Training

Thud, thud, thud...

At the Uchiha Clan training ground, Suifeng stood bare-chested, his hands wrapped in white bandages. He held his fists in a straight-punch stance, striking the wooden post in front of him again and again. Wave after wave of pain traveled from his fists to his brain, twisting his face into a fierce grimace.

Not far away, Uchiha Fukuyama stood with his arms folded, leaning against a tree as he watched Suifeng sweat profusely. A look of approval showed in his eyes.

At first, he hadn't thought much of Suifeng. The kid hadn't made a very good impression on him. He liked to slack off during training, and didn't seem particularly strong-willed. Fukuyama had assumed he would give up after a few days. But to his surprise, after a few days Suifeng's training gradually got on track, and he began to adapt to the intensity. Though it had only been a month, his transformation had been dramatic, which had gradually changed Fukuyama's opinion of him. Still, despite all his effort, Suifeng's talent was only a little above average. That was the generous assessment. Put less kindly, his talent was rather mediocre!

It wasn't hard to understand. If he'd truly been exceptionally gifted, he wouldn't have been kicked to death in a single blow by Kakashi, would he?

As for why Suifeng had started working so hard, that was easy to understand too.

At first, Suifeng had no cheat and couldn't see a future for himself. But now?

With a cheat at his disposal, and a clear understanding of what it took to make use of it, plus the amazing feeling he got every day as he sensed chakra—a supernatural power—flowing through his body, his interest in training had naturally increased tremendously.

Interest was the best teacher. Uchiha Suifeng had already given him a solid foundation, so Suifeng had persevered. As his training progressed, he gradually adapted to the routine. He wasn't nearly as exhausted as he'd been at the start, and naturally, his training got on track.

"Enough!"

Seeing that Suifeng had thrown a thousand punches, Uchiha Fukuyama called out, "That's it for physical conditioning today. Refine your chakra first, then practice Water Walking and Tree Climbing to train your chakra control."

"Yes, Teacher Fukuyama!"

Suifeng stood still, panting heavily. Feeling his chakra brimming within him, he replied with boundless energy.

Tree Climbing and Water Walking were the foundations of chakra control and the use of ninjutsu. Only after mastering these two skills could someone cast ninjutsu smoothly and become a true Genin. Having already seen the story unfold, Suifeng naturally understood the importance of chakra control and had no resistance to practicing it.

New to this place and starting with nothing, he had to begin with the basics. What, did he think he could pull off something huge right away?

There was no way he could pull off anything huge in Konoha right now, and he wouldn't dare try. That old schemer Danzo had his eye on him.

Still, if he were Danzo, and had watched him for a month, wouldn't he have given up by now?

To be honest, he'd made obvious progress over the past month, but compared to the true geniuses, it was limited. Fukuyama wasn't the only one who could see that his talent was mediocre; Suifeng could see it too.

But it didn't matter. Once he awakened the Mangekyo, everything would change.

Konoha, Root

Danzo set down the intelligence scroll in his hand and looked at the Root shinobi kneeling before him. "So this Uchiha Suifeng awakened the Sharingan, but his talent isn't particularly good?"

"Yes. Based on what we've seen so far, at least his aptitude for Body Techniques is poor. As for the Sharingan, he likely awakened it the way the rumors say—after suffering a tremendous shock."

"I understand. You may go."

Danzo waved him away and leaned back in his chair. A glint flashed in his single eye. "The Sharingan... what a troublesome thing."

The Sharingan was indeed troublesome. The intelligence report was clear: although Uchiha Suifeng worked hard, his talent wasn't particularly good. But that didn't mean he posed no threat. After awakening the Sharingan, his physical abilities wouldn't improve, but even its ability to perceive movement would give him a decisive advantage against opponents of the same rank. And that was without even mentioning its boost to genjutsu. Against ordinary shinobi, it gave its user far too great an advantage. That was why his teacher, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, had been so wary of the Uchiha Clan. After the First Hokage's death, with no one in the Senju Clan awakening Wood Release, Konoha had lost its absolute upper hand over the Uchiha Clan. If the Uchiha produced a few more geniuses, the balance of power between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan would be broken. Fortunately, those Uchiha fools weren't very bright.

"But if his talent is average, there's no need to pay him too much attention."

Root shinobi weren't exactly plentiful. So many members of the Uchiha Clan had awakened their eyes; it was impossible to keep tabs on all of them. Wasting a Root shinobi on a six-year-old boy would be a loss no matter how you looked at it.

Still, after keeping watch for so many days, he couldn't help feeling dissatisfied with the result.

"The Uchiha Clan has always been twisted and prone to extremes. In that case, perhaps I could..."

"Uchiha... one day..."

As he thought about his grand plan, the gaze of Danzo's remaining eye gradually grew more profound.

At the Uchiha Clan training ground, Suifeng held a kunai and fixed his eyes on Uchiha Fukuyama. The next moment, he pushed off with his foot and covered five or six meters in an instant, slashing the kunai toward Fukuyama's neck.

Thud!!

With a dull impact, Suifeng's body, charging forward at full speed, flew backward and slammed into the ground. Clutching his stomach, he retched over and over.

"Suifeng, you've worked very hard, but you're still nowhere near strong enough to beat Kakashi."

Looking at Suifeng, whom he'd taken down with a single kick, Fukuyama sounded disappointed.

"When the hell did I ever say I wanted to beat Kakashi?"

Suifeng grimaced and slowly straightened up. "Teacher Fukuyama, I know that I can't beat Kakashi with Body Techniques alone. Even with my Sharingan activated, I can't sustain it for long with my chakra reserves. If I want to beat him, I'll need to find another way!"

"Another way?!"

"That's right. I have no chance in a pure contest of Body Techniques. Knowing that and still charging in recklessly would be foolish," Suifeng said with the air of a wise old man.

"Foolish?!" The corner of Uchiha Fukuyama's eye twitched. "Then what do you want to do? Use ninjutsu? You don't have much chakra, and your Hand Seals aren't especially fast!"

"Genjutsu!"

Suifeng said, "Compared to Kakashi, my greatest advantage is the Sharingan. It enhances genjutsu, and it lets me cast it very quickly. In a fight, as long as I seize an opening and cast a genjutsu, I can win!"

Genjutsu?

Uchiha Fukuyama was a little surprised. Thinking it over, though, it was indeed an option—or perhaps the only option.

A One-Tomoe Sharingan's enhancement to genjutsu was limited, but an enhancement was still an enhancement. More importantly, no matter how strong Kakashi was, he was still only a Genin. If he fell under a genjutsu, even if he could break out of it, it would take time. And in a battle between shinobi, even at the Genin level, a single instant could decide the outcome.

"If you're going with genjutsu, which one do you want to learn?"

"Something simple, with fewer Hand Seals," Suifeng answered honestly. "All I need is an opening!"