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Konoha. A secluded training ground.
Six children stood divided into two groups, facing each other.
On the older side, one boy was clutching his stomach with a pained expression.
Then a sharp scream rang out.
"They're hitting people! Big kids are bullying little kids!"
Yamei reacted instantly. The moment Jiang Tai landed that headbutt, she shouted at the top of her lungs, seizing the initiative.
Itachi's heart was pounding. Excitement and a strange, unfamiliar feeling of being protected tangled together inside him.
Seeing Jiang Tai actually hit someone to protect him, and watching Yamei shout while taking up a defensive stance, a warm current swept away the fear he had felt at first.
He stepped forward, his small frame moving to shield Yamei behind him.
"Don't go too far!"
Itachi's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a cold edge far beyond his years.
He quickly tucked the dango into his clothes, body tensing. He shifted his feet into a proper stance, lowered his center of gravity, and raised his hands—one high, one low—to guard his head and torso, exactly the defensive posture Taiichi had taught him.
The month of training flashed through his mind. His eyes stayed locked on his opponents, searching for openings.
"Damn brats, you're asking for it!"
The tall boy Jiang Tai had headbutted was furious. He didn't care how young they were anymore and swung a fist straight at Jiang Tai.
His two companions let out wild yells. One charged at Yamei while the other lunged straight for Itachi—the one who looked easiest to bully.
The fight exploded into chaos.
Jiang Tai was in his element. Even though he was smaller and weaker, he made up for it with speed and sheer ferocity. He darted around like a little monkey, slipping past punches and kicking at knees or headbutting soft ribs whenever he saw an opening. All the while he kept taunting.
"Hit this side, idiot!"
"Your moves are way too slow!"
It drove his opponent crazy.
Yamei wasn't scared at all. She was also an orphanage "king of the kids." She used her small size to her advantage, dropping low and sweeping the boy's legs. While he was off-balance she jabbed at his thighs and backside with the bamboo skewer like it was a weapon.
"Pervert! Don't come near me!"
She kept stabbing and yelling.
The boy who rushed Itachi had thought the youngest Uchiha kid would be the easiest target.
But when he threw his punch, Itachi didn't panic or curl up like he expected.
Instead, Itachi shifted his body slightly and slid his feet with clean precision, dodging the clumsy but powerful swing. At the same moment the boy's momentum carried him forward and left him open, Itachi's small fist shot out like a bullet—fast, accurate, and vicious—slamming into the unprotected armpit.
"Guh!"
The boy felt a sharp burst of pain and numbness under his arm. His whole limb went weak. He cried out and staggered backward, clutching his armpit.
You really had to pick the wrong opponent. Even though Itachi was the youngest, he was the strongest of the three. When he fought, he was calm and methodical.
Itachi felt steady after landing the hit.
Teacher's words echoed in his head: when you lack power, target joints and vital points.
He immediately used his speed and agility to circle the bigger boy, refusing to trade heavy blows. Instead he kept peppering the knee from the side and the inside of the elbow with quick little punches.
The hits didn't have much power, but every one sent a jolt of pain and numbness through the boy, making his movements slower and more awkward.
On the other sides, Jiang Tai's slippery footwork and low attacks kept his tall opponent frustrated and losing form. Yamei's screaming and skewer jabs left her target flustered and embarrassed.
The three older boys never expected this outcome. They were bigger, stronger, and had already been to the ninja academy for a few years. They thought handling three little kids would be easy.
Instead they were getting humiliated by a combination of sneak attacks and dirty fighting.
Jiang Tai's wild street-style attacks kept them off-balance. Yamei's screams and skewer harassment made their skin crawl. And Itachi's calm, precise strikes to weak points had them gritting their teeth in pain.
The brawl lasted several minutes. The three older boys were panting, aching in multiple places, and completely losing face—three ten-year-olds being handled by kids half their age.
On the other side, the three little ones were also exhausted and covered in bruises. Jiang Tai had a black eye, Yamei's ponytail was completely undone, and Itachi's clan clothes were torn in several places. But he had been the best protected.
