Looking at Chiriku from behind, Uchiha Fugaku marveled inwardly at Chihane's ability to train someone, taking in those muscles that looked as though they had been cast from steel.
The last time he had seen Chiriku, he had still been a scrawny monk. Yet in just one short year, he had undergone such a earth-shattering transformation.
He could only imagine what sort of hellish training Chiriku had endured over the past year to change so dramatically.
Perhaps if he entrusted Itachi to Chihane, Chihane really would give him a pleasant surprise.
Konoha
The Small Woods on the Back Mountain
Chihane brought Chiriku and Might Guy to a clearing on the Back Mountain, leading Uchiha Itachi by the hand as the boy's legs trembled.
Huge rocks lay around the clearing, along with rows of wooden posts wrapped in layers of paper.
Chihane had instructed the ANBU ninja to prepare these before he went to visit the Uchiha Clan.
Walking over to a huge rock, Chihane beckoned Chiriku forward, then pointed at the boulder behind him, which stood over three meters tall. "Monk, smash it!"
Already accustomed to following Chihane's instructions, Chiriku asked no questions. He walked straight up to the boulder, settled into a horse stance, and raised his massive right fist, ready to smash it barehanded.
Watching from the side, Uchiha Itachi immediately felt that Chiriku was like an egg trying to break a rock. He could not help laughing inwardly.
Breaking a rock like that with nothing but physical strength, without using ninjutsu? Even Teacher Orochimaru couldn't do that, could he? Does this monk think his fist is harder than stone?
Ugh, and here I thought this big guy had some real skills.
So this was all... he... had?
But in the very next instant, while Itachi was