Chapter 4

A figure landed beside Kaze.

It was none other than Uchiha Itachi, who had slept so well last night.

"You're a bit late."

Kaze raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, Kaze."

Itachi apologized.

Talking with his father had taken a lot of time.

On the way, he pondered the meanings of the clan and Konoha, so he was late.

"Father talked to me about the Ninja Academy, so I'm late."

Ignoring the reprimand, Itachi mentioned the Ninja Academy.

After winter, with the arrival of spring, the Ninja Academy was starting new enrollments.

Fugaku had already registered his genius son.

The Ninja Academy, huh?

Kaze understood.

The Ninja Academy—a magical place.

Founded by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, it was where all Konoha ninjas began their training.

Basic ninja knowledge could be learned there.

But its main purpose was brainwashing.

Kaze shook his head, not too enthusiastic about the place.

But as a registered Konoha child, he had to go through the motions.

"Let's start."

Without dwelling on the academy, Kaze's eyes sharpened as he walked to the center.

At this moment, holding his sword, he fully entered a combat state.

The sharp aura, combined with the scar on his face, exerted immense pressure on Itachi.

Nodding, Itachi took a deep breath and tightly gripped ten shuriken.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

Swish, swish, swish!

Suddenly, ten shuriken flew from Itachi's hand towards Kaze!

An active attack!

At that moment, the white snake lurking behind a tree was visibly stunned.

But the most shocking part was yet to come!

With a swing of his arm and a fierce battle cry, the man with the scarred face deflected all the shuriken, sending them back towards Itachi!

What are you doing?

Playing games?

The little snake gaped in shock.

But clearly, the training wasn't over.

Itachi threw more shuriken, striking the initial ten mid-air, redirecting them towards Kaze!

Clang, clang, clang!

In an instant, the shuriken changed trajectory again, aiming at Kaze!

The

real training had just begun!

And the little white snake.

Was already dumbfounded.

Is this their terrifying training method?

Nonsense?

Or confidence?

It couldn't comprehend.

Clang, clang, clang!

As their training began, the only sound in the training field was the clash of shuriken.

The white snake, initially shocked, moved to confusion, then calm, and finally left in a numb daze. What it had experienced during this time, no one knew.

These two five-year-old children had given quite the shock to the snake.

Thinking back, what was it doing at five years old?

Reading books, probably.

Then it joined the Ninja Academy and was only taught meticulously by the Third Hokage after graduation.

It was almost ten years old then.

Even though it graduated early, in front of these two, it didn't dare to consider itself a genius.

Are they really five years old?

In Orochimaru's base, Anko was engrossed in the ninjutsu manual given by her teacher.

Meanwhile, the snake was staring at the documents before it, feeling lost.

Taking out a pen, it finally wrote two names on the paper in front of it.

Uchiha Itachi, Kaze.

After writing, Orochimaru suddenly felt puzzled.

The Uchiha clan members are skilled with shuriken, capable of redirecting shuriken mid-flight.

That's normal.

Even without the Sharingan, Uchiha clan members have a high talent for this.

But what about Kaze?

From the looks of it, this wasn't the first time he and Uchiha Itachi had such terrifying training.

And he was clearly in the lead!

Why? 

Just an ordinary civilian.

Frowning, Orochimaru couldn't figure it out.

...

"Uh… Kaze-san… I can't go on!"

Half an hour later, a voice from the training field could easily be misinterpreted.

Of course, the scene wasn't what one might imagine, but the outcome was similar.

It was a two-person exercise, with one still energetic and the other utterly exhausted.

"That's it?"

Clang, clang, clang!

Kaze once again deflected the shuriken in front of him, and this time, they didn't fly towards Itachi but hit the bullseye on the target painted on the nearby tree.

Overly accurate.

"You're really weak."

Frowning, Kaze helped the panting Itachi to a stone to rest.

Weak?

Itachi wanted to say something but could only roll his eyes with a flushed face.

Compared to Kaze, he indeed seemed weak.

At least Kaze was still full of energy, while he was exhausted.

No choice. As he grew more tired, he could no longer see the incoming shuriken clearly, and his own shuriken lost accuracy. Continuing further was meaningless.

The man before him was a true monster.

He realized this the first time they met.

In Konoha, Kaze was the first five-year-old able to continuously slash a thousand times.

He could confirm this.

Forced to rest.

Kaze took a swig from his flask and habitually offered it to Itachi.

After yesterday's drinking incident, Itachi was tempted but didn't dare take the flask.

His father had just warned him this morning, so he didn't dare now.

The atmosphere grew silent.

Itachi was too tired to speak.

Kaze was lost in thought.

The white snake was gone, but even if it were there, Kaze wouldn't care.

But Itachi's health…

Frowning, Kaze looked at Itachi.

In the original story, this tragic young man died after setting up Sasuke.

But even without that, even if Sasuke didn't kill him, his days were numbered.

He had a serious illness and couldn't last much longer.

But what kind of illness or terminal condition it was, the original story didn't specify.

Aftermath of patricide and matricide?

Burdened by the darkness syndrome?

Kaze didn't know.

He was certain, though, that if needed, he'd find a solution.

He had no medical skills, but the system's shop had everything.

It all depended on whether Itachi still saw him as the same simple friend when the time came.

What that meant, Itachi didn't understand now.

As Itachi told Kisame, only at the brink of death does one truly see themselves.

"Itachi."

Swinging his sword, Kaze suddenly smiled.

"What is it?"

Itachi blinked, his cute face showing confusion.

"If you ever encounter a problem you can't solve."

"Or if you find yourself at a crossroads."

"You can ask me."

After a pause.

Thinking of the tragedies ahead, Kaze sighed.

"If you consider me a friend."

Itachi, before he died, saw himself clearly.

After being resurrected with the Edo Tensei, he realized placing all burdens on himself was a mistake.

He even used this theory to lecture Naruto.

But in life, there's no regret medicine.

"Alright, you rest. My body doesn't allow me to sit here idly."

"Today, I need to slash two thousand times."

Without further words, Kaze resumed his training.

Sitting on the stone, Itachi stared at Kaze's back, momentarily stunned.

If you consider me a friend.

What did Kaze-san mean?

What does he know?

I get it!

Suddenly, Itachi gritted his teeth, eyeing the flask Kaze left on the stone.

Could it be…

No choice then!

Trembling, he picked up the flask and sighed.

Gulp.