-The next day-
Pov: Takumi Uchiha.
I yawn and arrive back at my house, luckily I managed to shake off Obito as Rin was heading to the park to play some games.
Opening the door and swapping my shoes I walk down the hallway and open up my door, inside I see my caretaker sitting at my desk.
I hang my coat up and walk over to my bed-
"Takumi. Obito's notes. You cannot tell me they aren't yours" My caretaker says and I watch him vanish from the desk... and appear at my coat.
He is flipping through the book with his sharingan- I must have been hit with an illusion... damnit, I thought I was being careful.
What do I do? I didn't realise he was watching me that closely... is this what chakra can do? I must grow to defend myself against such techniques...
"Caretaker... I am tired, long day of sleeping" I point to my bed.
"Don't even try that Takumi, I know how many hours you spend at night writing in this thing" My caretaker replies.
How long has he..? I need to learn this worlds system of power if I am to hide my trainings from these people... but I cannot do that without training.
"Such... impressive improvements upon the Acadamy style taijutsu- and yet you still claim to be lazy" He shakes his head and snaps the book shut.
"What... is it that you want?" I ask.
"All I want is for you to be strong! To help the Uchiha and then Konoha- I don't want to see you waste away your life child... I want you to be a great ninja like those that came before you" He tells me and I think to myself for a moment.
Hn.
Perhaps in another life, right now? No, absolutely not- I made a promise, and I must keep that promise.
"Don't stay silent- I am tired of your constant dismissive attitude, tell me what is happening to you and why you think it is okay to hide this stuff?" My caretaker takes a sadder tone... gods above I hate hearing sad tones.
"I... just want to rest" I state simply.
"I know that Takumi- I want to know why" He replies with a frown.
"Why...? That is a good question... I have been pondering on why I want to rest recently... I had thought this was.. something else- but recently I have been enjoying this rest, finding that balance between work and writing... I have no reason currently" I tell him.
"So then why hide this book every night? Write someone else's name on it? Not show your sensei and prove that you are not some... some lazy fool" He asks me.
...
"I... don't want to be dragged into this war, I don't want to be fighting and fighting my whole life... I just want to live peacefully" I reply with my utmost sincerity.
"You- No one wants war! Do you think we ask for this? Do you think that what is happening right now is so terrible? Because soon it will get worse- right now all we are having is border disputes... the war will erupt and we won't see each other for quite some time Takumi! No one wants this war... but we still fight for it" He yells at me.
"I know that" My eye twitches... it feels wrong for someone else to tell me of all people that.
"Do you? So why!? Why!?" He grips the bridge of his nose with frustration.
He takes a breath allowing me time to think.
All of how I acted these past few years have been piling up on his shoulders... I have burdened his shoulders and I hate that feeling. Always have.
Guilt... responsibility... spite and determination.
Those emotions... are what drove me to train so hard that I saw my friends probably twice a year... to fight on a border for so long that I couldn't tell anyone much about my own wife. If I wasn't such a grand political piece I wouldn't have a life like that to begin with.
...
But I also don't want to be so lazy as to burden others... dragging them down for no reason. Especially when I love to train and fight... how can I find a work/life balance in war?
"Fine then" My caretaker throws a kunai blade past at me and I catch it.
"You don't know how to speak then. So let your talent speak for you- tell me why" My caretaker pulls out a kunai of his own and takes a defensive stance.
...? I'm thinking too much aren't I? I was the Emperor of blades... maybe I should stop thinking... and start feeling. That's what the old fool would make me do- he taught me how to remove unnecessary thoughts through thinking with ones own gut instincts.
Just like my academy homework I won't understand myself through only theory.
I take a stance... my favourite to use with small blades like Kunai, though often with a blade or grass.
I stand aloof and open, in fact I close my eyes as I prime my ears to listen and twist my wrist so delicately as it waits to swish.
I smile as I feel... well- I can't feel my Aura can I? I no longer have it.
My Aura... it was the closest thing to comfort that I held.
Aura has three aspects, Physical, mental and spiritual...
I gain those aspects as I develop my Aura and myself.
My Physical aspect? Sharpness... to apply the aspect of sharpness on the physical plane.
My mental aspect? Unrelenting, to never give up and get stronger as I kept pushing.
My spiritual aspect? Cruelty. I had just gained that one... but I had killed so many with my blade that I could not handle the backlash.
That cursed aspect got me killed... a double edged sword as it were.
I pushed my body to its limit to obtain sharpness.
I pushed my mind to its limit to become unrelenting.
And I... never did much to become cruel.
One needs to be the kindest soul to enact the cruellest deeds and I didn't do anything kind my whole life. Nor did I do the opposite... I thought I was some tool.
Some blade.
Some weapon made to kill my empires enemies.
Emperor of blades.
Not the Emperor who wielded blades.
Yet... that's what I regret.
Aura is us- our life. Our will.
And at the final step I fell... because I had thought myself a weapon and not its wielder.
My smile fades as I open my eyes to face my caretaker.
"Sharpness is a description of both a blade and a man. Unrelenting I thought the same. But cruel? No weapon is cruel... the wielder of that weapon decides how cruel it can be" I say with a calm and very even tone.
My caretaker raises an eyebrow but listens.
