Facing Social Death, Itachi

"Itachi Uchiha, let's settle this!"

The chuunibyou voice rang out across the playground. Itachi, standing to the side, continued practicing his Shurikenjutsu without giving so much as a glance.

As for Kamano, who had shouted such a cringeworthy line, he looked as though a flock of crows were passing over his head.

"Are you not listening to me? Itachi Uchiha."

Itachi looked at Kamano and his two lackeys who had charged up to him, then sighed and put down his shuriken. "If you're looking to get back at me for the sparring match we just had, I don't think there's any need for that."

Kamano reached out and pointed at Itachi. "Are you scared? You coward."

Itachi sighed, turned around, and began to walk away. "Fighting you has no meaning for me. In other words, I have no interest in you."

Kamano, left behind, laughed loudly and began to boast to his two lackeys while pointing at Itachi.

In the distance, Uchiha Yun, who had been fiddling with a leaf, watched and smiled. "Itachi is still the same as ever. He keeps that deadpan face all day, as if everyone owes him tens of thousands of ryo."

Tokuma Hyuga, standing beside him, asked with a smile, "Actually, I've always wanted to know one thing: who is stronger, Yun or Itachi?"

Yun glanced at Hana Inuzuka, who was also looking over, and yawned. "What's the point of being stronger? We're just in the Ninja Academy. Being number one only invites a lot of trouble."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than he saw Kamano and his two lackeys escorting Itachi back toward them.

"Lord Itachi is here, move aside!"

"Our Lord Itachi just defeated Gian from the upper grades, everyone get out of the way!"

"Move, move, Lord Itachi has arrived..."

Amidst the shouting, Yun clearly saw Itachi, who was being crowded from behind, clenching his fists tightly. He figured the boy was not far from a social death.

"See? Didn't I tell you?"

Tokuma and Hana exchanged a look and nodded vigorously.

If this happened every time he entered or left the school, Itachi would probably suffer a real social death.

Watching the farce before him, Yun tucked the leaf he had cut in half into his pocket and took out a fresh one.

Nature transformation of Wind Release Chakra was not as easy to master as it was in the original story.

Based on his own experience, he had to admit that both Naruto and Konohamaru deserved the title of genius.

The irregular rotation of chakra condensed into a sphere, followed by the addition of Wind Release nature transformation to create the Wind Release: Rasengan, and finally, the addition of shape transformation to form the Rasenshuriken.

This series of ninjutsu, from low to high, were all signless. Any one of them was perfectly suited for the Flying Thunder God.

Before his water and earth chakra fused into the Wood Release bloodline limit, his clone, Sora, would develop using Minato's combat style.

While he practiced Wind Release nature transformation here, his clone, Sora, would use the Shadow Clone Technique to practice water and earth chakra nature transformation to the greatest extent possible.

This would accelerate the progress of Wood Release to the maximum. Once he could clap his hands and perform Deep Forest Emergence, or clap his hands and perform Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands, he could throw away things like the Rasengan.

He didn't know how long it would take for Danzo or Uchiha Nanadai to be left alone, but since he had finally returned, killing only Aburame Tatsuma would be a poor return on investment.

At the Three-Color Dango shop, Yun picked up a skewer of dango and frowned. "Shisui, you've been a jonin for so many years now, is it really appropriate for you to be treating us to dango?"

As he spoke, Yun looked at Itachi, who seemed to still be savoring the taste. This guy only smiled when eating sweets like this.

"To think that Itachi, hailed as the genius of the Uchiha, would actually like such sweets. If the girls at school found out, would your persona still hold up?"

As soon as Yun finished speaking, Itachi stopped mid-chew, freezing in place as if he had been struck by the comment.

Shisui, sitting opposite them, stepped in to smooth things over. "Itachi is only seven years old; isn't it normal for him to like sweets? And Yun, is it appropriate for you to say that after having already eaten three skewers?"

Yun retorted, "It's not like there's anything else! Grilled meat suits me better; I could eat a lot more of that."

At this moment, Itachi put down his dango and looked at Shisui. "I want to apply for early graduation."

Early graduation?

The words left Shisui stunned, but Yun, who had anticipated this, laughed. "If I were him, I'd graduate early too. If I didn't leave, I'd suffer social death hundreds of times a day at school."

Shisui asked in confusion, "Did something happen?"

Itachi didn't speak, so Yun told the whole story, point by point. "Every day, lackeys clearing the path, 'Lord Itachi this,' 'Itachi-kun that.' Hahaha... only Itachi could hold it in. If it were me, I would have used Earth Release to burrow into the ground on the spot."

Itachi replied at this point, "I feel like I can't learn anything more at the Ninja Academy. Graduation should be the best choice, right?"

The scene fell into a brief silence as Shisui pondered Itachi's words.

After a long while, the image of his younger sister, who harbored a one-sided crush, flashed through his mind.

Sighing, Yun spoke up. "The Ninja Academy teaches you more than just ninjutsu, you know..."

Seeing both of them look over, and with Shisui remaining silent, Yun had no choice but to continue. "Once you become a ninja, the time you have to relax will become less and less. These few years at the Ninja Academy will be the most peaceful years of your life."

"The bonds you form with your peers are also born during these years at the Ninja Academy. The Uchiha's sense of being out of place is partly due to being too much of a genius."

"Your nerves are always on edge. Perhaps you only relax when you go home and see your younger brother. What you need is to relax. You spend every day thinking about life and death, the blood feud of your father, the village, and the clan. With only seven years of life experience, you can't actually think these things through clearly."

"Itachi, if you ever become a lunatic, I will be the first one to kill you!!!"

As the final sentence fell, the atmosphere grew even colder.

Yet whether it was Shisui or Itachi, both could see the sincerity and absolute confidence in Yun's eyes.

Itachi did not doubt Yun's words, but after a moment of thought, he asked, "Although you haven't awakened your eyes yet, I can feel your ease during every sparring session. I want to know why that is."

Shisui also cast an inquisitive gaze his way at this moment.

Yun, however, gave an answer that seemed unrelated to the question, saying to Shisui, "If you require overwhelming power, then you will need to wait for me a little longer."

These words caused Shisui's expression to turn slightly grave. Overwhelming power? If it could achieve the goal of siding with the Fourth and reconciling the clan with the village, then waiting a little longer was acceptable...

Itachi, standing to the side, fell into deep thought as well. The inexplicable exchange between Shisui and Yun made him alert; the two of them had definitely discussed something behind his back.

As night fell, Yun returned home to find Izumi standing at the doorway, her cheeks puffed out in anger.

"Are you waiting for me? How come you're so sensible today?"

As he spoke, Yun reached out and poked her puffed-out cheeks, causing Izumi's act to crumble instantly.

"Big brother ran off with Itachi as soon as class ended without waiting for me. I wanted to go too."

Yun replied casually, "Shisui-nii called us for something, so we went to the dango shop. Here, I brought some for you."

The moment she saw her favorite dango, Izumi forgot her previous interrogation and began eating them right away.

"Remember to save some for Mother."