The Little Boy at the Training Ground

The morning light was faint, and the blue sky was clear as a mirror.

A gentle breeze carried fragrant scents, with a hint of grass and greenery.

The rising sun quietly streamed through the window, filling the cozy bedroom and bathing the entire room in a soft golden glow. The two little figures in the bed were still deep in sweet dreams.

After a while, Koki struggled to open his eyes. He gently moved the sleeping Itachi out of his arms and laid him beside him, kissed his soft little cheek, and quietly got out of bed.

Koki stopped in front of the mirror and looked at the adorable little boy reflected in it. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were scarlet, with three Tomoe spinning rapidly in each pupil.

Even though several days had passed since the night he awakened his eyes, Koki still found the Three-Tomoe Sharingan unfamiliar every time he saw them. He felt as though he were still that ordinary modern college student, and everything here was a dream.

"Koki, are you ready? Hurry up, or we'll be late for training again today!" Fugaku's stern voice came from outside the door, interrupting Koki's thoughts.

"I'm almost ready!" Koki really didn't want to go out, but he had no choice.

Ever since their late-night conversation, Fugaku had indeed called him to training every morning without fail. Koki was actually quite happy to train. After all, the law of the jungle ruled in the anime Naruto, and strength reigned supreme. Why wouldn't he want to improve his own strength?

The training schedule, however, was simply ridiculous!

Fugaku woke him at five-thirty every morning and left the house promptly at six. Five-thirty was a bolt from the blue as far as Koki was concerned! He had always slept until the sun was high in the sky, but now he had to get up early. His routine had changed completely.

After a few days of trying to stay in bed, only for Fugaku to put a merciless stop to it, Koki had resigned himself to his fate. If he had to get up at five-thirty, so be it. After all, once training was over each day, he could come back and catch some more sleep while holding his adorable little brother.

Mikoto spoiled the children so much that she wouldn't interfere with him at home, but Fugaku wasn't so lucky. After training, he still had to go to work at the Military Police Force. He might even have to work overtime or attend a clan meeting and not get home until late at night.

The thought gave Koki some comfort.

But didn't people in this world need sleep? Everyone got up so early every day. Koki, who had lived in the modern world for so many years, couldn't understand it.

The morning sun broke through the clouds, casting dappled light on the path to the Uchiha training ground. Fugaku and Koki's shadows stretched long beneath the rising sun.

The training ground covered a vast area, with a lush green field at its center. Towering stone walls surrounded it, carved with enormous fan emblems that displayed the glory of the Uchiha Clan.

Farther into the training ground, a clear stream wound its way through the grounds, lending a touch of tranquility and peace to the land full of passion and hot blood. The stream was several meters wide and clear to the bottom, where pebbles lay and small fish swam lazily.

The two came to the stream.

"Come on, let me see how your practice with the Ninjutsu I taught you a few days ago has gone." Fugaku looked intently at his eldest son.

"Yes." Koki answered and gathered the Chakra within his body. After extracting Chakra, a ninja could use Hand Seals to perform techniques, though under certain conditions, techniques could also be performed without them.

Koki walked to the bank and planted his feet. He gathered Chakra in his throat and raised his hands to form the seals: snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Koki gathered his breath in his throat and gave a sharp shout. Flames immediately surged before him, blazing like the sun.

After several days of practice, Koki's initial wonder and shock at using Ninjutsu had given way to a calm mind. After all, in this mysterious world of ninja, using Ninjutsu was an everyday occurrence, nothing out of the ordinary.

In the complex Shinobi World, the ninja of the Uchiha Clan and the Sarutobi Clan stood apart for their mastery of Fire Release Ninjutsu. The famous Great Fireball Technique was an invention of the Uchiha Clan and one of their proudest creations. It had become a basic introductory skill for clan members learning Fire Style, brimming with the clan's unique character and widely known throughout the Shinobi World.

"As expected of my son!" Fugaku nodded. Although it was only the most basic C-rank Ninjutsu, the range and destructive power of Koki's attack were enormous, far beyond what an ordinary person could match.

Hehe. Koki secretly rejoiced. As a college student from Blue Star who had received nine years of compulsory education, he found memorizing the sequence and gestures for the Hand Seals a piece of cake. What was more, with the Sharingan's help, both his powers of perception and the strength of his Ninjutsu had improved considerably.

The Uchiha Clan, one of the founding clans of Konoha Ninja Village during the Warring States period, remained one of the greatest clans in the Shinobi World, with immense strength and a deep foundation. Not only did they have their own clan compound, but they also had a shrine and held regular gatherings. They even had their own library and commercial street within the clan... It was a remarkable scene of prosperity.

Of course, the most important thing was that the Uchiha Clan had money! To put it bluntly, the Konoha Military Police Force was Konoha's security force and couldn't generate economic value on its own. That meant its income depended entirely on funding from Konoha High Command.

The high command had already settled them against the village wall in its most remote corner, so would it pay them generous salaries? Wages at the Military Police Force were already meager, and now Shimura Danzō wanted to cut them further. If the clan didn't have money to subsidize it, the Military Police Force might have ceased to exist.

Speaking of the Uchiha Clan's library, Koki truly loved it. Upon entering, the first thing one saw was a spacious, brightly lit reading hall.

Rows of tall bookshelves stood in the middle of the hall, every compartment packed with books and scrolls. In one corner of the library stood a dedicated room for ancient texts.

The books there were all preserved in the form of ancient scrolls and gave off a rich scent of ink. Besides that, the library had an archives room containing a wealth of valuable materials, including Ninjutsu manuals, combat experience, and strategic analyses.

Koki could always find a moment of peace there, quietly reading stories about the history of the Shinobi World and other clans-and, of course, a fair bit of gossip.

Occasionally, he also studied the Ninjutsu there, but most were only B-rank or C-rank. A-rank Ninjutsu were already rare, and S-rank were even further out of reach. Clearly, those powerful Ninjutsu wouldn't be left in the library.

But he had a good father, didn't he? After Koki told Fugaku about it, Fugaku generously gave him a great many scrolls, looking relieved that his son had finally learned to study and make something of himself. Koki, too, became absorbed in his fantasies, looking forward to the day he would master every powerful Ninjutsu and make his name feared far and wide.

"Let's go. What are you daydreaming about? We're going over there to practice Shurikenjutsu and Taijutsu!" Fugaku could no longer stand watching Koki daydream and occasionally grin foolishly as he had been doing for a while. Frowning, he mercilessly interrupted Koki's fantasy.

"Oh, okay, let's go." Koki came back to his senses, got up, and followed.

Just then, however, Koki suddenly noticed something unusual.

He sensed a faint fluctuation of Chakra nearby. Someone seemed to be secretly watching their training. Koki's attention sharpened, and he looked around warily.

His gaze passed through the trees and bushes of the training ground, finally settling on a large tree not far away.

He could make out the figure of a little boy. The boy seemed to realize Koki had noticed him and fled in a panic.

"You noticed too?" Fugaku asked.

"Yes, Dad. He's been watching us secretly for several days now, hasn't he?"

From their first day of training, Koki had used the Sharingan's powerful perception to detect someone watching them. But the person had been far away and didn't seem hostile, and Fugaku hadn't reacted, so Koki hadn't paid it any mind.

Today, though, the little boy seemed to have come a little too close, allowing Koki to see him clearly.

"Mm. He's only a child. He's probably just curious." With that, Fugaku turned and walked away, paying it no mind.

Koki, however, kept his eyes fixed on the large tree, lost in thought.