Thousands of miles away.
The Land of Lightning, Cloud Hidden Village, the Raikage's Office.
The Fourth Raikage, with bronze skin and a massive, muscular build, was curling a barbell with one hand while reading a letter with the other.
Working out and handling business at the same time.
Unlike the Hokage Office, where documents were piled up like mountains,
the spacious Raikage's Office had no desk at all. Apart from a red sofa and a coffee table, it was filled with all kinds of exercise equipment.
The Fourth Raikage liked leaving all the paperwork to his secretary, Mabui, while he spent his days working out in his office.
At that moment,
the letter in his hand contained intelligence sent back from Konoha by Samui, a high-ranking spy, which was why he was paying it special attention.
It was about a man named Uchiha Dan.
"Heh."
When the Fourth Raikage read Samui's words about Dan's exceptional Taijutsu, the corner of his mouth curled into a dismissive smile.
He knew
that the Uchiha Clan's greatest strength was the Sharingan, and that they tended to excel at Fire Release Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. But when it came to Taijutsu...
Cloud Hidden ninjas were the real experts.
However,
after casually reading a few pages, the Fourth Raikage began to lose interest. Just as he was about to toss the letter aside,
a photograph slipped out from between the pages and fell to the floor.
It was a picture of Dan's Demon Back.
Hm?!
The Fourth Raikage's gaze fell on the photo. The next second, his eyes widened in shock.
Thud.
He tossed aside the barbell, bent down to pick up the photo, and leaned in for a closer look.
The more he looked, the more astonished and incredulous he became.
How had this kid trained?
The Fourth Raikage furrowed his brow, staring unblinkingly at the back muscles in the picture, which resembled a demon's face. He couldn't make heads or tails of it.
After all,
he was from the Yugito Clan of Cloud Hidden Village and had been born with a powerful physique. On top of that, he'd worked out day in and day out for decades, while using Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate his cells.
It had taken all three to build the body he had now.
For as long as he could remember,
the Fourth Raikage had been very confident in his physique. He was certain there wasn't another man in all of Cloud Hidden Village—or even the entire Ninja World—who could match him.
Until now.
When he saw Dan's photo, he... felt inferior.
Uchiha Dan had gotten simply too big.
The Fourth Raikage stood 198 centimeters tall, three centimeters taller than Dan, but he weighed only 100 kilograms.
Dan weighed 150 kilograms.
They were a full fifty kilograms apart.
Especially when it came to their backs.
The human back had the most muscle groups and was also the hardest to train. Any expert could tell at a glance.
Looking at Dan's imposing, magnificent Demon Back, then at himself, the Fourth Raikage realized he had been utterly outclassed.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Finally, with a bang, he smashed the coffee table in front of him to pieces with one punch.
"Lord Raikage, what happened?"
His secretary, Mabui, hurried over from the next room when she heard the noise.
Her skin was dark, and her white hair was tied back in a ponytail. She was not only beautiful and graceful, but also intelligent and capable.
"Perfect timing."
The Fourth Raikage clenched his fist and rose to his feet, ordering Mabui, "Send a message to Samui. Have her keep a close eye on Uchiha Dan. I need detailed information on that guy's workout and diet plans."
He had two great passions in life.
The first was building muscle, and the second was fighting. He refused to lose to anyone at either one.
That was it?
Mabui was taken aback.
Seeing the Raikage in such a hurry, she'd thought something urgent had happened. Learning the truth left her speechless.
She hadn't expected Lord Raikage to suffer from body-image anxiety, too.
"Understood. I'll contact Samui."
She nodded, but didn't leave right away. Instead, she handed the Fourth Raikage another report she'd prepared.
"What is this?"
"Based on intelligence gradually sent back by Samui and our other spies, since the Nine-Tails' Rampage, tensions between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha's high command have grown increasingly severe, to the point of no return.
"After analyzing the intelligence, we've concluded that
"the Uchiha Clan will completely break with Konoha's high command and launch an armed Coup d'état sometime between six months from now and two or three years from now!"
Mabui made her prediction with a confident gleam in her eyes.
The Fourth Raikage shook his head and leaned back against the sofa.
"Don't underestimate the Third Hokage. That skinny old man would never drive the Uchiha Clan into a corner."
"Why not? The Kaguya Clan, one of Kirigakure's powerful clans, rebelled after being ostracized, and they were wiped out not long ago."
Mabui was confused.
The Cloud Hidden Intelligence Division had based its prediction on a wealth of data and precedent.
The Uchiha Clan would rebel. No doubt about it.
And that would be Cloud Hidden Village's opportunity.
"The Uchiha were one of the two founding clans of Konoha. Their foundations are far beyond the Kaguya Clan's, and they're much stronger.
"If these Sharingan-wielding people are forced into rebellion, the result will be a fight that leaves both sides crippled. Then we can declare war while they're vulnerable, and Konoha will be finished.
"Does the high command in Konoha really not understand something so simple? They're not pigs."
The Fourth Raikage analyzed the situation coolly, still convinced Mabui was being too naive and oversimplifying the Uchiha Clan's predicament.
If he were Hokage,
he'd make full use of the Uchiha and treat them like brothers, putting loyalty first.
And if there were an Uchiha stronger than him, he wouldn't mind stepping aside and letting that person become Hokage.
No matter what,
he'd never drive the Uchiha Clan into a corner, let alone order their extermination. Wouldn't that be like cutting off his own arm?
"...Lord Raikage is wise."
Mabui was convinced. After thinking it over, she realized he did have a point.
The Fourth Raikage picked up Uchiha Dan's photo again and studied it with a look of resentment, vowing to find a flaw in Dan's physique.
After looking for a while, he noticed the Purple Star Birthmark on Dan's left shoulder.
"Is that a tattoo? What terrible taste. Mine's much better."
He muttered, then looked in the mirror and admired the Shuriken tattoos on both his shoulders. At last, he smiled like a victor.
What a strange competitive streak.
Mabui silently complained to herself as she watched.
She shook her head and was about to leave when the Raikage suddenly called out behind her.
"Oh, one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Buy me some Protein Powder. I'm almost out."
"..." Mabui left the Raikage's Office with a helpless expression.
Konoha.
Inside the Fitness Gym, Dan stood in front of the squat rack, coaching his employee, Samui.
"You have great potential. If you do some strength training and build more muscle definition, your figure will be even more perfect."
Those were the words Dan had said to Samui when he interviewed her.
And so, she'd not only become the receptionist, but also joined the Physical Transformation Department.
Fitness took talent, too.
When Dan spotted promising trainees, he was always happy to coach them. Samui was one, as were Might Guy and the chubby little boy, Choji Akimichi, whom he'd met at Yakiniku Q.
"Here, put this on."
Dan handed Samui a lifting belt and helped her load the barbell plates to a full 500 kilograms.
Then,
he stepped behind Samui, pressed his body against hers, and reached out with both hands, stopping at either side of her rib cage.
Before you continue