My Foolish Little Brother

A cloud of dust rose from the ground.

Itachi Uchiha's slight frame nearly flew straight into the crowd. His pale face showed unmistakable shock.

Akashi didn't pause. He strode forward and kicked again.

Itachi braced himself and pushed up from the ground. Facing the fierce attack, he twisted sideways with one hand, letting the sharp kick skim past his shoulder. But in the next instant, another savage kick swept toward his waist like a windmill clearing away fallen leaves.

Leaf Whirlwind!

The move was a two-part kick, perfectly timed to catch Itachi as he dodged.

Akashi had watched Might Guy train with his Sharingan. Relying on his natural physical talent, he had painstakingly imitated the move and kicked Itachi several meters away again.

This time, Itachi gritted his teeth and twisted his hips in midair despite the pain. His right leg landed firmly, anchoring him so he wouldn't fall.

He had lost a great deal of stamina, and his breathing grew heavier.

As soon as he steadied himself, he focused on tracking Akashi's movements, but Akashi had already vanished from sight.

Suddenly, a chill ran down Itachi's spine.

Just as expected, Akashi had appeared behind him.

What followed was a complete thrashing.

Simple punches and kicks rained down on Itachi one after another. Beating up someone smaller felt great.

"They were evenly matched just a moment ago. How...?" some Chunins exclaimed in confusion.

But even more people recalled that Akashi, who had awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan at such a young age, was a genius too!

It was just that Itachi's dazzling talent had overshadowed him.

Itachi hadn't managed to prove himself in this fight. Instead, Akashi had stolen the spotlight.

"Isn't he being a little too rough?"

Fugaku's eyebrows twitched. "Ahem, Shisui."

Shisui had been watching so intently that he'd forgotten he was the referee. Fugaku's cough reminded him, and he hurriedly stepped in front of Itachi with the Body Flicker Technique, raising a palm to block the incoming punch.

"The match is decided. That's enough."

"Is it over already?" Akashi said with a grin, easing up.

He'd had a great time beating Itachi up, but Itachi was the clan leader's son, so he had to show him some consideration.

Itachi already looked like a battered pig. Continuing would be downright cruel.

Akashi nodded and deactivated his Sharingan. The Tomoe faded away, the sharp gleam vanished in an instant, and his usual languid air returned.

Shisui was about to announce the result when Itachi suddenly called out, "Wait! It's not over yet. I can still fight!"

"Itachi?"

"Shisui, I haven't given up. Even if all I can do is take a beating, I'll fight with everything I have left."

As he spoke, Itachi pulled out a Shuriken, his gaze unwavering.

He had one last move to try!

Akashi scratched his head, a little surprised. "Shisui, what do you think? He still wants to get beaten up. I've never heard anyone ask for that before."

Shisui didn't know how to handle it, so he glanced toward Fugaku.

The clan leader had already signaled for the spar to end, but everyone had heard Itachi's words.

The crowd immediately erupted into heated discussion.

"That's Uchiha Itachi for you!"

"I admire his courage. I'm almost tempted to cheer him on."

"Akashi's pretty amazing, too. I never realized it before."

"Hey, hey, Itachi's only seven. Akashi just had the advantage of better stamina."

"That's called tactics. What would you know?"

"I don't know? Want to fight me and find out...?"

The noisy debate drowned out the birdsong and drove the atmosphere to another fever pitch.

Fugaku was caught between a rock and a hard place. If he favored his son and called off the match, Itachi himself was eagerly asking to continue, and all those eyes were watching. But if he let them go on, the outcome was obvious—unless Itachi had another trick up his sleeve.

After thinking it over, he nodded.

Shisui got the signal and waved a hand. "All right, continue. Be careful, both of you."

Then he vanished with the Body Flicker Technique, moving at an astonishing speed.

Only Akashi and Itachi remained in the arena, but neither of them attacked right away.

Itachi gripped his Shuriken and said gravely, "Akashi, please be careful. This move could hurt you."

"Oh," Akashi replied, at a loss.

"You... Don't you have anything to say?"

"I do, but I was going to wait until you lost. It's not very convenient to say it in front of everyone."

"..."

Itachi nearly choked on his frustration.

Why did this guy never follow the script?

