Bonus Chapters at 100 power stones.
Yami didn't bother with the usual instructor courtesy of 'letting the student make the first move.' He simply dashed in.
Sasuke tensed. His Sharingan spun to life, tracking Yami's approach frame by frame.
A sword slash came down from above. Sasuke lifted his kunai hastily.
Clang!
He blocked it.
'I saw it! I actually saw it!'
His brief satisfaction vanished instantly. Yami pivoted sharply and kicked at Sasuke's side.
Snap!
Sasuke managed to brace his arm just in time. The blow still rattled his bones.
"Tch…" Sasuke stepped back, realizing the obvious. His kunai was too short. Against a proper sword, he couldn't keep trading hits.
He tried rushing in to close the gap… but Yami had anticipated it. He slid backward, forcing distance again as if reading Sasuke's thoughts in advance.
Sasuke clicked his tongue. "He's not giving me anything, huh…"
He dashed forward and Yami's blade came sweeping in a horizontal arc.
Sasuke blocked the first strike. Then the second. The third grazed his sleeve. The fourth slammed into his shoulder with the flat of the blade.
"Ghh-!"
At first Sasuke tried blocking everything. Then he quickly learned he couldn't. Yami's strikes came too fast, too precise. At least he wasn't using the sharpened edge.
Just bruises… but painful ones.
"Tch…" Sasuke leapt back and immediately started forming hand seals.
Yami didn't interrupt. He simply observed, sword lowered.
Sasuke inhaled deeply.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
The massive fireball roared forward.
Yami shook his head. "I'm not a training dummy, kid."
He burst to the side the moment Sasuke finished the final seal, channeling chakra through his legs, moving faster than Sasuke's eyes could track cleanly. The fireball scorched the ground but hit nothing.
'Where'd he go?'
Sasuke scanned the area but found no sign of Yami.
Then, instinctively, he looked up.
Yami was already mid-air, moving toward him.
"Tch-!" Sasuke flung several shuriken in a spread.
Yami twisted his sword, flicking them aside effortlessly.
But Sasuke wasn't done.
Mid-spin, Sasuke smirked. His right hand gave a small tug.
Thin steel wires glinted in the air.
Yami's eyebrows lifted slightly. 'Hmm. Not bad.'
The wires looped around him in mid-air, tightening rapidly.
Before Yami could adjust, Sasuke yanked his left hand too. Another set of wires pulled the deflected shuriken off the dirt, whipping them back into the air.
Sasuke landed smoothly and inhaled.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
The fire roared down the steel wires like glowing veins, racing straight toward Yami.
Heat blasted outward with a vicious hiss. Flames rushed up the lines.
Naruto would've screamed. Sakura would've fainted.
But Yami simply whispered.
Uchiha Style: Piercing Sword Flame.
A whirl of flame burst from his blade. Wind-chakra sharpened the edge, fire-chakra cloaked it. He slashed once.
SHRAK!
The burning wires snapped cleanly, scattering sparks through the air.
Sasuke stared, stunned. That sword strike was something he'd only heard mentioned in clan whispers.
Yami landed lightly, expression unchanged.
He didn't give Sasuke time to think.
Like a shadow, he appeared behind the boy in an instant.
Sasuke reacted, barely, using a substitution to dodge the incoming slash.
But Yami didn't pause. He anticipated the move, immediately rushing toward where Sasuke would appear.
Sasuke landed behind a stump and snapped through the same seals.
The jutsu was about to be completed.
But Yami's blade was already pressed to his throat.
Sasuke froze.
Yami lowered the sword slightly. His tone was flat.
"Your taijutsu is terrible."
Sasuke grit his teeth, but didn't argue.
"I held back to Chūnin level," Yami continued. "I only used one sword technique of the Uchiha Clan. But all you learned from this fight…"
He tapped Sasuke's forehead lightly with the flat of the blade.
"…is that I can use the Uchiha Clan's unique Kenjutsu. That's pathetic."
Sasuke's shoulders hunched. He looked down, biting back frustration.
"If you spam one singular ninjutsu like that," Yami added, "your chakra will run dry before the real fight even starts. Even if you kill one enemy, the rest will kill you."
Sasuke said nothing. Because every word was true.
Yami let the silence hang a moment.
"Rest. Then we continue."
. . . . . . . . . .
The afternoon became a nightmare for Sasuke.
Yami used every scenario he could think of. Direct clashes, ambushes, counter-ambushes, traps, misdirection, feints, chakra-stimulated speed bursts, sudden pressure drops to test Sasuke's awareness
And Sasuke lost. Every. Single. Time.
Sometimes in a single blow.
Sometimes in three moves.
Sometimes by stepping into a trap Yami set ten seconds earlier.
Even when Sasuke thought he had finally predicted something, a blue arc of compressed wind chakra would slice a tree beside him.
"Wind… too?!" Sasuke yelped once.
Yami didn't even turn around. "Basic wind-chakra shaping. Learned it before I became Chūnin."
Sasuke nearly fell over.
Yami never used Sharingan, rarely used ninjutsu, and barely exerted himself. Yet every move was precise, controlled, and effective. Sasuke felt like he was fighting a storm that never ran out of breath.
By sunset, Sasuke was squatting on the ground, drenched in sweat, bruised everywhere, panting heavily.
Yami stood over him, arms crossed.
"Tomorrow," he said, "I have missions during the day. You'll practice taijutsu on your own."
"…Taijutsu?" Sasuke managed.
"Yes. Yours is Genin level. Unacceptable." Yami's tone didn't soften. "Ninjas without strong ninjutsu base rely on taijutsu. Ninjas with strong ninjutsu should rely on it too."
He turned to leave, then paused.
"Did you hear me, Sasuke?"
Sasuke flinched at the sudden sharpness. "Yes!"
"Good." Yami's voice lowered. "Remember. Itachi threw Uchiha into darkness. You and I will drag it back into the light."
Then he walked off.
Sasuke didn't erupt at the name this time. He only stared at his hands.
'What… does being Uchiha even mean to me? To him? To Itachi?'
. . . . . . . . . .
Later, after stopping by Konoha Pharmacy to buy medicine, Sasuke ran into Sakura.
"Sasuke? Why are you covered in bruises?" Her eyes immediately welled with worry and a little panic. "Was it that rude Uchiha?! Did he beat you up again?!"
Sasuke sighed. His instinct was to snap back, but Yami's earlier lecture echoed in his head.
'Stay calm.'
"This is training. Don't make a scene."
"Training? Like THIS? I'm telling Kakashi-sens-"
"No!" Sasuke grabbed her wrist. "Don't. I told you. It's training."
Sakura blinked. "Are… you sure?"
"…Yami's training is just strict."
Sasuke actually struggled to explain further. How could he tell her he was being destroyed by someone who claimed to be holding back?
"I see…" Sakura murmured. "Sasuke… are you okay though?"
"Fine." He straightened slightly. "I'll see you at school in five days."
"O-oh. Okay…"
She waved weakly, confused and flustered.
Sasuke walked off.
For the first time in a long while, he wasn't thinking about Itachi… but about whether he could keep up with the man who had taken it upon himself to rebuild the Uchiha.
- End of Chapter 7 -
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