Chapter 23: Personality Adjustment for the Nephew

"That's the guy who took out the Rain Village spy on the street a while back. You told us to keep an eye on him," a member of the Root reminded Danzo.

Ah, now he remembered.

Danzo narrowed his eyes, reminiscent of a venomous snake. As the second-in-command in the Leaf Village, he was aware of most events that transpired within the village, and Uchiha Dan's name had come up in reports.

This man.

He seemed to be a powerful ninja who kept a low profile, but his behavior was eccentric and rebellious.

Dan had piqued Danzo's interest.

"Bring Itachi to me," he ordered after a few moments of contemplation.

"Yes, sir," the two Root members responded before leaving.

Itachi's early graduation from the Ninja Academy was something that the Third Hokage and other high-ranking officials of the Leaf Village had disagreed with. It was Danzo who saw Itachi's potential and pushed for his early graduation.

Later, Itachi, as a member of the Uchiha clan, was able to join the Anbu thanks to Danzo's recommendation.

Of course, this wasn't without a price.

Danzo and Itachi had made a certain deal.

"Ryoma, follow them. When the time is right, bring Uchiha Dan as well," Danzo ordered after a moment's thought.

"Yes, Lord Danzo," a voice responded from the darkness.

"I should get out and enjoy the sun," Danzo muttered to himself.

He looked down at the bandages on his right arm. Although his arm was still aching from the surgery, it had granted him even greater power.

Leaning on his cane, he left the dark and cold Root base and returned to the sunlight.

In the evening, at the gym.

"Itachi, you're back," Samui greeted Uchiha Itachi as he walked in.

"Hello," Itachi responded politely as usual, bowing slightly. Following Samui's guidance, he made his way to the backyard of the gym.

In the yard.

Dan was leisurely watering the plants, a rare sight.

Looking at Dan's tall figure, Itachi hesitated for a moment before speaking up.

"Uncle, I apologize for the trouble I've caused you these past few days. If you don't want to see me, I won't come here again, but please... don't tell my father."

He knew that his uncle had always disliked him.

Even if it meant going against his father's wishes, even if it meant failing the surveillance mission assigned by the Third Hokage, he didn't want to stay here any longer.

After saying this, Itachi bowed to Dan's back and prepared to leave.

"Why would you think that?" Dan's voice suddenly rang out.

He stopped watering the plants and turned to look at his nephew, speaking calmly, "I promised your father that I would take good care of you. So, from today on, you'll train and work out with me."

"…Yes."

Itachi looked surprised, but he eventually agreed, unable to figure out his uncle's intentions.

Dan put the watering can aside and washed his hands.

Recently, he had developed a new perspective on his nephew, Itachi.

Uchiha Itachi might indeed be a natural-born cold-blooded psychopath, but it was undeniable that his upbringing had a significant impact on his personality.

Look at the people he had been exposed to since he was a child.

Fugaku, a father who took his 4-year-old son to the battlefield to kill, completely oblivious to his son's thoughts.

Shisui, a naive, stubborn, and unyielding idealist who adhered to the Will of Fire, ironically becoming Itachi's guide.

Danzo, a cunning manipulator who only wanted to use Itachi.

A young boy, served by such a group of talented individuals, acting as a double agent between his clan and the village, bearing an enormous pressure that was unparalleled.

Under such circumstances, it was hard not to go astray.

But now.

There were still more than two years before Itachi committed the unforgivable crime of annihilating his clan. Perhaps there was still a chance to turn things around.

Dan had previously refrained from interfering in Itachi's affairs because his own "body modification" was not yet complete, and he didn't believe he had the ability.

But now things were different.

Uchiha Itachi was, after all, the son of his sister, Mikoto.

If Itachi were to truly kill his mother in the future, Dan would have no choice but to kill his nephew, even if it would break Mikoto's heart.

Mikoto was the only family member Dan cared about, and he didn't want to see his sister grieving in the future.

So.

Starting today, Dan planned to conduct a "personality adjustment" on Itachi.

"Let's start right away. Show me your current strength. Just to be clear, I don't know anything about ninjutsu. I can only guide you in taijutsu and genjutsu," Dan said, getting straight to the point.

Uncle knows genjutsu?

Itachi was surprised. He had always thought his uncle was purely a taijutsu specialist and had never seen him use genjutsu.

But on second thought, it made sense. After all, which Uchiha doesn't know genjutsu?

So.

"Please guide me."

Itachi bowed again, and when he looked up, his eyes had turned into the crimson of the three-tomoe Sharingan.

In an instant, the eyes of the uncle and nephew met.

Whoosh.

Itachi's eyes released a surge of ocular power, launching a genjutsu attack without hesitation.

Hmm?

Caught off guard, Dan saw his nephew disappear into thin air, transforming into countless crows that attacked him from all directions.

But the next second.

"Roar!"

Dan let out a powerful roar, creating a mental shockwave that swept across the yard.

