The gap between us is really this wide?
With just a single exchange, I completely lost the ability to resist. In that instant, I didn't even have time to summon a crow clone.
Right now, Itachi's mindset was on the verge of collapse.
From a young age, he had been called a genius—graduating from the Academy in just one year. Yet he couldn't even withstand a single strike from Shion.
"No… that's not right. Even Shisui's Body Flicker isn't at this level! My eyes saw it clearly—you anticipated my movements in advance."
Itachi turned his gaze toward Shion.
Shion only smiled and replied lightly, "That's why you're still far from reaching the level Shisui and I stand on. So, for now, just be a proper genin. No matter what happens, Shisui and I will lead the Uchiha down the right path. After all… I do rather like this village."
Itachi frowned slightly, then nodded. "I understand. But I will strive to reach your height as well. The path Father gave his life for—I'll continue walking it."
Swish!
A faint sound stirred the trees.
Shion chuckled. "A chunin instructor from the Academy? But isn't this a bit too light-handed, underestimating Tokuma like that?"
Itachi thought for a moment, then said, "Even if they're just instructors, they aren't opponents a normal student could handle. Choosing this timing… they must be hoping to strike while I'm away."
Shion glanced at him. "By the way, why are you still a genin after two years? Didn't you take the chunin exams before?"
Itachi shook his head. "On one mission, Shinji and Tenma were injured. It was during that time I awakened my three-tomoe Sharingan."
He looked toward the tents in the distance. "Aren't you worried about them?"
Shion replied calmly, "Tokuma may be from the Hyuga branch family, but his use of the Byakugan isn't lacking. And Izumi is there too. Aside from the Sharingan, she's not weak."
"Tell me about that mission where you awakened your three-tomoe."
Itachi paused. "You think there's something suspicious about it?"
After a moment of thought, he nodded. "It was strange. A C-rank escort mission somehow drew a large group of enemy shinobi. Back then I only had two tomoe, and even our instructor Minazuki-sensei was pinned down.
The mission rank was officially changed mid-way, so we abandoned it. But it was clear the enemy came prepared. And in the final clash, my counterattack was far too smooth."
"So smooth it felt like… they let me win on purpose!"
Shion asked, "And that 'smoothness' started only after your three-tomoe awakened?"
Itachi nodded. "The eyes did give me a boost in strength, but not to the point of turning the battle around so easily. That was too unnatural."
"I see…"
Uchiha Shion exhaled. Looks like Danzō had set his sights on Itachi now. It made sense—after all, Itachi was the clan's prodigy, awakening two tomoe at just five years old.
To Danzō, even Shion himself didn't measure up to Itachi in terms of the Sharingan. And an Uchiha without the Sharingan… was worthless in his eyes.
"I remember warning you before… why didn't you use the crow Shisui gave you?"
Itachi looked a little embarrassed. "At first, I wanted to handle it myself. Later on…"
He trailed off, but Shion knew the rest. The Uchiha "red-eye sickness" had flared up, pushing him to awaken the three-tomoe.
A genius's chronic weakness, huh?
The two soon reached the tents they had set up for rest.
Itachi had already drawn a kunai, standing alert.
Two masked figures emerged from outside, pressing blades to Tokuma and Izumi as they dragged them forward.
"Are you telling us to just surrender?" Shion asked with a playful smile.
"If you don't want your comrades hurt, surrender now!" the so-called kidnappers barked.
The corner of Shion's eye twitched. He glanced at Itachi—maybe they should play along?
Clink.
Itachi tossed his kunai to the ground. Both of them raised their hands and surrendered.
The kidnappers sneered. "So the so-called Uchiha prodigies are nothing special after all—so quick to give up."
One of them stepped forward to bind Shion and Itachi, but froze mid-step.
The "surrendered" Shion was suddenly behind them, kunai at their throats.
The two would-be captors barely had time to shout before they saw Tokuma and Izumi, the ones they had been restraining, now with Itachi's kunai pressed to their stomachs.
"Even if we don't see each other often, your Transformation Jutsu isn't the same as the Tokuma I know," Itachi said, withdrawing his kunai.
Shion released his captives too, awkwardly scratching his head. "Who came up with those lines for this exercise? Asking us to surrender? Raising a hand counts as surrender? Seriously?"
The four kidnappers pulled off their masks. Sure enough, they were just Academy instructors.
One gave a bitter laugh. "We weren't familiar with each other, so we barely spoke a word. And even then, you saw right through us."
Shion scratched his head again. After all, Izumi had his Flying Thunder God seal on her. No Transformation Jutsu could fool him.
Just then, the real Tokuma and Izumi appeared from the trees, dragging two captured instructors with them.
They instantly understood the scene. Izumi giggled and ran over. "So the teachers tried to trick you with Transformation Jutsu, huh, onii-chan? Didn't expect it to backfire, did they?"
One of the so-called homeroom instructors sighed. "Everyone knows the two of you aren't easy to deal with, so no one else wanted to try. We had no choice but to come up with this little scheme."
Tokuma looked at Shion and Itachi. A couple of chunin instructors against those two? That was basically serving themselves up as prey.
On the third morning, after casually taking a placement in the exercise, Itachi's squad returned to the Academy.
Uchiha Izumi glanced at Itachi ahead, then whispered to Shion, "Onii-chan, I want to awaken the Sharingan too. Itachi's eyes are so beautiful."
Shion looked at his younger sister. Compared to the memories he carried, her personality had already changed greatly because of his presence.
In that other memory, on the night of the massacre, this girl had awakened her three-tomoe at just thirteen years old. What horrors had she endured to reach that point, he could not know.
But right now? Keeping her eyes closed forever would be her greatest protection.
"The Sharingan… can only be awakened through suffering."
He gently ruffled Izumi's hair. "If possible, I hope you'll never awaken those eyes. If danger comes, I'll protect you. Believe me."
After the exercise, the Academy declared a short holiday. Shion and Izumi prepared to head home together.
But before they reached the Uchiha compound, Shion suddenly turned toward a distant corner.
Swish!
Two figures appeared in front of him and Izumi. Their masks were unlike those of ANBU, and their armor and swords were all too familiar.
"Uchiha Shion. You're coming with us."