I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

Konoha, in a forest near a river.

The sound of blades slicing through the air continued to echo.

call--

call--

A figure that didn't appear particularly strong was wielding a long sword that seemed disproportionately large for his size with practiced ease.

Although his movements were still somewhat clumsy, he steadily improved with each swing of his sword. Like a piece of refined iron that had been repeatedly forged, impurities were stripped away through repetition, and the foundation was solidified through repetition.

His arms moved tirelessly, like a machine.

"Nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-three..."

"Nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-four..."

In the shadows, a pair of eyes peered through layers of tree shade at the figure wielding a knife by the riverbank.

"Twenty thousand!"

Is this what a genius's daily training tasks are like?

A gasp of surprise.

The figure hiding in the bushes stumbled and rolled out of the bushes.

—A green bodysuit, a watermelon-shaped haircut, he looks just like a kappa.

Whoosh!

The sound of something cutting through the air came suddenly.

A kunai flew past his cheek and embedded itself in the tree trunk behind him, its tail rope swaying gently.

"what!"

He didn't have time to react at all.

The next second, everything went dark.

The man who was just twenty paces away wielding his knife was now standing right in front of him.

"What are you doing here?"

Uchiha Sakugo looked down at the green-skinned kappa that had rolled out.

His tone was very indifferent.

If he hadn't deliberately tilted the kunai by an inch—

Might Guy, who shattered Madara Uchiha's Six Paths with a single kick, is going to die in the newbie village today.

"I, I..."

Kai was so nervous that his tongue got tied.

The person before me is a genius of the Uchiha clan, the top scorer in this year's Ninja Academy entrance exam, a monster who surpasses even Kakashi Hatake.

He was a complete failure who couldn't even get into the ninja academy.

Faced with such a genius, Kai was extremely nervous.

Can he really be a match for such a monster?

Can he really defeat Uchiha Shoko?

My father once said that you can only become stronger by challenging the strong.

But now, actually standing in front of this person, he couldn't even speak properly.

But he still mustered all his courage and shouted it out:

"Be my rival!"

The sound echoed through the woods.

Uchiha Sakugo raised an eyebrow slightly.

Of course he recognized that face.

—Matt Kai.

A man with a mortal body who fought against the Six Paths Madara.

The pinnacle of physical combat, the Azure Beast.

But that was twenty years later.

Right now, Kai is just a bottom-of-the-class student who can't even get into school. He wears a ridiculous green bodysuit, has a watermelon-shaped haircut, and exudes idiocy.

He didn't want to get entangled with this kappa.

Such an enviable bond should be left to Kakashi Hatake.

"Not interested."

He turned and left.

I heard hurried footsteps behind me.

"etc!"

Kai caught up, spreading his arms to block him, his chest heaving, but his eyes burned with fire. "I... I know you're a genius, the number one... but I must challenge you! This is my father's expectation, and this is my ninja way!"

Uchiha Sakugo stopped in his tracks.

He looked at the seven-year-old child in front of him—his tight-fitting clothes were covered with grass and dirt, his knees still bore the marks of the scrapes he had suffered when he fell, and two withered twigs were stuck in his watermelon head.

But those eyes were incredibly bright.

This is Kai... ah.

Shuoge sighed inwardly.

Reckless, stubborn, and ignorant of one's own limitations.

But it was this very person who, twenty years later, would use the Eight Gates to deliver a kick powerful enough to make even Madara Uchiha (Six Paths Madara) applaud.

"What are you using to challenge me?"

Shuoge's voice remained calm.

"Use...use hand-to-hand combat!"

Kai clenched his fist. "I don't know anything, only martial arts! But I run 500 laps every day, do 1,000 push-ups, and kick a wooden stake 1,000 times! I won't lose to you!"

"Five hundred laps? A thousand push-ups?"

Shuoge suddenly laughed.

It wasn't a mocking laugh, but rather one with a certain indescribable meaning.

"Do you know how many times I swung my knife just now?"

Kai was taken aback.

—Twenty thousand times!

Of course he knew that he was counting here, starting from the first time Shuoge swung his sword, counting one by one.

Until—twenty thousand times!

"Twenty thousand times," Shuoge said. "Not the number for one day, but the basic number for each day."

He bypassed the stunned Kai and walked toward the long sword stuck in the river.

"What do you think genius is? Is it being born able to fly? Or being able to kill your opponent with a single glare?"

The moment he gripped the hilt of the knife, he turned around.

"Your father is right, you can only become stronger by challenging the strong."

"But what you need right now is not to challenge me."