But that only made Itachi more eager to fight. His stamina was almost gone, so he had to stake everything on one final attack. As Akashi slowly approached, Itachi launched the first move.

Shuriken poured from his hand, whistling through the air in a chaotic flurry.

Another standard weapon-throwing technique?

Akashi furrowed his brow, then suddenly noticed something and smiled faintly. He threw more than a dozen Shuriken of his own, and they clanged through the air.

Many of Itachi's Shuriken either just missed Akashi or were knocked aside, posing no threat at all.

"Something's wrong! Itachi's lost control of his Shuriken!" a Chunin cried.

"You're mistaken. Look closely—there's something attached to them," the Jonin beside him said thoughtfully.

Something attached?

Sure enough, the next moment, the Shuriken leaped into the air, springing back to life in defiance of the laws of physics. They danced and darted in time with Itachi's fingers!

Shuriken surrounded Akashi from every direction, streaking toward him!

At the last moment, Akashi moved his arm too. The Shuriken he'd thrown sprang up as well, swooping like swallows after prey and colliding with the incoming weapons, scattering bright sparks.

Shuriken Manipulation Technique.

It was hard to spot the threads wrapped around the ninja tools unless you looked closely.

Itachi's earlier words had only been a distraction while he secretly prepared the technique, but now he was dumbfounded. It had been his own idea, so how did Akashi know it too?

The shock hit him like a hammer to the chest.

Then Akashi cut the threads and closed in, punching Itachi in the stomach. A low voice reached his ear, audible only to him: "My foolish little brother..."

Foolish?

I guess I was, thinking I could win with that move.

Itachi smiled bitterly. He grabbed Akashi's clothes to keep himself upright, ready to accept the mockery and advice. But after a long while, Akashi still hadn't said anything more. Itachi asked weakly, "What comes next?"

Akashi suddenly burst out laughing. "I forgot the rest!"

"Ugh..."

Itachi's chest tightened, and he nearly lost his breath again.

Then Akashi's expression turned serious. "Information is crucial to a ninja. You don't know what I'm capable of, yet you thought you could win so easily with a ninjutsu technique. So which one of us underestimated the other? Itachi, you've disappointed me."

Disappointed?

No one had ever said that to him. His father, teachers, and friends all called him a genius. He'd excelled at everything he'd done since childhood and earned so many honors that he'd almost grown numb to them.

Could he disappoint someone too?

Itachi staggered back into balance, his heart sinking.

His defenses had been shattered.

He looked up and met a pair of scarlet eyes. The Tomoe turned, drawing him into a pitch-black night.

A flock of crows gathered, then suddenly scattered.

A full moon rose from behind the rooftops, illuminating a dark figure on a utility pole.

Itachi.

It was himself.

And the words that came from his mouth were exactly the same as Akashi's: "My foolish little brother."

It was as if he were speaking to himself, and yet also declaring some kind of despair to someone else.

Then the figure disappeared into the night, leaving the ground awash with blood.

"Argh!" Itachi cried out, shattering the scene before his eyes. Then he collapsed to the ground, as if every drop of blood had been drained from him. Sweat soaked his clothes.

A genjutsu?

Itachi came back to his senses, shaken, and panted on the ground.

Shisui stepped into the arena again. Without asking anyone's opinion, he announced the result.

The winner was Uchiha Akashi.

Everyone could see that there was no question about who had won.

Akashi knew that Itachi's chakra was his weak point, and that he was sensitive by nature. So he'd worn him down with ninjutsu, gained the upper hand with taijutsu, shattered his defenses with a psychological attack, then ended the fight with genjutsu.

The plan had worked perfectly.

After letting off steam, he felt refreshed.

Shisui helped Itachi to his feet and sighed. "He's still just a kid. You could've gone a little easier on him."

"Come on, he should be thanking me."

Akashi didn't feel he'd done anything wrong. He'd taught Itachi how important intelligence was and even helped him take on the undercover mission. Beating him up was the least he could do.

Sure enough, Itachi spoke up. "Thank you, Akashi. I learned a lot today."

"See?" Akashi said, spreading his hands toward Shisui with an innocent look.

Only Fugaku, off in the distance, didn't seem too pleased.