"Sasuke, listen carefully."
Kaito sat cross-legged on the ground, arms folded across his chest, eyes slightly narrowed. Despite being only six years old, he inexplicably exuded the aura of a master.
Sasuke held a lightbulb in each hand, the bulbs flickering intermittently like faulty streetlights in an old alley.
He looked up at Kaito intently, his face devoid of any gratitude toward his brother. Instead, his eyes burned with nothing but thirst for power.
Perhaps influenced by his absurd system or suddenly overcome by the urge to perform, Kaito's brain short-circuited, and he blurted out a bizarre, incomprehensible declaration.
"Today."
"This Immortal Emperor shall impart to you the Supreme Lightning Technique..."
Sasuke was instantly stunned, his head bobbing up and down like a nodding doll, his face screaming only four words:
So strong! I want to learn!
SMACK—
Realizing his tone had been off, Kaito lightly smacked his own stupid mouth before continuing.
"Slip of the tongue. Forget what I just said."
Sasuke: "?"
Ignoring Sasuke's confusion, Kaito casually picked up a twig from the ground and began scribbling in the dirt.
"Current? Voltage? Resistance??"
"Kaito, what do these mean?"
Sasuke tilted his head, mulling over the three terms, vaguely recalling that Kaito had mentioned them before.
Back then, he had dismissed it as nonsense.
The only thing he remembered was something about... capacitance?The two boys squatting on the ground doodling were clearly observed by Itachi and Shisui nearby.
"Shisui, please wait for me a moment."
Itachi could no longer bear to watch his two younger brothers' extremely abstract Lightning Release training methods. After informing Shisui, he pulled out the Lightning Release scroll given to him by the Third Hokage and strode toward them.
"Kaito, Sasuke."
"I have a gift for you."
Itachi smiled warmly, hoping that with proper guidance, he could steer his younger brothers back onto the right training path.
Otherwise, one day…
The Leaf Village might spread news of two six-year-old charred corpses found beneath a remote telephone pole.
Sasuke, who had been listening attentively, turned his head upon seeing Itachi and greeted him happily, his voice tinged with surprise.
"Big brother, why are you back?"
Itachi: "…"
Kaito opened his mouth to say something upon seeing him, but Itachi cut him off first.
"Stop! Kaito, you've already asked me today."
"A gift?"
Kaito immediately noticed the scroll in Itachi's hand and could roughly guess it was a Lightning Release Ninjutsu.
A few days ago, he had asked their father about Lightning Release techniques, and with Sasuke being such a blabbermouth, it wasn't too strange for Itachi to know.
Though it was a shame…
His Chakra nature was only fire.
"A gift?!"
Upon hearing this, Sasuke abandoned his lesson entirely, springing up from the ground and gazing eagerly at his big brother.
Kaito sighed deeply at the sight.
"B-rank Ninjutsu, Lightning Clone."
Itachi sidestepped Sasuke's grab and lightly poked his forehead with two fingers. "I'm giving this to Kaito…"
"Don't go wild with your training."
As soon as he finished speaking, Itachi's expression froze slightly, and his gaze toward Kaito turned somewhat uneasy.
Handing it to Kaito…
Given Kaito's rapid mastery of Fire Release techniques, having him guide Sasuke's training would indeed be a good choice.
But…
The things Kaito and Sasuke had been up to these past few days were truly unsettling.
"Huh?"
"Lightning Clone??"
"Is this technique stronger than Dog Clone?"
At the mention of "clone," Sasuke's first thought was the one Kaito had used before. Even though Kaito had said the technique best suited to oneself was the strongest, Sasuke still couldn't forget the Dog Clone that had defeated their father.
Itachi was momentarily speechless, unsure how to respond, while Kaito pressed his lips together, suppressing the urge to hit someone.
Sasuke looked left at Itachi, then right at Kaito, but neither answered him. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Kaito diverted Sasuke's attention, taking the scroll from Itachi and tilting his chin slightly to signal that Itachi could go find his "Leaf Friendship" now.
"Itachi, leave it to me."
"You go do your own thing."
Itachi ruffled Sasuke's hair, pretending not to notice Kaito's subtle gesture, as if waiting for someone to thank him.
As a younger brother, Sasuke understood perfectly and sweetly said, "Thank you, big brother. I'll train hard."
Kaito nodded silently, offering no thanks, which disappointed Itachi.
"Mm… I have a mission these next few days…"
"Take care of yourselves."
Itachi paused briefly before adding, "Don't train under telephone poles anymore. It's dangerous."
At the mention of "telephone pole," Kaito immediately muttered under his breath to Itachi.
"Got it. And you shouldn't keep perching on telephone poles either. That's dangerous too."
"I know."Of course, what Kaito was worried about was...
The moment this guy squatted on the telephone pole, the lifespan of the entire Uchiha clan would start flashing.
Itachi, suddenly the subject of Kaito's concern, broke into a smile and walked toward Shisui, looking back every few steps.
Just before leaving, Kaito didn't forget to shout after him.
"Itachi! Don't forget our agreement!!"
"I won't."
Sasuke: ?
Kaito watched Itachi and Shisui's departing figures, his brows unconsciously furrowing.
He vaguely felt his time might be running short.
Sasuke, who had been seeing off his brother, turned to Kaito with suspicion upon hearing the word "agreement," as if he'd heard something shocking.
"What agreement? Why don't I know about this?!"
"And!"
"Kaito, you should call him Nii-san!"
Sasuke sounded somewhat jealous.
He suddenly felt Kaito and his brother's relationship had progressed rapidly without his knowledge.
"Shut up and focus!"
Kaito picked up the tree branch he was using as a pointer and lightly tapped Sasuke's calf, and the two resumed their lesson.
As for where Itachi got that Lightning Clone...
Neither Kaito nor Sasuke paid it much mind.
While Lightning Clone might suit Sasuke, the kid probably didn't have enough chakra for it yet, so Kaito hadn't taught it to him in advance.
As for Sasuke...
He simply thought Lightning Clone wasn't as useful as what Kaito was teaching.
And...
He still couldn't forget about Dog Clone.
About three hours later, Kaito pointed at the very simple Ohm's Law written on the ground, suppressing the urge to roar, and looked impatiently at Sasuke.
"Do you understand it yet or not?!"
This stupid little brother was really going to give him a blood pressure spike.
He'd spent a full three hours explaining just this one law about current, voltage, and resistance.
At this moment, he suddenly understood the frustration parents felt when helping their kids with homework in his past life.
Sasuke hung his head low, his face a mix of confusion and incomprehension, still wearing that infuriating expression of partial understanding.
I=U/R
He stared at this formula for a long time. After nearly ten minutes of contemplation, he finally looked up and stammered:
"I... I think I... sort of get it..."
"Hmm?!"
Kaito's eyes widened in anger, the branch raised high as if ready to strike Sasuke at any moment.
Under this intense pressure, Sasuke closed his eyes and blurted out in resignation:
"Voltage depends on Lightning Release chakra intensity!"
"Current size determines Ninjutsu power!"
"And... resistance relates to Ninjutsu range..."
...