Ryosuke lightened his steps, then slowly made his way into the forest.
He had never ventured this deep into the forest before.
It seemed that as his chakra reserves—or perhaps his spiritual energy—increased, his senses had grown sharper too.
After cautiously moving forward for several hundred meters,
he finally saw two shadows talking beneath a towering tree.
One was around his age, while the other looked like an adult. He couldn't make out the adult's face, but the long hair that reached his waist was unmistakable.
Ryosuke was startled by the sight.
If he wasn't mistaken, that had to be Itachi and his mysterious mentor, Obito.
He just hadn't expected them to already be in contact at this point.
It seemed that Obito's guidance had a lot to do with Itachi displaying unprecedented talent at such a young age.
If he'd known they were here,
Ryosuke wouldn't have come snooping around for anything.
Because if they discovered him, he might actually get killed.
He was no match for Obito, who had already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
He hurried behind a tree and held his breath, hoping to leave after they were gone.
The forest was silent. Ryosuke could even hear his own heartbeat.
He wondered what he would do if he really ran into Obito. How could he win?
The Shinigami Template might give him a recovery ability on par with the power of Hashirama Cells.
But the other man's Kamui could suck him into another space-time.
Even if Obito couldn't kill him, he could leave him to starve to death in there.
And Kamui was a Kekkei Genkai technique that could only be used with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Even if the system could record it, using it with his Two-Tomoe Sharingan would probably ruin his eyes.
Caught up in these conflicting thoughts,
Ryosuke waited for more than half an hour.
"They should be gone by now, right?"
Ryosuke cautiously turned his head to look over there.
Instead, he saw a figure standing right behind him.
"Lightning Release: Sandamurei!"
Startled, Ryosuke leaped backward and used the strongest ninjutsu he had, hoping to buy himself some time.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
A cold yet childish voice sounded beside Ryosuke again.
"Itachi? Oh, it's you."
Ryosuke breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd thought he'd run into Obito already.
"I was chasing a rabbit and got lost."
Ryosuke explained.
"What about you?"
"I'm training in ninjutsu."
Itachi coolly tossed out the words, then bounded away and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
"That was close. Curiosity really does kill the cat. I can't do this again."
Ryosuke wiped away his cold sweat, then turned to leave.
But he suddenly realized that he really was lost.
"I shouldn't have come here."
Several hours later, night had fallen.
Ryosuke finally found his way out of the forest.
He was carrying a bear on his back.
He was covered in cuts and bruises, too.
This forest was far too dangerous.
Ryosuke built a fire at the edge of the forest and roasted a few pieces of bear meat.
"Today was way too dangerous. I can't believe Obito's already in contact with Itachi. By my calculations, Yahiko must have founded the Akatsuki by now, too. This world is far too dangerous."
After eating a few bites of bear meat, he was so exhausted that he lay down on the ground.
"Even with the system, I'm still growing too slowly. At this rate, even if I leave the village, I could run into some big boss by chance and lose my life."
"Whatever happens, I'll get the graduation exam out of the way first. I'll worry about the rest later."
As Ryosuke thought, he ended up falling asleep on the grass.
Fortunately, the bear's scent lingered around him. Otherwise, the beasts in the forest might really have dragged him away.
The next day.
Ryosuke woke with a start when dew dripped onto his face.
He glanced at his watch. Classes had already started.
"I'd better not go to school. It's not like it's any use anyway."
"Why not follow Itachi and see what he's up to?"
Ryosuke suddenly became curious.
Obito's identity was highly sensitive. He probably wouldn't often show up near the Uchiha Clan's compound.
And yesterday, he'd been so nervous that he'd nearly forgotten he had the Sonido and Pesquisa skills.
Sonido was equivalent to a B-rank ninjutsu and cost 100 chakra per use.
Pesquisa, on the other hand, was equivalent to an A-rank ninjutsu and cost 300 chakra per use.
As long as he could use these two skills proficiently, Itachi shouldn't notice him.
After making up his mind,
Ryosuke slipped into the forest again.
As he searched for the place where Itachi trained in ninjutsu, he practiced using Sonido and Pesquisa.
This time, just as his chakra was down to a thousand, he found a few clues.
Several trees around a clearing in the forest had circular targets set up at different heights.
The targets were marked with Shuriken strikes.
It seemed that Itachi trained here.
Ryosuke took a closer look. There were more than a dozen targets.
And several were behind trees.
His mouth twitched.
Was nine-year-old Itachi already this monstrous? He really was a genius.
Without the system, Ryosuke might never have been able to catch up with him.
He finally understood how little Sasuke felt.
Ryosuke picked the thickest tree and leaped onto its trunk, halfway up. Then he used the branches and leaves to hide himself.
"This should keep me from being spotted, right?"
This time, he waited from morning until afternoon.
Just as he was beginning to nod off,
a figure appeared in the clearing.
"He's here!"
Ryosuke rubbed his eyes and watched Itachi's movements through a gap in the leaves.
Itachi stood there with a Kunai in each hand, his eyes closed.
Then he suddenly flipped into the air, spun around once, and threw all the Kunai at the same time.
Several whooshes rang out, followed by the sound of Kunai striking their targets.
Ryosuke activated his Two-Tomoe Sharingan and could barely make out Itachi's movements.
Every target had a Kunai embedded in its center, even the ones behind the trees.
Even though Ryosuke had seen scenes like this countless times, witnessing it firsthand was still shocking.
"Damn, this guy's a monster. If not for the Uchiha Clan's situation, Itachi might have been the perfect candidate for Hokage."
But Itachi wasn't satisfied with the results of his training. One of the Kunai had fallen to the ground.
He continued practicing for several more rounds, until he finally made no mistakes.
Only then did he turn and disappear.
"Pesquisa!"
Ryosuke immediately used the skill and quickly locked onto Itachi's location.
"That's the Uchiha Shrine?"
Following behind, Ryosuke couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.
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