When Fūka left the hospital, Nonō Yakushi did indeed lend him money and promised that if they ever needed more, they could come to her for help.
Fūka knew that although this woman was a ROOT member, she was kind-hearted, especially towards children. Otherwise, she wouldn't have left ROOT to become the head of an orphanage in the future.
If it were Uchiha Fugaku had lent him money, Fūka would never have accepted it, but with Nonō Yakushi, he felt more at ease.
"Thank you, Miss. By the way, I don't know your name," Fūka said, blinking his clear, big eyes with a very innocent expression.
"Just call me Nonō Yakushi," she said, gently ruffling Fūka's black hair with a warm smile.
Perhaps, she was the kindest person in ROOT.
Fūka lowered his head slightly, feeling a deep sense of melancholy. Such a good person ultimately did not meet a good end.
'Can I change her fate?'
Fūka's heart tightened.
Changing the fate of a character from the original story seemed like it would be easy, but when he thought about it, it felt like he was challenging fate itself.
But then he pushed that thought aside. After all, he was only a six-year-old boy. It was far too early to think about these things.
After bidding farewell to Nonō Yakushi with Obito, Fūka returned home.
"Fūka, I'm going to buy meat!" Obito said happily, holding the money. "You're too skinny. You need to bulk up!"
"Alright, but if you run into any old lady trying to cross the street, please don't give away all the money again," Fūka said with a helpless shrug.
"Heh, I know." Obito scratched his head awkwardly and quickly ran out.
"Ah, my weights."
During his hospital stay, Fūka's weights had been removed. Now that he strapped them back on, he immediately felt his body grow heavier.
"Seems like I'm not fully recovered yet." Fūka gritted his teeth, straightened his posture, and said, "But I can endure it!"
He then began his recovery training, walking slowly in the backyard while circulating his chakra to stimulate cell activity.
"Nonō Yakushi is a ROOT member but also a good person and a medical ninja. I could learn medical ninjutsu from her!" Fūka's eyes lit up with excitement but then he quickly reined himself in.
Fūka's recovery speed was exceptional, but his injuries didn't show significant improvement. After all, training could lead to injuries too.
Even Konoha's Blue Beast couldn't guarantee no injuries!
"And as a ninja, one has to go on missions often. Injuries are inevitable, so learning medical ninjutsu must be prioritized. The sooner, the better."
Moreover, the Third Great Ninja War was only a few years away.
"Currently, the top medical ninjutsu practitioner in Konoha is probably Princess Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin. Unfortunately, Tsunade likely has Hemophobia at this time, and I'm from the Uchiha clan."
The relationship between the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan wasn't as good as people imagined.
So, Fūka's goal could only be Nonō Yakushi.
As he continued walking, he adapted to the weight and began practicing hand signs while walking.
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar!
Fūka's hand signs were already very standard, but he still needed to improve his speed, which required consistent practice.
As the sun rose higher, Fūka had been training for over an hour, sweating profusely, while occasionally glancing outside.
"Why hasn't Obito come back yet?"
Fūka had a bad feeling.
"Isn't he the type to see an old lady on the street and refuse to move until he's walked her across the road?"
While Fūka was indulging in his worst-case scenario about Obito, he suddenly heard sounds of fighting and groans from the street.
"Is that… Obito's voice?"
Fūka froze for a moment before running outside.
...
"Hahaha, with that stupid look, you think you can awaken the Sharingan?"
"You're such an idiot!"
"Of course, being friends with that useless Fūka, you're both a pair of fools, hahaha!"
"That guy Fūka is such an eyesore. Challenging Kakashi and getting knocked out was already humiliating enough. Now he's out training his taijutsu and passed out. What a joke."
"Of course. He must know he can't awaken the Sharingan, so he's turning to taijutsu instead. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to graduate."
"What a pair of pathetic idiots."
Several Uchiha children were roughly shoving Obito, their words dripping with sarcasm and contempt.
"Hey, what's that you're holding? Is that meat?"
"Haha, you're really rich, eating meat. We can't even afford it. Haha, Obito, can you share some of that meat with us?"
"You jerks!" Obito clutched the meat tightly, glaring at them with anger. "Don't push it!"
"Push it? You and Fūka are the ones who've embarrassed the Uchiha clan. You're way worse than us!"
"That's right. Beat him up!"
"Fight!"
Slap! Slap! Slap!
As a student who ranked at the bottom of the ninja academy, Obito's combat ability was less than even a low-ranking ninja. Coupled with the fact that there were many of them, he was soon knocked to the ground, groaning and unable to speak.
Passersby from the Uchiha clan saw the scene but paid no attention. Kids fighting was too common.
"Stop it!"
Fūka arrived at last, "Do you want to die?"
Seeing Obito's dire condition, Fūka could barely control the rising anger in his eyes.
"Oh, if it isn't Uchiha Fūka. Hahaha, the turtle finally shows up."
"Heard you passed out from training. What a disgrace."
"How could someone like you exist in the Uchiha clan?"
"Idiot, you should just stick to setting up stalls instead of pretending to be a ninja."
"Disgracing yourself, fool, idiot!"
Fūka had previously encountered a few Uchiha kids who taunted him and Obito, and back then, he didn't even bother arguing with them. But now, he felt he couldn't hold back any longer.
"What, want to fight? Have you learned the Body Flicker Technique yet? Idiots!"
"Hahaha, look at him, such a fool!"
Obito, barely recovering, saw Fūka and shouted, "Fūka, run! You're still injured. You can't fight!"
At this moment, Obito looked terrible, his clothes torn in several places, his face bruised and covered in blood, with what seemed like a missing tooth.
Fūka's eyes narrowed slightly, with a faint scent of blood. The anger in his eyes was nearly uncontrollable. He quickly narrowed his eyes and began forming hand signs.
Snake – Sheep – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger!
"Hahaha, he's forming hand signs?"
"Idiot, he thinks he can use jutsu?"
"Eh, those hand signs are… Fireball Jutsu?"
"What?! Fireball Jutsu?! I'm going to die of fright, hahaha!"
"Hahaha, foolish. Fire Release jutsu isn't that easy to perform, idiot."
Fūka's eyes narrowed into slits, a cold smile spreading across his face. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Fūka spat out a ball of intense flame from his mouth, which grew to the size of a basketball and hurtled straight at the group of Uchiha children.