"You! How dare you speak to the captain like that? Watch your attitude!"
Seeing Uchiha Dan acting so arrogantly, one Police Force member couldn't stand by any longer. He pointed at Dan and scolded him sharply.
Dan merely glanced at him expressionlessly.
Whoosh.
The man's face turned ashen, and he suddenly felt a powerful sensation of suffocation, as if Dan's gaze had become a blade about to slice open his throat.
"Ah!"
He let out a scream, clutched his throat, and stumbled backward, breaking into a cold sweat.
Was it Genjutsu?
Seeing this, Uchiha Inohi couldn't help but feel startled.
No, it wasn't Genjutsu. It was... his presence.
Dan hadn't revealed his Sharingan, let alone used Genjutsu. His sheer force of spirit alone could seize a person's soul with a glance.
He could even scare the wits out of them.
"Let's go!"
Inohi snorted, gave Dan a long look, then ordered his team to take the spy's body and the intelligence with them before hurrying away.
"We should head back too."
Dan said a few words to Samui, then set off for home.
"...Oh." Samui hurriedly picked up the bags and jogged after him.
Far away.
On the roof of a building, two Anbu ninja wearing animal masks watched the whole scene with cold eyes.
They had arrived almost simultaneously with the Police Force.
In Konoha, besides the Police Force, which was run by the Uchiha Clan, another organization responsible for maintaining order was the Anbu, which answered directly to the Hokage.
The division of authority between them was unclear.
As a result, personnel from the two departments often got into verbal and even physical altercations while carrying out their duties.
In recent years.
As the Konoha high command tightened its suppression of the Uchiha Clan, these conflicts had grown increasingly frequent.
Just now.
The two Anbu had planned to intervene, but before they could make a move, Dan had unexpectedly dealt with all the spies.
"Who's that guy?"
"He seems to be a member of the Uchiha Clan too. We'd better investigate and report this to the Hokage."
After a brief discussion, the two quietly followed Dan and Samui.
Ten minutes later.
Dan and Samui returned to the Fitness Gym and opened the door.
He glanced back at the empty alley and looked away, then entered with Samui.
Had they been spotted?
The two Anbu appeared on the rooftop and exchanged a glance.
They took note of the Fitness Gym's name—Physical Transformation Department.
One stayed behind to keep watch, while the other used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished, heading toward the Hokage Building.
Inside the Fitness Gym.
"Gym Director, thank you for saving my life today."
As soon as Samui returned, she bowed deeply to Dan, inadvertently revealing the deep cleavage between her breasts.
It seemed bottomless.
"You're covered in blood. Go take a shower first."
Dan left her with those words, picked up several large bags of ingredients, and headed into the kitchen.
Samui watched Dan's retreating figure with a complicated expression. Without thinking, she bit her lip, then went into the bathroom. The sound of running water soon followed.
Thump.
Dan stuffed the food into the refrigerator and shut the door, then left the kitchen and headed for the Meditation Room.
Cultivation required a balance between movement and stillness.
The Fitness Gym Dan had built with his own hands had a Strength Training Area and an Aerobic Training Area, as well as a Meditation Room decorated with quiet elegance.
As soon as he entered, he saw a huge Yin-Yang Tai Chi pattern on the floor.
He lit a stick of sandalwood incense. Wisps of smoke curled through the air, soothing the mind.
Dan walked to the center of the room, sat cross-legged on a cushion, and slowly closed his eyes. Before long, he had entered a state of deep contemplation.
His Stand, "The World," quietly appeared behind him as well. Its towering body sat on the floor, meditating alongside Dan.
Over the past few days.
Dan had often found himself pondering a question:
Why had the Stand he awakened been "The World," rather than Star Platinum, a Stand of the same type but with stronger stats?
After all, Star Platinum was known as the strongest, invincible Stand in history—and The World's greatest nemesis.
Could it be...
Because he lacked the aura of a protagonist and, like Dio, was destined to be a villain?
Still, it wasn't so bad.
At least his Stand wasn't Hermit Purple. The old man's Stand was the most useless, after all.
In fact.
During the half-month since awakening his Stand, Dan had grown familiar with how to use The World and had gained an initial grasp of its time-stop ability.
He gradually realized:
The World might suit him better than Star Platinum.
