[Bond] Ch 5: Uchiha Izumi

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Uchiha Izumi—a girl whose name fits her perfectly.

She has a gentle personality, as calm and soothing as a spring, with a voice that flows like running water. Her long, silky black hair cascades down her back, and a small tear-shaped beauty mark rests at the corner of her right eye.

Without a doubt, she will grow up to be a classic beauty.

She became Yami's childhood friend last year.

Yami had witnessed the chaos of the Nine-Tails' attack firsthand. That monstrous fox, as massive as a mountain, wreaked havoc just outside the village.

During the evacuation, Yami was escorted by several guards to an underground shelter, where he happened to come across a panicked Uchiha Izumi running for safety. Naturally, he took her along.

Originally, Yami only had a Wind affinity and a latent Yang affinity. But thanks to Izumi, he had also gained a Fire affinity.

"Yami."

Izumi's face was flushed with frustration as she pouted, "What have you been up to during the break? Why didn't you come to see me?"

"I've been training hard, Izumi." Yami sighed dramatically, as if burdened by the weight of his struggles.

Then, he glanced toward a certain someone who had entered right after Izumi. "After all, we have a genius like Uchiha Itachi in our class. I have to put in the effort, or I'd disgrace the Shimura clan."

It was none other than the ultimate filial son of the ninja world—Uchiha Itachi.

There were many orphans in the ninja world, but willingly making yourself an orphan? Itachi was in a league of his own.

"You're a genius too, Yami!" Izumi quickly cheered him on.

She wasn't wrong. At this stage, before Itachi had awakened his Sharingan, Yami might actually be stronger than him.

But once Itachi activated his Sharingan, it would be like flipping on cheat mode—he'd skyrocket to Kage level in just a few years.

Itachi frowned slightly. He couldn't shake the feeling that Yami harbored hostility toward him.

Hostility toward the Uchiha wasn't unusual, especially after the Nine-Tails attack. Many had seen the Sharingan-like tomoe in the fox's eyes, and suspicion toward the clan had only grown.

But Yami was different. His animosity seemed directed solely at Itachi, while he had no real prejudice against the Uchiha as a whole—otherwise, he wouldn't get along so well with Izumi.

"You're just as talented, Yami-kun. We should both continue working hard to contribute to the village."

With polite formality, Itachi acknowledged Yami before heading to his seat.

Yami watched him go, unable to tell whether this was the real Itachi or a shadow clone. The thought of testing it out was tempting.

"Yami, what are you looking at?" Izumi asked curiously.

"Nothing." He turned back to her with a warm smile. "Since I didn't get to spend time with you last weekend, how about we go fishing together next week?"

Izumi's eyes lit up, her earlier complaints instantly forgotten.

"Where should we go? How about the stream in Forest 35? The scenery there is beautiful."

"Sounds perfect." Yami agreed with a smile.

Although Danzo disapproved of his friendship with Izumi—so much so that they had argued about it—Yami had stood his ground. In the end, Danzo didn't resort to any underhanded tactics.

Perhaps, in his eyes, a peripheral Uchiha like Izumi was insignificant and posed no real threat to his plans.

That didn't stop him from constantly drilling into Yami the idea that the Uchiha were inherently evil. Yami had heard it so many times that he was honestly getting sick of it.

Before long, the school bell rang, signaling the start of class. Their homeroom teacher, Shuichi Kazama, walked in.

"Alright, class, today we'll be learning about shuriken throwing..."

Kazama wasted no time on unnecessary speeches and got straight to the lesson.

Unlike in the future, when the academy's curriculum would be watered down with excessive propaganda glorifying the Third Hokage, the current ninja academy was still focused on practical training.

After all, the war wasn't truly over yet.

The ascension of Namikaze Minato as the Fourth Hokage in Year 50 of the Hidden Leaf marked the end of large-scale battles, but smaller skirmishes between villages still persisted. The only village that had completely surrendered was the weakest—Sunagakure.

The students were still considered military reserves. There was no time for flowery speeches—only real ninja training and combat techniques mattered.

Kazama sketched various throwing trajectories on the board, explaining them with ease. He also demonstrated different shuriken-throwing techniques and how to maximize their effectiveness.

After the theory lesson, they moved on to practical training.

Yami and his classmates walked to the training field. Since there weren't enough targets for everyone, they were paired up, and naturally, Yami was with Izumi.

Meanwhile, Itachi was paired with some random extra. He casually picked up three shurikens and flicked them forward. A crisp clashing sound rang out as all three shurikens struck dead center on the target, causing an excited buzz among the students.

"Amazing! He hit all three perfectly!"

"As expected of a Uchiha! Their skills are on another level."

"Itachi-kun is so cool! But... who should I pick between him and Yami?"

"Pick? I want them all."

"...."

Izumi ignored the chatter and focused on her own throws. Though she didn't show off like Itachi, her accuracy was just as precise—each shuriken landed dead center.

"That was awesome, Izumi."

Yami praised her without hesitation, and the little girl beamed with joy before stepping aside to give him his turn.

"Yami is even better than me."

"Of course I am. Watch closely." He grinned as he reached into his ninja pouch for shuriken. Even Kazama turned his attention to him.

Yami and Itachi were the two standout students in their class, both from prestigious clans.

Itachi had already proven his strength. Now, it was Yami's turn.

One second later—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Several targets exploded at once, making the students jump in shock.

Kazama stared at Yami, utterly dumbfounded. "Why... why did your shuriken have explosive tags attached?!"

He had seen it clearly—Yami's shuriken had barely grazed the targets, but the attached explosive tags had detonated, obliterating several of them at once.

Yami looked completely unfazed. "To increase my margin for error, of course. If my aim is off, the explosive tags still do the job."

"Bottom line—did I hit the targets or not?"

Kazama: "....."

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