Serves You Right for Breaking Down

Training Ground.

"Kurenai, you're the only one I don't want to hurt..."

As a child, Kurenai Yuhi had big, round eyes and curls that flicked up playfully at the ends. She was impossible not to adore.

Uchiha Ling gazed at Kurenai and spoke gently, but his eyes kept drifting toward Asuma Sarutobi.

Children in the Hidden Leaf Village grew up far too fast.

Asuma clenched his teeth. What does he mean, "the only one"? What does he mean, "don't want to hurt"?

Kurenai had inherited her father's talent for Genjutsu. Her Yin Release Chakra was strong, but the Yang Release Chakra that supported her body was much weaker. She was slender, and Taijutsu was not her strength.

Obito Uchiha shouted from the sidelines, "Kurenai! Beat up Skinny Pole!"

Kurenai threw her little fists at Uchiha Ling, but he slipped past each punch with a turn of his shoulder.

Uchiha Ling dodged so easily, and with such a fond smile, that it looked less like sparring and more like flirting.

Asuma grew even angrier when he saw Uchiha Ling catch Kurenai's wrist or fist again and again.

After watching Kurenai's Taijutsu habits, Uchiha Ling prepared his finishing move.

Since White Fang's suicide, Uchiha Ling had kept his head down and stayed out of trouble.

A month after the uproar died down, Uchiha Ling was still training hard in the White Fang Flow Body Technique every day.

The technique worked by gathering Chakra in one or more points on the body, then releasing it in a burst.

Now, Uchiha Ling gathered Chakra in several points across his waist and back.

When Kurenai swept her leg at him, Uchiha Ling twisted sharply and dropped into a crouch.

To everyone watching, his turn and crouch suddenly accelerated.

His Sweeping Kick struck Kurenai's planted foot and sent her flying sideways.

Uchiha Ling placed one hand behind Kurenai's shoulder, hooked the other beneath her knees, and caught her in his arms.

"Don't be afraid, Kurenai. How could I bear to let you fall..."

The careless look Asuma usually wore vanished. As he stared at them, a light breeze stirred the trees, and a leaf drifted down onto Kurenai's shoulder.

Then that damned Uchiha Ling blew the leaf away.

Uchiha Ling waited a moment, but no system notification came.

That can't be right. I put on a performance like that, and Asuma still hasn't had a Defense Break?

Kurenai lay frozen in Uchiha Ling's arms, too stunned to move. A few seconds later, she suddenly began to struggle.

As everyone knew, an angry wife and a pig at New Year's were equally hard to hold down.

Uchiha Ling had no choice but to put Kurenai down.

Covering her face, Kurenai ran back to the other students.

Asuma thrust up his hand. "Teacher! I want to challenge Skinny Pole!"

Teacher Yamano frowned. "Don't call your classmate by a nickname."

"I want to challenge Uchiha Ling!"

"Uchiha Ling, do you need a rest?"

"No, Teacher. But Kurenai hasn't made the Reconciliation Seal with me yet."

Yamano looked at Kurenai. She reluctantly returned, looking thoroughly aggrieved, and hooked her index and middle fingers with Uchiha Ling's.

A vein throbbed on Asuma's forehead as he struggled to contain his anger.

The moment Kurenai stepped away, Asuma formed the confrontation seal and rushed Uchiha Ling.

In the original story, Asuma was one of the four jonin who led the Konoha 12. He was not especially strong, falling a tier below Kakashi and Guy.

After exchanging a couple of probing moves, Uchiha Ling found that Asuma's childhood talent was fairly ordinary.

Asuma also had an older brother. From what Uchiha Ling had heard, his brother was exceptionally gifted and belonged to the Third's inner circle.

Great families poured their resources into a single heir. As for the other children, keeping them alive was enough.

No matter how large a family was, it could not withstand dividing its wealth and resources again and again. Those resources had to remain concentrated to be passed down effectively.

The Sarutobi Clan was a case in point. Who would inherit a top-tier summoned beast like Monkey King?

Hiruzen Sarutobi's choice was... to keep Monkey King for himself until he died. He never passed him on to anyone. What a miser.

"Asuma Sarutobi, Kakashi is already a Genin. Your brother must have been much stronger than you at your age. Just admit it: you're a worthless second-generation kid nobody cares about, with nothing but the title of the Hokage's son!

"I don't know who Kurenai will like, but she certainly won't like someone worthless..."

Asuma remembered how his mother had doted on him but been strict with his brother. Suddenly, he realized that perhaps his brother was the one she cared about more.

She had spoiled Asuma because she expected nothing of him. She had been strict with his brother because she had high hopes for him.

And his father, the Hokage? Asuma barely saw him two or three times a month. His brother, meanwhile, was his father's right-hand man.

Asuma lost his composure for an instant, then threw everything into a sweeping kick aimed at Uchiha Ling's side.

Chakra erupted from the points in Uchiha Ling's arm. He blocked Asuma's sweeping kick as though his arm were made of iron.

He kicked the shin of Asuma's planted leg, forcing him down on one knee before him.

"Face reality. That pride you show off in front of Kurenai isn't worth a damn!"

Uchiha Ling whispered like a devil, "Asuma, your dad doesn't love you..."

[A ninja near the host has suffered an emotional breakdown. The Defense-Breaking System is activating...]

It worked!

Damn...

It had worked a little too well. Asuma had truly suffered a Defense Break. His eyes were full of bewilderment and pain.

[Asuma Sarutobi's Defense Break detected. Extracting an ability related to Asuma Sarutobi. Host may choose one of the following three options.

Option one: Wind Release Chakra;

Option two: 0.1 Kā of Chakra Amount;

Option three: Basic Kunai-Throwing Technique.]

What?!

Uchiha Ling was stunned by the rewards.

No wonder you had a Defense Break. If I were you, I'd have given up ages ago!

Where's the Five-Style Grand Combo? Where's the Summoning Contract with Monkey King?

Thinking about it, adult Asuma's abilities in the original story had almost nothing to do with Hiruzen Sarutobi's.

Hiruzen had trained the Sannin because they were already strong. Put a dog in his position, and the Sannin would still have become the Sannin.

Hiruzen's teaching ability was deeply questionable. Just look at how his younger son had turned out.

Option one, Wind Release Chakra, was not completely useless. It just was not useful right now.

Uchiha Ling's Chakra affinity was fire. He had no need to add another affinity yet.

Option three, the Basic Kunai-Throwing Technique? As if I can't throw a Kunai.

I've only been here a few days, and I'm already good at it.

He chose the Chakra Amount.

The original owner of his body had possessed 0.2 Kā of Chakra. With this reward, he now had 0.3 Kā.

Chakra was a blend of spiritual and physical energy. Uchiha Ling felt both his mind and body grow stronger, though not by the same amount.

He turned toward Teacher Yamano.

"Make the Reconciliation Seal!"

Asuma rose in a daze, hooked his fingers with Uchiha Ling's, then wandered back among the other students.

Does Dad really not love me?