I Am Fugaku Uchiha

"Hahhaa, Akihiko, aren’t you celebrating too soon?" Fugaku teased, a kunai materializing behind him and pointing at Akihiko's neck.

"What? How did you..." Akihiko's expression shifted to one of shock as he watched Fugaku's maneuver, only to see Fugaku collide with a wooden stake, leaving him vulnerable with the kunai at his neck, frustration welling up inside him.

Fugaku grinned. "You let your guard down, giving me the opening I needed, right?"

"Huh?... You're no fun to spar with if I can't even find you. I wonder how you've been training during this time," Akihiko remarked, taking a seat on the ground.

Fugaku observed the young man, who was of similar age, feeling amusement wash over him.

More than two months ago, upon returning from a mission, Fugaku had discovered that Uchiha Akihiko was also a friend of his. Since then, Akihiko had persistently pestered Fugaku for a spar.

They had begun with ninjutsu, but Akihiko couldn't keep up with Fugaku's prowess. Eventually, Fugaku ensnared him in a genjutsu. Akihiko was baffled; how could Fugaku, both wielding the three-tomoe Sharingan, trap him like that?

Shaken, Akihiko switched to taijutsu, only to mistakenly strike Fugaku's chest, nearly meeting his end. It took weeks of healing from a medical ninja for him to recover.

Undeterred, he persisted, claiming victory now that he had finally engaged Fugaku in combat, oblivious to the fact that Fugaku was holding back the majority of his strength.

The only real challenge for me now is taijutsu. With my current power and the three-tomoe Sharingan, it's tough to land a hit on me. The strongest person in this world who relies on strength alone is probably Tsunade. She can most likely crush a susanoo skeletal version with some blow .

Any Susanoo beyond the skeletal version would withstand a lot of hits from her before breaking. It's the Uchiha's ultimate defense. I'm not sure if I'm stronger or weaker than Tsunade, but I'd like to find out. Unfortunately, I haven't seen her lately.

I've spent a month out of the last three mastering my strength for flexible use in combat. My sparring partner is Uchiha Akihiko, a friend of Fugaku.

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"Look, I just told you the clan head is training on the  ground. You have to believe me now. You can’t accuse me of bragging, right?" Obito whispered to his friends, feeling proud of himself.

He had training hard for the past three months, and sometimes he got to see the clan head. That made him happy. Today, he saw the clan head heading to the training ground again and quickly dragged his friends along to watch.

"It’s really him."

"Wow, the clan head’s fire technique is so well-timed..."

"Let’s go; I need to ask Dad to teach me some more skills."

"Hey, don’t leave me behind."

His friends left in a flash, leaving Obito alone. He had hoped they would praise him a bit, but he didn’t expect this outcome. He watched them go and felt depressed. "They’re lucky to have parents."

He was an orphan who had no special abilities. He lacked talent and always lagged behind his peers. He was amazed by the power of the fireball technique that the clan head and his instructor demonstrated one day. He realized that there was a huge difference between them and him, even though they used the same technique.

He had an idea of what to do about it, but he never found the courage to do so.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Obito gasped. He whipped his head around and met the cold gaze of a white-haired man. "Ka… Kakashi?"

"Sneaky, what are you looking at? Let me see." Kakashi looked through the woods into the distance with a puzzled expression. "Why are you peeking at your clan head?"

"I…" Obito spoke and then pretended to look at Kakashi calmly. "Nosy, it’s none of your business." After saying this, he turned and ran away, leaving Kakashi behind, confused.

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After Fugaku and Akihiko left the training ground, they said goodbye to each other, and he went back home. He had figured out that the Uchiha clan was actually split into two factions: radical and conservative.

However, there was not much conflict between them yet, so their relationship had not worsened. He guessed that the tension would start to escalate after night of the Nine Tails, when the Konoha heads began to suspect that Uchiha controlled the Nine Tails with the Sharingan.

One way he could prevent that was to kill Obito and erase the negative impact of that night. But every time he thought of that, he felt a pain. He realized that it was the effect of the contract.

The handshake he had with Fugaku in his dream might have sealed some divine pact, and he couldn’t harm his own people; otherwise, he would suffer unbearable pain. He thought that this was the price he paid for his impulsiveness.