Still, the three of them stood together, eyes bright, covering each other. They already looked like the beginnings of a real team.
"You—you just wait!"
The lead boy realized they couldn't win against these slippery little demons, especially the Uchiha kid whose attacks were getting more and more vicious. If they kept fighting they would only look worse. He shouted with false bravado while clutching his sore knee and called to his friends.
"We're leaving! What bad luck!"
Mostly they were just too tired to continue. They were still just kids.
The three older boys left the training ground covered in dirt and resentment, cursing under their breath and limping.
The noise died down. Only the three little ones' heavy breathing and pounding hearts remained.
"Wow! We won!" Jiang Tai was the first to react. He jumped up excitedly, face covered in dust but glowing with victory.
"Hmph! That's what they get for bullying people!" Yamei shook her messy hair proudly, tossed away the broken skewer, and yanked the hair tie out of her hair. Her little face was full of triumphant pride.
Itachi slowly relaxed his tense body. He looked at his two friends—both only a little taller than him—who had stood in front of him without hesitation and fought side by side.
A warm, indescribable feeling surged in his chest. The huge joy turned into powerful stimulation. His eyes faintly flushed red again, but in the excitement none of them noticed.
The three of them flopped down on the ground, panting. After the heat of battle, only heavy fatigue remained. None of them even wanted to waste energy talking.
The fight had been intense. Even though they had held the advantage the whole time, they were still too young. If they were just one year older, dealing with those three would have been effortless.
After a while, Itachi carefully pulled out the two skewers of three-colored dango from his clothes—the ones meant for Taiichi. They were badly deformed now.
His own portion had disappeared long ago.
"It's a shame they're not round anymore. Let's just eat them ourselves. We can buy more for Teacher later."
He looked at Jiang Tai and Yamei and gave them a bright smile, handing one skewer to each.
Jiang Tai and Yamei stared at the misshapen but still colorful dango in Itachi's hands, then looked at each other's messy but glowing faces and couldn't help bursting into laughter.
"Haha, good! Victory dango!"
Jiang Tai boldly yanked off a green piece and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mm! Even sweeter than before!"
Yamei grinned and picked up a white one.
Itachi put the last pink piece into his mouth and chewed slowly.
The sweet, chewy flavor spread across his tongue. But this time the sweetness seemed to carry something new—the taste of fighting side by side, of trusting each other, of standing together against stronger enemies, of victory.
He looked up at his two friends with their puffed cheeks and bright smiles and thought the dango in his mouth had never tasted sweeter.
After finishing the last skewer, the three of them dragged their tired bodies back toward the street. They still needed to buy two more skewers before heading home to Taiichi's.
Fighting was exciting when you were in the middle of it, and winning felt great. But facing the adults afterward? That was a different story.
The three little ones had been standing outside Taiichi's study door for over ten minutes, shuffling their feet and showing no signs of going in.
Taiichi finally lost patience.
"How long are you three little brats going to stand out there?"
The three of them jumped at his shout, then shuffled into the study under each other's nervous glances.
Taiichi already knew exactly how battered they looked, but he still had to play the part.
"Well? Aren't you going to explain what happened to you?"
The three of them looked at each other. In the end it was Itachi, the youngest, who stepped forward.
Jiang Tai and Yamei had completely lost the swagger they showed outside. Now they were huddled like quails, waiting for Taiichi's judgment.
"Teacher Taiichi, it happened like this…"
Itachi clearly and logically recounted everything that had happened since they left the house. Even without seeing it himself, Taiichi could picture the scene perfectly from the description.
"…That's what happened, Teacher Taiichi. Please don't blame Jiang Tai and Yamei. They only fought because they were helping me."
Itachi looked at Taiichi, eyes full of pleading.
At that moment Jiang Tai and Yamei finally found their courage again. They stepped forward together, one on each side, and grabbed Taiichi's arms, shaking them.
"Taiichi-oniichan, you can't blame us! They started it, and they're way bigger than us. We were just defending ourselves."
"That's right, self-defense!" Jiang Tai quickly added for emphasis.
