After-School Fight

After Toru returned home, he trained for a while and didn't go to bed until late that night.

The next day, Toru headed to the Ninja Academy as usual.

Nothing noteworthy happened at school that day. The only thing worth mentioning was that Asuma had already requested a seat change and moved away. Mitaraishi Anko was now sitting in his old seat.

After school, Yuhi Kurenai invited Toru to walk home with her. He declined, telling her to go ahead because he had something to take care of.

Kurenai had no choice but to leave with Anko, tugging her along with a displeased look.

What Toru had to take care of was, naturally, the conflict with those Hyuga clansmen he had promised to resolve the day before.

Uchiha Doka and the others were already waiting at the school gate. From a long way off, they bowed to Toru and called him "Big Bro," drawing plenty of attention from passersby.

When the passersby spotted the Uchiha Clan Crests on the students' backs, they realized the boys were young members of the Uchiha Clan, and their opinion of Toru rose considerably.

He looked like an ordinary handsome guy, but if these Uchiha kids, who looked like trouble, called him "Big Bro" with such respect, then he was definitely not someone to mess with.

Just like that, Toru's reputation began shifting from school heartthrob to school bully.

"Big Bro, we'll lie in wait at Training Ground No. 4. Those Hyuga said yesterday that they liked the place, so they'll definitely come back today," Doka said, stepping forward.

Toru nodded slightly and followed the others to Training Ground No. 4.

Toru wasn't familiar with most of Konoha. After all, he usually only went between home and the Ninja Academy, with Yuhi Kurenai's house thrown in. It was the same three places, over and over.

He usually trained in the open space beside his house. He rarely even went to his clan's training grounds, let alone the public ones.

Training Ground No. 4 was on the outskirts of the village, but it was closer than the other training grounds.

It took them ten minutes to arrive.

The training ground was huge, and Doka led Toru to a corner where many wooden posts had been driven into the ground.

The posts were riddled with dents and scars. It was obvious they had been used for taijutsu practice for years.

Toru walked up and examined the posts closely. The newest marks were shallow holes about the size of fingers.

He naturally thought of Doka and Tekka's injuries from the day before, as well as the information Fugaku had given him.

"Gentle Fist," Toru concluded.

Doka nodded repeatedly. "That's right, Gentle Fist. That guy also said something about the Eight Trigrams."

At the mention of Gentle Fist, Tekka instinctively covered his injuries, as if they still hurt. It was hard to tell whether it was psychological or whether the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist was really that devastating.

Toru glanced at Tekka's reaction and remarked, "They call it Gentle Fist, but there's nothing gentle about that force. Looks like today might be interesting."

At that, Doka started playing the victim again, wailing, "Exactly, Big Bro! Those Hyuga were brutal. They showed us no respect at all. And if they don't respect us, that means they don't respect you either, Big Bro!"

Toru waved a hand when he finished. "No need to provoke me. Since I'm here, I'll help you beat them back. You can count on that."

Doka saw that his intentions were too obvious and could only laugh awkwardly before sucking up to Toru again. "We're relieved to hear you say that, Big Bro. You're awesome!"

Tekka clenched his fists. "I'm going to hit them back today, too."

Doka smacked Tekka on the head. "Forget it. Don't go up there and embarrass yourself."

Tekka lowered his hands with a wounded look, but his eyes still held a trace of unwillingness.

Toru gave Doka an amused glance. Though he was young, Doka was already sly and smooth, able to get along with anyone. Still, he clearly cared about his younger brother.

Doka obviously didn't want Tekka to go up there and get beaten again, but his dim-witted younger brother didn't seem to understand his brother's good intentions.

It wasn't long before the people they were waiting for arrived.

A group of boys of varying heights came over, all with the same pale eyes.

"Don't you Uchiha ever learn? Or do you want to get beaten again? This place belongs to the Hyuga now, so get lost!" a round-faced Hyuga boy shouted arrogantly, completely ignoring Toru and the others, who had arrived first.

Doka stepped forward, chest out, and shot back, "You're the ones who should get lost. My big bro Toru is here today, so all of you are going to get beaten!"

Doka's words had all the swagger of someone borrowing another's authority, and for a moment they even scared the round-faced boy.

Then the tallest Hyuga spoke up. "You mean Uchiha Toru, the one who defeated Hatake Kakashi?"

Doka grew even more arrogant and proudly answered, "That's right. He's my big bro."

He acted as if he himself had been the one to defeat Kakashi.

But the tall Hyuga scoffed. "Hatake Kakashi is just a first-year student. How good could he possibly be? I'm about to become a Genin. Do you think I'm afraid of you?"

The tall Hyuga gave Toru a challenging look. Toru's white hair and blue eyes were so distinctive that he was instantly recognizable.

Toru simply stared at the tall Hyuga, completely unperturbed.

The tall Hyuga felt that Toru had slighted him, so he continued arrogantly, "I'll give you a chance. If you, Uchiha Toru, bow your head and back down, and give us this training ground, I'll let you go home safe and sound. Otherwise, don't blame us for what happens."

Toru calmly said three words: "You're not worthy."

Those three words sent Doka and the others cheering, "Big Bro is awesome!" The Hyuga boys' expressions, meanwhile, changed dramatically, as if they had just swallowed dog shit.

"You won't take the easy way out, so you can suffer the hard way! Uchiha Toru, you're finished!" The tall Hyuga clearly couldn't accept that someone three years younger than him dared to act so cocky in front of him.

With that, the tall Hyuga prepared to attack, and the others beside him started to stir as well.

Doka and the others, who had suffered at the Hyuga's hands before, were intimidated and lost the confidence they'd shown earlier.

The tall Hyuga looked down on the Uchiha boys before him and shouted, "The Hyuga are the strongest clan in Konoha!"

Then he charged straight at Toru.

Seeing such a clumsy attack, Toru lost interest and shook his head slightly. He flooded his body with Cursed Energy, leaped into the air, and flew forward with a kick.

The tall Hyuga hastily raised both arms to block, but the tremendous force still sent him flying several meters. He landed on the grass, leaving a pathetic trail behind him.

"Makoto!" The round-faced Hyuga and the others were instantly left without their leader and hurriedly crowded around the tall boy.

The tall Hyuga, Hyuga Makoto, felt a sharp pain in his arms, but the blow to his pride hurt even more.

Toru hadn't hit him in the face, but Makoto had suffered such a humiliating defeat in front of his underlings and the Uchiha boys. It was undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face.