[THIRD PERSON POV:]

"Alright, form the seal of confrontation you two!" Jinbei shouted out from the sidelines.

The kids in the background cheered on, this match was always the most enjoyable one to watch. The fight was neither suspenseful nor thrilling, but the loser's reaction and aftermath were always a treat for the children.

Yakumi reluctantly walked up to Aoki and formed the seal before backing away, eyeing him suspiciously. His thoughts were racing with plans to defeat the red-eyed boy but Aoki's gaze seemed to look past the Uchiha, disregarding him entirely

The Uchiha Taijutsu that Yakumi had learnt relied on intercepting strikes and counterattacking as opposed to aggression, but the boy's temper combined with Aoki's brazen attitude made him ignore all of that and rush at Aoki, ready to employ the Academy's style instead.

"Hyah!" Yakumi flicked a punch towards his opponent which was quickly side-stepped. The Uchiha followed up with a flurry of strikes which were all dodged or intercepted, much to Yakumi's annoyance.

Aoki did nothing more but lightly smile at Yakumi, only aggravating the boy more. Yakumi pressed forward, hell-bent on getting Aoki this time. He launched himself towards Aoki, right arm cocked to deliver a devastating blow.

*Swipe!*

Aoki turned as Yakumi passed him, rolling to the side and arriving behind Yakumi's back. Before the Uchiha could react, a kick was sent to his buttocks and he was flung out of the arena, losing due to being out of bounds.

Then followed the usual cries of "Unfair!" and "He's cheating sensei!" before Yakumi was escorted back to his seat, where his cousin Byakko Uchiha looked like she wanted to disappear entirely, embarrassed at having to share a last name with such a character.

The kids all laughed, content that Yakumi had been taken down a peg.

-----

[AOKI POV:]

'Mhm, beating up Yakumi should be recommended by every therapist around, it's good for the soul…' I thought, sitting down and lightly smirking at the boy glaring daggers at me. I had begun to dial down my spite towards him for the sake of my plans but it was tough to do so.

Don't judge me, Yakumi's only gotten more annoying as the years gone on and I reached the limit of my patience a while ago. He's particularly annoying whenever we're learning Jutsu, egging me on to show off mine.

To this day, I refuse to show my stickman clone to anyone other than the people I live with, I have an image to keep up.

The need for an image goes beyond just my pride however, I need it for my future.

School passed as normal, the only difference being the other brawls that happened. The battles were a snooze fest, the only ­one that caught my eye was Ryoma overpowering his opponent with raw strength, sadly the other kid could do nothing other than get thrown out of the ring.

Once I arrived back home, I was greeted by the now fully potty-trained twins and met with Sasuke for a spar; by this point, I could gain nothing out of our fights other than experience but it helped Sasuke so I was always willing to give it a go.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Tomo made me do some more chores before I was finally free to do as I wished.

Life had gotten a lot more hectic. It was at times like this when I missed doom scrolling social media on my phone, music is another thing I long for these days. Sadly, people of this time don't play anything that suits my tastes.

I unfurled one of the many scrolls I had underneath my bed and raced to the front yard, beginning my practice. I needed to develop my body as much as possible before I could practice Jutsu better.

Lots of things have happened since I met with Hiruzen last month, my revamped training and new plans being the biggest change so far.

When Hiruzen told me of my Chakra's peculiarity, I was tempted to ask him to investigate further, and get to the bottom of why mine is different.

The thing is though, I already had a good guess as to why my chakra is different; my soul. What if somewhere along the investigation, Hiruzen grows suspicious of me? What if testing reveals some aspect about me that I'd rather them not know? I was wary.

Hiruzen's strange tone combined with my caution made me reject the notion of being tested on, it didn't sit right with me.

Perhaps I would ask him for this in the future, but not yet. Not until I had more confidence in myself and my strength. My next request was for someone who could help improve my physique, a trainer of sorts but I stopped myself.

There was something that bugged me about Hiruzen lately. I felt the need to grow more independent, to be the one who creates opportunities for myself instead of being spoon-fed by the Hokage; I needed to learn this sooner rather than later.

What I did ask of him were more methods of training that I could use to improve my physical energies.

I looked at the scroll I had brought out for the day, it was one of many Taijutsu scrolls that Hiruzen had given me, each were unique and had detailed various styles of Taijutsu I could employ.

The Academy's Taijutsu scrolls speak of weighted seals that some use to improvise their body, I asked him for one of those and he said that I was too young to use them; promising to give me them when I'm old enough.

I unfurled the scroll, it was one that relied on grappling techniques but Sasuke was off doing his own things so I had to make do by myself, training this way didn't have immediate benefits but I could notice small improvements. I looked rather silly, but it didn't matter.

After 2 hours, I had a light layer of sweat on my forehead, the best part of Taijutsu training was that I could feel my combat effectiveness go up with each session.

I told Tomo I was going for a run, recently I had been able to gain a bit of independence to explore around the leaf, nowhere too far from the clan compounds however.

I held nothing back and ran as fast as I could, not caring for my lagging breaths or tired feet, I was looking for someone.

It was a Hail Mary, and the chances of meeting him were low… but I needed to gain his interest, and I had to be proactive.

Keeping my ears honed for any mention of "YOUTH!" I peeled my eyes open, scouring through the crowds hoping to see a green vested man.

I had plans for whether I met him while he was running, talking with someone or just walking around; to this day, I've never even caught a glimpse of the man.

'Still can't find him, right then… time to do that thing … again.' I thought, dreading what I had to do next.

Between panting breaths, I shouted out, "IF I CAN'T REACH THAT NEXT POLE IN TEN SECONDS… I'LL DO A HUNDRED PUSH-UPS!" And ran forward with more fervour than before.

I ignored the eyes of people looking at me like I was a freak and kept running.

Every time that I felt ashamed, every time I felt judged, I used my memories of the future to sprint ever faster.

I can't use Jutsu. Maybe I never will.

This is my path forward.

I thought about what Hiruzen might think of me, my actions may be suspicious to him, someone who probably has a profile on me and my habits. But honestly, if he wants to be suspicious he can go ahead and be suspicious. I need this more than I need his confidence in me.

Spotting the sun almost reaching the horizon, I headed back home, today was added to the long list of failed "Guy-bait" sessions.

———

[A/N: I'm back! And my moves finished, ready for Uni. This is the upload schedule for the foreseeable future:

1 chapter each weekday, if we hit powerstone goals (on webnovel) I'll add on another one, since this is halfway through the week already we probably won't hit it but that's fine, it'll give me a good idea of good goals to set in the future.

PS goal for extra chapter: 250

P.S. how are you guys doing? I'm good. ]