An Accidental Encounter with Might Duy

"Little brat of the Uchiha clan, who taught you medical ninjutsu?"

On the Hokage Rock, Tsunade stood heroically in the wind, the negative emotions from before seemingly having never existed.

"Um, it was taught to me by Sister Nonō," Uchiha Houka answered honestly. "Yakushi Nonō from Konoha Hospital!"

"Oh, her? She's a very gentle person!" Tsunade nodded, signaling she knew who that was, but her suspicious gaze swept back and forth over Uchiha Houka. "However, you..."

"What about me?" Uchiha Houka felt cold sweat starting to trickle down.

"You seem very nervous!" Tsunade took a light step, beginning to circle around Uchiha Houka, her right hand stroking her chin as she spoke slowly. "Uchiha Houka, I've seen your file. In your first year at the Ninja Academy, you were at the bottom of your class. When Kakashi graduated, you challenged him, only to be kicked unconscious and become a laughingstock. During the vacation that followed, you seemed like a different person, starting to train diligently. Not only did you learn the Fire Release-Great Fireball Technique, but your hand seal speed also reached the standard level of a genin. Later, word spread that you had collapsed from taijutsu training and were admitted to Konoha Hospital."

Uchiha Houka hadn't expected to enter Tsunade's 'line of sight' so early, and he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. Besides Tsunade, had the Third Hokage or Danzo been paying attention to him as well?

The latter was the leader of Root, the dark side of Konoha, and Uchiha Houka didn't want to have any contact with him this early!

"I imagine it was after that incident that you asked Yakushi Nonō to teach you medical ninjutsu, right?" Tsunade analyzed.

"Yes, I didn't want to go to the hospital every time I got hurt, and I didn't have the money either!" Uchiha Houka admitted readily, while simultaneously taking deep breaths to suppress his nervous emotions.

Tsunade continued, "Training in taijutsu, training in ninjutsu, and then training in medical ninjutsu, all on top of your clan's Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan. Heh, little brat, your ambition is quite large!"

Uchiha Houka's heart skipped a beat, and he chuckled dryly, "I—I'm just a six-year-old kid, what kind of ambition could I have?"

"Well~ who knows?" Tsunade squinted and smiled, her short golden hair dancing in the wind, looking exactly like a golden fox standing on a mountain peak. "However, you seem a bit different from the other members of the Uchiha clan. Heh, I'll keep an eye on you, little brat!"

As she finished speaking, Tsunade leaped, jumping off the Hokage Rock.

She jumped, she actually jumped!

Uchiha Houka felt his entire world fall apart.

"Hey, hey, you crazy woman, take me back down!!!"

Uchiha Houka stood on the head of Tsunade's grandfather, staring blankly at the entire village of Konoha below. Looking down from here, he couldn't distinguish one place from another. The key was that Tsunade could jump straight down, but he couldn't; he had to take the long way around!

"What a disaster!"

Uchiha Houka was heartbroken. With a sorrowful expression, he left the head of Tsunade's grandfather and began to circle around toward the back.

This was a lush, dense forest that seemed to stretch on forever, and from time to time, the roars of wild beasts echoed from within, which was quite creepy.

"It's not the Forest of Death, so there shouldn't be any powerful beasts, right?"

Just as he thought this, a terrifying clashing sound suddenly erupted from ahead.

It sounded as if a sharp piece of wood was launching a violent charge toward someone's backside.

Slap, slap, slap, slap...

Uchiha Houka's glutes tightened.

Slap, slap, slap, slap...

His lower body felt a chill.

Slap, slap, slap, slap...

Uchiha Houka finally couldn't bear the pain of life any longer and, without a word, turned around and ran.

Slap!!!

Suddenly, a massive sound came from that direction, followed by a series of heavy objects hitting the ground.

"Who's there?" A young man, whose demeanor was three parts lively, seven parts enthusiastic, and overflowing with one hundred percent youth, appeared before Uchiha Houka with a 'swish'.

Uchiha Houka remained in his running posture, looking at the familiar style and familiar vibe before him. He really wanted to remark that when your period comes, no one can stop it—bah, he meant when luck comes, no one can stop it!

Thick eyebrows!

A set of dazzling white teeth!

And this standard deep green tight-fitting combat suit!

Wasn't this Konoha's eternal genin, Might Duy?

"Hmm? Kid, why are you here? Where are your parents?" Might Duy realized it was just a six-year-old brat and immediately lowered his guard.

"Um, hello, my name is Uchiha Houka. I'm an orphan, and I came here to train!" Uchiha Houka could proudly tell others: he never needed a draft to lie.

"An orphan? Of the Uchiha clan?" Might Duy frowned slightly. "The Uchiha clan's compound is quite far from here."

Uchiha Houka immediately smoothed it over: "It's like this, I'm currently training in taijutsu, and I ended up running here without realizing it. I just finished resting and was about to run back!"

"Oh, but the Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan, is very powerful. Why would you choose to train in taijutsu?" Might Duy asked curiously.

"Because I think taijutsu is very strong, no worse than the Sharingan!" Uchiha Houka said very earnestly, clenching his fists with an excited and spirited expression. All of this was to cater to the other's interests so that Might Duy would develop a favorable impression of him; otherwise, asking him for taijutsu advice out of the blue wouldn't be realistic.

Sure enough, this move by Uchiha Houka worked!

As an eternal genin, Might Duy's talent for ninjutsu and genjutsu was roughly equal to zero. His everything was taijutsu, so hearing a kid from the Uchiha clan say that taijutsu was no worse than the Sharingan naturally made him happy.

"Kid, your judgment is pretty good, hahaha!" Might Duy put his hands on his hips and laughed.

"Uncle, can I follow you to train in taijutsu?" Uchiha Houka's fox tail was finally exposed.

"What? You want to learn taijutsu from me? Do you know who I am?" Might Duy had a strange expression on his face.

"Although I don't know who you are, Uncle, I believe your taijutsu must be amazing. I want to follow you and practice taijutsu!" Uchiha Houka said seriously.

Might Duy seemed somewhat tempted, but his strong moral character led him to refuse: "Kid, the taijutsu I practice is extremely grueling and places a heavy burden on the body. You are too young; I recommend you go to the Hyuga clan. Their Gentle Fist does not cause much damage to the body when practiced. You are from the Uchiha clan, a prestigious family in Konoha, so the Hyuga clan should be willing to teach you some of it."

"No way! The Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist looks like something for sissies when they perform it. I don't want to learn from them at all!" Uchiha Houka shouted in a hurry, so anxious that cold sweat began to pour down.

Uchiha Houka swore that this cold sweat was absolutely genuine. After all, if these words reached the ears of the Hyuga clan... any day next year could potentially become the anniversary of his death.

Might Duy also looked at Uchiha Houka with a face full of shock.

One must know that at this time in Konoha, the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist was still considered the pinnacle of taijutsu, leaving no room for other taijutsu styles to develop. Taijutsu like that of Might Duy was basically passed down from father to son; how could anyone else be interested in learning it?

"Kid—no, Uchiha Houka, do you really want to learn taijutsu from me?" Might Duy felt a bit itchy and fired up inside. That's right, as a staunch supporter of the Go-style Taijutsu, while he outwardly praised the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist, his true feelings were self-evident.

Uchiha Houka nodded solemnly: "I want to learn!"

"Good, then I will teach you!" Might Duy nodded heavily.

Uchiha Houka was fired up as well, screaming wildly in his heart with excitement: Eight Inner Gates, here I come!!!