"Damn it!"
"Inaz! It's you guys again!"
"Why are you saying that about us?!"
As they walked out of the orphanage's wooden house, Yu saw a group of similarly aged kids not far away on the grass.
Urushi was standing there with a few kids from the Konoha orphanage, glaring angrily at another group of kids of the same age in front of them.
Meanwhile, two girls, Yugao and Momoka, were trying in vain to calm down the impulsive Urushi.
"Hmph!"
"Did I say something wrong?"
"You guys were all picked up from outside. Who knows if you're spies from other villages?"
The small kids in front of Urushi, the one in the front appearing to be about five or six years old, had a sharp and spiteful look on their faces, unusual for their age.
They were all kids from the Leaf Village, and they had been bullying and ostracizing Urushi and the other kids from the Leaf orphanage for quite some time.
This was the more realistic side of the ninja world. Unlike the sunny image portrayed by the protagonist Naruto, who constantly shouted, "I'm going to become Hokage," in the original story, the world was not all sunshine and rainbows. It was just that the original story had limited space to depict the full scope of the darker aspects of the world.
Where there is light, there is darkness, especially in this era of the Third Ninja World War, filled with turmoil. Incidents like the current scuffle between these kids were quite common.
"Are you the spies from another village?!"
Without a second thought, the impulsive Urushi immediately punched one of the kids named Inaz in the face.
"Darn it, he actually hit me!"
Caught off guard by Urushi's punch, Inaz's nose started bleeding, and he quickly retaliated with a punch of his own. "Get them! Beat these outsiders we found!"
Soon, a scuffle broke out among the group of kids, with pushing and shoving.
Yugao and Momoka, watching from the sidelines, grew increasingly worried.
"Oh, it's Urushi and those boring kids again."
Seeing the fight erupting among the group of kids not far away, Yu yawned, clearly uninterested.
Yu had witnessed such scenes before today. Even if he helped Urushi and the others drive away these kids, the same scene would likely repeat itself in a few days.
Besides, even though he wasn't yet a ninja, Yu had successfully refined chakra. Participating in these children's fights seemed like an adult picking on kids, and he didn't want to risk getting involved.
Furthermore, these kids' scuffles were unlikely to result in anything significant.
Focused on his goal of training and developing his Thread Fruit abilities, Yu casually walked past.
"Hey! Yu! You heartless guy!"
"Why don't you come and help?!"
Seeing Yu casually walking by, Urushi immediately called out and punched one of the kids in front of him again.
"Not interested. This is just kids playing around."
Hearing Urushi's voice, Yu shrugged, showing no interest in the kids' scuffle.
As someone with the soul of an adult, he had no interest in these childish fights.
Compared to this, Yu was currently focused on refining his own strength. Only by doing so could he possibly protect himself and the people he cared about in the upcoming Third Ninja World War and the many changes to come in the future.
Suddenly, there was a disturbance.
A child with brown hair suddenly burst out from the nearby small forest.
He appeared to be around seven or eight years old and jumped right into the fight between Urushi and the other kids.
In just a few punches and kicks, he sent Urushi and the other Leaf orphanage kids flying!
"Wow! That hurts!"
"It's so powerful!"
Urushi, who had been knocked down by a punch, felt like his body was falling apart.
"This kid?"
Yu, who had noticed this scene, had a slight change in his calm expression. "Chakra?"
With his keen perception, Yu sensed a faint blue aura when the brown-haired child threw his punches. It was evident that he was using chakra.
"Is this kid a ninja?"
Looking at the sudden appearance of the brown-haired boy, who had clearly different skills and speed from the others, Yu's amber eyes tightened.
"Hahaha! Impressed yet?"
"My brother, Inari, is the top student in the ninja school!"
Seeing all the kids from the orphanage knocked down by the suddenly arrived boy, Inaz boasted with his hands on his hips. "You outsiders should know how powerful we are now!"
Bang!
A muffled collision.
Inaz's words hadn't even finished yet.
His face was splattered with nosebleeds as he was punched and sent flying.
"Inaz!"
Seeing his brother being knocked down by someone, the brown-haired boy, Inari, was suddenly shocked and stopped his own actions.
"Outsiders?"
"I can't just let that slide…"
A childish yet calm voice spoke.
A white-haired child, wearing the uniform of the Leaf orphanage, with an eyebrow and a dignified appearance, appeared in front of them.
It was Yu who had earlier watched from the sidelines.
"Yu!"
Seeing Yu's intervention, Yugao and Momoka, who were on the sidelines, suddenly brightened their eyes and gasped in surprise.
"Yu?!"
Seeing Yu, who had left without helping earlier, punch Inaz and send him flying, Urushi on the ground could only stare in astonishment, unable to utter a word.
"Ninja academy students, even if you haven't learned any jutsu, there's still a huge difference between you and regular people when it comes to combat."
After intervening and punching Inaz, Yu looked disdainful and raised an eyebrow. "You've already refined chakra, yet you still attacked these kids?"
Even without using ninjutsu, the difference between someone who had successfully refined chakra and an ordinary person in combat was significant.
It was like an experienced martial artist picking on ordinary people. Yu strongly disapproved of Inari's behavior of bullying kids.
"You brat! You hit my brother?!"
Seeing the white-haired kid who had suddenly appeared in front of them.
Inari, who had just seen his brother Inaz get punched and sent flying, couldn't believe his eyes. He stopped his actions and glared at Yu.
"I refined chakra, yet you attacked kids like this?"
Yu's calm voice spoke up. He had sensed the faint blue aura when the brown-haired boy used chakra in his attacks.
"Is this kid a ninja?"
As he looked at the brown-haired boy who had suddenly appeared, Yu's amber eyes showed a hint of interest.
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