I Don't Accept Your Ninja Way

Some people spent their whole lives healing from the pain their families had caused them.

Others made a fuss over nothing. They had it good and didn't know it. Anyone who thought that way just needed a lesson.

Having a family at all was good enough. What more did they want?

But some people really were unlucky. Could a family like that even be called a family? It was hell. And in the Hidden Leaf Village, it was all too common.

Ibiki Morino had a Defense Break. He finally understood the truth about his miserable childhood.

[Detected Ibiki Morino's Defense Break. Extracting an ability related to Ibiki Morino. Host may choose one of three options.

Option one: increased pain tolerance;

Option two: 0.2 Kā of Chakra Amount;

Option three: interrogation techniques.]

Option one was increased pain tolerance. Uchiha Ling wasn't a masochist, so he ruled it out.

Did getting beaten hurt any less just because he couldn't feel it?

Option three was interrogation techniques. That alone showed what kind of life Ibiki Morino had lived: he already knew how to interrogate people at such a young age.

Ling chose option two, 0.2 Kā of Chakra Amount.

His Chakra Amount rose to 0.8 Kā.

That 15,000 ryo had been money well spent.

By the Eight Ninja Attributes, his [Stamina] had reached about five.

Once he had built out his abilities in a few years, Chakra Amount would probably be the only worthwhile choice left.

If he kept using the system to extract Chakra Amount, he would become a Chakra Tons ninja himself.

Through the door, Uchiha Ling heard Ibiki Morino crying in the hospital room. He didn't know how long it went on—perhaps twenty minutes, perhaps half an hour—before the sobs stopped.

He opened the door and saw Ibiki Morino lying in the bed, as lifeless as a corpse.

"I'll ask for leave on your behalf tomorrow. How many days do you think you'll need?"

"Okay."

"I asked how many days."

"Okay."

Uchiha Ling shook his head. Ibiki Morino's entire view of the world had collapsed. He could barely think, let alone understand the question.

Ling was about to leave when he sensed a cold, oppressive presence behind him.

He turned to see Mori no Kosai standing in the doorway, his eyes red and bloodshot, staring fixedly at Ibiki's bed.

Uchiha Ling stretched out an arm to block him.

"Wait. I'll ask Ibiki first. You can't go in without his permission."

Mori no Kosai glared at Uchiha Ling with a look vicious enough to devour him.

Uchiha Ling wasn't afraid. Mori no Kosai was a complete failure, and a weak ninja besides.

"Ling, let him in. But could you stay and protect me until I've finished talking to him? There are things I want to say."

At Ibiki's request, Uchiha Ling lowered his arm and hurried to the head of the bed.

Seeing Ibiki wrapped in bandages, Mori no Kosai asked eagerly:

"Son, did you feel the pleasure that pain brings? Did the compensatory hormones give you a rush of euphoria?"

Was that something any normal father would say to his own son?

Ibiki Morino lowered his eyes toward Mori no Kosai at the foot of the bed, his expression conflicted.

"Say something. After feeling such intense pain, didn't you feel intense pleasure too?"

Ibiki Morino's lips were dry and cracked. He spoke slowly:

"When I'm discharged, I'm moving in with Grandma.

Father, I no longer accept your Ninja Way."

At least Ibiki's lucky enough to have a grandmother, Uchiha Ling thought.

Mori no Kosai froze, then said angrily:

"What did you say? You don't accept my Ninja Way?

What family in all of Konoha doesn't pass things down from father to son?

A father with the Sharingan has a son with the Sharingan. A father with the Byakugan has a son with the Byakugan. What gives you the right to reject my Ninja Way?"

Just then, an elderly woman entered the hospital room.

Her silver hair was impeccably arranged, and she wore a qipao. She was the very picture of aging gracefully.

"Mori no Kosai! Have you beaten Ibiki into the hospital again? There's something wrong with your head, and now you've filled Ibiki's head with all this talk of pain.

I can't take it anymore. I'm finding a mental health Medical Ninja to treat Ibiki—and to fix your head too!"

Mori no Kosai was somewhat afraid of the elderly woman, but he stood his ground. "This is the Ninja Way my son and I share. It has nothing to do with you!"

"Grandma!"

The elderly woman was about to lose her temper, but when she heard her grandson call out, she hurried to his bedside.

"Grandma, I don't want to inherit Father's Ninja Way anymore. Can I live with you from now on?"

"What did you say?" Delight spread across her face, and tears filled her eyes.

"Yes, of course! You've finally come to your senses, Ibiki. Come live with me. I'll never let that father of yours, with his head full of nonsense, interfere with you again!"

With someone there to take care of Ibiki, Uchiha Ling left.

It was good that Ibiki had at least one fairly normal relative. Things weren't quite as bad as they could have been.

If Ibiki had stayed with Mori no Kosai, his father would have driven him to his death sooner or later.

On his way back to the Uchiha Compound, Uchiha Ling saw someone standing outside his home.

Uchiha Tekka wore a Military Police Force uniform, with its Shuriken-and-Gunbai emblem on his shoulder.

After siding with the clan head, he had gained a new position as a ninja in the Military Police Force.

"Uchiha Ling, the Military Police Force learned that you entered the archives. You're required to come with me and sign a confidentiality pledge promising not to disclose any top-secret files."

Uchiha Ling had expected something more serious. This was only a missing formality.

To investigate Ibiki, he had gone through the files in the Military Police Force archives. His second brother had probably been too busy at the time to remember that detail.

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

Last time, Ling had stolen the spotlight from him in front of Teacher Fugaku, and Tekka still resented it.

After watching for a while, Uchiha Tekka noticed Ling's steps were unusually heavy. It looked as though he was wearing weights.

He wasn't just known as a genius. He was disciplined enough to wear training weights at all times.

"Uchiha Ling, I let my guard down last time, and you made a name for yourself at my expense.

I was assigned to the Military Police Force's most dangerous and important unit, the Enforcement Battalion.

I've improved quickly through those dangerous, demanding missions.

I hope you keep working hard and don't fall too far behind. I look forward to showing Teacher Fugaku the gap between us next time."

Uchiha Tekka had a fierce need to win and measure himself against others. Uchiha Ling figured he could use that obsession to make Tekka suffer another Defense Break.

Uchiha Ling said, "Tekka, don't think so highly of yourself. Don't get carried away.

Forget your work in the Military Police Force. Even if you went to the front lines, survived death over and over, and had your Sharingan pushed to its limits time and again, you still wouldn't be stronger than me."

Uchiha Tekka's face darkened.

If Uchiha Jing hadn't been protecting Ling, Tekka would have taught him a lesson long ago.

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

Uchiha Yashiro appeared with a Body Flicker Technique. He glanced at Uchiha Tekka and said, "Help us chase the spies! Hurry!"

Uchiha Tekka forgot about getting Uchiha Ling to sign the paperwork and rushed off after Uchiha Yashiro.

I was just about to put more pressure on Tekka. How can they leave now? Annoyed, Uchiha Ling followed them.