"Caw!"

All the crows were shattered by this energy, and Dan's vision was once again filled with the figure of Itachi, who had already rushed in front of him.

Bang, bang, bang.

Their fists and feet collided repeatedly, leaving trails of afterimages. In a short period, they had exchanged dozens of blows.

Itachi lived up to his reputation as a genius. Even when facing Dan, who was far superior in size and strength, he was able to hold his own.

His crimson eyes, with the three tomoe spinning rapidly, captured every move of Dan's with his powerful dynamic vision, trying to find his uncle's weak points.

He soon realized... his uncle was full of openings!

Seizing the opportunity, Itachi struck continuously, successfully hitting Dan's thigh, chest, and back.

Then he understood.

It wasn't that Dan had too many openings, but that he relied on his tough skin and didn't bother to defend.

Itachi's punches and kicks didn't break Dan's defense but instead felt like hitting an iron wall, causing him pain.

The gap in their physical strength was too great.

At that moment.

Dan took a deep breath and blew it out.

Whoosh.

This breath instantly turned into a gust of wind, accompanied by a piercing whistle, it hit Itachi like

a cannonball.

Fierce and ruthless.

This wasn't any Wind Release technique, just a simple gust of air blown out using human lung capacity.

Caught off guard, Itachi was blown away, losing his balance mid-air.

But he didn't panic. Instead, he quickly formed the Tiger hand seal and exhaled.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

Whoosh!

A hot fireball descended from the sky, heading straight for Dan.

Fire beats wind.

The gust of wind that Dan had blown out was now being used by Itachi to enhance the power of his fireball, making it burn even more fiercely.

Itachi truly lived up to his reputation as a genius, with no weak points in his ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu.

Facing the fireball.

Dan didn't attempt to dodge. He faced it head-on, using a karate chop to split the fireball in half.

The Great Fireball Technique, a kind technique.

It was hard to pose a threat to a strong enemy with it. More often, it was used as a feint to confuse the enemy's vision or distract their attention.

That's exactly what Itachi did.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

The moment Dan split the fireball, a large number of kunai flew towards him.

Clang, clang.

They collided and changed direction in mid-air, eventually surrounding Dan from all angles, aiming at his entire body.

"Impressive," Dan praised. This delicate control of kunai required years of hard training and a good understanding of physics and mathematics.

It was a technique that only a genius like Itachi, who excelled in both intelligence and martial arts, could master.

Unlike Dan.

As his muscles grew stronger, he became less inclined to use his brain to solve problems. After all—

Why not just solve everything with muscles?

Like this onslaught of kunai.

Dan stood still, tensing his muscles. He activated his Iron Skin technique, blocking all the kunai.

He frowned and asked Itachi, "Why did you hold back? You didn't aim for my eyes or groin, the fatal areas. Are you looking down on me, your uncle?"

Dan's body might be as tough as steel, but his eyes were still vulnerable and feared being attacked.

It was like the Achilles' heel of his Iron Skin technique.

"I..."

Before Itachi could respond, Dan had already closed the distance between them in one step and threw a punch at his nephew.

Hum.

This punch seemed simple, but it was vibrating at a high frequency, giving it an elusive quality.

In Itachi's eyes.

Everything in the world seemed to be rapidly moving away from him until it disappeared, leaving only a vast expanse of white and—

Dan's fist.

The fist grew larger and larger, eventually becoming as imposing as a mountain, while Itachi himself felt as small as an ant, unable to move under the pressure of the mountain.

This is... genjutsu!

Itachi snapped back to reality, using the power of his Sharingan to resist, finally breaking free from the illusion and returning to reality.

But by then, Dan's punch had already arrived.

Slap!

At the last moment, Dan changed his punch to a slap, hitting Itachi's face.

Itachi only saw black before he was sent flying, eventually crashing into a pillar in the corridor.

His head was buzzing, his vision blurry, and he couldn't tell north from south.

It took him a while to get up from the ground.

"Itachi, are... are you okay?"

Samui rushed over to check on Itachi, finding his mouth full of blood, and several teeth knocked out.

Half of his face was swollen.

It was a pitiful

sight.

This was the result of Uchiha Dan's "Personality Adjustment Slap."

Like Naruto Uzumaki, Dan wasn't good at lecturing. He wasn't confident in changing Itachi's mindset from a psychological perspective, so he decided to do it physically.

Starting today.

Dan would officially educate his nephew as an uncle, hoping to guide Itachi back onto the right path.

"Master..."

Samui picked up Itachi's teeth, looking at Dan with questioning eyes, wondering if he had been too harsh.

"It's fine. He's at the age where he's losing his baby teeth. The ones he lost should be those," Dan said nonchalantly.

Itachi: "…"

He wanted to say that the teeth knocked out by his uncle's slap were the ones that had just grown in.

But he was in too much pain to speak, so he swallowed his grievances.