Screams echoed wide and far as blood soaked the grass and trees. It was a cacophony of death and destruction that would forever scar the land and its survivors.
๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
Two shinobi locked in mortal combat continuously clashed blades, their appearances concealed by the darkness that reigned supreme. Yet, one of the two figures was different; his eyes shone a crimson red, emanating an indescribable sense of death as they analyzed their opponent.
"Hah! I knew it. You punk really did possess the legendary sharingan!" Lightning flashed, revealing the malicious smile and a greedy sparkle in the dark eyes of a former Kirigakure shinobi.
"Thanks for the gift, boy. I'll make sure they're put to good use!" With that, he finished pouring chakra into his legs and shot forward, unleashing a wave of ice shards with his right arm as his left hungrily reached out to seize its prize.
"Huh?" All of a sudden, the boy disappeared from view as the shards of ice flew off into the darkness, completely impotent.
"Genjutsu?!" Immediately forming the seals for genjutsu release, he was still unable to spot his opponent. The greedy glint in his eyes disappeared, replaced by slight panic as he shook his head from side to side.
"If these were the fabled sharinganโฆ why should it be surprising that you'd be ensnared in my genjutsu?" A mocking voice appeared behind the now panicking shinobi.
Spinning around, the man found no opponent before him, but that did not make him feel any better; quite the contrary.
Left with no other option, he performed his most potent jutsu. "Ice Release: Frost Annihilation!"
Holding both palms up towards the sky, countless specks of gleaming ice flew upwards, only to bend to gravity's will and come crashing back down. Except something strange happened once the specks of ice reached their highest point; they turned from barely perceptible specks into shards the size of a human thumb.
With thousands of such shards slamming back down into the earth, the entire area around the rogue shinobi was devastated. Every plant, person, or animal within a 50-meter radius was shredded into pieces and frosted over with a thin layer of ice. It formed a dangerously beautiful image as it gleamed in the darkness.
"Hahโฆ" His breath formed into mist as he attempted to recover from using such a chakra-demanding jutsu. Although it had been costly, it at least meant that the enemy was either dead, injured, or had retreatedโฆ Or so he thought.
"Hmm, nice try, but still not enough!" A voice that sent shivers down his spine whispered in his ear.
Before he could even react, the rogue shinobi was struck with dozens of precise strikes. Each one made him weaker and weaker, and before long, he could no longer even release a shred of his chakra.
Collapsing to the ground, he again found himself face to face with those demonic red eyes. Disbelief spread across his face; after all, he had recognized the attack that was just used on him, but the person responsible couldn't possibly have possessed those eyes.
"Wha-what are you??"
"Hmm, good question. I don't rightly know, myself. What I do know though... is that these eyes of mine, they aren't the sharingan," With those words, the mystery boy then placed a hand on his fallen enemy.
"I think the name Gizลgan suits them well enough, though." He said with an easygoing smile.
"Whaโฆ" He never managed to finish his last word. His remaining vitality was utterly drained, forcibly taken from his body as it shriveled up and died.
"Hahhhโฆ" Happily sighing, the boy stood back up and wiped his hands against one another. Unable to revel in this feeling for long, his carefree attitude instantly dissolved as the piercing screams and explosions suddenly registered in his mind.
Dashing off to where he had left his own squad, he discovered half a dozen fallen foes surrounding his two comrades, with three more still alive and fighting the two. Without delay, he rapidly performed the six hand signs necessary and spewed forth a river of flames from his mouth towards the enemies foolish enough to have their back to him, completely devouring the most unlucky of the three.
Continuing not to waste a single second, he shot forth with chakra brimming in his legs and flew towards the one that had dodged to the left of his Great Fireball jutsu, cutting them down before they could even utter a cry.
With his two remaining comrades dead in a matter of seconds, the last enemy attempted to flee, only to be restrained by a tree that appeared out of nowhere and then finished off by a pair of chakra blades.
"Captain!" The girl shouted in relief. Although they had managed to hold off against the last three enemies, they didn't know how long they could keep up their defense before making a mistake and being slaughtered.
"I really am sick of this war," another boy grumbled as he tried and failed several times to light a cigarette before finally succeeding.
"Hey. Looks like you're both okay." Nodding to the girl first, the boy turned his attention to his other subordinate, "I wouldn't worry about it much. From what I've heard, the war is coming to an end soon. We just have to hold on for a bit longer."
On a particularly warm morning, as the sun began to climb higher and higher into the fluffy white sky, the fearful mood of Konoha's inhabitants that had persisted for so long finally shattered.
"The warโฆ the war is over!" A voice cried out, as many more followed it.
