I Do Not Accept Your Ninja Way

People spent their whole lives healing the wounds inflicted by their families of origin.

Some people were just whining without cause, unable to appreciate their blessings. They only thought that way because they needed to be taught a lesson.

Having a family was already pretty good. What kind of family of origin did they still want?

Some people were genuinely unlucky. Could that kind of family of origin even be called a family? It was practically hell. This was especially common in the Hidden Leaf Village.

Ibiki Morino broke down. He realized the truth about his miserable childhood.

[Ibiki Morino has broken down. Extracting an ability related to Ibiki Morino. The host may choose one of three options.

Option One: Increased pain tolerance;

Option Two: 0.2 units of chakra;

Option Three: Torture techniques.]

Option One was actually increased pain tolerance. Uchiha Ling was not a masochist, so he ruled it out.

Did not feeling pain when being beaten mean he was not still being beaten?

Option Three was torture techniques. It showed what kind of life Ibiki Morino had lived. At such a young age, he already knew how to torture people.

He chose Option Two: 0.2 units of chakra.

His chakra reserves rose to 0.8 units.

The 15,000 ryo had been incredibly well spent.

Judging by the eight ninja stats, his [Essence] had reached around 5.

In a few years, once he had finished building his ability system, chakra reserves would probably be the only option left to choose.

If he kept using the system to extract chakra reserves, he would become a chakra-ton ninja too.

Through the door, Uchiha Ling heard Ibiki Morino crying in the hospital room. He did not know how long the crying lasted—perhaps over twenty minutes, perhaps half an hour—before it finally stopped.

When he opened the door, Uchiha Ling saw Ibiki Morino lying on the hospital bed, lifeless as a corpse.

"I'll help you request leave tomorrow. How many days do you think would be appropriate?"

"Okay."

"I said, how many days of leave?"

"Okay."

Uchiha Ling shook his head. Ibiki Morino's values and worldview had collapsed; even his mind was no longer working properly, and he could not understand what was being said.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed a cold, sinister presence behind him.

Turning around, he saw Mori no Kosai standing at the door, his eyes red and bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Ibiki Morino on the hospital bed.

Uchiha Ling raised a hand to stop him.

"Wait. Let me ask Ibiki first. You can't go in without his permission."

Mori no Kosai glared viciously at Uchiha Ling as though he wanted to devour him alive.

Uchiha Ling was not afraid of him. Mori no Kosai was a complete failure, and his strength as a ninja was pathetic.

"Ling, let him come in. But can you protect me until I finish speaking to him? There are some things I want to tell him."

Hearing Ibiki's words, Uchiha Ling lowered his arm and quickly walked to the bedside.

Seeing Ibiki wrapped in bandages from head to toe, Mori no Kosai eagerly asked, "Son, did you feel the joy that pain brings? Did those compensatory hormones give you an orgasm inside your skull?"

Listen to that. Was that something a normal father would say to his own son?

Ibiki Morino looked down at Mori no Kosai standing at the foot of the bed, his gaze complicated.

"Say something. After experiencing the ultimate pain, didn't you experience ultimate pleasure too?"

Ibiki Morino's lips were dry and cracked as he slowly said, "After I'm discharged, I'll move in with Grandma and live with her. Father, I no longer accept your ninja way."

Ibiki was actually pretty lucky. He still had a grandmother, Uchiha Ling thought.

Mori no Kosai froze for a moment, then said furiously, "What did you say? You said you don't accept my ninja way? In all of Konoha Village, which family does not pass things down from father to son? The sons of Sharingan users have Sharingan, and the sons of Byakugan users have Byakugan. What right do you have not to accept my ninja way?"

Just then, an elderly woman entered the hospital room.

Her gray hair was meticulously arranged, and she wore a qipao. She brought to mind a single phrase: aging gracefully.

"Mori no Kosai! Did you beat Ibiki into the hospital again? Your own mind is broken, and now you've taught Ibiki to babble endlessly about pain too. I can't take this anymore! I'm going to find a mental health ninja to treat Ibiki's psychological problems—and your brain as well!"

Mori no Kosai seemed somewhat afraid of the old woman, but he still stubbornly insisted, "This is the ninja way of father and son. It has nothing to do with you!"

"Grandma!"

The elderly woman was about to fly into a rage, but upon hearing her grandson call out to her, she hurried to the bedside.

"Grandma, I don't want to inherit Father's ninja way anymore. I want to live with you from now on. Is that okay?"

"What did you say?" Delight appeared on the elderly woman's face, and tears already welled in her eyes. "Good, good, good! You've finally come to your senses, Ibiki. You'll stay with me from now on. I absolutely won't let your father, whose mind has gone wrong, interfere with you ever again!"

Seeing that someone would take care of Ibiki, Uchiha Ling left.

This was good. Ibiki still had one relatively normal family member. Things were not entirely terrible.

If Ibiki continued living with Mori no Kosai, he would be driven to death sooner or later.

As Uchiha Ling returned to the clan compound, he saw someone standing outside his home.

Uchiha Tekka wore the uniform of the Military Police Force, with the Military Police Force's shuriken-and-fan emblem on his shoulder.

After following the clan head, this man had gained a new identity as a Military Police Force ninja.

"Uchiha Ling, the Military Police Force received word that you entered the records room. You are now required to come with me to the Military Police Force and fill out a letter of undertaking, promising never to leak the top-secret documents from the records room."

Uchiha Ling had thought it was something serious. This was no big deal; he merely needed to complete some paperwork.

To investigate Ibiki, he had gone through file folders in the Military Police Force's records room. His second brother had probably been too busy at the time to pay attention to that detail.

Along the way, Uchiha Tekka constantly watched Uchiha Ling's every move.

Last time, in front of Teacher Fugaku, Uchiha Ling had stolen his spotlight. He had never been able to let it go.

After observing for a while, Uchiha Tekka noticed that Uchiha Ling's footsteps were somewhat heavy. It looked like he was wearing weights.

Not only did he have the reputation of a genius, he was also so disciplined, wearing weighted gear at all times.

"Uchiha Ling, I was careless last time. You used me to make quite a name for yourself. I was assigned to the Military Police Force's most dangerous and important Law Enforcement Division. I've improved rapidly through these dangerous, demanding missions. I hope you keep working hard and don't let me leave you too far behind. I look forward to proving the gap between us next time in front of Teacher Fugaku."

Uchiha Tekka had a strong competitive streak and a tendency to compare himself with others. Uchiha Ling believed he could use that obsession to make Uchiha Tekka break down again.

Uchiha Ling said, "Senior Tekka, don't think too highly of yourself, and don't get too full of yourself. Forget serving in the Military Police Force—even if you went to the front lines, narrowly escaped death countless times, and your Sharingan received several tremendous shocks, you still could never be stronger than me."

Uchiha Tekka's expression turned ugly.

If Uchiha Jing had not been protecting him, he would have dealt with Uchiha Ling long ago.

Just then, three people leaped over their heads and jumped into another street alley.

Uchiha Yashiro appeared in a Body Flicker, glanced at Uchiha Tekka, and said, "Come chase the spy! Quickly!"

Uchiha Tekka no longer had time to make Uchiha Ling complete the paperwork. He hurriedly followed Uchiha Yashiro away.

Uchiha Ling was displeased. I was just about to put pressure on Uchiha Tekka. How could you people leave now? He followed after them as well.