At the Sarutobi Clan compound.
Asuma waited at the entrance, staring down the road for his older brother to come home.
It was already midnight. What kind of mission was his brother on? Why wasn't he back yet?
By one o'clock, Asuma had fallen asleep against a pillar. He woke only when someone lifted him onto their back.
Asuma struggled, then jumped down.
"Brother! Teacher Huìdài still has me practicing Taijutsu, but I'm improving too slowly. How am I supposed to beat Uchiha Ling?
"Brother, teach me Ninjutsu! Once I learn it, won't Uchiha Ling be scared stiff?"
Black Chimp shook his head. "Asuma, Huìdài is the finest teacher at the Ninja Academy. You have no idea how many ninja clans want her to build a solid foundation for their children.
"Our Sarutobi Clan managed to hire Teacher Huìdài. You're already getting an enormous advantage.
"You haven't mastered what you're learning now, and you want to take on Ninjutsu too?"
"Brother! You've seen how Uchiha Ling bullies me at school! If I don't learn Ninjutsu, I'm finished!"
"Even if you insist on rushing ahead, I remember Kunai-Throwing Class starts in the Six-Year-Old Autumn Term. You should practice throwing Kunai!"
"There's no time! You know how good the Uchiha Clan is with Kunai. I'll never beat Uchiha Ling at throwing them! I need to find another way to get ahead—two steps ahead!"
Black Chimp refused him that first day. But Asuma kept pestering him for the next ten days.
"Brother! So much of Summer Vacation has gone by! I can't wait any longer!"
Finally fed up, Black Chimp said, "Fine. Come with me. I'll teach you a basic Ninjutsu technique."
At the Sarutobi Clan's training ground, Black Chimp looked up at the moon. It was already two in the morning. He still hadn't slept, and now he had to indulge his little brother's nonsense.
"Asuma, I tested your Chakra affinities before. You have both Wind Release and Fire Release Chakra, with Wind Release being stronger."
"Yes! That's right."
The other students didn't even know their Chakra affinities yet, but Asuma had tested his with Chakra Paper long ago.
"Then I'll teach you a C-Rank Ninjutsu technique: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
"Why only C-Rank? Even the Transformation Technique is D-Rank. I don't want that. Teach me something A-Rank!"
Black Chimp's breathing grew heavier. Had his brother lost his mind? Had Uchiha Ling driven him to this?
"If you won't learn it, go back to bed."
"I'll learn it! C-Rank is fine."
Black Chimp wanted to say, You're talking as if you can learn it at all. But he held back. Asuma had suffered enough blows to his pride.
"Dog, Horse, Rooster. Three hand seals. Gather Wind Release Chakra in your mouth, then expel it in one breath to create a powerful blast of air.
"Some Jonin can even tear a large tree apart with this technique.
"It's also the foundation for many Wind Release techniques. Learn it well."
A high-pressure gust slammed into Asuma and sent him flying. He rolled across the ground more than a dozen times before the blast weakened enough for him to stop.
"Great! I like this technique!"
After teaching Asuma the hand seals and how to channel his Chakra, Black Chimp left him to work it out on his own and went to bed.
Asuma tossed and turned, already imagining how astonished the whole class would be when he used Ninjutsu.
Kurenai! I'll come back for you!
One day during Summer Vacation, Uchiha Ling was running laps around the Hidden Leaf Village with Might Guy, both of them wearing weights.
Every morning at dawn, he went somewhere secluded to practice the Fireball Technique, then ran with Guy in their weights.
He looked at Guy with pity. He wondered whether Guy would fall apart completely when he saw the move Ling had prepared.
Someone suddenly fell into step beside them.
Uchiha Ling turned and saw Ibiki Morino.
"Uchiha Ling," Ibiki said, "my friends Ebisu and Shiranui Genma are improving fast. They both say it's thanks to you.
"Push me as hard as you can. I want to improve too."
"Hold on. What does your improvement have to do with me? Improve or don't. I'm not your teacher."
Uchiha Ling had underestimated Ibiki Morino's determination and persistence.
Ibiki stuck to him like glue. He followed him on his morning laps around the village. When he couldn't keep up, he ran back the other way until he met him coming around again.
Uchiha Ling ended up switching between clockwise and counterclockwise laps.
As long as he changed direction quickly enough, Ibiki couldn't find him.
But when Ling sparred with Kurenai Yuhi and Rin Nohara in the afternoons, Ibiki somehow found out and stood nearby watching.
Damn it. I'm trying to spend time with the girls and joke around a little. What are you standing there watching for?
After several days, Uchiha Ling had had enough. When he finished sparring with Kurenai, he beckoned Ibiki over.
In the original story, Ibiki Morino was a cold intelligence ninja who specialized in torture and interrogation. Why was he so annoying as a child?
"Ibiki Morino, if you're so eager to get beaten up, I'll spar with you once. You'll see how far ahead of you I am. Sparring with me will just be needless suffering. You won't learn a thing."
Ibiki replied, "Don't worry. Even getting hit hard is a kind of progress."
The moment the spar began, Uchiha Ling stopped holding back.
He had been gentle when sparring with Kurenai. He had no friendship with Ibiki, though, and the boy had annoyed him for days. Ling vented his frustration with his first punch.
It struck Ibiki's shoulder and sent him spinning through the air like a top.
Ibiki groaned on the ground, then slowly climbed to his feet, muttering to himself.
"The intense pain made my brain protect itself by cutting off the nerve signals. Then came a compensatory surge of Dopamine. That feels good! A little good—no, it feels amazing!"
Sweat covered Ibiki's forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot, but he looked more excited than ever.
Uchiha Ling's heart sank. Oh no. Ibiki has a thing for pain. Is he... is he a masochist?
"Ibiki Morino, what's wrong with you? Seriously, what's wrong with you? Who enjoys getting beaten up?
"What are you muttering about?
"What's Dopamine? What's a compensatory surge? Are you using me to get your kicks?"
Ibiki said nothing. He charged at Uchiha Ling again and again, and Ling knocked him flying every time.
His body was undoubtedly in pain—his legs trembled from it—but his expression told another story. He relished the pain. It thrilled him.
No matter how fiercely Uchiha Ling taunted him or how hard he hit, Ibiki refused to back down.
At last, Ibiki fell and did not get up. The spar was finally over.
Uchiha Ling stared ahead, his eyes empty.
It's over. I was going to become the Hidden Leaf Village's greatest trash-talker, the master of getting under people's skin. And now my career has suffered its greatest setback.
Why does there have to be a masochist here?
No wonder Ibiki Morino would become the Hidden Leaf Village's Interrogation Master. He had a unique understanding of pain.
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