Neighbors hugged one another, parents shed tears, and the elderly smiled. Like that, the last five years of misery seemed to dissipate as easily as a bad dream.
Yet, not everyone rejoiced in response to this joyous mood; some despaired at the loss of loved ones; one unusually dark figure felt frustration at the war's conclusion; and one young boy frowned, with his eyebrows knitted together.
Hikaru Uchiha, a boy five years of age possessing sharp onyx black eyes, an angular face, and the Uchiha signature raven-colored hair, yet streaked with dark purple, falling down on either side of his face, ending at his cheeks. Wearing sandals, light gray shorts with a pouch on the left thigh, and a dark purple shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol proudly emblazoned on the back, he sat pensively on a wall outside the Ninja Academy,
๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฉ?
Hikaru shook his head, thinking that this truly was a dangerous world. Strength was the only thing that mattered, and it had to be absolute, else you risked becoming just another Hanzo or Tobirama.
It had been five years since he transmigrated to this ninja world, yet it never failed to amaze him just how perilous this second life of his was. Still, he wasn't genuinely worried. Not only did he wield the most powerful weapon of all, knowledge, but if worse comes to worst, he'll simply end up in the Pure Land.
That didn't change the fact that he was extremely lacking. Moreover, being from an incredibly peaceful environment made it difficult to adapt emotionally and physically to this new kill-or-be-killed world. Still, everything changed given enough time; at least, that was what Hikaru believed.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จโฆ ๐๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ข ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ช ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด. Sighing, the peculiar young Uchiha bent his head back and gazed into the cloudy sky.
๐๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต? ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ช, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
"Hey, hey! Wanna train with me, Hikaru?" A bright, challenging voice interrupted the boy's thoughts.
"Obitoโฆ" Rolling his eyes, Hikaru jumped off the wall he was resting on and turned to face the so-called black sheep of the Uchiha clan. The most frustrating thing was that Hikaru was barely any better; his talent was quite pitiful, especially considering who his parent was.
The only thing Hikaru had going for him was his fine control over chakra. He had been practicing as early as the age of 3, which was when he first felt able to safely do so without damaging his developing body. Using the Leaf Concentration method worked wonders in improving both his concentration and chakra control. Nonetheless, what good was chakra control without enough chakra to do anything?
"Fineโฆ Let's go." ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ'๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ช, ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ.
"Yes! I knew you wouldn't miss the chance to train with the great me!"
"Yeah, yeah, thanks so much for bestowing me the privilege of training with you, oh great one."
๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฏ, ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ.
Rubbing the back of his head, Obito let out a laugh with his eyes briefly closed.
"It's just... with the war finally ending, I can't afford to slack off! I have to become Hokage and stop wars from happening ever again!"
"Geez, you really are hopeless. Still going on about that dream of yours when Kakashi is the same age as us?"
"Hey, I'm just as good as Kakashi. You'll see!"
Despite himself, Hikaru smiled. ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช.
All of a sudden, Obito rushed forward for no explicable reason, at least until Hikaru's eyes rested upon the gentle girl with her hands behind her back, Rin Nohara.
"Hey, Rin! Did you hear the good news??"
"Hello, Obito," she smiled warmly at the energetic Uchiha. "Yes, it's great isn't it? Finally, all that bloodshed is over."
Walking towards them, Hikaru aloofly stood beside Obito, nodding towards Rin in greeting.
"Hello, Hikaru," she said, returning his greeting with a bright smile. "Are you and Obito going to train again?"
"That's right! We can't rest, even in peacetime!"
"What he said. We have a lot of work to do, after all."
"That's a very good mindset! I look forward to seeing the results of all your hard work."
"You should come watch us! If you want!"
"I'm sorry, I have to meet my parents" Rejecting Obito with an apologetic smile, she spoke once again when she saw his disappointed expression, "But, I can come watch you train another time if you'd like?"
"Yes! I mean, uh, that'd be good. I'd like that." Obito rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, bashfully smiling.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ. ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ง ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโฆ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ป๐บ.
๐๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช'๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ, ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ถ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ต, ๐ช๐ต'๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ, ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ซ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ช ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ๐ด.
Inwardly sighing, Hikaru focused back on the conversation just as it ended, as Rin bid her farewells to the two.
With no other reason to delay their plans, the two boys quickly arrived at the Uchiha training grounds and began sparring.
Two hours later, the two black sheep of the Uchiha clan lay panting on the ground, drenched in sweat.
"Hah, hah, hahhh," Hikaru punched the dirt in frustration, ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข.