According to the lore, a Stand was an expression of a person's spirit, but a powerful body could also enhance its abilities.
In the JoJo manga.
Dio, reduced to just a head, took over Giorno's body. The two became one, giving birth to the Stand "The World."
Later, when Dio fought Kujo Jotaro, he absorbed Joseph's blood. His body grew stronger, and The World's time-stop ability extended to nine seconds.
Dan believed this was another revelation from the Muscle God: the stronger the body, the stronger the Stand.
There was a clear basis for this theory.
Kujo Jotaro, Stand: Star Platinum, was 195 centimeters tall but weighed only 82 kilograms. He was a "skinny mutt" whose build was all thanks to his expensive school uniform.
Giorno (Dio), Stand: The World, was 195 centimeters tall and weighed 97 kilograms. He was the physically strongest member in the history of the Joestar family.
And Uchiha Dan, who also had a Star Birthmark.
He stood the 195 centimeters that ran in the Joestar family, but thanks to the Naruto world's 130 trillion cells in the human body, along with twenty years of unceasing training...
Dan weighed an astonishing 150 kilograms.
Because of this, the Stand he awakened, "The World," was even larger than Dio's The World, standing over three meters tall.
Actually.
The stats of a Stand didn't matter to Dan at all.
Because—
Whether it was The World or Star Platinum, neither was as strong as Dan himself.
What he truly cared about was the abilities of the two Stands: they could both stop time.
The difference was that...
Star Platinum could stop time for a maximum of only five seconds, while The World's limit was nine seconds.
Almost twice as long.
That alone was enough.
The World could surpass Star Platinum and be hailed as the true strongest Stand.
Speaking of which.
After awakening his Stand.
Dan's mindset had also changed without his realizing it.
Many transmigrators had a self-important savior complex.
Become Hokage at six, unite the Ninja World at eight, defeat the Ōtsutsuki Clan at ten, and even give Kaguya some maternity leave for good measure.
Dan was different.
He had never thought of becoming some kind of savior.
Saving the world or whatever—people like Uzumaki Naruto could handle that. Why should an outsider who didn't even belong in the Naruto world worry about it?
His greatest joy in life was building up his body, training, breaking through his physical limits again and again, and savoring the thrill.
That was why Dan had ignored the world outside and trained quietly for twenty-four years.
If there was anyone in this world Dan still cared about, it was his older sister, Uchiha Mikoto, who had grown up with him.
He also knew that two years after Itachi joined the Anbu, the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall would take place.
Those two madmen, Itachi and Obito, would wipe out the entire Uchiha Clan with the Konoha high command's cooperation.
Before then.
Dan had no intention of getting involved.
Although he had a powerful body and Taijutsu, facing Obito, Itachi, and the Konoha high command lurking in the shadows would still be too much.
His body hadn't yet been perfected, and he couldn't afford to let it suffer any damage.
So.
Dan's original plan was to find an opportunity soon to take his older sister Mikoto and leave Konoha together.
He hadn't expected his Stand, "The World," to awaken at just that moment.
This new power had made Dan all the stronger. From then on, he could live with greater ease in this world, fraught with danger.
Even against Obito's nearly broken, seemingly invincible "Kamui," his own "Za Warudo" would absolutely be able to put up a fight.
This time.
Dan had revealed some of his strength in public, so it would surely draw some people's attention.
If so.
Then he might as well stretch his muscles a little.
After all, Dan had realized that he had been training in isolation, and his progress had been getting slower and harder over the past few years. He had already
reached a bottleneck.
Perhaps some high-intensity battles were just what he needed to stimulate his body and keep improving.
People said tools became more useful the more they were used, while disuse made them dull.
The human body was the same.
After sorting out his thoughts.
Dan ended his meditation, stood up, and left the Meditation Room.
By then, it was already dusk.
The sun was about to set. The evening light streamed through the Fitness Gym's huge floor-to-ceiling windows, laying a golden sheen across the floor.
Creak.
The bathroom door opened from the inside, and Samui came out after her shower.
She wore a tight white tank top and blue athletic shorts. Her wet blond hair hung loosely over her shoulders, and a few droplets of water clung to her collarbone.
"Are you all right? If you were frightened, I can give you a few days off," Dan said, showing concern for his employee.
