Itachi Uchiha Proposes a Spar

Yun Yan had left Itachi Uchiha both puzzled and astonished, and at this moment, Itachi obediently carried out his father's instruction.

He gave Yun Yan, who had already put on his shoes and stepped out of the room, a gentle, polite smile.

"Senior Yun Yan, I'll see you out."

Seeing Itachi Uchiha like this, Yun Yan nodded.

"All right, sorry to trouble you."

Then Yun Yan looked back and nodded to Fugaku Uchiha, who stood at the doorway watching him leave, before departing directly.

Fugaku Uchiha remained there, watching his eldest son and Yun Yan disappear from sight.

The route out was the same as the way in. Led by Itachi Uchiha, Yun Yan followed him through several twists and turns before finally arriving at the clan head's front gate.

Yun Yan stepped through the gate first, then turned to Itachi Uchiha, who had not yet crossed it, signaling that he need not continue seeing him off.

"This is far enough. Thanks for walking me out."

Itachi Uchiha lightly shook his head, his expression calm.

"It was no trouble. It is how our family receives guests, and it was also Father's order."

Itachi had originally intended to say goodbye and leave the matter at that, but the surprise and confusion in his heart had yet to fade. His curiosity about Yun Yan only grew stronger.

After a brief hesitation, before Yun Yan could officially leave, Itachi rather abruptly asked, "By the way, Father said that you are now an elite jonin, Senior Yun Yan?"

Yun Yan looked at Itachi Uchiha expressionlessly.

"Yes. I do possess the strength of an elite jonin."

The respect on Itachi Uchiha's face deepened.

"I see. I never expected Senior Yun Yan to have reached this level at such a young age. That is truly admirable.

"But... why had I never heard of you within the clan before? A genius like you should never have remained unknown in the Uchiha Clan."

Yun Yan had no intention of concealing anything now. Faced with Itachi's question, he gave a faint smile filled with cold mockery.

"That's because I spent the past few years serving as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Naturally, there was no fame for me within the clan."

"The Twelve Guardian Ninja?" After thinking it over, Itachi Uchiha instinctively replied, "So that was the long-term mission outside the village that Senior Yun Yan mentioned? But..."

Itachi Uchiha did not voice the question that followed.

What he wanted to ask was whether serving as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja was truly such a good posting or mission.

Yun Yan saw through what Itachi Uchiha wanted to say at once, and the mockery on his face became even more obvious.

"Yes, just as you thought. Serving as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja is hardly a good mission or posting. At least in the eyes of the clan members, it amounts to being exiled to the frontier for the long term, shut out of both the village and the Uchiha Clan.

"Well, I'm the one who was exiled and excluded."

Itachi Uchiha fell silent, not knowing how to respond.

The boy was young, but sensitive and prone to overthinking. Whether there was something wrong with his head was another matter, but his mind definitely worked well.

As the eldest son of the Uchiha Clan head, he had spent every day at his father's side and picked up a degree of political sensitivity.

Sure enough, the moment he heard Yun Yan's words, Itachi Uchiha sensed that there was likely something more to it. Senior Yun Yan's prior exclusion and exile probably had not been a simple matter.

This... was probably the result of internal clan conflict again.

Ah... Uchiha...

That was what Itachi Uchiha was thinking at the moment.

Fortunately, Yun Yan had no idea what Itachi Uchiha was thinking. If he did, he would surely have scoffed.

What the hell are you imagining? That's not what happened at all, all right?

To ordinary clan members, my becoming one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja meant I had been exiled and excluded. But only I knew that it was my own choice, and that it had been the right choice at the time.

What others saw as a thankless long-term mission was, to Yun Yan, a perfect opportunity to stay away from conflict, lie low, and quietly build up his strength.

The facts proved that this was indeed the case. Yun Yan had made excellent use of that opportunity.

Yun Yan could not be bothered to keep arguing with Itachi Uchiha. Let the kid misunderstand if he wanted; Yun Yan had no intention of explaining too much.

With a casual wave of his hand, Yun Yan prepared to take his leave for real.

"All right, this is far enough. I should be heading back too."

Who would have thought that Itachi Uchiha seemed to have another idea? He suddenly ran out through the gate and earnestly stopped Yun Yan.

"Wait, Senior Yun Yan."

