Chapter 9 - The First Kill and the Awakening

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What do five-year-olds do in the real world? They toddle off to kindergarten, maybe spend their day watching Peppa Pig, giggling at her goofy adventures, and pestering their parents for snacks and sparkly toys that make way too much noise.

But then, there’s Mi Blade.

Instead of coloring outside the lines with crayons, this kid is gearing up to protect his village and the Land of Fire—all at the ripe old age of five! Yeah, forget nap time—Mi Blade is out here sharpening kunai and talking strategy like it’s a casual Tuesday.

Let’s be real: a ninja is basically a warrior who the village hypes up from the moment they can walk, so when things get serious, it’s game on.

The village molds these little warriors to leap into action when the going gets tough. It doesn’t matter if you still need a stool to reach the top shelf—as long as you’ve got the skills, you’re expected to hit the battlefield. It’s like a high-stakes game of tag, except in this version, if you get tagged, someone’s probably throwing fireballs at you.

Mi Blade? He left behind the comforts of finger-painting and show-and-tell to embrace this "dangerous lifestyle." Talk about early career choices.

Now, technically, the Second Ninja War is over, but don’t be fooled—there’s always a mini-drama brewing in the ninja world, like a pot about to boil over, except this pot also occasionally explodes and sends shuriken flying.

Sure, the victorious nations are supposed to be the calm ones, but it’s usually the ones that got stomped on in the war that are still out there causing mischief, like the kid who lost the game but insists on flipping the board over.

Just because they lost doesn’t mean they’re all sitting around crying into their rice balls. Nope, they’re planning. They’ve got that “just wait until my next move” energy, ready to reclaim their glory and stir up chaos like it’s their full-time job.

And when these defeated nations start poking at the big winners, they’re not just trying to be a nuisance—they’re hoping to pressure them at the negotiation table, like that one person who keeps showing up at the office lunch meeting with bold new ideas that no one asked for.

In the latest round of "Who’s Got the Biggest Ninja Energy," the Land of Fire and the Land of Thunder came out on top, strutting around like reality show champs.

Every war reshuffles the rankings, determining who gets to be the new ninja royalty. Picture it like a reality show, but with more explosions and fewer confession cams.

For the losers—like the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain—just because they had to take a knee this time doesn’t mean they’re out of the game.

They’re just lying low, plotting their comeback arc, waiting for the perfect moment to jump back in and remind everyone that they still know how to throw down.

As dawn broke, Mi Blade woke up to find his kind, old father bustling around, helping him tidy his clothes and pack his bags.

Sakumo's eyes were filled with a mix of worry and anxiety, a heavy cloud hanging over him like a thunderstorm threatening to burst.

Having seen the ravages of war firsthand, Sakumo was all too aware of the dangers lurking on the battlefield. Even though large-scale conflicts seemed to be a thing of the past, he couldn’t shake off the fear of sending his five-year-old son—still a child in so many ways—out into the unknown.

Sakumo struggled to find the right words of comfort, knowing that any attempt to reassure Mi Blade would only lead to more sadness in a day or two when the reality of the situation sank in. Plus, Kakashi had also received his own mission and was preparing to leave home, which only added to the tension.

With his ninja backpack slung over his shoulders, Mi Blade had stuffed it full of various ninja gear—carefully curated by his father, of course.

There were no fewer than two hundred explosive tags crammed in there, ready for action. “I’m practically a walking fireworks show!” he thought.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Alright, Dad, I’m off! I promise I’ll study hard at home. If I get bored, I’ll go visit Uncle Zixiao and play shogi. And if that doesn’t do it for me, I might just head over to the Inuzuka household to check out their cute dogs.

And if things get really dull, I can always find an aunt in the village to chat with. Who knows, maybe I’ll even bring home a little girl, and Kakashi and I won’t say a word about it!” Mi Blade chimed, trying to lighten the mood.

Sakumo raised an eyebrow, shaking his head with an amused sigh. “Let’s keep it to the ninja training and not hunting for girlfriends!”

Kakashi chimed in with a smirk, “Well, maybe my mission will lead me back to you. Who knows?”

With a shared chuckle, the brothers exchanged their farewells, ready to face whatever the day—and their missions—might throw at them.

At the entrance of the Village, Mi Blade spotted Saki’s team already assembled and ready for action. Alongside Saki, there were two girls who looked like they’d wandered straight out of a ninja fashion magazine.

One of them, around ten years old, had short hair dyed an alarmingly vibrant purple, like someone had dipped her head in a paint bucket.

She clutched a long sword as if it were the key to the universe, her face so tense that it looked like she was holding five hundred billion explosive tags.

The sheer intensity radiating from her was borderline ridiculous—seriously, who knew carrying a sword could be this stressful?

The other girl was the opposite, with long hair flowing in the breeze like she was starring in her own shampoo commercial.

She wore sleek ninja attire and gripped a long knife with such casual confidence that her face practically screamed, “Come any closer and I’ll carve you like a holiday roast!”

“Sorry I’m late, Saki-kami Shinobu!” Mi Blade called out, skidding to a stop, slightly out of breath but ready to join the squad.

“It’s fine, we haven’t even started yet,” Saki replied, giving him a smile that radiated “team mom energy” as she waved away his concern.

Saki then gestured toward Mi Blade like she was unveiling a new action figure at a toy convention. “Everyone, meet our newest ninja recruit, Hatake Mi Blade!”

