Deception, More Deception

Itachi walked home, his mind drifting back to the words of Akashi.

In truth, he rarely spoke so much with anyone.

To outsiders, he had always been a rational, contemplative genius; some even claimed that at seven years old, he could already think about problems from the perspective of the Hokage. Because of this, he appeared exceptionally mature and lonely among his peers.

He had truly believed he was grown up, discussing village policy with his father and envisioning the future with Shisui.

Only Akashi treated him like a child.

The kind of foolish child, at that.

Not knowing whether to be angry or happy, Itachi shook his head helplessly, his two cat ears swaying, the soft fur fluttering.

Upon returning home, Itachi's mood brightened instantly.

His mother was walking in the courtyard, cradling his younger brother. Sasuke, who had been crying moments before, saw Itachi and immediately stopped his fussing, giggling instead.

A scene of pure warmth.

"Itachi, it seems Sasuke likes you even more," Mikoto Uchiha teased.

"Let me hold him for a while."

"You should take off those cat ears now that you're home. Akashi was only joking; you take things too seriously."

"I cannot. This is my promise." Itachi teased Sasuke, smiling gently.

When this child grows up, he will surely be outstanding, right?

Looking at Sasuke, he felt as if he were seeing himself through Akashi's eyes.

Just a naive child who understands nothing...

After hesitating for a long moment, Itachi finally spoke: "Mother, are there any other ninjutsu at home suitable for me?"

"Why? Have you already mastered those two?"

"Not... not yet, it's just..."

"You have another use for them, don't you?" Mikoto keenly sensed Itachi's hidden concern.

"Yes." Itachi lowered his head.

Mikoto did not press him further. She reached out and patted Itachi's head: "You are growing up and have your own ideas; no matter what, Mother will support you. How about this? I will give you a scroll for a genjutsu. Don't tell your father; he won't be happy about it. Let it be a secret between us."

With that, she winked at Itachi.

"Yes, I understand." Itachi nodded obediently. Sasuke seemed to sense his joy, his chubby, fair face snotty as he grinned broadly.

?

The next day.

As soon as Akashi stepped out of the clan grounds, he was trailed by Itachi like a shadow.

"Hey, stop following me. Didn't I tell you? I'm here to train."

"Brother Akashi, I just want to see how you train, and perhaps discuss a new technique." Itachi quickly added, "A genjutsu. I just obtained it yesterday."

"This isn't about the genjutsu. Are you... are you sure it's new?"

Akashi was tempted.

After all, the techniques Itachi could get his hands on were never of poor quality. As the clan head's son, his resources were naturally far richer than an ordinary person's. How could he pass up the chance to shear such a plump sheep?

Seeing an opening, Itachi stood straight: "I guarantee it."

"Fine, just this once."

Akashi set the terms first to avoid being pestered, and Itachi offered no objection.

Once was enough; he was determined to satisfy his curiosity.

Or rather, he wanted to understand the person before him more deeply.

They arrived at the forest behind the Ninja Academy.

Akashi ignored Itachi and began practicing the Shadow Clone Technique on his own. Unexpectedly, this stirred ripples in the depths of Itachi's heart: So Brother Akashi already knows the Shadow Clone Technique. And here I was, wanting to study it with him. I am truly slow.

After a bout of self-reflection, Itachi simply began to watch.

From ninjutsu to taijutsu, and then to shurikenjutsu, Akashi upheld the philosophy of comprehensive development in [Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Stamina, and Hand Seals], leaving nothing behind.

Targets hung in every direction, many marked by the impacts of kunai and shuriken.

Almost every mark was centered on the bullseye.

The Uchiha possessed a unique talent for shurikenjutsu; even Obito in his day could achieve a hit rate of over seven out of ten, including various fancy throwing methods.

In his normal state, Akashi could hit nine out of ten.

Once he activated his Sharingan, he never missed.

"Starting now."

With a low murmur, Akashi reached into the ninja tool pouch at his waist, tossing a handful of shuriken into the air toward the upper front-right, then subconsciously gripped a kunai.

Munakata Uchiha once said that the hand holding a blade must be steady; only then can speed and power be pushed to their absolute limit.

The same principle applies to the kunai.

