Chapter 9: I Don't Kill Ninjas from My Village

Chapter 9: I Don't Kill Ninjas from My Village

The blue sky stretched out like an immense canvas, adorned with a few clouds, making anyone who saw it feel happy. In the Land of Fire, in the Hidden Leaf Village, in a courtyard of the Uchiha clan residence.

"Ugh!"

Tobio Uchiha sighed deeply. He knew that Fugaku Uchiha wouldn't call him without a reason. It was about the testing of his students; someone had reported him. And his arrival wasn't timely, as he also encountered the clan elder. That old man looked at him as if he were seeing a dazzling beauty, with eyes shining with excitement. Then, he stole the attention of the clan leader and began to scold him with his mouth wide open.

"Even though your medical skills are high, that doesn't justify using such extreme methods to test the students. The bell-catching game not only improves team cooperation but also strengthens the bonds between comrades. The most important thing is that the only danger in that game is the teacher. What can you achieve with your method? What are you cultivating? Poison resistance? Or the ability to form bonds while everyone is in the bathroom?"

"Our Uchiha clan barely produces a teacher every few years, do you know why? It's because of teachers like you, who don't follow the rules and sink the clan even further, which is already at the bottom."

Seeing that the elder wouldn't stop talking, Tobio wiped the spit that had splashed on his face, then lifted his head and patiently explained:

"Elder, actually, my intentions in doing that were very clear: I wanted to test those three students."

Before Tobio could finish, the elder slammed the table, interrupting him and continuing his rant.

"To test how long they can have diarrhea?"

"Heh, heh."

Tobio let out a cold laugh, closed his eyes, and decided not to listen to the elder's nonsense. The old man had heart problems and no children. If he upset him until he got sick, the elder would throw himself to the ground at that very moment, the next day he would be in the hospital, and the following day at home. The sun began to set, and five teapots had already been served. Smelling the aroma of food in the air, the elder drank the last cup of tea and, seeing Tobio's frustrated face, felt immensely satisfied. He hadn't felt this good in years. The last time was when he became a ninja and received recognition from Madara-sama.

"I promised the parents of those three students that in the future, you would teach them correctly, step by step, without any weird ideas." The elder slowly stood up, preparing to go home for dinner. But as soon as he got up, a warm sensation in his leg quickly rose to his head.

Buzz!

With his mind blank, the elder felt his legs were unresponsive. He was finished. He had been sitting for too long, and his legs had fallen asleep. Seeing the elder collapsing toward him, Tobio was surprised. Damn it! After listening to your nonsense all afternoon, now you want to take advantage of me? And there was no one around. If the old man fell in front of him, he wouldn't be able to explain it. Thinking this, Tobio lifted his foot and kicked the elder in the face. The elder barely had time to scream when he felt a strong blow on his forehead, being thrown back with great force.

Bang!

The elder flew into Fugaku's room, breaking the door.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Fugaku, who had just come out of the kitchen, heard the noise and immediately appeared in the front courtyard. Seeing the human-shaped hole in the door, Fugaku directed his gaze at Tobio and asked:

"What happened here?"

"Huff!"

Tobio took a deep breath, looked at the hole, and, making a reconciliatory gesture, said in a serious voice:

"Elder, I have received the lesson." Then, he turned to the clan leader and continued: "Leader, the elder wanted to test my skills, and we didn't control our strength well. I have things to attend to; I will take my leave."

"Aren't you staying for dinner?"

"No, thank you for the offer, leader."

Whoosh!

Just as Tobio disappeared, Mikoto Uchiha appeared next to Fugaku, wearing an apron, a frying pan in one hand, and a spatula in the other. Seeing the hole in the door, she asked worriedly:

"Elder, are you okay?"

"I'm very well! Very well! Today I feel great!" Saying this, the elder came out of the room, leaning on his cane, with a smile on his face. Seeing the elder covered in dust and with a big footprint on his face, Mikoto hesitated and asked again:

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." The elder shook the dust off his clothes, looked at Mikoto's pregnant belly, and then turned to the direction where Tobio had disappeared, thoughtful.

Plop!

After thinking for a moment, he gently tapped the ground with his cane and said slowly:

"Since Tsunade developed her blood phobia, that boy is the best in combat among medical ninjas and the best in medicine among combat ninjas. The perfect bodyguard. And the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, is looking for candidates to complete his guard team. I think he is the one. The Uchiha clan has been repressed for too long; it's time to receive a reward."

PS: Here I made a correction. No one outside of the high command of Konoha knows that Kushina is the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi. I checked the manga; only the elders, the Third Hokage couple, Black Zetsu, and Obito know this. Not even the Sannin know this. Tobio, of course, didn't know they were discussing him at Fugaku's house. He had already left the clan's territory and was at the Valley of the End, just outside the Hidden Leaf Village. Yes, the place where Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had their final battle.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hearing the roar of the waterfall, Tobio stroked his chin and looked at the torrent, thinking: It really is a good place to practice walking on water. Even if you fall and break some bones, it's no problem. I'm a doctor, after all. Between the option of the waterfall and the smoother current, Tobio finally decided to use the waterfall to improve his students' strength. The time they had left, they could use to train other things. Now it wasn't Naruto's time, and they had plenty of time to practice in the calmer current.

