the place was tucked away in such a remote spot?

Itachi couldn't help remembering his father's assessment of his younger brother-in-law:

Dan had no talent, whether as a ninja or a businessman.

Just then,

Itachi heard a sound from deep inside the gym.

It was...

A man's low, rhythmic grunt.

At first, it sounded like the growl of a dangerous beast, a warning that told people to keep away. It echoed through the gym.

Itachi's expression didn't change as he walked through the Equipment Area at an unhurried pace, gradually approaching the source of the sound, until—

A broad, bare-backed figure appeared before him.

It was his uncle, Uchiha Dan.

Itachi stopped, his pupils narrowing.

Dan had his back to him, sitting wide-legged on a Dumbbell Bench, lifting a pair of impossibly heavy dumbbells as he trained.

Itachi was stunned because he had never seen a human back so visually overwhelming:

His lats were vast as a mountain range, rising and falling with each press of the dumbbells;

A python-like spinal erector ran down his back, while ridges of muscle fanned out from either side, connecting to the sharply defined, full muscles around them. The whole thing looked like a Christmas tree weighed down with fruit;

Even his lower back, one of the hardest areas to train, was sharply defined, just like his abs.

Itachi suddenly had an odd illusion.

What he was looking at wasn't a human back, but a devil's face made of countless fused muscles.

That was right.

Especially below Uchiha Dan's shoulder blades, where his teres major, teres minor, and infraspinatus were so developed that they seemed to writhe against one another.

At first glance, they looked like a pair of demonic eyes.

They seemed to stare evilly at Itachi.

He felt a strange chill of fear and pressure.

If there was anything gentle about this "demon's back," with its fearsome appearance,

it was the purple, five-pointed star-shaped birthmark where Uchiha Dan's thick neck met his left shoulder.

Itachi quickly came to his senses, his expression returning to normal.

Though he had found his uncle, he didn't immediately explain why he had come. Instead, he stood quietly and waited for Dan to finish training.

At last,

with a thud,

Dan tossed the pair of enormous dumbbells onto the floor. The entire gym seemed to shake violently.

After his workout, his muscles were engorged and flushed, and so much sweat poured off him that it formed white steam, rising in wisps.

Samui stepped forward at just the right moment and held out a white towel for Uchiha Dan to wipe himself off.

Only then did Itachi speak:

"Uncle, Mom asked you to come to our house for dinner tonight."

"I'm busy."

Dan didn't turn around. He refused without hesitation, his low, cold voice marked by distance.

Itachi frowned at his answer.

He had expected it.

Still...

"Itachi, make sure your uncle comes."

Remembering how earnestly his mother had asked him before he left, Itachi patiently spoke again:

"Mother said she has something important to discuss with you. Please come with me."

Though he had said "please," Itachi's tone had unwittingly taken on a hint of force, like an Anbu ninja questioning a suspect.

Hmm?

Noticing the change in Itachi's tone, Dan finally stood up, turned around, and walked over to his nephew, looking down at him.

He said nothing.

Itachi wasn't intimidated. He raised his head and calmly met his uncle's gaze.

The man before him had short, neatly cut black hair, sharp brows and bright eyes, a straight nose, and features as if carved with a knife and chisel. He looked cold and resolute.

Dan was also exceptionally tall.

He was nearly two meters tall, with shoulders like a pair of tires and pecs as thick as door panels. He cast a heavy shadow over Itachi, looming like a small mountain.

Just from his appearance, Uchiha Dan seemed to have the word "invincible" written all over his face.

But Itachi wasn't nervous at all.

Because he knew that his uncle was all show and no substance.

Uchiha Dan was twenty-four years old, and the younger brother of Itachi's mother, Uchiha Mikoto.

As far as Itachi knew, his uncle had never shown any talent for Ninjutsu as a child. When tested with Chakra Paper, it hadn't reacted at all.

Of the five chakra natures—Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, and Earth—Uchiha Dan had gotten none. He was a born—

Ninjutsu Insulator.

His only redeeming quality was that he was physically strong.

His mother had told him that when his uncle was a student at the Ninja Academy, he had beaten up a teacher in front of everyone simply because the teacher had "spoken rudely" to him.

As a result,

he had been expelled after just three days, becoming the worst delinquent in the history of the Ninja Academy.

He had also lost forever the chance to become a proud Konoha Ninja.

A few years later, his uncle fell out with the clan. After his older sister Mikoto got married, he moved out of the Uchiha Clan Compound on his own.

He opened this little-known gym in the alley and acted as though he wanted nothing more to do with the clan.

More than ten years passed in a flash.

These days, aside from his own family, almost no one knew that the man named Dan before them had once borne the Uchiha surname.

In short,

this troublesome uncle gave his mother Mikoto plenty to worry about, and even the prematurely mature Itachi couldn't help looking down on him.

Inside the gym,

uncle and nephew stared at each other.

"So, what are you going to do if I don't go?"

Uchiha Dan crossed his arms and looked down at his tiny nephew, asking casually.

"As far as I know, Father wants to arrange for you to work in the Police Force. If I were you, Uncle, I wouldn't turn down such a good opportunity."

Itachi replied bluntly, his tone growing even firmer.

Two nights earlier, he had accidentally overheard his parents talking in their room.

