White Dove: I'm hurting too!

On the street.

As he fought with ease, White Dove spoke:

"You know, I've never liked you!"

He didn't bother to keep his voice down, so everyone around them heard him too.

As he spoke, Uchiha White Dove drove a punch into his opponent's stomach.

Thud!

Uchiha Itachi leaped back, using the force to dodge the follow-up and put some distance between them. As the fight briefly paused, he replied,

"Is that so?"

A natural-born combat genius, he was happy to gather more information about Uchiha White Dove and didn't mind exchanging a few more words.

While the two traded barbs,

a few six- or seven-year-old children were climbing onto a rooftop at the edge of the street, dozens of meters away, to watch.

"Big brother!"

The little boy wore a blue Uchiha clan uniform and had delicate, handsome features. The moment he spotted the two figures facing off in the middle of the street, he cried out excitedly.

Sasuke Uchiha!

Known to some as "Second Column," "Sky Pillar," or "Sasuke."

He was already in school, so he knew Naruto and the other members of their little group. When he heard that something was happening here, he had run over to watch.

The Uchiha clan hadn't been wiped out yet, so Second Column wasn't as "bitter and brooding" as he would be in the future. He was lively and adorable.

"Big bro!"

The shy, soft voice came from a girl dressed in a conservative long-sleeved top and trousers. Beneath her blue hime cut, her pure white eyes were fixed on Uchiha White Dove.

Hinata Hyuga! (Six years later)

She had come along today too.

"Hinata, do you know him?"

Ino looked at Hinata beside her. They had only just met, but they had already become quite close.

The other kids who had climbed onto the roof looked over too.

They were curious how the "princess" of the Hyuga Main Family had gotten to know the Uchiha, the Hyuga clan's biggest rival.

"Mm, big bro saved me before, and he even bought me food...!"

At Ino's question, Hinata shyly lowered her head and tapped her index fingers together. It was as if red steam were rising from her smooth little cheeks.

Yes, she knew Uchiha White Dove well.

A few years earlier, she had wandered off by herself and gotten lost. A few children had bullied her, but he had chased them away and treated her to a filling bowl of ramen. After that, she had secretly kept an eye on him. Today, she had come along after hearing his name.

I never expected the dangerous person Father talked about to have a side like this.

Shikamaru, with his pineapple-shaped hair, had that thought.

He had recognized White Dove at once. His father had said that White Dove was "dangerous," but this was how Hinata saw him.

"Go, big bro! Beat that stuck-up Sasuke's big brother to a pulp!"

Naruto, with his short blond hair, sky-blue eyes, and whisker marks on his cheeks, clenched his fist and shouted encouragement to Uchiha White Dove. He absolutely couldn't let stuck-up Sasuke's big brother win!

"Naruto!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto beside him, but Naruto answered with a face. The two leaned closer and closer, like roosters about to fight.

Just then,

"They're going at it!"

Choji Akimichi slapped Naruto on the back, urging him to look down.

But who could have guessed that the slap would make the two boys, neither willing to give an inch, crash into each other?

"..."

Nothing was worse than the sudden silence.

Choji's slap had recreated a famous scene that wouldn't have happened until the original story began a few years later.

A kiss!

The century's kiss between Prince Naruto and Second Column.

Neither boy had given his first kiss to a girl. They had given it to each other.

So marriage was just an accident, but brotherhood was true love?

Fortunately, everyone else was watching the street below. The only one who saw the kiss was Shino, hidden beneath a hooded coat and wearing sunglasses.

On the street, White Dove had already formed hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Cloak!"

This was one of his basic ninjutsu, so of course he had to use it.

Besides, he had already used the technique before, so his abilities were no longer a secret. He didn't mind showing it off.

If he wanted to work with Pot King, he had to show his value.

Zzt!

A streak of blue lightning wrapped around his body like a veil.

"Flash Step!"

White Dove appeared beside Itachi in a flash and swept out with a horizontal kick.

Thud!

Itachi had no time to dodge. He could only block the kick with both arms before being sent flying.

Flash Step!

It was a close-range, high-speed movement technique White Dove had developed by combining the "Shave" from the Ninja Army Six Styles with the Body Flicker Technique. The boost to his speed and reflexes from the Lightning Cloak was what let him use Flash Step so perfectly.

As for how well it worked?

One look at the White-Eyed Wolf's bewildered expression told you everything.

"How... is that possible!"