"Hey, you! What family are you from? Where are your parents?" It was a question Tobio had wanted to ask for a while. When he arrived at the waterfall, there were already three children there. He watched for a while and didn't see any adults with them. Were they so careless as to leave three kids alone at a waterfall?

"Ahem!"

One of the children brought his fist to his mouth and coughed slightly, imitating the arrogant attitude of adults, saying in a childish voice:

"We are from the Uchiha clan, and we are here to see Madara..."

Bang! Tobio Uchiha kicked the child who had spoken off the cliff, falling into the pond below. The other two children, seeing their companion kicked after revealing their identity, got scared and started crying with big tears.

—Mom, there's a bad man! —I want to go home! Clang! A kunai stabbed into the spot where the child who had been kicked was. The two crying children stopped upon seeing the black kunai shining before them, swallowing their tears again. Does this guy eat kids? Before they could find an escape route, they felt as if someone had hit their butts, and they could no longer feel the ground under their feet. Tobio Uchiha looked at the children falling off the cliff and then turned to the forest behind him, frowning.

—Come out! As soon as he finished speaking, two masked ninjas appeared immediately in front of him. With fox and tiger masks, tight black clothes, and white tank tops... Seeing their attire, Tobio Uchiha understood immediately where they came from. They were from the Root, the secret organization. Since they had just attacked, they were most likely from the Root.

—Hey! Hey! Tobio Uchiha rubbed his forehead with one hand, calculating the time in his mind and said with doubt.

—Shouldn't you tell me that Lord Danzo wants to see me? Why attack immediately? The two Root ninjas looked at each other and then drew their short swords from their waists, one lunging forward and the other from behind towards Tobio Uchiha.

Clang! A black kunai blocked the short sword. Tobio Uchiha stopped smiling, speaking in a firm voice.

—Twenty seconds! He finished speaking, quickly lifting the kunai, blocking the enemy's short sword, then turning to the left to block another short sword, lifted his right foot, and kicked the opponent's chest. Immediately, he distanced himself from the two enemies.

—Katon... Tobio Uchiha inhaled deeply, puffing out his chest and making his mouth inflate, his eyes turned red, and the air around seemed to burn.

—Gōkakyū no Jutsu! The flames burst from his mouth, igniting the air around him, creating a sea of fire in front of the two Root ninjas. The two Root ninjas opened their eyes in surprise, seeing the approaching sea of fire, swallowed hard, and their hands began making signs quickly.

—Suiton: Suijinheki!

As the flames approached, the water in the air began to stir, and two large columns of water enveloped the two Root ninjas.

Sizzle!

The fire collided with the water columns, creating a massive amount of steam that covered the entire area. The two Root ninjas, feeling the heat of the steam, removed their almost-melting masks and looked around cautiously. The steam made the surroundings blurry, making it impossible to know where Tobio Uchiha would attack from.

Tobio Uchiha spat on the ground and picked up a stone, throwing it into the steam. In less than a second, two clear sounds were heard from within the steam.

Bang! Bang!

"Nice try!"

Seeing the stone in his hand break and the two Root ninjas stagger but not fall, Tobio Uchiha admired their resilience. He then channeled chakra into his hand, cutting the muscles in their arms and legs.

"Chakra Scalpel!"

As a medic, he knew exactly where to cut to incapacitate the enemy without killing them. The technique worked quickly. Seeing the two Root ninjas on the ground, Tobio Uchiha dislocated their jaws and then jumped into the pond to rescue the children.

In just over ten seconds, he found the three children, who were spitting water, a sign that they had swallowed quite a bit. After attending to the three children, Tobio Uchiha approached the Root ninjas and observed them carefully.

To be honest, since graduating from the academy, he had encountered Root ninjas at least ten times. Whether they spoke little or much before attacking or found him in secluded places to attack, it always ended in a fight. But never before had they attacked without saying anything.

Looking at the female ninja on the ground, Tobio Uchiha opened her mouth and saw a seal on her tongue, shaking his head.

"It's the Root's curse seal."

"How incompetent, attacking immediately!"

"Well!"

He put the woman's tongue back and wiped his fingers on her clothes.

"Don't look at me with that resigned look; I don't want information."

The two Root ninjas were surprised but quickly their expressions turned grim.

"If he doesn't want information, then he will kill us."

"Relax!"

Tobio Uchiha seemed to know what they were thinking and said indifferently.

"I don't spill the blood of ninjas from my village. Even though you attacked me, we are from the same village and shouldn't waste our strength."

The two Root ninjas were baffled.

Did they encounter a saint?

An Uchiha who is a good person?

After helping the two Root ninjas sit face to face, with an arm's distance between them, Tobio Uchiha sighed and sat next to them, activating his Sharingan and calling the three Uchiha children.