The boy standing nearby, clearly unimpressed, glanced over with a sneer that could only be described as “edgelord chic.” He tightened his grip on his sword dramatically, as if preparing for battle, before scoffing.

“Really? That’s just a little kid! What, was nobody else in the village available? Are we running low on actual ninjas?”

But before Mi Blade could respond, the girl with the long knife cut in, her tone dripping with casual expertise, as if she’d already read his entire ninja resume.

“Wait, you’re Hatake Mi Blade? Heir to Lord Sakumo? I’ve heard about you—some genius five-year-old, right? You and your brother Kakashi, they’re calling you the Gemini of the Hatake family.”

Mi Blade blinked, equal parts flattered and confused.

“Hey, do you know me?” he asked, leaning in like he was about to hand out autographs.

Saki, clearly amused by the whole situation, suggested, “Why don’t you all introduce yourselves?”

The boy, clearly a fan of unnecessary dramatics, shrugged before puffing out his chest like he was about to announce himself as the lead actor in a ninja soap opera.

“Kamikawamu!” he declared, with all the fanfare of someone who expected fireworks to go off in the background.

Mi Blade had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud at Kamikawamu’s over-the-top flair. Yep, he thought to himself, this is going to be one heck of an interesting day.

The girl, despite her ice-queen expression, seemed oddly intrigued by Mi Blade. Unlike Kamikawamu—who looked like he was about five seconds away from writing angsty poetry—she was significantly friendlier, though still giving off “don’t mess with me” vibes.

“My name is Uchiha Yu,” she said with a hint of pride, “I’m nine years old and a lowly Genin.”

Mi Blade’s eyes practically popped out of his head. “Uchiha?!” This was the first time he’d run into an Uchiha his age.

Usually, the only Uchiha's he saw were the grumpy, scruffy guards patrolling the streets, looking like they’d missed their morning coffee.

With a grin that he hoped didn’t make him look too starstruck, he added, “I’ve got Uchiha blood too! My mom’s from the Uchiha clan.”

Uchiha Yu nodded knowingly, her expression barely changing, but Mi Blade could tell the wheels were turning in her head.

She clearly knew all about the "Hatake family drama" that had probably been the topic of more than one awkward Uchiha dinner conversation.

Before Mi Blade could bask in his newfound Uchiha connection, Kamikawamu butted in with a grumble, waving them off like they were wasting his precious brooding time.

“Alright, can we get moving now? There’s a bottle of oil in the gear, and I’d rather not wait while this guy plays in the mud.”

Mi Blade, undeterred, snapped to attention. “I’ll handle it!” he declared, like retrieving oil was the most heroic task of the day.

Saki, ever the calm and collected leader, gathered the team together with the patience of a preschool teacher wrangling toddlers.

“Alright, listen up. Our mission is to track down hidden enemy ninjas in the Land of Fire based on intel from the investigation team. When we find them, we either eliminate them or scare them off. Easy enough, right?”

“And remember,” she added, leveling a stern look at the group, “no one goes off on their own. All operations are under my command. Got it?”

“Yes!” they all shouted, way too enthusiastically for a team about to hunt down dangerous ninjas.

“Alright then,” Saki grinned, clearly loving their energy, “Let’s move out!”

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The Land of Fire, nestled smack dab in the middle of all the great nations, was like the popular kid in school—everyone wanted a piece of it.

With borders stretching for miles, it had seen endless fighting during World War II. So, this mission? Yeah, it was going to be a bit of a doozy.

Luckily, Saki’s team didn’t have to wander around like lost tourists.

The investigation team would spoon-feed them the enemy’s location, and all they had to do was take care of business—whether that meant sending them packing or, you know, ninja-ing them into oblivion.

After days of walking—yes, walking, because apparently teleportation was still off the table—they finally reached the border of the Land of Fire.

During those days, Kamikawamu, in all his glorious edginess, treated Mi Blade like an “oil bottle.” Not exactly a term of endearment, but hey, at least he wasn’t comparing him to a wet sock.

He basically saw Mi Blade as useful but as thrilling as watching paint dry.

On the flip side, Uchiha Yu was surprisingly nice to Mi Blade.

She didn’t treat him like a stain on the Uchiha family crest at all. In fact, she didn’t seem to care about the whole “Uchiha controversy” thing, which was a welcome change.

During one of their breaks, Mi Blade, ever the curious chatterbox, couldn’t resist asking Uchiha Yu, “Sister Yu, do you think we might be related?”

He figured that since she was from the Uchiha clan, they probably shared some bloodline. Maybe she was his cousin… or, who knows, his ninja aunt? The possibilities were endless

“Uh, Sister Yu, that’s what I’m calling you now!” he added with a grin, the way a five-year-old decides nicknames are official once spoken out loud.

Uchiha Yu shook her head, clearly amused. “No, Mi Blade, I don’t think we’re related.”

Mi Blade just shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Eh, I thought it would be cool to have another relative in the clan, you know? Like a secret Uchiha family reunion! We could all show up in matching headbands.”

Uchiha Yu couldn’t help but chuckle at his enthusiasm, her serious ninja exterior cracking just a little. In the middle of this high-stakes mission, Mi Blade’s innocent excitement was like a breath of fresh air—or at least a break from Kamikawamu’s moody sword-clutching routine.