Chapter 5

"Hmm! What should we call it?" Tajima rested his chin on his hand, frowning as he fell into thought.

"How about Shadow Clone?" Mingye suddenly chimed in, giving the technique its original name.

"Uchiha Shadow Clone!" Madara chimed in too, adding the clan name to the name Mingye had suggested.

"Do you have to add 'Uchiha' to everything?" Mingye raised an eyebrow at Madara and complained, exasperated.

"This is a ninjutsu we created ourselves, of course it should bear our clan's name!" Madara was still only a boy in his teens, and his clan was still his pride. What's more, the technique had been created by his own father, so naturally it should bear the clan's name. After all, it was a product of the clan.

"Heh! Fine, I don't mind. Just don't look at me like that. It makes my fists itch!"

For some reason, ever since he'd come to this world, Mingye had always felt like picking a fight with Madara, whether there was a reason or not. That was especially true when Madara was so concerned about his younger brother. Mingye thought fighting Madara right now would be an absolute blast, because Madara showed all kinds of expressions now, instead of always wearing the stern, arrogant look he had in the manga, as if he thought he was second only to heaven.

"Mingye, if you use a ninjutsu on me again, I'll tear you apart!"

In the study, Mingye received the chakra paper his father had left behind, used to determine one's chakra affinities. In this era, such paper was exceptionally precious. With war raging everywhere, it wasn't like in the manga, where it could be treated like toilet paper without a second thought. There were only three or four sheets in the little box his father took out. After testing his chakra affinities, Mingye left the study with Madara and Izuna and headed to the training ground for practical exercises.

"Fire and lightning. I can't believe my affinities are so much better than yours, big brother!" Shadow Clone wasn't a difficult technique. Mingye had grasped its workings after watching it just a little, and managed to make only one clone before reaching his limit. He sent the clone off to practice walking on water and improve its chakra control, while he read a book and teased Madara, who had made five clones of his own.

"The number of affinities you have doesn't determine whether you're a powerful ninja or not. If you don't believe me, let's put it to the test in a real fight!" Madara looked at Mingye proudly, not the least bit angry. Instead, he challenged him right back.

"Heh! Give me ten years, and I'll challenge you!"

"I'll be waiting!" Madara gave a scornful smile, then turned away and resumed practicing taijutsu with one of his clones.

The morning sunlight was like a golden veil, dressing the earth in a new garment for the day. A breeze stirred the branches, and pale yellow leaves drifted down, as if announcing the arrival of autumn.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A figure suddenly appeared in a towering tree, ten meters tall. A fireball shot from the figure's mouth and struck the tree, making its trunk shudder. Then, like a chameleon, a figure emerged and leaped from the tree to dodge the attack.

The boy who'd unleashed the fireball didn't let up. His hands quickly formed Hand Seals once more.

"Fire Style: Hiding in Ash!"

High heat and thick gray smoke enveloped the boy. The moment his figure disappeared into the cloud, three or four Kunai shot out in a wild barrage. Another figure appeared and unleashed a technique at the cloud of smoke.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A huge fireball burst from the figure, sweeping the cloud of smoke away. As it cleared, the figure's face finally came into view. It was Madara himself, grinning mischievously. Then his body turned into white smoke and vanished.

"Shadow Clone!"

The person who'd attacked Madara froze in surprise for an instant. Madara appeared behind him and kicked him in the waist, while another person leaped out of the ground and caught the one sent flying.

"Enough, stop fighting. Izuna, you're too impatient. Your strikes need to be fast, accurate, and ruthless. The instant you fail to hit your opponent, your reaction could get you killed a hundred times over. This time, Madara kicked you with his foot. On a battlefield, a long blade would have cut you in half!" Tajima stood in a nearby tree, watching his three sons spar. He stopped them from continuing, then lectured Izuna, who was clutching his waist and gritting his teeth in pain.

"Father, that means I win this time, right?" Madara taunted Izuna, pointing his thumb down at him behind his back, then confidently asked his father.

"You'd already be dead!"

Tajima pointed at the branch under Madara's feet with a stern expression. Then he turned to Mingye and continued, "Where did you get so many Explosive Tags to set up? Explosive Tags are for actual ambushes. And you went and buried every one I gave you right there. If you'd really set them off, none of you three would have escaped!"

"Damn it! You really did bury Explosive Tags here!" Madara looked down and saw a stack of Explosive Tags stuck underneath the branch. His face turned green as he charged at Mingye, roaring.

"I didn't set them off! I didn't! If I hadn't put down real ones, and had only written 'Explosive Tag' on a couple of pieces of paper, you'd have refused to admit you lost! I never meant to set them off!" Mingye shoved Izuna toward Madara and ducked behind Tajima, awkwardly trying to explain himself.

"An Explosive Tag is powerful enough to blow an enemy within three meters to pieces. If you set it off too late, you won't kill Madara. If you set it off at any other time, all three of you will die. You haven't even learned how to use Explosive Tags without hurting yourself, so it's best not to mess around with them. Shimizu will teach you how to use them over the next few days. All right, that's enough for today. Let's go home!" Tajima gave Mingye a smack on the head, then warned him before turning toward the clan compound.

As a reward for their victory, Mingye and Izuna were allowed to play in the woods for another hour. Madara, as the loser, was dragged into the study by his father, Tajima, for a private lecture, even though he refused to admit defeat.

Mingye watched his furious older brother, loudly vowing to get revenge, with a satisfied smile. For an entire year, Madara had been the first to master the ninjutsu Mingye had come up with. And that wasn't all: no matter what it was, Madara was always first. He was the first to arrive at clan training, held the record as the youngest ninja to pass the clan's certification, and had mastered the Shadow Clone training method despite being only fifteen. While Mingye was still using Shadow Clones just to practice refining chakra, Madara had already begun using them to train in Fire Style. Mingye knew perfectly well he'd reached his limit. Under Tajima's supervision, the three brothers got up at six every morning to train. They spent no more than twenty minutes eating lunch, then rested for an hour before continuing their training until seven in the evening. After an entire year of this, Mingye not only didn't feel he'd reached the level of Madara and his older brother Izuna, but felt the distance between them growing ever wider.

He watched Izuna deftly stab a knife into the giant bear's throat, then nimbly grab its fur and swing his body aside to dodge its claws. Izuna flipped behind the bear and smoothly drove four Kunai in succession into its neck, making it convulse and collapse dead. Mingye sighed inwardly once more. A nameless pain made his eyes grow hot, but that was all it did.

"What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and get the storage scroll! This bear is enough to give our whole clan a good meal. Didn't you say you were sick of eating pickles every day? Father worked hard to take this area from the Fuma Clan!" After finishing off the bear, Izuna turned to Mingye, who was still lost in thought, flashed him a grin, and urged him on.

"Yeah! Coming!" Mingye snapped back to attention and nodded. He quickly pulled a scroll from his backpack and ran over to the bear. After biting his finger, he drew a symbol on the bear's forehead that matched the one in the center of the scroll. Then he pressed his bloodied hand to the scroll, and chakra poured out, enveloping the bear's corpse and drawing it inside.

Izuna checked the time. Although these woods were within the Uchiha Clan's territory, that didn't mean other clans' ninjas couldn't sneak in. He turned to Mingye and said, "It's about time. If we stay any longer, ninjas from other clans might find us. We should head home."

"Yeah!" Mingye nodded again, and the two of them quickly ran across the trees and disappeared into the woods.