His mother was a real "brother-spoiling sister." She had put in a good word for Dan repeatedly, and had finally persuaded his usually impartial father to let his younger brother-in-law work for the Police Force.

It was a secure job with a good salary and plenty of prestige.

In Itachi's view, his uncle was already a grown man and ought to know better.

But, to his disappointment,

"If I heard you right, you're telling me what to do."

Uchiha Dan didn't appreciate the advice. Instead, his gaze turned cold, and his tone sharpened slightly.

"That's right."

Itachi sighed, his voice icy.

He had run out of patience.

As a genius who had gone to war and killed enemies at the age of four, and could think about problems from the Hokage's perspective at seven, Itachi had his mind full of important matters concerning the village and clan.

He didn't want to waste too much time on trivial things like this.

Sure enough,

Itachi's response completely enraged Uchiha Dan.

Dan's gaze shifted. He lowered his right arm and clenched a fist as big as a cooking pot, seeming ready to teach his nephew a lesson.

Itachi silently raised his hand too.

It was time to show his uncle just how big the gap was between a real ninja and a musclehead who spent all day lifting weights at the gym.

As the tension mounted,

Samui hid to one side, pretending to look frightened, though anticipation lurked deep in her eyes.

She had worked here for three years and had never seen Uchiha Dan fight. But with muscles that terrifying, he was bound to be strong.

How would Itachi, the celebrated genius, defeat him?

Samui was curious.

But soon, something she never expected happened.

"Thump!"

The dull sound of a fist landing hard on a body rang out.

Before Itachi could react, his vision went black. A sharp pain shot through his abdomen, forcing him down onto one knee as his insides churned violently. Then—

He threw up his breakfast.

"Why did you suddenly throw up? Is your stomach bothering you?"

Dan asked in feigned surprise. He even crouched down and rubbed Itachi's head, as if he were concerned about his nephew's health.

Itachi was deathly pale and too miserable to speak, unable to answer.

He could only let Dan ruffle his hair into a mess.

Once Dan had had his fun, he stood and ordered Samui, "Bring my adorable nephew a bottle of water, and grab a mop while you're at it. Clean the floor."

"...Oh."

Samui came back to herself and replied uncertainly.

What exactly had happened just now?

From her perspective as a third party, Uchiha Dan had clearly stood in place the whole time without moving so much as a finger, yet Itachi had inexplicably fallen to his knees.

It was simply unbelievable.

Half a minute later.

Itachi clutched his stomach and struggled to look up at Uchiha Dan. The calm had vanished from his face, replaced by fear.

Of course, he hadn't suddenly felt unwell. He'd been hit squarely in the stomach.

But the terrifying thing was that, just like Samui, Itachi hadn't seen how Dan had struck him at all.

Was it Genjutsu?

Or was Dan's speed so great that the naked eye couldn't follow it?

Whatever the case,

Itachi had to admit that Uchiha Dan was far stronger than he was.

Only now did he finally realize that his uncle, who seemed to have nothing going for him but his brawn, had been hiding his true abilities all these years.

Turns out he was the real clown.

"Go back and tell my sister her cooking really isn't to my taste. And don't come looking for me again."

Dan glanced at Itachi, delivered those two sentences, and waved him away.

Then he picked up a towel and headed toward the bathroom.

"..."

Itachi watched his uncle's retreating figure with a complicated expression. He forced himself to stand despite the pain in his stomach, then hunched over and slowly walked out of the Fitness Gym.

Samui hurried over with a mop.

"Gym Director..."

She hesitated, but couldn't help asking Dan about the question on her mind. "Do you hate Uchiha Itachi?"

The perceptive Samui could naturally tell that in the exchange between uncle and nephew just now, Dan had been targeting not Itachi's parents, but Itachi himself.

Faced with Samui's question, Dan didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked her, "What do you think of my nephew?"

"Um... Uchiha Itachi is a genius. He's mature and composed for his age, polite, and cool in both his appearance and the way he carries himself."

Samui answered honestly.

In her opinion, the Gym Director ought to be happy to have such a cool nephew he could be proud of, shouldn't he?

What surprised her was his reply.

"You know, you shouldn't let that boy's harmless appearance fool you.

Weasels are cruel and heartless. They take pleasure in torturing their prey to death. They kill far more prey than they need, and they'll even... kill their own parents."

As he spoke, Dan raised two fingers and tapped Samui's smooth forehead.

His meaning was clear.

Then he left Samui standing there in a daze and went into the bathroom alone.

Water pattered down.

In the bathroom, hot water poured over Uchiha Dan's imposing physique, while white steam filled the air.

He glanced at the mirror.

In it,

besides Dan himself, a strange humanoid shadow over three meters tall had appeared behind him at some point.

Like Dan, the shadow had a powerful, iron-hard physique. Its skin was dark blue-green, and it wore gray-white armor and a metal helmet that covered the upper half of its face.

In truth,

the shadow was formed from Uchiha Dan's spiritual energy. It was a being known as a "Stand," named—

The World.

When Dan had confronted Itachi, he had used his Stand's ability to stop time for one second across the entire world. That was how he'd struck his nephew without anyone noticing.

Of course, he'd held back when he threw that punch.

Otherwise, Itachi would probably have been nothing but a shattered corpse by now.

P.S. If you haven't read JoJo or don't know how Stands work, just think of it as a guardian spirit that can stop time.