The higher-ups in Konoha behaved themselves for the next little while.
It was as if they had suddenly forgotten the Uchiha Clan existed.
Before long, New Year's Eve arrived.
Konoha was decked out in festive decorations, with every corner welcoming the holiday.
A platform had also been set up in Konoha's central plaza.
Uchiha Compound training ground.
"Fire Style: Flame Pillar!"
Roy raised his hand, and a massive ring of fire surrounded him and Itachi.
"Amaterasu!"
Itachi's Mangekyō opened in an instant. He burned a hole through the Flame Pillar and escaped its confines.
Itachi still remembered the scene of Uchiha Fugaku using the Flame Pillar to blast his way out.
Although Itachi could use Susanoo now, it consumed a tremendous amount of chakra.
It also put considerable strain on his eyes.
"Whew!"
Lu Yu raised his hand and dispelled the rest of the Flame Pillar.
"Have you found the problem?"
Shisui appeared nearby, looking at Roy with a grave expression.
The reason was that after Roy woke up, he had told Shisui that something was wrong with Itachi's body.
Roy wasn't sure what the problem was, though.
So they had been training intensively at the training ground for the past few days.
"I think I've figured it out."
"His body... is too weak."
Roy looked at Itachi, who was already breathing a little heavily, and gave his answer.
"His body?"
"But Itachi's Taijutsu is among the best in the clan!"
Shisui was puzzled.
If Itachi's body was simply too weak, that wouldn't be a major problem!
"If he only had an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan, then his physique would be strong enough."
"But... after awakening his Mangekyō, his body clearly wasn't strong enough to keep up."
"Besides, Itachi is still... not even eleven!"
Once the new year came, Uchiha Itachi would turn eleven.
By then, Uchiha Sasuke would be about to enroll in the Academy, too.
"What should I do?"
Itachi hadn't noticed anything wrong with his body, but Roy had said it, and Itachi chose to trust him.
"Start with the basics."
"Itachi, go see Might Guy and ask him to teach you the most basic physical conditioning exercises."
"Actually, the best thing would be to find a skilled medical ninja and have them give you a full-body examination."
"Right..."
As Roy spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up.
He could perform a full-body examination himself.
"Itachi, hold out your hand."
Roy raised his own hand and reached toward Itachi.
"Okay."
As Itachi raised his hand, an electric current spread through his body.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit let Roy turn his body into lightning.
And he had complete control over that element.
Compared to fire, lightning was easier to manipulate.
In no time, lightning coursed through Itachi's entire body.
"Hmm?"
The first examination hadn't revealed any problems.
Could it be his chakra pathways rather than his body?
"Let's see."
Roy controlled the lightning at an even lower level, then sent it into Itachi's chakra pathways, much like chakra itself.
This delicate operation was already beginning to wear Roy out.
Itachi, meanwhile, barely felt a thing.
He only felt an energy moving the chakra inside his body.
"So... is there anything else?"
A little over ten minutes later, Roy slumped down to one side.
The mental exhaustion was worse than running out of chakra.
"Roy, big brother..."
"Let Roy rest a bit."
Before Itachi could finish, Shisui cut him off.
"I'm fine. I finally found the problem."
"Itachi, you... Shisui, could you leave us alone for a moment? I want to talk to Itachi privately."
Roy looked over at Shisui.
"I understand."
Shisui nodded, then vanished with a Body Flicker Technique.
"You've been poisoned."
Roy looked helpless.
"Poisoned?"
"But I..."
"You've used medicinal baths, right?"
"And you've been taking them continuously since you were little."
"I found something in your chakra pathways..."
Roy quickly explained what was happening inside Itachi's body.
Medicinal baths contained potent ingredients that could help temper the body and speed up training.
But every medicine had some toxicity, and Itachi had started taking the baths when he was still very young.
His body had been less able to resist the toxins.
Their long-term accumulation had damaged his chakra pathways.
Of course, if Uchiha Itachi stopped using chakra from now on, there wouldn't be any problems.
But... that was practically impossible.
As long as Uchiha Itachi continued to use chakra, the intense flow would worsen the damage to his chakra pathways.
By the time he could feel that something was wrong with his body, it would be too late for any treatment.
"Roy, big brother, what should I do now?"
Itachi paused briefly, then spoke slowly.
"For now, put ninjutsu and genjutsu training aside."
"I don't yet know how to fix the damage to your chakra pathways, but there's someone... or somewhere... that should be able to help."
"I just don't know where to find her yet."
Roy shook his head. For now, there was no solution.
He could identify Itachi's problem, but fixing it was far more difficult.
"I understand."
"I'll do my best to keep it under control. For now, I'll focus on Taijutsu."
Itachi wasn't discouraged. He looked completely serious.
"Big brother!"
"Roy, big brother!"
Just then, a little boy came running over.
"Sasuke, what are you doing here?"
When he saw who it was, Itachi's expression softened with affection.
Honestly, everyone in the Naruto world was a doting older brother!
"Big brother, Father said you wouldn't be leaving for now. You promised to teach me Shurikenjutsu today."
Sasuke pouted, looking at Uchiha Itachi with displeasure.
He looked as if he'd been lied to.
"All right. I'll go get some practice kunai and shuriken. I'll spend the day with you."
"Roy, could you keep an eye on Sasuke for me?"
After speaking, Itachi vanished from the spot.
"Sasuke, have you been going to play with Naruto lately?"
Roy smiled at Sasuke.
Who would have thought that the guy who would one day awaken his talk-no-jutsu would be this cute?
"No."
"I don't think I can go for the next few days."
"Father said I can play with Naruto again after I enroll in the Academy."
Sasuke looked a little disappointed.
There were other kids his age in the clan, but he didn't get along with them.
"You can't go?"
"Have the higher-ups made a move... or is it..."
Suddenly, Roy thought of something.
Uchiha Fugaku had probably told Sasuke not to visit Naruto for the time being because of that very issue.
Still, Fugaku was underestimating just how important Naruto was.
"Come on. Let's invite Naruto over to play."
Before you continue