The moment he raised his hand, his Sharingan activated. The trajectory of every shuriken launched was reflected with absolute clarity in his eyes. He stepped forward, swinging his kunai with lightning speed, striking out a continuous rhythm of metallic clashing sounds.

A dance-like footwork unfolded in the forest, sending sparks flying in every direction.

The kunai altered the paths of the shuriken, sending them ricocheting toward targets scattered all around with incredible velocity.

Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip—

The sound, reminiscent of a machine gun, rang out in a tight, interlocking sequence.

All eight shuriken struck the dead center of their targets.

"Perfect!" Itachi called out.

Akashi hadn't even used much force; his movements were simply precise. He had judged the landing point of every trajectory with perfect timing while keeping his eyes on all four directions, managing to hit eight targets at once.

If anyone else had seen this, they would surely call it unbelievable.

Even an average special jonin couldn't reach this level. Itachi was equally astonished; although he was confident he could do it too, he had never thought to attempt this specific method of launching.

"Next is the Two-Stage Deflection."

Akashi pinched a shuriken, eyes fixed ahead.

Ranging, calculation, mental adjustment—a phantom line seemed to construct itself in his vision, connecting the shuriken to the bullseye. He took a deep breath. The shuriken flew out toward his side, nowhere near the direction of the target face.

Barely a second later, he threw a kunai. It was faster and carried more force, colliding violently with the shuriken in mid-air. Both objects bounced off, their trajectories completely altered!

Thwip—thwip!

The shuriken changed direction and pierced the bullseye on the left, while the kunai thrown afterward struck the bullseye on the other side.

Akashi nodded in satisfaction.

Excellent reflexes, muscle coordination, and dynamic vision had forged this unparalleled technique.

Although throwing ninja tools was a basic skill, in many cases, flashy ninjutsu were not as useful as simple tools.

Fire Style might not burn a person to death, but ninja tools could certainly stab them to death.

Most chunin and genin had enough chakra to release only one or two decent ninjutsu; more often than not, they still relied on shuriken, kunai, or explosive tags.

After watching too many giant-scale battles, it was easy to overlook this fact.

The thousands of ordinary ninja were the true reflection of the shinobi world.

Even Hatake Kakashi, known as a genius, didn't know many ninjutsu right now, and his Chidori was not necessarily perfected. Akashi was confident he could fight him.

At the very least, fighting to a draw would be no problem.

"As expected of brother Akashi!" Itachi praised.

"It's not easy to earn your praise," Akashi smiled. "You've rested enough. Bring out the genjutsu."

Itachi nodded and took out a scroll.

This time, it lived up to expectations; it was indeed a genjutsu—the Forbidden Maze.

It was not a dojutsu-based genjutsu, only C-rank in difficulty, capable of trapping an enemy in a maze of consciousness and briefly controlling their actions. The hand seals and chakra flow were explained very clearly; with Itachi Uchiha's talent, he didn't need to bring it out to discuss with anyone.

Is he just trying to get close to me?

So, it's reasonable to suspect he's not just a brother-complex, but a sibling-complex!

The Uchiha clan really is a bit... off.

Akashi pretended not to notice, explaining the genjutsu with a feigned air of seriousness. Looking at those cat-like ears, a strange thought about training and remodeling him suddenly popped into his head.

"Having said that, with your talent, this genjutsu shouldn't be a problem. However, I feel your taijutsu still has a lot of room for improvement."

"Father has said the same thing."

"I suddenly thought of a method that helps with taijutsu training. You might be able to use it."

Akashi spoke at length.

Itachi's eyes lit up: "What method?"

"Wear that training suit of Might Guy's!"

"Ah, this..."

Itachi was choked by the answer.

Recalling Might Guy's highly individualistic attire, he couldn't help but swallow hard.

Akashi continued his pitch: "Haven't you noticed? It's a design that perfectly fits the body. There's no obstruction when moving, and even the speed and power of attacks can be improved."

"Really?"

"Do you know the deeds of Guy's father, Dai, during the Third Shinobi World War?"

"I've heard a little."

"At that time, he was wearing that very suit when he wiped out the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in one go. And look at Might Guy..."

Akashi entered full-on swindling mode, leaving Itachi stunned.

But after listening, Itachi quickly jumped out of the story, his expression suspicious: "Since that's the case, I have a question."

"Ask."

"Why aren't you wearing one?"