Land of Fire, Konoha.
After the war with the Kumo ended, the negotiations over the terms of surrender and reparations were finalized.
Fortunately, the Kumo wasn't as poor as Suna. Otherwise, if they had been as broke as Suna, low mission request rates, no money to spare, there really would have been no solution.
Back in the village, Uchiha Yun immediately resumed training in the Eight Gates.
After all, the existence of the secret scroll was primarily for this technique. If he could open the Dead Gate once a day, that would be terrifying.
There are no shortcuts to mastering the Eight Gates. Even Naruto's Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu from his memories wasn't much help in this kind of training.
For taijutsu, persistence is the only true path.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
Maintaining a steady breathing rhythm, Yun ran laps around Konoha carrying weights, finishing off his training regimen.
As he reached the reservoir, something caught his attention.
"Forehead Girl, why is your forehead so wide? It's so ugly!"
"Yeah! Why is it so wide?"
Two slightly older boys mocked as they grabbed at the hair of a girl who was already kneeling on the ground, crying.
The pink-haired girl burst into louder sobs.
At that moment, a short blond-haired girl rushed forward and shoved the two bullies away.
"You guys… stop bullying her!"
The older boys didn't fall over. They glared and put their hands on their hips.
"You're gonna help Forehead Girl? Be careful, or you'll get beaten up!"
The other boy sneered, "My big brother's a ninja! When he comes, you'll all get thrashed!"
Ino frowned, while Sakura timidly hid behind her.
Her mother's words about friends echoed in her head. She didn't back down. She glared at the bullies with fierce determination.
"Little shit!"
With that, one boy threw a punch.
Whoosh!
Ino and Sakura squeezed their eyes shut in fright, but a pebble struck the boy's wrist mid-swing.
It wasn't hard, but it knocked him off balance and sent him sprawling.
"Who's there?!"
The brat scrambled up, scanning around until his eyes landed on Uchiha Yun.
Yun scratched his head awkwardly. "Uh… fighting isn't good, kids. You should… uh… play nicely?"
His words didn't really fit, but Yun honestly didn't know what to say.
Truth was, if it hadn't been kids from the Konoha 11 of his memories getting bullied, he wouldn't have bothered tossing that pebble. Kids fighting wasn't exactly a big deal.
But him, the guy who killed the Fourth Raikage, stepping in like this, it was a bit embarrassing. His hand had just itched.
Of course, the boys had no idea who Uchiha Yun was.
The brat put his hands on his hips and shouted, "Don't think wearing a forehead protector means you can hit me! My brother's a ninja too! Just you wait!"
With that threat, he and his buddy ran off.
Yun scratched his head again. 'Wait, does that kid actually have a ninja brother? If he really calls him over, won't this turn into one of those cliché face-slapping scenes from a novel?'
'Ridiculous.'
Shaking off the thought, Yun looked at young Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino.
He had to admit, the little lolis were cute. He was only five or six years older than they were anyway.
"Hey, it's the handsome big brother who bought flowers!"
Ino's words made Yun pause before recalling his last visit to the Yamanaka flower shop. She must've been really young then. He hadn't expected her to still remember.
Behind her, Sakura peeked shyly at him, blushed, and ducked back.
"The girl from the Yamanaka flower shop, you must be Uncle Inoichi's daughter, right? What's your name?"
Ino proudly replied, "I'm Yamanaka Ino! What about you, big brother?"
"Uchiha Yun."
Then Yun looked at the pink-haired girl. After she timidly gave her name, he nodded. "So you two are enrolling next September?"
Both girls nodded. Suddenly, Ino pointed past him. "T-they're back!"
Yun turned. The two boys had returned, dragging along a ninja wearing a forehead protector.
But the chunin looked reluctant, embarrassed even. When his eyes landed on Yun, his expression twitched, and he immediately shook off the brats' hands.
He bowed slightly. "Lord Yun."
Uh…
Yun waved his hand awkwardly. "C'mon, Kyo, you're older than me. Calling me 'Lord' makes me sound like some old geezer."
He smiled. "No missions today? Did you trade in your battle merits for any new jutsu? I remember telling you I could put in a word with the Hokage if you needed."
The chunin looked grateful. "I already traded for some, thanks to Lord Shisui. Otherwise, the list wouldn't have had so many fire-style techniques."
Then he scratched his head and looked at his dumbfounded little brother. "No missions today, so he begged me to play with him. I just turned my back for a moment and…"
Yun gave a small laugh. "It's fine. I just happened to see it, so I stepped in. Just kids messing around."
He crouched down to the little brother. "If you want to be an excellent ninja like your brother, then remember this: never aim your fists at your comrades in the village. Understand?"
The two boys nodded quickly, and Kyo led them away.
When Yun turned back, he found two little girls staring at him with sparkling eyes.
Ino suddenly recalled her mother's words. This was a genius of the Uchiha clan, an extraordinary one at that.
"Big brother, can you play with us?"
'Uh…'
Yun smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I have to finish my training."
'Play with them? What would they even play? House?'
He turned and resumed his training.
Behind him, Ino hugged Sakura. "That guy's brother was a chunin! But even he had to call him 'Lord'! He's only a little older than us, but he's already that strong!"
Sakura didn't fully understand, but nodded in agreement.
From that day, the two girls became friends. And Yun had now met another member of the Konoha 11. The key figures from his memories were slowly beginning to grow up.