"What you need is—to learn how to walk up to me standing up first."

Kai's pupils contracted sharply.

By the time he came to his senses, Shuoge had already sheathed his sword and headed into the depths of the forest.

"etc!"

He chased after her again, "Then how...how can I get to you?!"

Shuoge's steps did not stop.

"The brain is for thinking, not for decorating a watermelon."

The figure disappeared into the shadows of the trees.

Kai was left standing alone, clenching his fists, staring at the empty forest.

a long time.

"I will definitely come to you!!"

The boy's roar echoed through the forest.

A flock of birds took flight.

……

……

……

Uchiha Sakugo sat cross-legged by the pond in his backyard, holding a well-worn intelligence scroll in his hand.

This was a report on a border conflict that he had bought from the black market with three months' worth of pocket money.

A minor skirmish between Konoha and Iwagakure.

Death toll: 47.

Among them, there are 31 genin, 15 chunin, and 1 jonin.

Next to the name of that Jonin, there was a line of small print: Encountered the Iwagakure Explosives Squad, his body was never recovered.

Jonin.

No remains were found.

Shuoge placed the scroll on his lap and looked up at the night sky.

There was no moon. Only countless stars, like a multitude of eyes, coldly surveyed this world destined for rivers of blood.

He is a traveler.

He knew what the future held.

The Third Shinobi World War is about to break out in full force.

In the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, Kakashi Hatake obtained the Sharingan, and Obito Uchiha "died." The Nine-Tails' attack resulted in the Fourth Hokage and his wife's deaths. Then came the night of the Uchiha Clan massacre.

That night, all the Uchiha will die.

Including him.

—If he does nothing.

"call--"

Shuoge let out a long breath and stood up.

War is imminent.

Very close.

Perhaps next year, perhaps the year after, the flames of war will reach Konoha.

He must have the ability to survive before the war arrives.

-

The next day, at four in the morning.

Konoha Training Ground #7

Sakugo stood on a branch as thin as an arm, his feet gripping the bark only with his thumbs, his body parallel to the ground, maintaining the most basic chakra attachment training.

He had been standing there for two hours.

My calves are shaking.

My thighs are shaking.

My whole body was shaking.

But he didn't move.

The standard for a genin is being able to stand steadily on any foothold for three minutes.

Chunin time is ten minutes.

The Jonin's time is thirty minutes.

And he had to do it—in three hours.

Because he didn't know where he would stand on the battlefield in the future.

Are they slippery rocks?

Is it a dilapidated bridge on the verge of collapse?

Or on the shoulder of a corpse?

If you can't even stand still, then you don't even have the right to wield a knife.

"Forty-seven minutes left."

He gritted his teeth and counted the seconds.

-

Five o'clock in the morning.

He jumped down from the tree, his legs almost numb, and when he landed, he stumbled and his knees hit the ground hard.

He didn't stop.

He dragged his two unresponsive legs to the waterfall at the edge of the training field.

The river water was already bone-chilling in early winter.

The waterfall crashed down on me, feeling like countless tiny knives scraping me.

He drew the long sword from his back and aimed it at the waterfall in front of him.

Swing a knife.

Swing a knife.

Swing a knife.

The water flow can obstruct your view.

The force of the water flow is weakened.

The water flow will cause the knife to deviate from its path.

Then he swung his knife in the flowing water.

Until every strike can cleave through the water curtain, until the body remembers—no matter the circumstances, the blade should always land where it is meant to land.

-

7:00 AM.

The sun rises.

A small figure peeked out from the woods on the opposite bank of the river.

Green tight-fitting clothes, watermelon head.

Matt Kai.

He came to the riverbank as usual, ready to begin today's training—his father had said that even if he didn't get into the ninja academy, he couldn't stop trying.

Then he saw the figure wielding a knife beneath the distant waterfall.

A misty haze filled the air.

The blade flashed.

The figure stood at the most turbulent part of the waterfall, letting the water crash against his body as he swung his sword again and again.

How long has he been swinging?

Kai didn't know.

All he knew was that person—the genius who surpassed Kakashi—waving his sword in the waterfall.

Wielding a knife in the flowing water.

He started wielding his knife while he was still asleep.

Kai stood there, stunned, his clenched fists trembling slightly.

-

Under the waterfall.

Shuoge's vision began to blur.

It's not from being tired.

The waterfall was hitting my face so hard I could barely open my eyes.

But he kept waving.

"Eight thousand three hundred and twenty-one."

"Eight thousand three hundred and twenty-two."

can't stop.