All three little ones blinked their big eyes at Taiichi. Even his stern expression softened.
"Alright, alright, stop shaking me. I already know what happened. You did well. You didn't back down even though they were bigger, and you fought hard."
Taiichi pulled his hands free and gently patted Itachi's head, giving him a satisfied smile.
Then he looked at Jiang Tai and Yamei and flicked their foreheads.
"You also stepped up when your friend was in danger and fought together instead of running away. Those are very precious qualities."
Taiichi praised each of them for what they had done right. All three of them squinted happily, looking extremely pleased with themselves.
Before they could get too smug, Taiichi poured cold water on them.
"But there's one thing I need to remind you."
The three little ones immediately straightened up, standing at attention with serious faces.
"This time your opponents weren't much stronger than you, so you had a chance to win. But in the future, if you ever run into someone you can't beat, remember—survive first. Only if you're alive do you have a chance to change anything later."
These were Taiichi's heartfelt words. While shinobi were supposed to prioritize the mission, in his view nothing mattered more than life—unless it was to save another life.
The three little ones looked thoughtful. This was still too early for them to fully understand. Maybe only Itachi grasped a little of it.
But Taiichi wasn't expecting them to understand everything right now. He just wanted the idea to sit in their minds.
"Alright, go eat. I don't know if those three-colored dango were enough to fill your stomachs."
At the mention of dango, Itachi immediately pulled out the fresh skewers he had bought on the way back. He walked forward respectfully and offered them to Taiichi.
"Teacher, these are for you. They're really good."
Taiichi happily accepted them and brought them to his nose to smell.
The sweet aroma was almost enough to sweeten his heart.
"Good. Teacher likes them very much. Come on, let's go eat together."
After lunch and rest, Taiichi took the chance to heal all their wounds.
Their little scrapes and bruises were nothing to his medical skills. If Jiang Tai's black eye hadn't looked so ridiculous, Taiichi might have just let them recover on their own.
In the afternoon training session, Taiichi deliberately added sparring practice against himself.
He had seen how, except for Itachi, the other two had relied purely on courage and slippery footwork during the fight. A little formal combat experience would have saved them from getting beaten so badly.
This made things rough for the three little ones. Taiichi didn't hit them hard enough to leave real injuries, but getting struck by him still hurt—a lot.
As an excellent medical-nin, Taiichi had plenty of ways to make sure they learned the lesson without permanent damage.
When training finally ended, the three little ones dragged their exhausted bodies home.
Watching them hobble along—looking even more worn out than after the morning fight—Taiichi couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
Sometimes teasing these little brats was genuinely entertaining.
After dinner, Taiichi thought about what had happened during the day and decided to head alone toward the Uchiha compound.
At this time the Uchiha clan grounds hadn't yet been moved to the edge of the village. Even so, as Taiichi got closer, the flow of people around him grew thinner and thinner.
Once he crossed a certain boundary, outsiders became rare on the streets. Most of the people he saw carried some trace of Uchiha features.
Taiichi shook his head slightly. Just from how separated the clan grounds were from the rest of the village, it was clear the Uchiha still had a long way to go if they wanted real change.
A non-Uchiha like Taiichi showing up in the compound at this hour was naturally very conspicuous.
Soon a squad of shinobi wearing the Police Force uniform approached.
Unlike ordinary Uchiha, this group recognized Taiichi's identity at a glance.
The captain in front quickly stepped forward and bowed.
"Lord Taiichi, what brings you to the Uchiha compound today?"
"Oh! You're… Uchiha Kenro, right?" Taiichi studied the man carefully and realized he was someone he knew. He had once saved Kenro's life on the operating table.
"You came back from the northern front and became a captain, huh!"
"I didn't expect you to still remember me, Lord Taiichi. Thanks to your treatment I was able to recover so well. You're my savior."
Uchiha Kenro looked emotional. Standing in front of the man who had saved his life, he was already showing remarkable restraint.
"I'm here to see your clan head. I have something to discuss."
"I see. Then allow me to lead the way."