The bloody setting sun dyed the training ground in an amber hue, and the air was thick with the scent of scorched earth, making even the breeze feel scorching hot.
Uchiha Reki was panting heavily, his gaze locked firmly on Uchiha Shisui opposite him as his mind raced, plotting how to secure victory.
"Shisui, your Fire Release is far stronger than mine."
A hint of teasing colored Uchiha Reki's voice, yet his gaze was exceptionally earnest.
Uchiha Shisui snapped back to reality, taking a deep breath as his gaze regained its firmness.
"Reki-daigaku, you really are stronger than I imagined."
"You are no dropout at the Ninja Academy; you are an absolute powerhouse of the Uchiha clan."
Uchiha Reki shrugged, feeling rather flattered by the praise.
"Don't stare at me like I'm some kind of monster. This is mere child's play—"
"However," Uchiha Shisui pivoted, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, "Reki-daigaku, you haven't mastered the Sharingan after all."
Before his voice even faded, Uchiha Shisui's eyes suddenly flared with crimson light, a single tomoe spinning wildly within his pupils.
Quietly, he activated his most proficient Genjutsu, attempting to shatter Uchiha Reki's willpower in an instant.
Before these eyes, no matter how formidable Reki-daigaku's Ninjutsu might be, without matching ocular power, he would be utterly incapable of resisting.
Just when Uchiha Shisui thought victory was within his grasp, Uchiha Reki dealt him yet another surprise.
He closed his eyes and slowly opened them again.
The exact same single tomoe. The exact same crimson glow.
Uchiha Shisui thought his eyes were playing tricks on him; Reki-daigaku had actually awakened the Sharingan, just like him!
"How is this possible..."
Uchiha Shisui's voice carried a trace of trembling, a single tomoe spinning frantically within his irises as he tried to pierce through the illusion before him.
Yet in that very instant, he felt as though an invisible cage had enveloped him.
No matter how desperately he struggled, he could not break free from this unseen restraint.
"Guh!" Uchiha Shisui abruptly dropped to one knee, his fingertips digging deep into the scorched earth.
The excessive drain on his ocular power left him shaking uncontrollably before he finally collapsed onto the ground.
Uchiha Reki let out a breath. "Chakra exhaustion, is it?"
Sure enough, compared to a genuine cheater, a genius like Shisui still fell a bit short.
Only... where was the reward? Come on, drop the reward already.
He waited for a long time, but the familiar electronic chime never sounded.
Could it be that Uchiha Shisui's threshold had risen, making it harder to obtain rewards as well?
Uchiha Reki frowned, feeling a tinge of annoyance.
Tsk, this system had way too many requirements.
Uchiha Reki stepped forward, hoisted the weakened Uchiha Shisui onto his shoulder, and walked toward Shisui's home, conveniently stopping along the way to buy a few skewers of dango.
Inside Uchiha Shisui's home, the lighting was soft, and a faint aroma of tea filled the air.
Uchiha Reki and Uchiha Shisui sat facing each other, burying their heads in eating dango and sipping tea from time to time.
In the quiet room, only the two of them chewing softly could be heard.
"Reki-daigaku," Uchiha Shisui spoke up abruptly, breaking the silence.
Uchiha Reki raised his head and looked at Shisui. "Hmm?"
A trace of curiosity and doubt lingered in Uchiha Shisui's eyes. "Did you really inherit the First Hokage's ninjutsu?"
Uchiha Reki gave a helpless smile. "My dear Shisui, didn't I tell you? I've only learned a tiny bit of it."
With that, he even began counting on his fingers, though very few of those techniques were actually suited for a real fight.
The road ahead was long and arduous.
Uchiha Shisui rested his chin in his hand, a look of lingering worry clouding his face.
"Reki-daigaku, what happened today will spread through the entire village very soon."
"An Uchiha who has inherited the First Hokage's ninjutsu sounds utterly mind-boggling no matter how you look at it. Konohagakure's higher-ups will take notice of you because of this."
"Some members of our own clan already reject you, and now the higher-ups in Konohagakure might develop some strange ideas about you as well..."
Uchiha Reki interrupted Uchiha Shisui. "Let me correct you: it's not some, it's the vast, vast majority."
Uchiha Shisui wore a deadpan expression. Was this really the time to care about such details?
Could he please focus on the main point?
Seeing Uchiha Shisui looking as constipated as he did, Uchiha Reki actually burst out laughing.
"So what?"
Uchiha Shisui: "?"
Regarding this senior who was a few years older than him, Uchiha Shisui sometimes really wanted to crack open his head just to see what kind of weird stuff was stored inside.
Uchiha Reki swallowed the last bite of dango, letting out a sound of utter satisfaction.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze growing profound.
"Don't worry. No matter how much the clansmen reject me, what can they possibly do? Are they going to chase me out of Konohagakure? As for the higher-ups..."
He paused. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Uchiha Shisui sighed and shook his head.
"Fine. There really is no helping you."
Uchiha Reki stood up, patted Shisui on the shoulder, and turned to leave the room.
"Get some rest. I'm heading out."
Leaving Uchiha Shisui's house, Uchiha Reki put away his smile.
He gazed at the distant Hokage Rock and muttered to himself, "What was the Will of Fire again? I need to go back and give it some serious thought."
That night, a bored Uchiha Reki once again entered his inner space.
He saw Senju Hashirama, equally bored, lying on the ground and picking his nails.
"Lord Hashirama, aren't you tired from not sleeping?"
Senju Hashirama was taken aback. "Souls shouldn't need to eat or sleep, right?"
"That makes sense." Uchiha Reki nodded and sat down right next to Senju Hashirama.
After chatting idly for a while, Senju Hashirama brought up Uchiha Reki's performance today.
"When you used Wood Release, I saw my own shadow in you."
A hint of nostalgia and gratification colored Senju Hashirama's tone.
"What I didn't expect, however, was that you quietly awakened the Sharingan."
"At that exact moment, I honestly thought Uchiha Madara had been resurrected."
Uchiha Reki did not take up the thread.
He knew Senju Hashirama's feelings toward Uchiha Madara were complicated, filled with both deep friendship and an unresolvable hatred.
Senju Hashirama, who wasn't particularly bright to begin with, felt like his brain was struggling even more.
Yet judging by Uchiha Reki's current performance, he still leaned a bit closer to the Senju style.
He pulled his punches during combat and never dealt a fatal blow.
Even after awakening the Sharingan later on, he remained entirely rational.
For that alone, he was far superior to many other Uchiha.
What Konohagakure needed right now wasn't madmen, but rather ninja possessing benevolence who were willing to protect the villagers.
And Uchiha Reki's current character gave him very little to legitimately complain about.
He recalled the first time he met Uchiha Reki, when he had actually prepared to flatten him with a Wood Release technique...
Senju Hashirama felt a pang of guilt for almost wronging a genuinely good person.
Thinking of this, he shook his head with a guilty expression, having nearly wronged a truly good man.
[Coming from Senju Hashirama, you have obtained a Mysterious Grand Scroll]
[Coming from Senju Hashirama, you have mastered Sealing Jutsu]