Regarding his two younger sons, Fugaku hadn't harbored any grand expectations.
Whether they could uphold the Uchiha clan's glory was one thing—he simply hoped they wouldn't embarrass him or the clan in the future.
But what happened instead...
His youngest son, Uchiha Sasuke, behaved bizarrely, his body glowing with colors that could rival the neon lights of Konoha's entire red-light district.
If it was just training...
Fine, he could tolerate that.
But...
Could someone please explain why his second son, Uchiha Kaito, was hammering away at an iron block in the courtyard?
Was he planning to become the first Uchiha to open a blacksmith shop??
This was even worse than his earlier talk of destroying the Shinobi World...
Bedridden, Fugaku stared at the ceiling, lost in thought for a long time, still unable to comprehend why his two sons had turned out so... problematic.
It seemed...
Everything had started when they began mingling with those ninja dogs.
Clang! Clang! Clang!The clanging of metal outside continued incessantly. Fugaku pulled the covers over his head, no longer wanting to deal with it. All he wanted was some proper rest, a temporary escape from this damned situation.
Yet the sound of metal striking metal outside persisted, ringing every three seconds without pause, making it impossible for him to get any decent sleep.
That brat seemed to have an endless supply of energy.
Since last night...
Uchiha Kaito had been at it the entire night.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Uchiha Kaito!!"
Fugaku finally couldn't take it anymore. He flipped out of bed and stormed outside in a rage.
"Huh? Honey, why are you awake?"
Mikoto, seeing her husband's furious expression early in the morning, grew very worried, afraid he might harm his health from sheer anger.
"Tell that damn brat to get his ass to school!"
Fugaku rubbed his temples, feeling like he might pass out before even reaching Kaito.
This... this was just too infuriating!
Mikoto pursed her lips and sighed helplessly. "But... the school teachers gave them a break until the day after tomorrow."
Fugaku: "..."
Hearing this, the old father felt utterly defeated.
So since the kid couldn't go torment others at school, he decided to torment him at home instead?
"Forget it!"
"I'll go talk to him."
Fugaku stood still for a moment, calming the storm of thoughts in his mind, then slowly walked toward the makeshift forge in the courtyard.
Inside the courtyard, Kaito sported two dark circles under his eyes. Every time his hammer struck the anvil, sparks flew in all directions.
In a way...
Fugaku was actually quite impressed with the kid. After all, a six-year-old who had been hammering away since yesterday clearly possessed physical talents far beyond ordinary people.
Thinking this, Fugaku—who had somehow ended up standing behind Kaito—felt his expression soften slightly.
Thud—
The hammer dropped. Kaito picked up an iron rod with tongs and tossed it into a nearby bucket of water. With a sharp hiss, he then lifted the rod and examined it carefully.
Fugaku's eyes narrowed suddenly.
The length of the unfinished piece in Kaito's hands was almost identical to that of a ninja sword.
Perhaps...
This child simply wanted his own ninja sword?
Fugaku cleared his throat, forcing a smile that looked worse than a grimace, and leaned in to whisper beside Kaito.
"For your first time forging, the shape of the ninja sword in your hands already shows remarkable talent."
"Well done. As expected of my son."
"Kaito, if there's anything..."
"Anything you need help with, just tell your father. Money isn't an issue."
Fugaku's reasoning was simple. Now that he knew Kaito wanted to forge a ninja sword, the rest was easy.
A few words of praise, plus the promise of buying him a high-quality ninja sword, would surely make the kid abandon his "blacksmith dreams." Then, peace and quiet would finally return.
One ninja sword in exchange for future tranquility.
A bargain!
Fugaku's words made Kaito glance sideways at him—though his expression was rather dark.
The father and son stared at each other for a full ten minutes before Kaito finally raised the iron piece in his hand and said:
"This is a senbon."
Fugaku: "..."
As Kaito spoke, the atmosphere between them grew awkward and silent.
After a long pause, Fugaku tried again. "If you're short on ninja tools... you can always get some from the clan's armory."
"No need to make them yourself."
Kaito remained silent, shook his head, and lifted his "senbon" before walking back to the anvil.
Honestly...He had somewhat underestimated the difficulty of blacksmithing. However, after a night of nearly thirty thousand hammer strikes, he had successfully integrated Fire Release chakra into the forging process.
Chakra could be truly miraculous at times.
Through this hammering method, he could now shape the material according to his will, though the precision still needed improvement.
As for the "Senbon" in his hand...
It was indeed Senbon, but these were actually components for his attempt to replicate the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle.
For the first version, he wasn't aiming for lethal effectiveness—just functionality would suffice.
As for the high-quality replica...
Kaito planned to purchase Chakra Metal when the time came.
As for poison... He happened to know about cyanide and would explore whether it could be combined with hidden weapons later.
Seeing the boy about to continue, Fugaku quickly grabbed Kaito's sleeve. "Take a break," he said.
"You haven't slept all night..."
"Go back and rest first."
The father's tone carried an undeniable firmness—whether out of concern for his son or himself remained unclear.
Kaito shook his head again. "No."
"Sasuke burned my bedding."
Last night, when Sasuke returned to his room, he let out a heart-wrenching scream—perhaps mourning the "kitty piggy bank"—before throwing Kaito's bedding outside and blasting a huge hole through it with a Great Fireball.
Sasuke hadn't spoken a single word to him since last night.
Not wanting to sleep in Itachi's room either, Kaito had simply stayed in the courtyard to continue forging, embracing the grind.
"Hmph!"
Fugaku finally lost his temper, glaring coldly as he spoke.
"Blacksmithing? Uchiha Kaito, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Even with his considerable patience, he couldn't tolerate this nonsense. Never mind that he was the clan head—his six-year-old son hadn't awakened the Sharingan yet, and now he was taking up blacksmithing?
If word got out...
The Uchiha clan would become the laughingstock of the village.
Moreover, Fugaku believed the boy had no talent for blacksmithing—and even if he did, it would be utterly useless.
A shinobi...
Only needed to master lethal techniques. Why bother with these flashy distractions?
"Destroy the Shinobi World. Save the Uchiha."
Fugaku: ??
Kaito's words were resolute even as his hands kept working. As the last syllable left his lips, the hammer struck down.
Clang—
Whoosh—
The moment metal clashed, flames erupted from the anvil, nearly singeing Fugaku's eyebrows.
The sudden development genuinely startled Fugaku, making him overlook the "Destroy the Shinobi World" part entirely.
He retreated about three steps, activating his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to observe the details.
With each hammer strike, the metal on the anvil glowed red-hot from the intense heat, its shape gradually transforming.
Fugaku's pupils trembled slightly.
Not because he was amazed by his son's blacksmithing talent, but because...
This chakra application was essentially a rudimentary form of ninja taijutsu!
His son was truly a genius!!!
The more Fugaku thought about it, the more astonished he became. Were it not for fear of disturbing Kaito, he might have thrown his head back and laughed maniacally.
About half an hour later.
Fugaku finally couldn't resist interrupting. "Do you want to learn the clan's other Fire Release techniques?"
...