Itachi's Bodily Issues!

For the period that followed, the upper echelons of Konoha remained remarkably quiet.

It was as if they had suddenly forgotten the very existence of the Uchiha clan.

Soon, the eve of the Lunar New Year arrived.

Throughout Konoha, lanterns and colorful banners were hung in celebration of the festive season.

A podium had even been erected in the central square of the village.

At the Uchiha Compound training grounds.

"Fire Style: Flame Pillar!"

Roy raised his hand, and a massive ring of fire enveloped both him and Itachi.

"Amaterasu!"

Itachi's Mangekyō activated instantly, burning a gap through the Flame Pillar and allowing him to escape its confinement.

Itachi still remembered the scene where Uchiha Fugaku had used the Flame Pillar to devastating effect.

Although he was now capable of manifesting the Susanoo, it required a massive expenditure of chakra.

At the same time, it placed a heavy burden on his eyes.

"Hmph!"

Lu Yu raised his hand, instantly dispelling the remainder of the Flame Pillar.

"Did you find the source of the problem?"

Shisui appeared on the scene, looking at Roy with a grave expression.

The reason for this was that after Roy had awakened, he told Shisui that there was something wrong with Itachi's body.

As for what exactly the problem was, even Roy did not know.

Therefore, they had been conducting special training sessions here for some time.

"I have a rough idea."

"His body... is too weak."

Roy looked at Itachi, who was already panting slightly, and gave his answer.

"His body?"

"But Itachi's taijutsu is among the best in the clan!"

Shisui was puzzled.

If it were merely a weak body, that shouldn't be such a major issue!

"If he only possessed a standard Three-Tomoe Sharingan, then Itachi's current physical constitution would be perfectly fine."

"But... ever since he awakened the Mangekyō, his physical strength has clearly become insufficient."

"Besides, Itachi is currently... not even eleven years old yet!"

Once the New Year passed, Uchiha Itachi would be eleven.

By that time, Uchiha Sasuke would also be nearing the age to enter the Academy.

"What do I need to do?"

Although Itachi didn't feel anything wrong with his body, since these words came from Roy, he chose to believe them.

"Start with the basics."

"Itachi, go and approach Might Guy, and ask him for advice on the most fundamental physical training methods for taijutsu."

"Actually, the best course of action would be to find an excellent medical ninja to give you a full-body examination."

"That's right..."

As Roy spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up.

A full-body examination was something he could do himself.

"Itachi, hold out your hand."

Roy raised his own hand and reached toward Itachi.

"Mm."

As Itachi extended his hand, a surge of electricity spread directly into his body.

The power of the Goro Goro no Mi allowed Roy to transform his body into the element of lightning.

Moreover, this element was under his complete control.

Compared to fire, lightning was far more precise to manipulate.

Soon, the electricity coursed through Itachi's entire body.

"Hm?"

After the first examination, no problems were detected.

Could it be that it wasn't his body, but his meridians that were the problem?

"Let's take a look."

Roy once again controlled the lightning to the absolute minimum, then channeled it into Itachi's meridians just as one would with chakra.

This level of delicate manipulation began to take a toll on Roy.

Itachi, however, didn't feel much of anything.

He only felt a surge of energy guiding the circulation of chakra within his body.

"This is... is there anything else?"

Ten minutes later, Roy slumped to the side.

The exhaustion of mental energy was far more agonizing than running out of chakra.

"Brother Roy..."

"Let Roy rest for a moment."

Before Itachi could speak, Shisui interrupted him.

"It's fine, I've finally found the source of the problem."

"Itachi, you... Brother Shisui, could you step away for a moment? I need to speak with Itachi alone."

Roy looked toward Shisui, who was standing to the side.

"Understood."

Shisui nodded, then vanished from the spot using a Body Flicker technique.

"You've been poisoned."

Roy wore a helpless expression.

"Poisoned?"

"But I..."

"You've been using medicinal baths, haven't you?"

"And you haven't stopped since you were a child."

"Inside your meridians, I..."

Roy quickly explained the situation within Itachi's body to him.

Although the medicinal baths contained significant energy that could help temper the body and increase the speed of cultivation, medicine is three parts poison—especially since Itachi was still very young when he began using them.

His body had a low resistance to these toxins.

Over a long period of accumulation, this had led to the damage in his meridians.

Of course, if Uchiha Itachi were to stop using chakra from this moment on, there wouldn't be any issues.

But... that was basically impossible.

As long as Uchiha Itachi continued to use chakra, the violent circulation of it would only worsen the condition of his meridians.

By the time Uchiha Itachi could actually perceive the problem himself, it would be beyond the reach of medicine.

"Brother Roy, what do I need to do now?"

Upon hearing this, Itachi paused for a moment before speaking slowly.

"For now, put aside your training in ninjutsu and genjutsu."

"I don't have a way to fix your meridian issues yet, but there is someone... or perhaps a place, that should have a solution."

"However, I don't know where to find her at the moment."

Roy shook his head, currently at a loss.

While he could identify Itachi's problem, solving it was far too difficult.

"I understand."

"I will try my best to suppress it. For this period, I'll focus on practicing taijutsu instead."

Itachi didn't look dejected; instead, his expression was earnest.

"Brother!"

"Brother Roy!"

Just then, a small figure came running over.

"Sasuke, why are you here?"

Seeing who had arrived, the expression on Itachi's face turned doting.

As expected, everyone in the Hokage world is a brother-complex!

"Brother, Father said you wouldn't be leaving for a while, and you promised to teach me shurikenjutsu today."

Sasuke pouted, looking at Uchiha Itachi with an expression of dissatisfaction.

It was as if he had been deceived.

"Alright, I'll go grab some kunai and shuriken for practice; I'll accompany you today, brother."

"Roy, please keep an eye on Sasuke for a moment."

After saying this, Itachi vanished from the spot.

"Sasuke, have you gone to play with Naruto lately?"

Roy looked at Sasuke with a smile.

Who could have imagined that the guy who would later awaken the "Cool-Guy Jutsu" could be this adorable?

"No."

"I don't think I can go these past few days."

"Father said that once I enroll in the academy, I can go back to playing with Naruto."

Sasuke was clearly a bit dejected.

Although there were other children his age within the clan, Sasuke couldn't seem to get along with any of them.

Can't go?

Are the higher-ups making a move... or is it...

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Roy.

He reckoned that Uchiha Fugaku was likely considering this very issue when he told Sasuke to stop visiting Naruto for the time being.

However, Fugaku had ultimately underestimated the importance of Naruto.

"Come on, let's invite Naruto over to our place to play."