"Big or small!"
Tsunade's little hands moved with practiced ease. To Hiko's surprise, she was already slick at this. Still, her track record was almost always losses, unless fate tilted on some special day.
Hiko found it absurd. If she really wanted to gamble, at least choose a proper place. But to whip out dice in the middle of class, pulled from who-knows-where under her clothes, that was shocking. He half expected her to produce a mahjong set from her pockets.
"Ahem. Fine, big or small."
He swallowed back his laughter. If he grinned, she might attack him on the spot.
Comparing numbers was too slow. Better to settle it fast.
"One die each. Roll on the desk. Highest wins. If you're in, start. If not, goodbye."
He waved the die in front of her face.
"Hmph, who's scared of a bet?!"
The words came out sharp, but her eyes glittered. Was she actually excited?
Come on, this was just child's play. Did she think this was the casino floor?
She shook the die once and rolled. It bounced and settled—four.
"Open it! Open it!"
Tsunade was locked in, the gambler's zone.
Hiko rolled his casually.
"Three, three, three!" she screamed in her heart. If he rolled a three, she would win.
But reality was cruel. The die spun twice, then stopped on five.
"Sorry, I win. Tsunade, little brat. From now on, cool off and stop following me."
Hiko burst out laughing.
"..."
Her round face froze, crestfallen, eyes glued to the die as if betrayed.
By the time she snapped out of it, Hiko was gone.
"Uchiha Hiko! Don't run! One more round!!!"
Her voice echoed through the room, unanswered.
On the street, Hiko's thoughts had already turned. Physical training needed to be doubled. Shuriken and kunai practice could not be skipped.
The flashy scenes in Naruto, with colossal ninjutsu colliding, hid the truth: for students, even genin and most chunin, fights relied on taijutsu first. Only monsters like Hashirama or Naruto, with oceans of chakra, could spam techniques endlessly.
As an Uchiha, he had decent reserves, but at five his chakra pool was still pitiful. He would need to build it up slowly. His plan: physical drills and weapons practice by day, chakra refinement by night.
As for novels that claimed someone could refine chakra all day, every day? Nonsense. You would drain yourself dry.
The training grounds were crowded. No one paid him much mind as he dropped his bag in a corner and started his exercises.
The techniques weren't from academy lessons, but from family training. The Uchiha elders taught children the basics of taijutsu, shuriken, and kunai. Later, after graduation, they could enter the clan shrine and choose jutsu to study.
Show talent, or be born to an elder or the clan head, and the doors opened wider.
Hiko had neither status nor intention of flaunting genius. He would start from the ground up.
The basics mattered. Sweat turned into skill. The proof was Uchiha Itachi himself.
Back when Hiko had watched the series, he had been dazzled by Itachi's shuriken work. Now that he lived here, there was no excuse. He had to master it for real.