Gua, I Want to Fight You After School

After that, Gua returned to his seat.

Itachi kept studying Gua with a strange look in his eyes.

"Gua, when did you secretly learn the Transformation Technique?"

A moment of silence passed.

Only then did Gua speak. "I never learned it."

"You learned it just from listening to Teacher Ye Chuan Dahei explain it for one day?"

Itachi couldn't imagine what kind of talent that took.

And judging by how steadily Gua had caught Teacher Ye Chuan Dahei's piece of chalk just now, his taijutsu had gotten stronger again.

He was even stronger than when he had beaten Itachi before.

But Itachi had clearly been working so hard all this time.

In places where Gua couldn't see him, he hadn't slacked off for a moment, relentlessly honing his body.

Even though his father wasn't as strict as before, Itachi hadn't lowered his standards for himself at all.

Even so, was he still not working as hard as Gua?

Or was Gua a genius?

No, that was impossible.

The elders couldn't have misjudged him. Gua must have been putting in effort that nobody else knew about.

"Maybe I'm just good at the Transformation Technique."

Gua answered Itachi's question matter-of-factly.

Itachi nodded.

Everyone had ninjutsu they were good at. That was perfectly normal.

It was just like how everyone had their own chakra nature.

"Gua, have you been pushing yourself really hard lately?"

Itachi suddenly asked a baffling question.

It forced Gua to pull his attention away from idling and look at Itachi.

He sized Itachi up.

He thought Itachi might have taken the wrong medicine today.

"I've never worked hard."

Itachi didn't believe that answer at all.

He thought Gua was being stubborn.

On the surface, he looked like he didn't care about anything, but deep down, he must have been gritting his teeth, determined to get ahead of everyone.

Itachi felt he had seen right through Gua.

I can't fall behind either!

Itachi thought to himself, then said to Gua,

"Gua, I'd like to spar with you in taijutsu after school."

"Sure."

Gua nodded as he continued idling.

That only stoked Itachi's competitive spirit further.

Gua, let me see just how strong you really are!

Under his desk, Itachi clenched his hand into a fist!

Before long, school was over.

Teacher Ye Chuan Dahei left them with an instruction. "Make sure you review everything properly when you get home."

Then he packed his things and left.

The students also filed out of the classroom.

"Gua!"

This time, Izumi stopped Gua while they were still in the classroom.

Izumi was holding the lunch box bearing the Uchiha emblem.

"Gua, want to walk home together? I'll wash the lunch box and give it back to you."

Izumi blinked.

"Itachi challenged me to a fight."

That was Gua's answer.

Izumi: ?

Izumi's gaze instantly locked onto Itachi beside Gua.

Itachi: ...

"I did ask him first... but it's not a fight. We're sparring in taijutsu..."

Izumi glared, grabbed the lunch box, and left!

"Hmph!"

Itachi: ...

Gua: ...

Gua silently glanced at Itachi.

You just had to challenge me when you had nothing better to do. Now look what happened.

Itachi scratched his cheek.

"But I really did ask first. First come, first served is normal, right? Besides, you wouldn't have walked home with Izumi anyway, Gua."

Gua thought about it. That did seem to be true.

"Let's go, then."

Gua got up and left with Itachi.

Beside the Naka River.

The two boys stood facing each other.

The only sound around them was the rushing water.

"Come on, Gua!"

"Okay."

Itachi went flying.

"?"

"?"

At that moment, Itachi was utterly bewildered.

What just happened?

How did Gua suddenly appear in front of me?

How did I end up flying?

Are you kidding me?

In the few seconds between being launched and hitting the ground, Itachi had reconsidered his life hundreds of times.

A small crack had appeared in his worldview.

Thud!

Itachi landed on the ground, a small footprint left on his chest.

Gua walked over and held out his hand.

He hadn't expected himself to be that fast either.

This was his first time fighting in two months. The last time, Shisui had brought him along and forced him to spar with Itachi.

Back then, the two of them had traded blows evenly.

Gua had only gained the upper hand later.