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ, ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฏ๐ถ๐ง๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฐ๐ต'๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐บ '๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ข ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐ข'. A cruel smile spread across his face for the briefest of seconds before being wiped away by Obito's next words.
"Hah, that was a good training session. Thanks, Hikaru! I can always depend on you!" Obito remarked after pulling his goggles past his eyes and wiping the sweat off his forehead.
Shaking off his feelings of frustration, Hikaru looked over towards Obito and offered a small smile, "Of course, as fellow Uchiha clansmen we must stick together."
"Hmm, too bad we don't have our sharingan yet, then Kakashi would know we are his equal!"
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช, ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช, ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช, ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ฏ. Finding this thought funny, he smirked as he began walking away.
"Waitโฆ where are you going?" Obito quirked his head sideways when he noticed Hikaru leaving.
"I'm going home. See you another time." Then, waving backward at Obito, Hikaru left the training area and began walking the streets again. He disliked having to engage with his classmates more than necessary; it was too tiresome and a waste of his limited time.
Eventually, he stopped just outside of the Hatake house, staring intently at it, unsure of what he should do. He wasn't worried about Kakashi; the boy spent most of his time training alone, away from home these days, unable to deal with his depressed father.
๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ.
Despite Hikaru's safety net that was the Pure Land, he didn't feel particularly at ease; after all, who even knew if he would end up there? It was more likely that he'd be thrust into yet another world. No, he had to do everything he possibly could in this life.
After deciding, there was nothing left to do but simply see where his decision led him. Walking towards the door, he crossed the boundary of the house's premises and stood directly in front of the door.
๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ
๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ
Some shuffling could be heard, succeeded by footsteps, then silence fell for several minutes. Eventually, the door opened, revealing a man striking an uncanny resemblance to Kakashi; yet, for all the splendor of his silver hair, it only made him look all the more pitiful. He was like a star consumed by darkness; from his listless eyes, pale skin, slumped shoulders, and stiff movements, he seemed to be in his death throes. Close to taking his own life, in Hikaru's estimation.
"Excuse me, Sakumo, sir," bowing his head Hikaru greeted the Hatake patriarch as respectfully as possible.
"Yesโฆ Aren't you one of Kakashi's classmates? Are you here to see him? If so, I'm afraid he's not here right now."
"Actually, I'm here to see you, sir," Hikaru said as he offered a smile.
"What business could an Academy student have with an old pariah like me?" Sakumo's face showed the slightest hint of bewilderment behind his blank expression.
"For instruction, of course! Your power even surpasses the legendary Sannin!"
Silence descended upon the two for several seconds.
"You don't want to be taught by someone like me" Waving his hand dismissively, Sakumo turned as he began closing the door.
"Please! I need to become stronger; I want to catch up to Kakashi, and become worthy of being his rival! I need to be strong enough to protect my comrades!" Impassioned pleading bursts forth from the young boy's mouth, and suddenly the White Fang halted.
๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด. Truthfully, Hikaru couldn't care less about his comrades or catching up to Kakashi; more than anything else, he wanted to surpass Kakashi.
Various thoughts flicked through Sakumo's mind as he considered the brazen boy's words. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do, but the question wasโฆ did he want to teach the boy anything? Of course, he didn't want to do anything, but he began to feel a faint pull. Another strong rival for Kakashi would do him good, and he admired the Uchiha's desire to protect his comrades.
Looking back at the almost impudent Academy student, Sakumo finally actually saw him; the boy's determination was strong and clear to see, he was calm, yet his eyes betrayed some anxiety over the request he had made.
๐๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ตโฆThe White Fang examined Hikaru for a time, conflicted.
"You've got guts; I'll give you that. Not many would seek out their rival's own parent for training." Shaking his head, he spoke again, "Still, my answer is no." He continued closing the door.
"Wait! Is there something I could do? To make you accept me?" ๐๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโฆ ๐๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ.
Again, silence fell. It remained this way for so long that Hikaru began to think that Sakumo had already walked away.
๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ... ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐? While he had little interest in training the boy, he could at least test him.
"You really are a persistent one. Fine. There are creatures known as Red Striped Tigers in the Forest of Death. Kill one, bring its pelt to me, and I'll train you."
"Thank you for giving me a chance, sir." Then, bowing deeply to the closed door, Hikaru swiftly turned around, passed the boundaries of the house again, and started walking in the direction of his own home.
Shortly after leaving the Hatake house, Hikaru passed Kakashi, who was on his way home. Casting a slightly intrigued look towards his fellow student, Kakashi just shrugged and continued walking past him without another word; the boy was cut from the same cloth as Obito; after all, there was no reason worth talking to him.
๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ช ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ. Nonetheless, Hikaru could only laugh at such a childish mentality coming from the future Hokage.
After walking some more, Hikaru finally arrived at his house, a modest two-floor building with five rooms (excluding the bathroom), nestled in between dozens of similarly designed buildings, it was utterly unremarkable, yet it was special to him.
Sliding the door open, he took his sandals off and placed them in their designated area. "Daddd, I'm home!" he shouted as he always did when entering the house.
"Ah, there's my boy! Have you heard the news? I bet you're excited that mom is finally coming home!" A cheerful yet serene male voice drifted towards him from the kitchen.
Heading to the back of the house, Hikaru found his father preparing food, as was the norm in the last couple of years.
Sora Daigo was a tall man in his late twenties, lean, and not someone people would consider powerful or overbearing, yet he had a certain quality of strength to him. His bright purple eyes belied a liveliness that represented his personality well, and his light purple hair was neatly trimmed, leaving just a thin braid on the right side of his head. Unlike his son, Sora's face was well-rounded, with only a hint of sharpness to his features. He tended to wear light purple clothing, in line with his hair and eye color.
"Yeah! I'm glad the war is finally over. She doesn't have to be away from home any longer." Hikaru let a genuine smile blossom on his face. He had a soft spot for his new parents. Though he hadn't known them long, their love was as clear as a blue sky, and it meant something to him.
"So am I buddy, so am I." Sighing, his father stretched his arms, "War is an evil thing. It does nothing but breed misery and hatred. Hopefully, with the conclusion of this one, there'll be some lasting peace between the nations."
"Yeahโฆ" Hikaru could only halfheartedly nod as he sat down, at the table, before changing the topic, "How's work?"
Sora turned to face his son with a bitter smile, "You know how it is. People can be scared and resentful; foreigners aren't exactly welcome at a time like this. Still, I can't complain; peddling goods is honest work."
"I'm sure things will get better now that the war is over," the boy replied, not believing his own words. He knew better than most just how petty and cruel Konoha's villagers could be
"I'm sure they will, son," his father replied with a smile as he set some food on the table. Like that, they spent an hour eating and chatting in a relaxed mood. Towards the end of the meal, Hikaru made an unusual request of his father.
"What could you possibly need oil for?" Sora raised an eyebrow in bafflement.
"Training, of course. I want to see if I can do something with it." Hikaru shamelessly lied.
"Hmm." After hesitating for a while, the man finally nodded, "Just be careful, okay?"
"I will!" Nodding thoughtfully, Hikaru readily agreed.
"Good boy. I'll see if I can get some for you tomorrow, a small jug's worth," Patting his son on the head, Sora then stood up to begin cleaning the dishes.
Leaving the dining room, Hikaru went upstairs and entered his room.
Sitting on the floor, he began to circulate chakra around his body, a process he had done so often that it was practically tradition at this point. He did so in an attempt to expand his chakra pathways through usage and to familiarize himself deeply with his own chakra and how to manipulate it.
Once he was satisfied, he shifted gears slightly and spun his chakra into a tight spiral in the direction that his hair grew. From what he recalled, this was an effective method of building up his chakra.
After a while of spiralling his chakra, he then accumulated chakra within his body, to the point where it began to overflow with chakra past its natural capacity to store it. It was something he picked up from Itachi, actually โ When the Uchiha prodigy wanted to unleash a terrifyingly powerful jutsu far beyond his ability, he would build up chakra over time until he was practically bursting with it. At its core, it was a similar technique to Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal, which Hikaru believed it had been inspired by.
It required incredible chakra control, which meant that naturally, only geniuses like Sakura and Itachi or hard workers like Naruto could pull off such a thing, which also, unfortunately, meant that since Hikaru wasn't a genius, he'd have to put in a lot of work to do so.
Even with his efforts over the past year, he was still only able to safely build up his chakra to about 5% past his usual capacity; any more than that, and it would spiral out of his control and go haywire. However, it did accrue benefits elsewhere, mainly in increasing Hikaru's chakra control, which was a big deal.
"Hahโฆ" Exhaling, he finally opened his eyes, releasing all of the chakra from his control and letting it flow naturally once more. His body ached and burned all over, from where he assumed his chakra points were and his chakra pathways. Without the ability afforded to sharingan or byakugan users, he was somewhat flailing in the dark when it came to testing and refining his approach to chakra control. In another sense, he was doing it the natural way, as opposed to the cheater's way. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณโฆ
Sighing, Hikaru stretched, climbed to his feet, and then fell onto his bed, slowly falling asleep as thoughts whizzed past his mind.