"My blade is cruel because I only wield it against those deserving. And war? It is filled with those undeserving on every side" I say once more as my voice gains back some confidence from another life.
I was a weapon as that was how I was raised- but life isn't one step, it is many.
"Takumi Uchiha, Elder of the Uchiha clan- I Takumi Uchiha of the Uchiha clan wish to train and grow, sharpen my blade and become unrelenting in my goals- I will be the embodiment of cruelty by not helping in the leaf's war, I will laze about and take life slow. And only when I deem someone compatible with my cruelty will I ever fight. There is no stopping me for that is my way of life- it is my essence" I state with absolute certainty- had I still wielded Aura I may have tamed the spiritual aspect, achieving a feat none have seen in centuries.
"I won't let you laze about- your people need you" Takumi Uchiha, my Caretaker announces.
"Watch me!" I smile and drop my blade.
*Woosh!*
He attacks- moving slower than his normal most likely he thrusts forward aiming to scratch my cheek.
*Woosh!* *Step!*
I slide my foot backwards and turn my body, the kunai slides past my face and I see a window of opportunity. But I do not take it- Elder Takumi Uchiha is not compatible with my cruelty.
*SWISH!*
With sudden speed he swishes his arm and slashes at my forehead- I duck as he no longer holds back.
"Hn? This much talent... wasted" He says with sadness and then attacks once more.
*SLASH!*
But I cannot keep up- with him using chakra how could a child like me keep up?
*Drip* *Drip* *Drip*
Blood drips down my face and onto the floor... I touch the wound... a slash across my forehead.
*Swipe!*
And with a quick swipe the wound closes shut- my caretaker smearing some form of healing energy across my forehead.
"You lost. Now fight" He tells me.
"No- you lost" I still smiling wipe the blood from my eyes.
"On what grounds?" He asks. Much calmer than before.
"Because the second I picked up that Kunai I understood that I was never going to wield it against someone like you- what you just did- slashing my forehead? That was kindness, a wake up call to the reality of this world. Meaning that you are not worthy of cruelty and certainly not worthy of winning for you only pushed me further into the depths, you believe me to be sinking down but I am thriving under these waters... and I will hold my breath until my last day" I stomp my foot and push a thumb to my chest, smile as wide as the time I tamed the mental aspect.
"Can you?" He asks in a cold tone.
"Watch. Me" I glare into his eyes and he takes a breath and sheathes his kunai somewhere within his sleeve.
"Fine. Do as you wish" He steps out of my room and closes the door behind him.
...
I pick up the kunai I dropped and take the academy starting stance, the regular one.
I jump forward- offensive block- break away.
Right... why didn't I think to do this?
*SWISH!* *Swoosh!* *Tap!*
I cut down on some of the unnecessary movements... down to the smallest parts of my entire body- everything acts according to fulfilling this style.
The style grows faster.
And faster.
And faster.
Forward- Offensive Block- Break-
I add my own improvements from my notes.
Forward- Slash- Swipe- Break-
...
This is nearly done... now I need to refine the basic combat forms that allow the ninja to throw punches kicks and perform evasive manoeuvres.
Instead of them being vague and basic however- I wish to design every punch, kick and technique in this style to flow nicely with the above formula.
*Swish!* *Slash!*
For example this style should be capable of freestyle, instead of breaking at this point-
*Stomp* *Swish!*
Add in a stomp to trip an enemy or a slash to maintain your offensive.
If the child learns a more defensive academy style-
*Dash!* *Slide!* *Break!*
Close in and then purposefully throw your enemy off-guard by breaking their attacks- a kunai doesn't have a guarding advantage so it should make contact with the enemies blade with enough force to counter their force.
And if the child wants to ne more evasive...
*Swoosh!* *Duck!* *Slide*
Then the basic moves of evasion will focus on close combat- detailed evasive moves that allow one to reduce the amount of energy wasted on breaking and jumping away.
Eventually they would learn how to perform ninjutsu while dodging so close and improve the accuracy of all jutsu.
Yes- lets refine every single detail on every basic move in this book! Make this dead skill tree thrive with leaves!
Pov: Elder Takumi Uchiha.
I stand in the cold on top of a roof with Fugaku Uchiha by my side.
We stare through the cracks in the curtains as my grandson rapidly advances a technique considered basic into something... more.
With our sharingan active we can see the details of what he does.
"That is... prodigious" Fugaku states.
"Yes. I had to show someone this... before I died at least" I state grumpily.
"Hn. And you couldn't convince him to attack you?" He asks.
"No. He is a pacifist... or something along the lines- perhaps he would attack me if I was an enemy ninja or 'worthy of his cruelty' as he so eloquently put it" I click my tongue.
"Then let him be" Fugaku says with a sigh.
"Seriously? I didn't expect that from you?" I ask in surprise.
"How you raise your grandson is up to you- but do know that if he does nothing to help others than the clan will abandon him" Fugaku tells me.
"Oh- I see then. I will submit his improved techniques to the clan under my name... in the end all it takes is a misunderstanding of which Takumi Uchiha actually made these to solve any issue for his future claiming of credit" I respond.
"Good, he can be a desk ninja all he likes if he keeps submitting technique improvements like that" Fugaku says before flickering away.
... at least the boy is safe. That is all I ask.
Thanks for reading! :)