Surveillance

Snake—Goat—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger!

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!!

In the backyard of Houka's home, Uchiha Obito puffed out his cheeks until they looked like two balls and blew furiously. But even after his face turned blue and his eyes rolled back, not a single spark appeared.

"Damn it, why can you do it, but I can't?" Uchiha Obito panted, looking utterly dejected.

Beside him, Houka folded his arms and teased, "Obito, you're doing it all wrong. First, you need to build up enough Chakra. Second, your Hand Seals aren't right—the last two are obviously wrong. And even if you get both of those things right, you'll still need to practice over and over before you succeed. After all, Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique is a Fire Release Ninjutsu unique to the Uchiha Clan. It wouldn't live up to its name if it weren't at least a little difficult."

"Houka, you jerk." Uchiha Obito glared at him resentfully. Just a few days ago, they'd both been at the bottom of their class, but now Houka had suddenly overtaken him. Uchiha Obito clearly couldn't get used to it.

"Hey, I just spent the time you were using to chase girls on training instead." Houka waved his hand smugly, looking every bit the expert.

Uchiha Obito was even more frustrated. He clenched his fists and shouted, "No way! Starting today, I'm training with you too!"

"Suit yourself, but I have to warn you: training is tedious and complicated. You need to be prepared for that!" Houka said seriously.

"Of course! I'm going to be Hokage!" Uchiha Obito roared, very much like Naruto.

Afterward, Houka made braised pork and divided it into three portions. Besides himself and Obito, he made some for Obito's Grandmother, too. Unfortunately, Obito's Grandmother was old and could no longer chew it, so the two boys ended up eating it all.

"I'm stuffed." Uchiha Obito rubbed his belly and lay on the ground, wearing an inexplicably blissful expression.

Houka had eaten plenty of braised pork, replenishing his body's energy, and even his complexion had grown rosier. He glanced at Obito, kicked him, and grunted, "This isn't the time to rest. Obito, get up. Training starts now!"

"What? Now? But I haven't even digested my food yet." Uchiha Obito's laziness was kicking in.

"Practicing Hand Seals won't interfere with your digestion." Houka hauled Obito into the yard and made him practice his Hand Seals.

Of course, Houka didn't slack off either. He practiced, too.

But the two of them focused on different things.

Uchiha Obito focused on getting his Hand Seals right, while Houka worked on increasing his speed without sacrificing accuracy!

As the saying went, there's nothing like a comparison to make you feel inadequate. Uchiha Obito stumbled through his practice while watching Houka's hands fly beside him. He was close to tears.

"Houka, you jerk! When did your Hand Seals get so fast? And they're so precise, too!"

Houka looked at him and sighed. "Fast? My Hand Seals still take a whole 1.5 seconds per seal."

"And you don't think that's fast?" Uchiha Obito rolled his eyes. He couldn't even form one accurate seal per second yet.

"Compared to you, sure. But you aren't the one I'm trying to catch up to." Houka gave Uchiha Obito a long look.

Houka's gaze made Uchiha Obito uneasy. He laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. "By the way, Houka, are we really going to spend the whole afternoon practicing Hand Seals?"

"Of course!" Houka replied firmly.

"Huh? That's so boring!" Uchiha Obito had already started to lose heart, even though they'd barely begun. His hands in particular felt like they were cramping.

"Hang in there, Obito. Didn't you say you wanted to become Hokage? If you can't stick it out through a little setback like this, how will you ever earn everyone's recognition and become Hokage?" Houka gave him a bowl of poisonous motivational chicken soup. "Though even if you work hard, you still won't become Hokage."

"Damn it, I'll become Hokage just to show you!"

In the end, Uchiha Obito lasted two hours before his hands cramped up and he had no choice but to leave.

Houka was alone in the little courtyard.

Is it because of my body?

Houka practiced until dusk, then reluctantly realized that he still couldn't increase his Hand Seal speed. It remained fixed at 1.5 seconds per seal.

In the future, Uchiha Itachi's Hand Seals would be so fast he could form six in a second—so fast that even Kakashi's Sharingan couldn't follow them!

Oh well. One step at a time. There's no point rushing.

That evening, Houka continued training. Climbing trees and Water Walking were no longer difficult for him, so he switched to practicing with Kunai and Shuriken.

Both of Houka's parents were Chunin, and they had plenty of Kunai and Shuriken at home, though none of them were particularly good quality.

Thud, thud!

Houka looked at the Kunai lying beneath the tree and shook his head with a wry smile. His first attempt had failed.

Then he threw a Shuriken, but it slid down the tree trunk, too.

Frowning, Houka picked up the Kunai and Shuriken and threw them a few more times. He eventually figured out a few tricks, and each throw managed to scrape a little bark off the tree.

Two hours later, Houka had figured out the characteristics of both Kunai and Shuriken. He wasn't yet at the point where they felt like extensions of his arms, but he was already quite familiar with them.

Whoosh!

The Kunai spun through the air with a scraping sound, then sank deep into the tree trunk.

"I did it!"

Houka was thrilled. He kept at it, gradually practicing until late into the night. He went from throwing one Kunai to two at once, and finally three. The difficulty increased little by little, but Houka didn't feel the slightest obstacle.

Houka's hands were perfect. He could control every muscle in them flawlessly, and through those muscles, he could sense the moment each Kunai left his hand. The feeling was subtle and exquisite. It intoxicated him and filled him with delight.

He felt the same when throwing Shuriken. Soon he could throw three at once, and every one of them hit its target!

"But..." Houka knitted his brows slightly. "Something still feels wrong. What is it?"

Houka looked up at the moon in the night sky, then closed his eyes and savored the cool night breeze.

Hm? It feels like someone's watching me.

A strange sense of awareness surfaced in Houka's mind.

Is it because of the Fire Release Ninjutsu I used this afternoon?

But who could it be?

Anbu? Root? Or the Police Force?

Houka opened his eyes, then yawned and pretended to be tired as he went back inside. He turned off the light and went to bed.

Outside, a member of the Uchiha Clan watched with a pair of Two-Tomoe Sharingan. Only after confirming that Houka was fast asleep did he turn and leave.

"A Hand Seal speed of 1.5 seconds per seal, and accurate throws with three Kunai or Shuriken at once." Uchiha Yamano, the captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, read the report that had arrived in the middle of the night and considered it. "His Hand Seal speed is average, but considering he's only six... Hmm, I'll give him eighty points. Kunai and Shuriken... In front of the Sharingan, they're just trivial tricks. For now, I still can't tell whether he's a genius or not. Sigh, we'll observe him for a while longer."

Beside him, Uchiha Fugaku stood respectfully. Hearing this, he said, "Captain, I think this boy has a lot of potential. He's worth cultivating!"

Uchiha Yamano shook his head. "Fugaku, Kagami Uchiha has a descendant named Uchiha Shisui. He's only three, but he's already shown extraordinary talent. A child like that is worth cultivating!"

"I understand, Captain!" Uchiha Fugaku replied.

"I'll leave Uchiha Shisui to you. Make sure you cultivate him well!" Uchiha Yamano ordered.

"I'll carry out your orders, Captain!" Uchiha Fugaku said, nodding solemnly. (To be continued)