Chapter 2
"Who are you?"
Natural curly black hair, deep black eyes, a full oval face. He wore a dark high-collared short-sleeve shirt with a triangular protector, matching pants, leg wraps, and the Uchiha clan emblem on the back of his clothes. A small tantō was strapped to his back.
The familiar outfit made Itachi narrow his eyes. He pulled out a kunai and walked out casually, saying, "What are you so nervous about? This is a public training ground, not your backyard. I can come whenever I want. Why do you care who I am?"
The other boy squinted, looked at Itachi's outfit, and thought for a moment. "I remember now. You're the clan head's son, Uchiha Itachi, right?"
"Oh, I remember you too. You're that someone from that someone's family… Uchiha Shisui, was it?"
Uchiha Shisui smiled. This guy was copying him. He crossed his arms and looked at Itachi calmly. "Hey, Itachi, you're still young. Go play with kids your own age. You don't need to worry about training yet."
"Oh dear, you really are a stubborn one," Itachi said. He hooked his finger through the ring of the kunai and spun it like a windmill before throwing it at Shisui's target. "You already know I'm the clan head's son. If I don't work hard, how am I supposed to stand out from those little brats? Don't you know? This young master is a genius. Got it?"
"Uh…"
Although Itachi's kunai handling was surprisingly good, what really stunned Shisui was the natural aura of a leader radiating from the boy, combined with his overly mature way of speaking. The initial surprise quickly turned into speechlessness.
Ignoring Shisui's reaction, Itachi pulled out several more kunai and continued chattering, "Also, Shisui, don't you think you're a bit too full of yourself? In my eyes, you're still just a little kid. Just because you're a few years older doesn't mean you're all that impressive…"
Still speechless, Shisui felt like he was back in the hottest summer class at the Ninja Academy — even though it was currently summer vacation and a cool early morning.
"Stop, stop, stop…" Shisui finally couldn't take it anymore. He put his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Fine, Itachi, you win. I'll give this spot to you. I'll go train somewhere else. I won't bother you."
Seeing Shisui about to leave, Itachi's eyes widened in one and narrowed in the other. He was extremely annoyed. All the kunai in his hand flew out at once, stabbing into the ground right in front of Shisui and blocking his path.
"So you think this young master is annoying, huh?"
"No, no, no," Shisui said with an awkward laugh, shaking his head. "That's not what I meant. I just prefer training alone and in peace."
"Oh, so that's how it is."
Itachi crossed his arms over his chest. Being the young master of the Uchiha clan head was pretty nice — basically the same status as the Hokage's son. Who would dare argue with him?
"But unfortunately, I also have a hobby: I like having someone train with me. So you don't need to leave. You'll stay here and train with me."
"This…" Shisui's face turned a deep liver color. He was completely stuck and couldn't find a good way to refuse.
While picking up his own kunai, Itachi poked his head over and asked the still-frustrated Shisui, "What techniques do you know?"
"Basic Lightning Release, Fire Release, Wind Release, genjutsu, shuriken techniques, and taijutsu. My best one is the Body Flicker Technique — I'm pretty decent with it."
Seeing Shisui's modest attitude, Itachi felt a little annoyed inside, but he had to admit the older boy was impressive. Shisui's future Mangekyō Sharingan would be considered the best in the Uchiha clan. For someone so young to gain so much through hard work, Shisui was arguably the real genius of the Uchiha.
"Oh wow, Shisui, you're actually pretty strong," Itachi said. Suddenly thinking of something, he stepped closer and patted Shisui on the waist (he couldn't reach the shoulder). With a sly grin, he added, "Then I'll reluctantly accept you as my little brother. As your new boss, you should give me a meeting gift, right? I won't make it hard for you — just show me one Fire Release technique."
"Uh…" Shisui was stunned. He deeply felt how shameless this little brat was and almost wanted to say "what the hell," but then he remembered Itachi's father was the clan head… so he held back.
"Can I refuse to call you boss?"
"You mean you think I can't protect you? I—"
Seeing that Itachi was about to launch into a long speech, Shisui gave up arguing. He forced a flattering smile and said, "No, no, I'm just worried my weak techniques will dirty your eyes, Boss…"
Itachi patted Shisui on the waist again. No need to explain — everyone understood.
"I don't mind. Why would your boss mind?"
Why does he keep patting my waist? Whatever. Shisui sighed helplessly and said, "Alright then. I'll teach you Phoenix Flower Claw Red."
Itachi didn't say anything, just made a "do as you like" gesture.
Shisui took out three kunai from his pouch. "To learn Phoenix Flower Claw Red, you first need to master Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique. The hand seals are Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger…"
Before he could finish speaking, Itachi had already completed the seals. Flames shaped like phoenix flowers shot from his mouth and struck the training ground's sand, blasting several craters.
Shisui had only been playing along at first, but Itachi's learning speed far exceeded his expectations. A spark of real interest appeared in his eyes as he smiled and explained, "The seals are the same as Phoenix Sage Fire. This is a derivative technique. You add shuriken into the flames to create a new Fire Release jutsu."
He then gave a demonstration.
After forming the seals quickly, Shisui threw the shuriken and released Phoenix Sage Fire onto them. Burning shuriken shot forward.
A thick wooden post several people could wrap their arms around was blasted into splinters. The power was several times stronger than Itachi's earlier Phoenix Sage Fire.
Copying Shisui's movements, Itachi formed the seals, threw the shuriken, and released the flames. Out of five shuriken, only three got coated with fire, and only the last one had a full flame. The power was much weaker than Shisui's version, but still noticeably stronger than his previous Phoenix Sage Fire.
"Not bad at all," Shisui said, clapping as he walked over. "To get this result on your first try — you really are a genius. By the second attempt, you'll probably have fully mastered it, right?"
"It's alright."
Itachi rubbed his nose. He knew Shisui was praising him, but he was confident he could succeed perfectly on the third try.
"Itachi, time to go home for dinner."
Uchiha Fugaku jumped down from a tree. After all, it was rare for this kid to leave the small training ground at home and come out to practice. As his father, he had to come check on him. He hadn't expected to see something so interesting.
"Oh, it's Fugaku kid. I'll be right there," Itachi said lazily, then turned to Shisui. "From now on, you're my exclusive training partner. Congratulations on getting promoted from little brother to my buddy. See you later~"
With that, he turned and walked toward Fugaku.
Uchiha Shisui's lips curved into a slight smile. Uchiha Itachi, huh? Friend… He's really interesting. He truly deserves to be the clan head's son — a genius of the Uchiha.
He watched the backs of Fugaku and Itachi bickering like brothers as they walked away. Only when they were far enough did Shisui finally let out the laughter he had been holding in.
Too funny… Itachi!