Mental Normalcy Was a Rare Trait

Only two people remained in the classroom: Nara Saku and Ibiki Morino.

Nara Saku watched Ibiki Morino's strange movements. A pen was wedged between Ibiki's hands, its tip digging deep into his palm. Didn't it hurt?

Ibiki stood up and released the pen. He repeatedly clenched and opened his hands, feeling the pain in his palm. Then he said:

"Nara Saku, I know you're targeting Uchiha Ling, but I don't want to join you.

"I challenged Uchiha Ling because he can bring me far more pain than anyone else.

"My family has a special training method passed down through the generations.

"Pain doesn't lie. It stimulates my nerves and makes me stronger.

"I enjoy pain. Pain is my Ninja Way.

"Ninja from clans like yours have powerful Secret Techniques. You wouldn't understand my Ninja Way."

Nara Saku had always known Ibiki Morino was odd, but he hadn't realized just how odd. Who liked pain?

"If you need any help, just ask. As long as it hurts Uchiha Ling, I'll provide whatever I can."

"No need. Everything I do is for my Ninja Way."

The same scene played out in sparring class over the next several days.

Uchiha Ling shouted, "I challenge Might Guy!"

Ibiki Morino shouted, "I challenge Uchiha Ling!"

Yamano always said, "It's rare for someone to challenge Uchiha Ling. First match: Uchiha Ling versus Ibiki Morino."

Uchiha Ling was thoroughly annoyed. Sparring with Ibiki Morino did nothing for him.

In Taijutsu practice, Ibiki had no strengths besides his ability to take a beating.

Breaking Ibiki's Defense Break was proving difficult, too.

He had to shake off this human leech. But how could he trigger Ibiki Morino's Defense Break?

Staring at Ibiki Morino across from him, Uchiha Ling said with disgust:

"Ibiki, don't you have any self-respect?

"As far as I know, you live with your father. Doesn't he worry when you come home battered and bruised every day?

"Did your father send you to the Ninja Academy just to watch you get beaten up every day?

"Wait. Sometimes you arrive at school already battered and bruised. Does your father let you enjoy a little pain at home, too?"

Ibiki Morino showed no embarrassment at all. If anything, he grew more excited:

"Only pain makes me feel safe. Suffering makes me stronger.

"My father wants to see me suffer even more than I do!

"Come on, Uchiha Ling! Let me feel pain!"

Uchiha Ling couldn't understand him, much less his father. What kind of father wanted to see his child suffer?

Was Ibiki Morino's father the root of all this?

Uchiha Ling was speechless. After school, he planned to use the Military Police Force's records to look into Ibiki Morino's father.

Empathetic girls like Rin Nohara had already turned away, unwilling to watch what came next.

For once, they didn't resent Uchiha Ling for beating up Ibiki Morino. Ibiki was strange. Every time he took a brutal beating, he said excited things they couldn't understand.

Dopamine? Could getting beaten up trigger that, too?

Thud!

Uchiha Ling drove a fist into Ibiki Morino's stomach, folding him over like a shrimp.

Before Ibiki could spout any nonsense about liking pain, a rain of punches and kicks struck him.

The beating went on for more than a minute, until Ibiki finally collapsed to the ground.

Ibiki lay there twitching, yet his face was alight with excitement.

Yamano said nothing. If Ibiki claimed pain was his Ninja Way, then he had to respect a ninja's deeply held conviction.

After school, Uchiha Ling hurried to the Military Police Force.

"Second Brother, I've got a really troublesome classmate, Ibiki Morino. He wastes my time every day. I can't improve properly in sparring anymore."

"Hmm?" Uchiha Jing's gaze turned cold. "Want me to deal with his family?"

Ever since their clan leader Fugaku had acknowledged his younger cousin, Uchiha Jing had paid even closer attention to Uchiha Ling.

If Uchiha Ling became an Elite Jonin, Jing would have done right by his second uncle. Their clan leader would value him more, too.

"No, no, there's no need. I just want to know about his family. I can handle this myself."

Uchiha Jing took Uchiha Ling to the Military Police Force's archive and found the Morino Family Files.

"Read them yourself. I've got work to do."

Uchiha Ling read through the Morino Family Files carefully. Everything became clear.

Mori no Kosai was Ibiki Morino's father.

Thanks to his exceptional interrogation skills, Mori no Kosai had joined the Torture Division. According to the files, he had pushed too far several times while trying to extract information, torturing hard-won captives to death.

The Torture Division's purpose was to obtain intelligence, not to sadistically torture captives to death.

After several such incidents, Mori no Kosai was dismissed from the Torture Division.

He became obsessed after that, constantly insisting that pain never lied. He told anyone who would listen that the Torture Division's leaders didn't understand pain or how to extract information from captives efficiently.

That twisted thinking carried over to his son, Ibiki Morino. From childhood, he taught Ibiki that pain was their Ninja Way.

The Military Police Force received more than a dozen noise complaints. Mori no Kosai's neighbors reported that he often beat Ibiki in the middle of the night until his screams filled the neighborhood.

The Military Police Force investigated more than a dozen times. Eventually, the noise stopped—not because their visits had worked, but because Ibiki had accepted Mori no Kosai's Ninja Way and silently endured the beatings.

Uchiha Ling put the files back in their envelope. For ninja, mental normalcy really was a rare trait.

The Torture Division tortured captives and spies every day. Stare into the abyss long enough, and you became the abyss.

Now that he knew why Ibiki had turned out this way, Uchiha Ling thought for a moment and came up with a plan.

In a few days, he would trigger Ibiki Morino's Defense Break. He wasn't going to keep playing the Master-and-Slave Game with Ibiki for nothing.

After returning home, he continued familiarizing himself with Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and practicing Wind Release Chakra.

Great Breakthrough could generate concentrated gusts and wind pressure, but it lacked killing power.

Uchiha Ling suddenly recalled a Combined Ninjutsu that Shukaku and Gaara had used against Madara Uchiha in the original story: Wind Release: Sand Buckshot.

Gaara created sand pellets, and Shukaku used a Wind Release technique similar to Great Breakthrough to fire them at the enemy like a hail of bullets. Even Madara Uchiha had been injured.

He could use the Partial Multi-Size Technique to strengthen his hair, then fire it outward, much like Jiraiya's Hair Needle Senbon.

Combining Hair Needle Senbon with Great Breakthrough could give him a powerful Combined Ninjutsu for this early stage.

He put the idea into action at once, forming Hand Seals and creating a clone with the Shadow Clone Technique.

The Shadow Clone knew what Uchiha Ling intended:

"Hey, original. You think you can imitate Jiraiya's Hair Needle Senbon? Don't tell me you actually believe you're a genius.

"You're just an outsider who can't get anywhere without a system. You—"

"Shut up! We're developing Hair Needle Senbon together. I'm calling this unfinished technique Black-Gold Senbon, since my hair is jet-black.

"When you're done, send everything you learned back to me."