Yun Yan looked at Itachi Uchiha, who had stopped him, somewhat puzzled.

"What is it? Is there something else?"

"Senior Yun Yan, I have an impertinent request.

"Since you are an elite jonin, may I ask... do you have time to give me some guidance through training? Could you spar with me?"

"A spar?"

Yun Yan truly had not expected Itachi Uchiha to bring this up so suddenly.

Still... it was not entirely surprising.

As the clan head's eldest son, Itachi Uchiha liked to brood over all sorts of messy things. He must have been eager to improve his strength.

Now that he had encountered Yun Yan, this so-called elite jonin, it made sense that he wanted to seize the opportunity for a spar and see the gap between himself and an elite jonin.

If it had been someone else, Yun Yan would not even have given them the time of day. What random nobody would come asking him for training and guidance, not to mention a spar?

But if it was Itachi Uchiha... Yun Yan was actually a little interested.

Itachi Uchiha appeared to have graduated from the ninja academy less than two or three years ago. His strength certainly had not yet reached the level where he could wipe out the Uchiha Clan as he would later.

Still, Yun Yan wanted to know just how strong this boy, who had always been called a genius, was at present.

Figuring out the boy's strength would be quite useful for Yun Yan's next move and future predictions.

After considering it briefly, Yun Yan nodded idly and agreed.

"All right. I have nothing better to do anyway, and I happen to be on vacation right now. I'll give you some training guidance and spar with you a little.

"But let me make this clear beforehand: we stop at the right point."

A smile appeared on Itachi Uchiha's face.

"Of course.

"Senior Yun Yan, how about we go to the clan training grounds nearby? It would be the perfect place."

"Mm, fine."

Having reached an agreement, the two of them leisurely headed for the nearest Uchiha Clan training grounds.

It was nearly time for lunch.

But precisely because of the time, there were not many people at the Uchiha Clan training grounds, making it convenient for Yun Yan and Itachi Uchiha to use them.

After arriving at the training grounds and picking an open area, Yun Yan and Itachi Uchiha stood more than a dozen paces apart, facing each other.

Yun Yan remained as lazy and relaxed as ever, as though an opponent like Itachi Uchiha could not make him take things seriously.

Compared to Yun Yan, Itachi Uchiha was far more serious. He had already drawn a kunai and assumed a stance ready to attack at any moment. His entire body was tense as he waited in full readiness.

One was relaxed while the other was tense, and the contrast between them was striking.

Before they had even begun fighting, their mere standoff caught the attention of the few Uchiha Clan ninja still at the training grounds.

Seeing this scene, the Uchiha ninja could not help but feel surprised. They exchanged looks and began whispering among themselves.

"Is that Young Master Itachi?"

"That's right. He's the clan head's eldest son. I recognize him."

"I heard that Young Master Itachi is also a genius of the Uchiha Clan. He became a chunin less than two years after graduating from the ninja academy. Is that true?"

"It certainly is! Young Master Itachi is a genuine genius! Heaven truly favors our Uchiha Clan!"

"Then... who is the one sparring with Young Master Itachi? I've never seen someone like him before."

"Yeah, who is that guy? He can actually train with Young Master Itachi?"

"And doesn't he look... awfully lazy? As if he doesn't take this spar seriously at all?"

"Yeah, he hasn't even taken out a weapon, even though Young Master Itachi is being so serious."

"Who exactly is he? He looks like one of our clansmen. Does anyone know him?"

"No. I don't recognize him at all."

For a time, the few Uchiha ninja watching the show discussed the matter animatedly.

Neither Yun Yan nor Itachi Uchiha cared about the attention or opinions of those around them. Their focus was entirely on the spar before them.

At the very least, Itachi Uchiha was extremely serious right now.

Holding his kunai and already in position, Itachi Uchiha looked at Yun Yan, who stood opposite him loose and unguarded, and furrowed his brows as he began considering how to make his first move.

Logically, against an opponent who was completely unguarded, he only needed to rush forward and attack fiercely.

But... Itachi Uchiha keenly sensed that although Yun Yan stood there without any defense at all, he vaguely gave off a dangerous feeling, as though every opening on his body was a trap.

Thus, Itachi Uchiha hesitated.

The hesitant Itachi suddenly opened his eyes wide. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared in his eyes, and he simply activated it to observe Yun Yan directly.