SORRY FOR UPLOADING THE CHAPTER LATE
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I WAS QUIT BUSY
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Yuki Yuichi and Yuhi Kurenai were thinking the same thing. It looked like he was about to get roughed up. But maybe that was a good thing. Although Yuhi Shinku might use this as an excuse to teach him a lesson, it was still training.
After dinner, Yuki Yuichi and Yuhi Shinku stood in the courtyard. Yuichi held a kunai in his hand, while Shinku faced him empty-handed.
"As long as you can hit my shadow clone, you'll pass!" Yuhi Shinku's voice called from the side. Just a glass wall separated the courtyard from the house, and on the other side, Yuhi Shinku and Kurenai stood watching.
Yuichi faced off with the shadow clone, his guard up despite knowing it was a clone. This was still a jōnin-level clone, and he couldn't defeat it without tricks or a well-timed Chidori.
"Come on!" he shouted, charging forward with his kunai.
Watching this, Shinku shook his head. Charging in so recklessly? He's asking for it.
Sure enough, the shadow clone smirked as Yuichi rushed in, keeping its hands behind its back. When they got close, it sidestepped the kunai and grabbed Yuichi's wrist, making him drop it. The clone gripped Yuichi's collar, using its body strength to throw him to the ground.
Yuichi showed a sly smile. "You're the one who's going down, Uncle Red!"
The clone's throw was powerful, slamming Yuichi onto his back with a loud thud, sending up a cloud of dust. But as he hit the ground, the kunai Yuichi had dropped earlier looped behind the clone at an odd angle, stabbing straight toward the back of its head. A faint light glimmered from Yuichi's right index finger.
"Is that...a chakra thread?" Shinku muttered, surprised. Controlling weapons with chakra threads was a skill most genin took a year or two to master. Yet Yuichi had already learned it. Is he really a genius? he wondered, feeling a mix of emotions.
Kurenai, meanwhile, was thrilled, shouting, "Go, Yuichi! Hit Dad for me!"
Hearing his daughter's support for Yuichi, Shinku couldn't help but confirm once more that this was, indeed, his "black-hearted cotton-padded jacket."
The shadow clone sensed the kunai behind it and stopped its attack on Yuichi, dodging forward as the kunai pursued it. Yuichi rose, dusting himself off, then charged after the clone again. When the clone grabbed him earlier, he had used his Ninjutsu ability at level 3 to reduce the impact by 40%. Although he felt the pain, his back was uninjured.
Watching this, Shinku sighed. What a monster. Even though the clone wasn't using its full strength, it would've been enough to floor any other genin, and here was Yuichi getting up without a problem. Must be that Uzumaki resilience, he thought.
"The Uzumaki clan really is something," he said aloud.
Kurenai looked up at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"The Uzumaki clan's vitality and recovery are the best in the ninja world. Even if they're badly injured, they can usually recover after some rest," he explained.
But Kurenai, ignoring his explanation, pouted and said, "Yuichi isn't a 'brat!'"
Shinku was speechless. He looked back to the fight, where Yuichi, red hair glinting in the setting sun, was still locked in combat with the clone. That red-headed brat...
By the end, Yuichi was thoroughly beaten. Bruised and battered, he grumbled internally, So much for "just a shadow clone." One day, I'll get revenge!
Ignoring Yuichi's defeated look and Kurenai's reproachful glare, Shinku looked up at the sky and said, "Everything I taught you about taijutsu was a lie."
"This lesson was about trust."
With a more serious tone, he continued, "In the world of ninjas, trust no one."
"Lies are everywhere. Even a trusted teammate could be the one who leads you to your death."
His words startled Kurenai, who took a step back, wide-eyed.
"Ninjas betray each other?" Yuichi asked with a frown. He remembered that Naruto's message was about the bonds of friendship and teamwork.
Shinku's expression didn't change. "Maybe not outright, but false information could be enough to put you in harm's way."
He recalled instances of shinobi who, due to rivalry, had given their teammates misleading intel that ended in fatal consequences. "If you join a ninja team in the future, you'll need to verify information for yourself."
"Understood," Yuichi and Kurenai responded, sharing a serious look.
Satisfied, Shinku gave a final word of caution. "One last thing—even if it's me, don't ever place blind trust. Some jutsu can control people's minds. If I ever tell you to do something dangerous without explanation, assume it's not me."
"I will never willingly place you two in danger. Remember that."
"We understand," they both replied, nodding with the same gravity.
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