So this time, Gua hadn't held anything back either.

He had figured that Itachi was a genius, and only two months had passed. There was no telling which of them was stronger now.

After all, geniuses generally made tremendous progress early on.

His cheat was meant to shine later.

But he hadn't expected Itachi to just stand there and go flying from a single kick.

Gua thought, I didn't even ambush you.

You don't have to make me look bad like this, do you?

Meanwhile, Itachi had been completely stunned by the blow.

Dazed, he took Gua's hand and got up, his eyes unfocused.

He was still replaying what had just happened.

That kick.

So fast.

Its force had been terrifying too. His chest was still aching faintly.

And that first kick had clearly been a probing strike. Gua had focused mainly on speed, yet his chest still hurt this much.

If Gua had focused on power instead, then one kick...

Itachi stared at Gua in shock.

"Gua, were you deliberately holding back when you sparred with me before?"

Itachi recalled their match over a month ago.

Back then, although he had been at a disadvantage, he could still trade blows with Gua!

And he had spent these two months training hard in taijutsu.

He should only have gotten stronger!

"No."

Gua answered Itachi's question.

Itachi couldn't accept it. "Then you got this strong in just two months?"

Gua said, "Maybe my talent lies in taijutsu."

Everyone had something they were good at. That was perfectly normal.

But!!

In class today, you said maybe you were good at the Transformation Technique!! Now you're saying you're good at taijutsu!!

Then what aren't you good at?

"You're amazing."

After a long silence, Itachi offered his heartfelt praise.

Gua: ...

He couldn't tell whether the guy meant it or whether he had shattered his confidence.

The main problem was that he hadn't expected two months of idling his taijutsu and strength to make him this powerful either.

Itachi won't take this too hard, will he?

If he takes it too hard, he'll start pondering life.

And once he starts pondering life, he'll massacre the clan...

Gua was at a loss.

"We don't really need to care so much about power. Power is just a tool for protecting what matters to us."

Gua gave Itachi a little counseling.

It was also one of the rare times he had said so much in one breath.

Itachi sighed.

Gua's heart tightened.

Bro, I'll call you my big brother. Just don't sigh!

But after sighing, Itachi pressed his lips together in a smile. "I probably won't ever catch up to you in taijutsu, Gua."

Gua: ...

"Then play to your strengths in ninjutsu."

Gua kept encouraging him.

Itachi nodded. "Thank you, Gua."

Gua said, "Okay."

Itachi waved goodbye to Gua. "I'm off, then. See you tomorrow."

Gua said, "See you tomorrow."

Watching Itachi walk away, Gua felt a little troubled.

Looks like I'll have to hold back from now on.

Otherwise, this strength of mine really is a little terrifying.

Gua clenched his fists. Since he had felt so much like an NPC, this was the first time in two months that he had properly assessed his own taijutsu.

This power...

Gua decided to find a crooked tree to test it on.

Meanwhile,

In a corner Gua hadn't noticed.

The Third Generation and Danzo silently watched the scene.

"What did I tell you? Is that boy named Gua really a useless failure, like the Uchiha say?"

Danzo's lone eye held a sinister gleam. He had witnessed the entire spar between Gua and Itachi.

One exchange!

It had not even been a full exchange!

Gua had merely made one ordinary move, and Uchiha Itachi, the Clan Heir! The Uchiha's greatest prodigy! Had been beaten straight to his knees!

Calling him a mere genius could not even begin to describe him!!

He was a true monster!!

"That child really is different."

The Third Generation took a puff of his pipe, his gaze deep as though he were contemplating something.

"What if the Uchiha produce another genius like Madara Uchiha back then? The village will suffer when that happens!!"

Danzo escalated the issue!

The Third Generation sighed. "I'll find an opportunity to speak with Clan Leader Fugaku. But I want the matter of Orochimaru to end here. His human experiments haven't reached the point of no return yet."

They were laying out their bargaining chips.

The Third Generation would suppress the Uchiha as Danzo wanted.

In return, Danzo could no longer make an issue of Orochimaru's case.