The demolition squad of Iwagakure will not give him a chance to stop.

The Cloud Hidden's AB combination won't give him a chance to stop.

The man who would one day personally slaughter his entire clan—Uchiha Itachi—would not give him a chance to stop.

Eight thousand five hundred.

The water that the blade sliced ​​through splashed into my mouth, carrying a rusty, bloody taste.

The tiger's mouth was already split open.

But he didn't stop.

If you don't become stronger, you will die.

It's that simple.

As the waterfall's flow slowed, he sheathed his longsword and turned to walk towards the ironwood tree not far away—the training in the water wasn't enough; he needed a harder target to hone his strength.

-

Eight o'clock in the morning.

Kai finished running 500 laps today and returned to the riverbank, panting heavily.

There was no one left at the foot of the waterfall.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, I can rest.

Then he heard the sound of trees snapping coming from the distant woods.

He ran over.

Then he saw—

A huge tree that takes two people to hug, its trunk covered with countless knife marks.

The black-haired boy was standing in front of the tree, hacking away at it with his sword.

With each cut, bark flew off the tree.

With each cut, wood chips flew everywhere.

Kai's pupils contracted sharply.

That tree—

That's ironwood.

Tetsuki, used by the ninja academy as a target for kunai.

He had heard his father say that a genin's full-force strike would only leave a shallow white mark. A chunin would need ten strikes to cut off a small piece of bark.

And that person—

There was already a fist-deep gash in the tree trunk in front of him.

-

noon.

Kai sat by the river, munching on the rice balls his father had prepared.

His mind went completely blank.

Five hundred laps.

A thousand push-ups.

One thousand kicks to the stake.

He thought this was what hard work was all about.

He thought that was the limit.

But that person—

He wielded his knife in the waterfall.

He was cutting down trees on ironwood.

He practiced from four in the morning until noon.

Eight hours.

Eight hours in total.

He had just finished running 500 laps.

Is this what genius is?

Kai suddenly felt ridiculous.

He remembered what that person had said yesterday—

"What do you think a genius is? Someone who's born knowing how to fly?"

No.

no.

That person's genius—

It was chopped out piece by piece with a knife.

It comes out drop by drop from sweat.

It was achieved by wielding a knife while everyone else was still asleep.

Kai lowered his head and looked at the rice ball in his hand.

Then he stood up.

Stuff the rice ball into your mouth and swallow it in a few bites.

He started running his 501st lap.

-

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

Shuoge sheathed his sword.

All of today's goals have been achieved.

Knife technique practice: 20,000 times.

Physical training: eight sets.

Chakra control: five hours.

Ironwood felling: to a depth of 18 centimeters.

He leaned against the tree trunk, panting heavily.

My whole body aches.

The tiger's mouth was split open.

My shoulder is swollen.

My knees are scraped up.

But he is alive.

He is a little bit better today than he was yesterday.

Just a little bit.

But if we can get a little bit stronger every day—

When war comes, his chances of surviving will be just a tiny bit higher.

enough.

He closed his eyes, letting his tired body rest briefly.

Those names flashed through my mind.

Minato Namikaze.

The future Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash. He will shine brightly in this war and become a hero of Konoha.

But most names will not be remembered.

Those low-ranking ninja who died in the mud.

Those nameless people who were blown to pieces by the explosive clay of the Hidden Rock Village.

Those who deserve only the words "no trace of their remains" on the intelligence scroll.

He doesn't want to become that kind of person.

He cannot become that kind of person.

-

dusk.

Shuoge stood up, ready to go home.

Then he saw a figure in a green leather bodysuit on the riverbank in the distance.

It's still running.

a circle.

Another lap.

My legs were weak, my steps were unsteady, and my breathing was completely out of control.

But he kept running.

Shuoge stopped and looked at the stumbling figure.

Five hundred laps.

A thousand push-ups.

One thousand kicks to the stake.

He remembered the amount of training Kai had mentioned yesterday.

I also remember what Kai saw today.

So this is your response?

Do you work even harder just because you see others working harder than you?

Shuoge remained silent for a long time.

Then he turned around and walked towards home.

They didn't say hello.

There was no encouragement.

There are no passionate lines.

Because he doesn't have time.

I don't have time to make friends.

There's no time to play any "youthful games".

There was no time to build any "Konoha bonds".

War is coming.

He must survive.

That's it.

-

Behind me, the green-skinned figure was still running.

a circle.

Another lap.

The setting sun cast long shadows of the two people.

One is heading east.

One is heading west.

One ran.

One of them left.

No one looked back.