"I'm home..."
Itachi opened the door and announced his return from the entrance.
His mother, Mikoto, looked surprised, probably because she hadn't seen her son come home so early in a long time. "Oh, you didn't have a mission today?"
Itachi hummed in affirmation and asked where his younger brother, Sasuke, was, remembering that today was his day off.
He hadn't trained with his brother in a long time, so he decided to take this opportunity to train with him and strengthen their bond.
"Sasuke is training in the forest where you two usually train."
Itachi nodded and said goodbye to his mother.
Mikoto called out to him before he could leave. "Wait a moment."
Itachi waited patiently. When Mikoto returned, she was holding a basket filled with military rations pills. "Take these to Sasuke for me."
Itachi nodded. Before leaving, he seemed to have remembered something and asked, "Is Uncle Tōshirō there training with Sasuke, too?"
Mikoto shook her head. "Tōshirō has some business outside the village."
"Not in the village?"
Itachi already knew that Tōshirō wasn't in the village; he was just pretending not to know to get more information.
"Yes, you've been on missions a lot lately, so it's normal that you wouldn't know."
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know. He didn't say when he left." Mikoto didn't think much of it and asked, "Do you need something?"
Itachi nodded. "I've had some problems with my training recently and wanted to ask him for some advice."
Mikoto was slightly surprised. "That's rare for you."
"Mom, please don't treat me like I can do everything."
Mikoto thought about it, and he was right. No matter how much of a genius her son was, he was still young, and it was normal for him to have problems with his training.
But there were very few people who could teach him. In the past, Shisui would train with him, but now that he was gone, Itachi had no one to ask for advice.
Fugaku had the qualifications and the ability, but the father-son relationship wasn't great, and Fugaku was very busy, so Itachi couldn't ask him.
Thinking it over, only Tōshirō had the power to teach him.
Mikoto smiled. "Perhaps you can ask your father. He might know."
"Father?" Itachi muttered, immediately dismissing the idea in his mind. He simply said, "I understand," and then said goodbye to his mother.
Itachi took the basket and easily found the forest where he and his brother often trained. Soon, he saw a figure struggling with his training.
Itachi didn't go up to him immediately. Instead, he hid in a tree and watched, planning to approach Sasuke only when he took a break so he wouldn't interrupt him.
Itachi quietly watched Sasuke train, which mainly consisted of push-ups and sit-ups.
Sasuke's training was a bit different from what he had imagined. Normally, he should have been training with shuriken and kunai.
Ten minutes later, Sasuke was too exhausted to continue. He lay sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily.
Tap, tap, tap...
Footsteps approached from behind him.
Sasuke instinctively looked back, and a familiar figure came into view. When he saw his face, he smiled happily and called out, "Big brother!"
"You've worked hard." Itachi handed the military rations pills to Sasuke.
Sasuke was very happy to see his brother, but he was also confused. Shouldn't his brother be on a mission right now? He told Itachi his confusion.
Itachi's expression froze, and a wry smile appeared on his face. Without him realizing it, this was the impression he had left on his brother.
"I'm sorry..."
Sasuke tilted his head, his face innocent. "Big brother, why are you apologizing to me?"
"I've deceived you again and again and haven't kept my promises."
Sasuke shook his head. "Big brother, you're always so busy. You must be working hard for the Uchiha clan."
Itachi felt a deep sense of shame that his brother thought this.
Just a while ago, he was planning to bury the entire Uchiha clan with his own hands.
He had a vague feeling that his brother had matured a lot recently.
It seemed that he had been too uninvolved in his brother's life during his absence, to the point where he no longer knew him.
Thinking about this, Itachi decided to show his brother some proper care today, starting with his training. "Sasuke, why are you training like this? Shouldn't you be training with shuriken?"
At the mention of it, Sasuke immediately answered, "Teacher Tōshirō told me to train like this."
"Uncle Tōshirō?"
"Yes. He said that shuriken and kunai are good enough and that I don't need to spend too much time on them."
Itachi didn't disagree with Tōshirō's view.
In front of a true master, no matter how flashy you were with shuriken and kunai, it would be useless.
At the mention of Tōshirō, Sasuke opened up like a floodgate. "Big brother, do you know about the Third Raikage?"
"The Third Raikage?" Itachi was confused. "I know of him, but why do you ask?"
"Teacher Tōshirō said I have a lightning chakra nature, and he wants to train me in that direction."
"A lightning chakra nature?" Itachi looked at his brother in surprise.
"Teacher Tōshirō used chakra paper to test me."
Itachi suddenly understood why Sasuke had been doing those exercises.
He knew about the Third Raikage.
He was said to have perfected Lightning Style, and his body, when coated in the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, was indestructible. No attack could do any damage to him.
However, to reach that level, the Third Raikage not only needed to be highly proficient in Lightning Style but also needed to have a special body.
Could his brother's body handle that kind of training?
Itachi was a bit worried.
But he couldn't be too hasty, considering Tōshirō's methods.
One thing was for sure: if his brother could truly train his Lightning Style to that level, combined with the dynamic vision of the Sharingan, he would definitely become an incredible ninja.
But at that point, his cute little brother would probably become a muscular giant.
Thinking of the Raikage as a reference point...
"Big brother, tell me about the Third Raikage."
Sasuke urged.
"Why? Didn't your Teacher Tōshirō tell you about him?"
Itachi thought that since Tōshirō used him as an example, he should have introduced him.
"No, he told me to research it myself and said it was for training my intelligence-gathering skills as a ninja."
Sasuke pouted, looking a bit sullen.
Itachi smiled. "In a way, that's true."
Sasuke urged, "Come on, big brother, tell me now."
Itachi quickly sorted through the intelligence he had on the Third Raikage in his mind, then organized his words and told his brother.
Sasuke's mouth hung open in awe after listening. "He's so amazing! No wonder Teacher Tōshirō said true masters don't bother with shuriken."
Itachi encouraged him. "I believe you can do it."
Sasuke hummed in agreement, then suddenly thought of something, his face lighting up with excitement. "Oh, big brother, I have something to show you."
Seeing his brother's impatient look, Itachi smiled. "What is it?"
Sasuke closed his eyes, then opened them, channeling chakra to them. His eyes turned red, and a single tomoe swirled near his pupil.
"Sasuke, you..."
Seeing his brother's widened, shocked eyes, Sasuke looked proud. "Ta-da! Surprised, aren't you?"
"What is this?"
Itachi's expression was solemn. To awaken the Sharingan, he must have gone through something.
But he didn't understand why his brother would look like this after going through all that.
"Big brother, you don't have to be so nervous. I know all about awakening the Sharingan," Sasuke explained. "Teacher Tōshirō helped me awaken it."
"T-Tōshirō?"
"Yes."
Itachi was even more confused. What did Tōshirō have to do with this?
Under his questioning gaze, Sasuke recounted everything that happened.
"...At that moment, I thought Teacher Tōshirō had actually killed Kuroko. He really scared me."
Sasuke patted his chest, still a little shaken, and his crimson eyes faded back to their normal black color.
He had just awakened his Sharingan and wasn't very proficient with it yet. For someone his age, being able to use it at will was already quite impressive.
"I can't believe Uncle Tōshirō would go to such lengths for you."
Itachi felt a deep sense of gratitude for Tōshirō for guiding his brother correctly and helping him awaken his dōjutsu.
Sasuke placed his hand over his eye, and said seriously, "I will use this power to protect everyone from now on."
"I know you will."
"Big brother, will you train my Sharingan with me?"
"Okay."
(End of Chapter)
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