Probing

"Father!"

Might Guy ran all the way from the Ninja Academy, his face neither flushed nor out of breath; his stamina and endurance had already been honed to a rock-solid state by Might Duy!

"Eh? Houka, you're here too!"

Seeing Houka, Guy was both happy and puzzled.

Might Duy's gaze wandered between the two of them, and he said, "Haha, you two are in the same class, right? Perfect! Starting today, Houka will be training with us!"

"Really!" Guy was very surprised. Houka was from the Uchiha clan, and the Sharingan, the Kekkei Genkai of this clan, was world-renowned. That he would actually follow his Eternal Genin father to practice Taijutsu was simply unbelievable.

"Guy, please take care of me from now on." Houka reached out his hand.

Guy's thick, bushy eyebrows arched as he gripped Houka's hand and shouted, "Houka, please take care of me too! From now on, let us burn with passion! Let us burn our youth!!!"

"Uh..." That was a hard one to respond to, and Houka wore an awkward smile.

"Alright, you two start with a warm-up. Run ten laps around the small woods!" Might Duy pointed his finger.

Guy immediately let out a shout, turned around, and started running.

Houka hurriedly followed.

"Run ten laps around the woods, if you can't finish, do ten thousand jump ropes, if you can't finish the jump ropes, run three laps around Konoha, if you can't finish that, then..." Guy was running in front, muttering something, and when Houka behind him heard a bit of it, he immediately felt his hair stand on end.

The Taijutsu training of this father and son was truly perverted to the extreme. Most adults couldn't keep up, let alone a six-year-old child like Houka.

It was fortunate that he had the soul of an adult inside; otherwise, he would definitely have been played to death by this pair.

Ten laps, ten thousand meters, was no small number, but Houka had been training crazily throughout the past vacation, and with his Genin-level Chakra, he barely managed to finish. However, Guy had exhausted his stamina during the last two laps and couldn't complete it.

Might Duy appeared before the two of them, his face full of solemnity: "Guy, you didn't finish. You know what to do!"

"Yes, Father!" Guy gasped for air and said, "If I can't finish, I do ten thousand jump ropes!"

"Begin!" Might Duy tossed two ropes over; one was for Guy, and the other...

Uh, this was awkward.

"Um, Uncle Duy, hehe, I, I finished, didn't I?" Houka feigned innocence.

"Hmm? You finished? But Guy didn't!" Might Duy lectured righteously, "As partners on the same team, you should advance and retreat together. How can you leave your companion behind! So, as punishment, you will do twenty thousand jump ropes!"

"..." Houka's hands began to tremble, and he was barely able to stop himself from forming hand seals to throw a Great Fireball at his face.

Bullying! This was pure bullying!

"Houka, this is the burning of youth!" Guy let out a roar, nimbly picked up the rope, and began jumping with a swish-swish-swish.

Although his stamina had been exhausted just moments ago, after resting for a while, Guy had clearly recovered quite a bit, his rope moving so fast it became a blur.

Houka sighed. What could he do? He was helpless too.

Picking up the rope, Houka jumped listlessly.

Might Duy's eyes widened beneath his thick eyebrows, and he barked, "Houka, don't act like you haven't eaten! This is training; bring out all your potential!"

Houka was startled, then looked at Guy thoughtfully.

In the original story, Guy seemed like a background character in the early stages, looking useless. He didn't know flashy Ninjutsu or mysterious Genjutsu. Aside from a few moves like Leaf Whirlwind, Leaf Great Whirlwind, and Leaf Strong Whirlwind, he seemed like mere window dressing. But in the later stages, when facing powerful members of the Akatsuki and the terrifying Six Paths Madara, Guy unleashed overwhelming dominance. Where did all that come from?

Houka tightened his grip on the rope and began to speed up his jumping.

Might Duy nodded with satisfaction, then opened his mouth to say, "If you make a mistake, start over!"

"Ah!" Houka was clumsily tripped by the rope.

"Restart the count!" Might Duy said directly.

"...No problem!" What else could Houka say?

Around nine o'clock in the evening, Houka dragged his exhausted body into the Uchiha clan compound. At this time, there weren't many stalls left on the roadside, and only the dim, yellow light of the streetlamps illuminated the area, making it look quite desolate.

As Houka walked along, he gradually realized something was wrong.

'These streetlamps, didn't I just pass them? Why are they here again?'

'Why have I been walking for so long and still haven't reached home?'

Houka was exhausted from Might Duy's training, but his mind was clear.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look around. On both sides of the road were a few utility poles, dim light shining down from them. Not far ahead was an intersection, and the houses all around were pitch black, as if it were a ghost town.

Houka walked forward step by step and soon arrived at the intersection. He continued forward, his eyes widening, because he saw that ahead of him was, shockingly, another intersection, and the utility poles on both sides of the road were eerily familiar.

A ghost wall?

No, this is Genjutsu!

Fox Mind Technique?

The Fox Mind Technique was a spell that caused one to fall into a maze; the victim would unconsciously walk in circles. This kind of Genjutsu was very simple.

The Chakra inside Houka's body suddenly accelerated its flow, then slowed down, repeating this three times, but everything before his eyes seemed not to have changed in the slightest!

He frowned and walked forward; behind the intersection, another identical intersection appeared!

Houka realized something.

This was definitely not an ordinary genjutsu!

Because ordinary genjutsu could be dispelled simply by altering the flow of Chakra within one's own body.

This genjutsu... it is highly likely that it was cast using the Sharingan!

Houka narrowed his eyes, thoughts flashing rapidly through his mind.

Could it be Uchiha Fugaku?

But he had no reason to make a move against him; during their meeting at Konoha Hospital earlier, he had even praised him.

Could it be Danzo and his Root?

To say the Uchiha clan was a monolith would be impossible; even the most excellent clans could not avoid having a few scoundrels, and it would not be strange for Root to have a few Uchiha members.

The most critical point was the motive of the person behind this: were they testing him, or were they preparing to... kill him?

Houka's hair stood on end; although he already possessed Genin-level Chakra, that did not mean he possessed Genin-level combat power.

Whether it was combat experience, mastered ninjutsu, or anything else, Houka was simply not qualified!

At this moment, Houka even had the urge to activate his Sharingan. He believed that under the Sharingan, he would definitely be able to see through this genjutsu, but the risk of doing so was far too great!

Just then, a gentle breeze blew by.

Houka's entire body stiffened, and he nearly activated his Sharingan.

Wind? Where did the wind come from?

Subsequently, Houka noticed the streetlights around him changing; the light gradually distorted, then returned to normal.

Nearby, several figures hurried past, occasionally looking back at him, seemingly puzzled as to why this child kept spinning in circles in the same spot.

Houka's back was drenched in cold sweat, and not daring to linger, he hurried home without delay.