Yuto and Itachi stood across from each other in the foliage of some trees at the Uchiha training grounds.
"I'll take it easy on you as usual," Yuto said, knowing Fugaku was watching, but he couldn't tell where.
Itachi remained silent, pulling out his kunai. Yuto, with a bored look on his face, pulled the tanto on his back from the sheath. Yuto shot off in a burst of speed, swinging down his tanto with elegance. Itachi was slightly surprised by the speed, but blocked the blade effortlessly. Yuto made a seal with one hand, spitting three high-pressure globs of spit at Itachi. Itachi hopped back a few times, dodging each attack effortlessly. Yuto frowned, seeing Itachi dodge all his attacks without breaking a sweat, but he wasn't naive; he suspected this would happen.
Four shuriken appeared in Yuto's hand as he had put some shuriken from his pouch in his hoodie sleeve on his way to the training ground. He lacked a seal, so he settled for sticking the shuriken to his arm using chakra. He flung all four shuriken at Itachi, as expected, Itachi deflected all four shuriken. Yuto ran forward with his tanto, clashing with Itachi's kunai.
"Itachi, I'm curious, why aren't you using your Sharingan? Surely you know you can't defeat me without it," Yuto said arrogantly.
"Hum," Itachi expressed, a questioning look on his face.
Itachi had never met anyone so arrogant, not even his fellow Uchiha clan members, and he never knew Yuto to be so arrogant.
Itachi was curious and decided to activate his Sharingan.
Yuto smiled, but on the inside, he was getting a little nervous. He didn't expect Itachi to actually activate his Sharingan against an academy student. He kept his act up nevertheless; he knew it would look bad if he were to coward away after talking so big. Yuto's face became serious after seeing Itachi's eyes change from black to crimson red. Yuto dropped down to the ground, going for a backward leg sweep. Itachi leaped backward, throwing shuriken at Yuto's form on the ground. Instead of dodging, Yuto leaped towards the shurike,n changing their trajectory with a few low-powered globs of spit. He clashed with Itachi in the air as they both landed on the ground. The second their feet hit the ground, Yuto jumped back. He had no delusions about facing the Sharingan in close combat.
He knew winning was never an option; he just wanted an excuse to measure himself against the genius Itachi. he was also aware that Itachi was holding back, but he would still try his best to make his defeat look as good as possible. He placed his tanto in front of him, using his other hand to make a one-handed seal. He could perform his spit bullets without a hand seal, but he wanted Itachi to think he couldn't. he spat a dozen bullets from long range after gathering spit in his mouth. He watched in awe, seeing Itachi effortlessly dancing in between the spit bullets, his crimson eyes moving around his eye socket like a food mixer.
Yuto was skeptical seeing one of the bullets catch Itachi in the shoulder. He knew for a fact that Itachi could easily dodge every attack he threw at him. His suspicions were confirmed as he saw Itachi poof into a cloud of smoke. he had seen enough battles from the series to know Itachi was behind him. he turned around, faced with a kunai approaching his neck. Without a second thought, he coated his teeth in chakra, biting down on the kunai, stopping it from moving any further. Itachi was shocked by Yuto's bold actions. Yuto took advantage of Itachi's shock, swinging his tanto horizontally at his abdomen. Itachi let go of the kunai, effortlessly jumping out of the blades' reach. Yuto frowned, seeing his attacks being effortlessly evaded again. Yuto didn't get the chance to ponder any longer. He saw Itachi's calm gaze peering into his soul as he felt chakra invading his system, but the second he realized it was too late. His surroundings began to change.
He felt his heart pump faster, and his hands began to tremble. He looked around, frantic, seeing the dead shinobi on the ground, and he saw his brethren and comrades being slain by enemy shinobi. He quickly came to his senses and made a single hand seal, releasing his chakra to dispel the genjutsu he was under. His bangs flared out at the release of his chakra. Yuto looked down to see a kunai at his throat. he realized he still had Itachi's kunai in his mouth as he released the grip his teeth had on the steel. He left Itachi with a few choices. Either let the kunai strike his arm, or move the kunai from his neck. Since this is just a spar, Itachi has no reason to put his arm at risk to get the kill.
Yuto grinned seeing Itachi remove the kunai from his neck, but his face quickly fell into shock as Itachi evaded the kunai and dramatically increased his speed, placing the kunai back at Yuto's neck again. Yuto quickly regained his indifferent look.
"Not bad," "it looks like you've won this one," Yuto said, trying to leave a reason for doubt that he might have won a spar against Itachi before, even though this was far from the truth. Itachi removed the kunai from his neck.
"You've gotten better," Itachi said with a small smile.
"So have you, I must admit, fighting against the Sharingan was quite tricky." "Of course I'll win the next spar, I've already devised a counter to your Sharingan."
"Is that right?" said a voice.
Yuto looked to see Fugaku standing there. He rolled his eyes at Fugaku's dramatic entrance.
"Of course, I figured out the counter to the Sharingan; it's quite obvious," Yuto said matter-of-factly.
"Go on, tell us your discovery," Fugaku said, clearly curious.
Yuto gestured for Fugaku to lend his ear. He brought his hand up, covering his mouth as he whispered into Fugaku's ear, "It's a secret." Yuto said in a teasing tone.
Fugaku's usually neutral face turned into a frown. Yuto kilted over, pointing a finger at Fugaku's face, falling into a boisterous laugh. Itachi couldn't help but let out a light chuckle at Yuto's antics.
After Yuto stopped laughing, standing up straight, he realized who he was laughing at., as he hoped he didn't become disliked by the head of the Uchiha clan. Fugaku finally spoke.
"Your friend is quite the character," Fugaku said begrudgingly, still a little salty after getting tricked by a ten-year-old.
"Though his skills are not to be scoffed at, I can't say that I've seen a shinobi spit at their opponent before," he said in an amused tone.
"Humph, I knew you were watching," Yuto said
Itachi smiled, seeing his father grunt after Yuto's blatant dismissal of the Uchiha patriarch.
"Yuto, you've become quite arrogant since the academy," Itachi said in a questioning tone.
"Well, I've just been testing my acting skills. I see I was able to fool you," Yuto said proudly as he had spent hours practicing facial expressions in the mirror.
"I see," Itachi replied.
"Yuto, was it, how would you like to attend dinner with us later?"
Itachi looked at his father in surprise.
"While I am honored, Uchiha Sama, I must ask, why invite a clan-less academy student to dinner.
"You're a friend of Itachi. Itachi rarely interacts with peers his age outside of the clan. "I hold great respect for your father and grandfather. I trust that you won't disappoint," Fugaku said.
"Yes, of course, Uchiha Sama, I'll arrive at your home shortly."
"Mm, very well then," Fugaku said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"Hmmm, shadow clone," Yuto said.
"Father is often quite busy," Itachi said.
"I would be surprised if he wasn't."
"I must say I'm surprised you don't have any chunin responsibilities; it's rare for newly promoted chunin to have the time for sparring," Yuto said curiously.
"I've been considering my opportunities; there are many departments I can apply to, but the departments that are the most appealing are the police force and the anbu.
"Mm, I see, I trust that you will come to a decision."Well, I'm going to freshen up. I'll see you shortly," Yuto said, walking off.
Itachi nodded, watching Yuto casually waving to him while walking away. Itachi thought to himself, watching Yuto's retreating form, "To think he was able to impress my father in just one meeting, I truly envy your charisma, Yuto." Itachi thought.
[Be sure to give me your power stones]