Itachi lay on the ground, paying no attention to the pain in his body, his mind filled with shock.

Even during their earlier exchange of taijutsu, he had realized that White Dove was no pushover.

But he hadn't expected his opponent to be this terrifying.

"What happened to our Uchiha prodigy? It's only been a few days. How'd you get so pathetic?"

White Dove taunted him.

This felt great!

Itachi hadn't awakened his Mangekyo yet. His strength was only around that of a jonin, so he was no big deal to White Dove.

No matter how great his combat talent was, his raw stats still couldn't match White Dove's.

That was the most astonishing and inexplicable thing about the Mangekyo.

Whether someone was a two-tomoe Chunin or a three-tomoe jonin before awakening it, the moment their eyes opened, they reached Kage Level.

But it came at a cost.

Awakening the Mangekyo meant that one's "ninja way"—or rather, one's obsession—had turned dark, as if something had gone wrong in their mind.

Going by the original story, Itachi should awaken his Mangekyo soon after witnessing Shisui's death firsthand.

You had to beat a kid while he was still young!

Once Itachi reached Kage Level, beating him wouldn't be so easy. It was a rare chance, so it was no wonder White Dove couldn't resist stepping in.

Naturally, he couldn't go too far in a fight like this, so White Dove hadn't used his Ninja Blade. He had stuck to taijutsu.

White Dove kept using his speed to beat the White-Eyed Wolf senseless. The grin on his face was impossible to suppress, and he even muttered,

"Itachi, don't blame me. It hurts me to beat you up too!"

He was in the "newly revealed strength" honeymoon phase, so of course he was going to vent his frustrations and settle his scores.

The problem was that his words as he beat Itachi senseless were just ridiculous.

If people couldn't see the smug look on his face, they might have believed he was genuinely upset.

While beating Itachi, White Dove had also used Lightning Release to paralyze the White-Eyed Wolf, leaving him no chance to dodge or escape. He could only lie on the ground like a puppet and take the beating.

"That's enough!" Uchiha Fugaku cut in sternly, stopping White Dove from beating Itachi. "I'm ordering you as the Police Force Captain. Hand it over to me!"

His eldest son, the one he had always been so proud of, had been beaten this badly.

He had expected as much, since the two had fought last night and he knew how strong White Dove was. That was why he hadn't stopped his son; he had even hoped the fight might knock some of the arrogance out of him.

But he had wanted his son humbled, not nearly beaten to death.

Thud!

White Dove kicked Itachi hard in the stomach. Only after venting some of his anger did he turn to Uchiha Fugaku, whose face was grim and whose eyes held a trace of fury.

"Yes... Captain!"

Fugaku was the Police Force Captain, and White Dove was a Logistics Squad Captain. By rights, Fugaku had every authority to order him around.

Unless White Dove chose to flip the table and cut his way from one end of the village to the other, he couldn't just ignore Fugaku.

"You'll regret this, Fugaku!"

After handing over the box, White Dove lowered his head and left.

He had no choice. If he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to hold back his grin.

He had successfully "passed the bomb" to someone else.

The contents were real!

He had secretly dealt with a Cloud Ninja spy and taken the stolen deployment maps and other items from him. So what he had planted today was the genuine article. He just hadn't been able to bring it out before.

If he did, he would have to explain how he had found and dealt with the spy. Not to mention, it would bring him to the attention of the village's higher-ups. He would have to be crazy to risk bringing it out.

He had no attachment to the village, so he certainly wasn't about to expose himself over a Cloud Ninja spy.

After he left, Tekka and Inabi quietly followed.

Uchiha Itachi also gritted his teeth through the pain and left the scene like a wounded lone wolf.

His feelings were complicated!

He had never expected to lose so badly.

It was true that he hadn't taken White Dove seriously, and he hadn't used his Sharingan either. But a loss was a loss, and he wasn't about to make excuses.

After handing the box to Mitokado Homura, Uchiha Fugaku immediately left with the Uchiha clan members, whose expressions had turned strange.

There was no helping it. His behavior when facing Konoha's higher-ups had indeed left the Uchiha clan members feeling bitter.

Everyone could see that there had to be something wrong with that box. They could have used it as an excuse to make a move, but Uchiha Fugaku had simply given up on the chance. How could they not feel disappointed?

At that moment, White Dove didn't return to the One Heart Chamber of Commerce. Instead, he went to meet someone who had been waiting for a long time.