At his words, Samui quickly replied, "There's no need, Gym Director. I'm fine now."
"Good."
Dan nodded and glanced out the window. "It's getting late. Let's close up early and get some rest today."
"Gym Director, what would you like for dinner? I'll go make it right away." Samui started toward the kitchen without even taking the time to dry her hair.
Dan called after her:
"No need. Let's eat out tonight. We'll go to Yakiniku Q again, like last time. It's my treat."
"Really? Thank you, Gym Director."
Samui's face lit up, and she smiled.
She was usually cold and rarely smiled in front of people, let alone genuinely. But this time, her smile was sincere.
Because Yakiniku Q was expensive, but it was also truly delicious.
So.
While Samui dried her hair, Dan took a shower and changed clothes. Then the two of them went out again.
Just as Dan had expected, his actions that day had drawn the attention of quite a few people.
Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, was sixty-two years old that year. He sat at his desk, puffing on his pipe with one hand while reading the documents that had just been delivered with the other.
The file in his hands contained intelligence on Uchiha Dan.
As he read, the Third Hokage's brow furrowed, and even the movement of his pipe slowed.
"That little boy who beat up his teacher back then has grown so much without me realizing it."
He slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke and sighed as he looked at Dan's imposing figure in the photograph.
The Third Hokage remembered Dan.
After all.
A six-year-old boy who had just started school had used his brute strength to pin a Chunin teacher down and beat him. Such a bizarre incident was enough to catch the attention of the Ninja Academy's principal—himself.
It had been the Third Hokage who personally ordered Uchiha Dan's expulsion from the Ninja Academy.
From then on, he never heard anything more about Dan.
He had thought the kid had long since faded into obscurity. He hadn't expected Dan to live quietly for nearly twenty years, only to reveal his strength once again and cause a minor sensation.
What a shame.
The Third Hokage put down Dan's file and sighed.
If only he hadn't rashly expelled Dan back then, and had instead carefully guided him in the spirit of the Will of Fire, helping him turn over a new leaf. How much better that would have been.
In that case...
Dan could have become a shinobi much earlier and made greater contributions to the village. Perhaps he might even have distinguished himself on the battlefield during the Third Shinobi World War, just like Uchiha Shisui.
But now...
There was yet another troublesome character in the Uchiha Clan.
In the eyes of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi,
Uchiha Dan must resent him, the principal who had expelled him from the Ninja Academy all those years ago.
What's more, Dan was an Uchiha. That resentment would never fade with time; it would only grow.
That was simply the nature of the Uchiha Clan.
At that thought,
the Third Hokage raised his head and looked at the young man standing across his desk. "Shisui, how much do you know about Uchiha Dan?"
The young man had a short sword strapped to his back and a baby face. His distinctive dumpling nose detracted from his looks, but also gave him a gentle, sincere air that made him seem trustworthy.
Uchiha Shisui.
A descendant of Kagami Uchiha, he was nicknamed "Body Flicker Shisui." He was the strongest member of the Uchiha Clan at present, and one of the rare Uchihas who firmly believed in the Will of Fire.
When the Third Hokage asked him, Shisui shook his head and tried to recall:
"I don't know much about Dan. I only saw him from a distance a few times when I was a child. Later, I heard he'd moved out of the Uchiha Clan Compound, kept to himself, and rarely went out..."
I see.
The Third Hokage nodded slightly to show he understood. He trusted that Shisui wouldn't hide anything from him.
"An hour ago, Uchiha Dan killed five spies from Amegakure single-handedly. He moves incredibly fast and can send several enemies flying in an instant. His mastery of the Body Flicker Technique may be no less than yours."
As he spoke, the Third Hokage handed Dan's file to Shisui.
"There's always someone better. My Body Flicker Technique has always been overrated."
Shisui was modest, showing no sign of competitiveness in response to the Third Hokage's words.
The Third Hokage fell silent for a moment, then waved a hand and instructed Shisui, "All right, you may go."
After Shisui left,
"Add Uchiha Dan's Fitness Gym to the list of places under close surveillance," the Third Hokage said.
"Yes." An Anbu member appeared silently, answered, and withdrew.
Meanwhile,
at the Police Force building, in the captain's office,
Uchiha Fugaku looked stunned as he listened to Inohi's report.
Before you continue