Chapter 36: A Plan for Power
"You fatso! If you want to beat me, go train for another hundred years! Hahaha!" Uchiha Ken laughed arrogantly, his voice ringing across the training ground.
Anger Level: +9001
Akimichi Choza's eyes blazed with fury. What he hated most was being called fat. He had initially held back, but now a genuine desire to pummel the arrogant Uchiha surged within him.
"You bastard! Take this!" Choza roared, his fist, the size of a small sandbag, swinging toward Uchiha Ken's face.
"Hmph! Too slow! You think you can hit me?" Uchiha Ken sneered, easily sidestepping the blow. Despite his depleted chakra, he was still agile enough to dodge Choza's telegraphed attacks.
Seeing Ken evade, a glint of cunning flashed in Choza's small eyes. Then, with a surprising burst of speed for his size, his massive body lunged forward, tackling the preening Uchiha and pinning him solidly to the ground.
In a contest of raw strength, Uchiha Ken was utterly outmatched by the colossal Akimichi. Trapped beneath the boy's weight, he had no room to maneuver.
Choza, following a plan, ground his body in a few circles, making Ken grunt in pain, and then proceeded to punch him squarely in the face.
Thanks to his thick layers of fat, Choza could absorb a lot of impact. Uchiha Ken, with no such natural padding, could only take the beating, his face quickly swelling.
"Alright, that's enough! Both of you, stop right there!" Ueno Kuri intervened, pulling the triumphant Akimichi Choza off his defeated opponent.
Choza got to his feet, scratching his head and turning to Nara Shikaku. "Your plan worked! Let's see if he dares to be so arrogant now."
"That tactic would never work on a real, experienced shinobi," Shikaku reminded him flatly. "The only reason it worked was that the teacher restricted weapons. Otherwise, you'd be full of holes right now. Don't make a habit of just rushing in like that."
He was right. Choza had only won through a surprise grapple. Against a fully prepared Uchiha Ken with kunai, the outcome would have been very different.
"Teacher, I'm not conceding defeat!" Uchiha Ken whined, his voice thick with grievance. Being squashed under that bulk had felt utterly unfair, leaving him no chance to use his skills.
"In a real battle, no one cares if you feel it was 'fair'," a new voice stated coolly. Hyuga Shinra walked over, his gaze fixed on Ken. "If you're not convinced, we can have a practice match right now."
Seeing Shinra, a flicker of genuine fear crossed Uchiha Ken's eyes. If he'd had any chakra left, he might have tried to bluster, but he'd exhausted most of it defeating Hyuga Hizashi with his Great Fireball. In a pure taijutsu match against the boy who had humiliated Uchiha Fugaku, he stood no chance.
Shinra gave the cowed Uchiha a dismissive glance before walking towards the corner where Mikoto was meditating.
"Mikoto, time to stop. School is almost over."
Mikoto, who had been sitting with her eyes closed, refining her chakra, opened them. She looked at Shinra, her expression slightly dazed from her deep concentration.
Seeing her adorable, unfocused look, Shinra couldn't help himself. He reached out and gently pinched her soft cheeks.
A faint blush colored her cheeks as she stood up. Looking at the setting sun, she murmured, "Time goes by so fast when you're training."
"I know you want to get stronger quickly, Mikoto," Shinra said, his expression turning serious. "But training must be steady and gradual. Pushing too hard will only hurt you in the long run."
"Mhm, I know, Shinra," Mikoto nodded, but the determined fire in her eyes hadn't dimmed in the slightest.
Shinra knew her well. Mikoto was gentle on the outside but possessed a core of iron will. Once she set her mind to something, she would pursue it with relentless dedication. He sighed internally, a look of helplessness crossing his face. Having lived with her for over half a year, he understood her character perfectly.
"You know," he began, changing tactics, "if your Sharingan evolves, your power will increase dramatically. If it were to evolve into the Mangekyo Sharingan, reaching Kage-level strength would be almost guaranteed."
Mikoto shook her head. "In the entire history of the Uchiha clan, only Uchiha Madara is said to have awakened such supreme eyes. Evolving the Mangekyo is incredibly difficult."
Shinra smiled. As someone who knew the "script," he was well aware of how to awaken the Mangekyo. While he might not be able to awaken it in himself, helping someone else do it was a different matter. For a talented Uchiha, he could facilitate it, but the method was cruel, and he didn't want to subject Mikoto to that. He could use his "Hell Cycle of Terror" genjutsu to force her Sharingan to evolve, likely even to the Three Tomoe stage. But it would risk leaving an indelible psychological scar on her gentle heart, a price he was unwilling to pay.
"Don't worry, Mikoto. I have a way to help you awaken the Mangekyo," Shinra said confidently. "But you'll have to endure some hardship. I hope you won't hold it against me afterward." He had already formulated a plan, though it would inevitably cause her significant distress. Such was the twisted nature of the Uchiha's power—it demanded intense emotional trauma.
"Really?" Mikoto's eyes widened in disbelief, but she trusted him implicitly.
"Of course. But Mikoto, there's something you need to know first."
"What is it? It's okay if we can't awaken the Mangekyo. I never really expected to in the first place."
"Akakening the Mangekyo is one thing, but it has a severe side effect," Shinra explained, his tone grave. "Overusing it will cause your eyesight to deteriorate, eventually leading to complete blindness."
Mikoto fell silent for a long moment, processing this. Finally, she looked up, her resolve firm. "If the side effects are that severe, then we shouldn't do it." She would rather remain as she was than lose the ability to see Shinra's face every day.
"Don't worry about that," Shinra reassured her with a warm smile. "I believe I can find a way to evolve your Mangekyo into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. That version has no side effects." He carried a system within him, an almost omnipotent tool. Solving the Mangekyo's blindness issue should be a trivial matter for it.
"Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan?" Mikoto looked at him, utterly bewildered. She knew about the Sharingan and the legendary Mangekyo, but she had never, ever heard of an "Eternal" version.
"Hey! What are you two whispering about over there?" Nawaki's voice boomed from across the field.
"Nothing!" Shinra called back before lowering his voice again to Mikoto. "I'll explain everything about the Eternal Mangekyo when we get home."
The Ninja Academy's schedule was remarkably relaxed, typically dismissing by 4 PM, a fact Shinra greatly appreciated compared to the grueling hours of schools in his past life. Furthermore, the academy offered a high degree of freedom. As long as a student's practical scores were high enough, they had near-total autonomy over their afternoon training. It was a system that suited him perfectly.