Plans for ahead

In the Uchiha Clan District, Uchiha Keshiro was lying on his bed with some injuries on his body. The Wood Spears had pierced his stomach, and there were some cuts all over his arm and body.

There was an Uchiha who had copied some healing techniques and did heal the superficial injuries on Uchiha Keshiro's body.

Uchiha Kazuma entered his son's room, he had a smile on his face as he said, "It seems that you are in bad shape, son."

"Hnn… I will beat him next time. This time, I didn't even use my Sharingan, next time, I will use it and beat him." Uchiha Keshiro was in a nasty mood.

Uchiha Kazuma let out a sigh before he started speaking, "You have been training since you were 4-year-old. I have personally taught you some Jutsus, and you even awakened your Sharingan at the age of 5. You have mastered it in the next 3 years, which is already very surprising. However, I have heard that this child appeared in Konoha just a little more than a year ago. He had only been training for a little more than a year. Yet, he could achieve a draw against you…"

"I said it, didn't I?! If I used my Sharingan, I would have won!" Uchiha Keshiro shouted at his father.

"He also didn't use his Wood Release Jutsus. Moreover, because he didn't want it to be too unfair for you, he didn't use more than a single Wood Clone. What do you think would have happened if he used 10 Wood Clones or maybe 20 Wood Clones? Could you beat them all while also keeping an eye on him?" Uchiha Kazuma's questions hit the mark as they immediately made Uchiha Keshiro speechless. He was indeed not confident about that.

"I also noticed that he wasn't using the Senju Clan's Taijutsu Style. If he had used that, you would have some serious problems. Maybe you could have lost." As Uchiha Kazuma finished speaking, he noticed that his son wasn't even looking him in his eyes. It seems that he was quite ashamed.

"I am not saying this because I like to praise that Senju Boy. However, I have noticed that since awakening your Sharingan, you think of yourself higher than others. Perhaps it's because you think of yourself to be very talented. But do remember, there is no shortage of talented people in this world. If you don't survive, it doesn't matter jack-shit if you are talented or not." Uchiha Kazuma stood up as he finished lecturing his son.

"Hmph… Alright." Uchiha Keshiro let out these words with some reluctance and saw his father leave the room.

After some time, another person entered his room. And when Uchiha Keshiro noticed who it was, a smile appeared on his face.

"Elder Sister!" A cheerful smile appeared on his face. He was delighted to see his sister.

"Looks like father was admonishing you as usual." Uchiha Mikoto said while sitting on a chair next to her little brother's bed.

"Yeah…" Uchiha Keshiro nodded his head.

"Don't worry about it, Father is internally very proud to have a talented child like you. He wants you to become the strongest." Mikoto said while gently patting her little brother's head.

"Mhm~" This gave a really comforting feeling for Uchiha Keshiro. He moved his body a little and leaned towards his elder sister and hugged her, "I missed you, elder sister…"

"I was so scared. I didn't know if you would return from the front lines or not."

Flicking at her brother's forehead, Mikoto said, "It's not that easy to kill me. Even if I am not as talented as you, my skill in Body Replacement Technique is quite good. I don't even need a log to replace myself. I can now replace myself with a smaller object as well, so don't worry about me."

After thinking for some time, Mikoto said, "When you are treated, let's go in the forest, and I will show you some new techniques I copied. These are some new Lightning Style Techniques. I am sure it will be useful to you."

Uchiha Keshiro's eyes twinkled at the prospect of learning another new Jutsu. It was Uchiha Mikoto who had taught him the Lightning Hound Technique which he had used against Araki.

He immediately wanted to stand up and go to the forest to learn this technique. However, Uchiha Mikoto bonked his head with a light punch, "No way! You aren't going to move until your wound is healed!"

"But…!" Uchiha Keshiro stopped himself from speaking when he noticed his elder sister's glare.

"Yes, elder sister." He lowered his head in defeat.

"Don't worry, since I had been away for so long, I wouldn't leave you while you are recuperating from your injuries. I can tell you about how it was for me at the frontlines." With that, Uchiha Mikoto started to inform her younger brother about how the frontlines were for her.

Uchiha Kazuma had a smile on his face as he peeked at his children. It gave him a strange sense of satisfaction to see his children so cheerful.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Konoha, Araki had nearly healed. His chakra's healing properties were quite good. As long as the bones weren't damaged, he would heal in 2 hours or a little more than that.

And if his bones were fractured, he would need one whole day to heal.

Currently, Araki was sitting in the hall with Kushina.

Kushina asked him with a curious expression, "Why didn't you finish the fight earlier? I don't believe that you would have lost if you fight a little more seriously. And I am not talking about using more Clones. You didn't even use Water Jutsus."

To this, Araki negatively shook his head, "My overall motive wasn't to defeat the Uchiha Clan Descendants, it was to gain battle experience and show my sincerity to the Uchiha Clan. The reason Uchiha Kazuma has agreed to the alliance between us is that he wants to use me as a whetstone. I could have easily defeated Uchiha Keshiro, but that would defeat the purpose of why I even want to have an alliance with the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha Clan that I want to have an alliance must be strong. At least stronger than right now. However, I also didn't want to lose to a miserable shinobi. It's a good thing that Keshiro had achieved the threshold."

Kushina stared at Araki and said, "Araki, what will we be doing now?"

Araki thought for some time before answering her, "There are two paths ahead of us. One is by graduating from the Academy. However, during that time, the Hokage would split us up by putting us in separate teams. The second method is to become an apprentice of a shinobi who has special rights."

"Are you talking about the Sannins?" Kushina asked Araki with a confused look. She remembered that the Sannins were the students of the Third Hokage, it would be dangerous to become their apprentice.

Fortunately for her, Araki shook his head.

"Other than Sannins, there is one more man who has special rights. It isn't because of his lineage or because he had been trained by the Third Hokage. This man became a strong shinobi all through his own effort. Not even the Sannins can be compared to him."

"Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo. He has recently returned from the front lines…We need to become his apprentices. If we become his apprentices, we wouldn't need to be worried about the Hokage ordering us to do some mission. We aren't Shinobis under him after all, nor have we pledged our loyalty to the Hokage, so he wouldn't be able to order us without a really good excuse." Araki said with a resolute tone.