"Toshirou, why are you out so early?" On his way, he encountered many early-rising clan members; some were forced by their livelihood to start their busy day early, while others, like him, were out for their morning exercises. Whenever he met someone he knew, they always greeted him with a friendly smile.
"Good morning, Uncle Tezuka. I'm here to get some exercise," Uchiha Toshirou replied with a big smile to the friendly greetings from his clan members.
Standing at the gate and looking at the tall torii with the prominent Uchiha clan emblem engraved on it, he couldn't help but sigh quietly.
"I don't want to start this early either, but I have to prepare to become a ninja." The burden of the Uchiha surname and its tragic future compelled him to work hard early to become a ninja.
With those thoughts in his mind, Uchiha Toshirou began to jog slowly around the clan grounds.
It's now the spring of Konoha Year 36. There's still 12 years until the Nine-Tails incident. The Uchiha district is still located in the center of Konoha since they are one of the founding clans. It's only natural they occupy a central piece of land.
Of course, over the years, as the number of clan members grew, the premises became a bit crowded. The clan had many times proposed to expand their territory. But looking around at the densely packed big and small families, Konoha's functional departments, and the Hokage Building...
"No matter which world it is, land in the city center is always precious and hard to come by!"
Cutting off his wandering thoughts, Uchiha Toshirou began to run seriously. Although this body was exceptionally strong for a four-year-old, overdoing it at first might not be ideal.
Setting a goal of three kilometers to see how the body reacts, he decided to follow it with sit-ups, push-ups, and frog jumps.
"Take it step by step. Whether it's the Third Shinobi War or the clan's annihilation night after it, there's plenty of time. No need to rush, haste makes waste."
After about an hour, nearly half of which was spent jogging and then doing sit-ups, push-ups, and frog jumps, the utterly exhausted Uchiha Toshirou returned home, his legs trembling.
At this time, Uchiha Mika had already prepared breakfast and was waiting for his return.
"It was tough, wasn't it, Toshirou?" Holding a hot towel prepared in advance, she helped wipe off the sweat on his face and neck, then handed him a small fist-sized bottle of ointment.
"Apply this ointment to your knees, ankles, and other joints, and rub until warm."
Following Uchiha Mika's instructions, after some effort, he looked up and asked her.
"Is this medicine for relieving knee and ankle injuries?"
Instead of helping him as she usually did, Uchiha Mika stood quietly at the side, watching his clumsy movements, merely correcting his application method now and then.
"This is just the first step towards becoming a ninja, Toshirou. There will be more challenges and hardships waiting for you."
"Mika-nee, I will persist until I become the strongest person, and no one can defeat me!"
He didn't notice that he said "the strongest person" rather than "the strongest ninja."
"Such determination. Well, our future strongest ninja, let's have breakfast first!"
Gently ruffling his hair, she held his tiny hand and walked towards the dining room.
"Today's breakfast seems different?" Uchiha Toshirou asked with some surprise, looking at the food on the table.
"Of course, becoming a ninja is no small feat. Protein, vitamins, trace elements intake, and adequate sleep and rest—you have a long road ahead!"
"Itadakimasu!"
"So delicious! Today's breakfast is amazing!"
Hearing Uchiha Toshirou's exaggerated praise, Uchiha Mika's beautiful eyes curved into smiles.
Although it contained some flattery, hearing her carefully prepared breakfast being appreciated made all her effort worthwhile, so she didn't mind the slight breach of etiquette.
"Even though you're working hard to become a ninja, at your age, playing and having fun is still important..."
"I know! I'll go out for a walk after a rest~"
"Such a sensible child..." Thinking he might have discerned the child's reluctance, she noticed he still complied with her request eventually.
"Is it to avoid worrying her?" Uchiha Mika mused, looking at the portraits of her sister and brother-in-law on the wall.
"I'm heading out!" After breakfast and resting for half an hour, Uchiha Toshirou set out once again.
Although it was his first day of training, having exercised for nearly an hour and done sit-ups, push-ups, and frog jumps, he regained energy surprisingly fast after a short break for breakfast. It seemed his body's endurance was higher than he thought.
Perhaps it was due to the generations of chakra influence causing the children's physical qualities to surge to exaggerated levels in this world. Was it to better accommodate chakra, or was it a unique kind of kekkei genkai? From what he knew, the longer the ninja clan's history, the higher the proportion of ninjas born in the clan seemed.
Strolling through the clan grounds, responding to friendly greetings from adults, he pondered these questions.
The Uchiha clan members weren't as cold and ruthless as he originally imagined.
In his imagination, Uchiha clansmen should be ruthless and bloodthirsty, striving to awaken the Sharingan at any cost, even killing their comrades and relatives. However, through these few days of interaction, whether it was Uchiha Mika who took good care of him or the friendly greetings from clan members along the way, his preconceptions were shattered.
"Hmm, better not jump to conclusions yet. Most of the clan members I met these past few days are civilians, not many ninjas. I need more time to observe."
During his walk, Uchiha Toshirou saw several ninjas in green vests with the red and white fan emblem on their backs. Though he didn't recognize them, they didn't seem significantly different from regular people.
The Uchiha compound wasn't very large, being just one family. Within a few minutes, he reached the end, finding himself once again under the iconic red torii.
(The End of the Chapter)