"I am Tobio Uchiha. Today, I will teach you a lesson you won't learn anywhere else."

"So you..."

One of the children, with tears in his eyes, asked.

"Why did you kick me?"

Tobio Uchiha looked at him as if he were a fool and replied reasonably.

"I just wanted to focus on the fight."

Bang!

Seeing that the child wanted to say something more, Tobio Uchiha gave him a light tap on the head and then looked at the two Root ninjas.

"In your eyes, I see a strong desire to live. And I, as someone who doesn't kill those from my village..."

The female ninja, alert, frowned.

"What do you want to do? No matter the information, we won't say anything."

"I don't want to know that."

Tobio Uchiha touched the three children beside him, indicating they shouldn't get distracted, and took out paper and pencil from his bag, continuing:

"You attacked me and, honestly, I feel a bit upset. So now, you will drink some sake and play rock-paper-scissors. The winner will slap the other. You will play a hundred times. When you finish, if I feel satisfied, each of you will go home. But if the winner doesn't slap hard enough, I will slap the loser."

"Is it that simple?"

The two Root ninjas looked at Tobio Uchiha in disbelief. They couldn't believe he would let them go so easily. Was it really just about giving a hundred slaps and that was it?

"Yes!"

Tobio Uchiha nodded and took out some bottles of sake from a sealed scroll. Raising his right hand in the air, he said seriously:

"I swear by the honor of the Uchiha clan that what I say is true. Let's begin!"

Hearing this, the two Root ninjas felt a spark of hope. They couldn't believe they would be forgiven so easily. They really thought the Uchiha had some kind of mental problem. After all, it was just slaps...

After looking at each other, the female ninja said:

"I'll count to three, and we'll show our hands at the same time."

"Okay!"

"One, two, three."

The female ninja showed scissors and the male ninja showed paper.

Smack!

The sound of a slap echoed. Tobio Uchiha, seeing the large handprint on the male ninja's face, shook his head and sighed.

"What a pity..."

He handed a bottle of sake to the male ninja to console him.

"Drink a little. With enough sake, your face won't hurt as much."

"Huh?"

The male ninja, surprised by Tobio Uchiha's gesture, commented without thinking:

"You are a strange person."

Tobio Uchiha nodded repeatedly and then took out three buckets of honey wasabi fried chicken, handing them to the three children, who began eating while watching the ninjas play the slapping game.

No matter who lost, Tobio Uchiha offered a bottle of sake and words of consolation.

One of the children, holding a chicken leg, looked at the ninjas playing and asked his companion in a low voice:

"What are they doing?"

"I don't know."

The other child also seemed puzzled but admitted the chicken was delicious.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

With each slap, the child watching turned to his companion and asked:

"Do they have a problem?"

"I don't know."

His companion was equally baffled.

Smack!

The male ninja, holding his cheek, looked at his companion in disbelief. Why had her slap suddenly increased in strength?

"I slipped."

The female ninja smiled nervously. After drinking some sake, her control over her body had diminished.

"Whew!"

The male ninja sighed deeply and didn't take it to heart. He then looked at Tobio Uchiha and asked:

"How many rounds are left?"

"78, there's still a lot to go."

"Okay!"

The male ninja shook his arms and joined the game again.

Over time, the female ninja received a slap so strong that her head tilted to one side. Touching her numb cheek, she looked at her companion in confusion. Why had the force of the slap increased?

Cough... I don't control my body well.

He...

The female ninja suppressed her anger, took a bottle of sake from Tobio Uchiha, drank a big gulp, and gritting her teeth, said:

"Again!"

Smack! Smack!

With increasingly clumsy hands, the two ninjas began to slap harder, often making the other roll on the ground.

Finally, Tobio Uchiha, seeing the teeth on the ground, called the three children and asked, pointing at the ninjas:

"Did you understand?"

"No!"

The three children shook their heads, clearly confused.

But they could tell the slaps were getting stronger.

Seeing the confusion in the children's eyes, Tobio Uchiha stood up, dusting himself off, and led the children to a secluded spot, explaining in a low voice:

"They are loyal ninjas to Konoha and Danzō. Getting information from them is almost impossible. But 'almost' doesn't mean 'never.' Sometimes, the cracks in the heart are lethal. They won't reveal information about their superiors, but they might talk about the enemies of Root. And I'm willing to pay for that information. If someone from another village buys information about us, that would be treason, and the psychological burden would be enormous. But we are Uchiha, the elite of Konoha, the Konoha police. Selling us information isn't as burdensome."

"For us, reviewing Root's information isn't espionage, it's inspection."

Seeing the admiration in the children's eyes, Tobio Uchiha put his hands on his hips, feeling proud.

He couldn't tell this secret to the clan, or they would be scared.

Gathering information from Root... is as dangerous as gathering information from Anbu.

From now on, he would use the gathered information to infiltrate the hearts of Danzō's subordinates. Danzō's strength was based 50% on his ninjas, 30% on the Third Hokage's support, and 20% on his own strength.

Over time, he would know all the details of his subordinates. He would even know the color of their underwear.

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