Arc 1 - Awakening - Part 2

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#

After having dinner, both brothers did the dishes together and went to sleep. Once Aito started snoring, Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

He was someone that would always repay a favor, no matter how small it was, for the feeling of owing someone made him sick. Although he wasn't sure of what to do from now on, at least he knew that he'd repay the real Jun.

Taking care of his little brother could also be called that, a form of repayment. Then again, he couldn't help but want to protect the kid, since he was identical to the late Izuna, who he held dearly in his heart.

A lot of things went through his mind as he stared at the cabin's roof. Scenes from his previous life started playing in his head, including flashbacks of Black-Zetsu. Furious, he swore to remove his existence from this planet if he were to meet him once again.

'Because of that vile creature's tampering, my clan was fooled and taken advantage of… Including myself… Unforgivable.'

Closing his eyes, he decided to let go of these matters for now. Next time the sun rose, he'd start training his body.

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Inside the Clan-Head's Residence, located in the heart of the Uchiha complex.

Ren had one knee on the ground as he watched his father clean his collection of paper fans. This man was the current head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Masaki[1]. As his name implied, he was the great tree that supported the clan in perilous times.

Masaki was thought to be the strongest ninja in the village, after the current Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. The reason for this was the thick shroud of mystery that surrounded his true ability.

Having been born in the warring states era, he knew of war, as well as peace. At twenty years of age, he participated in the legendary battle between the Uchiha and Senju, which ultimately resulted in the founding of Konohagakure. Now over fifty-years-old, he was one of the only people left from that era.

Respectfully waiting for his father to finish, Ren remained silent. It was rare for him to show this much discipline, but his father was an existence he dared not to offend.

After a while, Masaki stored all of his fans away and turned to face his son.

The map of wrinkles on his face told of a long journey. His forehead told of worries past and worries present... He was a man who had traveled through five decades to that moment; A testament to his tenacity, given the average life-span of ninjas.

"Speak."

"Father. I've come here to report something of utmost importance… I don't know if you remember him, but Jun Uchiha used some dark arts in order to defeat me, while still being a useless piece of trash. I cam here to appeal for punishment… These sorts of actions towards the son of the clan-head-"

"Enough! If you've lost, you've lost! Have I taught you to be such a sore loser!?"

"..."

Feeling his father's wrath, Ren gritted his teeth but decided to remain silent. Masaki wasn't short-sighted… He knew of his son's character and tendencies, but alas, it was too late to change him.

"Dark arts... Interesting. Elaborate."

"Well… He touched me in a few places, and suddenly, I lost my ability to gather any chakra, or fully use my strength… Even now, I'm still unable to…"

"Hm?"

His interest piqued, Masaki signaled for ren to come closer. Holding his son's hand, he closed his eyes and started scanning him.

'Heavens… To hit all tenketsu with this accuracy… Even if he had the Sharingan, this would require years of training and a deep understanding of the chakra pathway system! Unless he had the Byakugan… No… That's impossible…'

Seeing his father grin from ear to ear, Ren felt a chill run down his spine.

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[1] Masaki, meaning "great timber tree"

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#

Noticing the sun starting to rise, Jun woke up. Making sure not to wake Aito up, he silently did his bed and removed his shirt, heading outside.

Even with all the bandages covering his body, he still felt somewhat cold. Sighing, he felt disappointed at his physique's frailty. After performing a few stretches in front of the lake, he got to work.

With his years of experience, he knew exactly what muscle-groups to develop first. Aimlessly training would limit his speed, and he couldn't afford to take things slow. This was a world ruled by the strong, and no one knew that better than himself.

The body had countless muscles, some more important than others. Much of the physical aspects of fighting, such as balance, power, and movement come from the lower body. The more technical aspects, such as accuracy, defense, and landing hits will typically come from the upper body.

Thinking this far, Jun set up a training regime in his head. From what he had gathered so far, the academy's graduation exam would take place in a week's time. In these seven days, he would focus on improving his physical abilities, gaining muscle memory on the way.

After all, he still wasn't completely used to this body of his, The fact that he let himself get hit by a mere genin only served to highlight this issue.

As for the academy, he decided to skip it until the final day. There was nothing he could learn over there, and he'd much rather use all the time he had available.

"Alright, let's begin."

Feeling great from the earlier stretching, Jun started working on his legs, paying special attention to his calf muscles.

Since the legs are connected to the ground, they are the most responsible for pushing off it, generating power and speed throughout the body. They also happened to be the biggest muscles in the human body.

After an hour of that, he moved on to the core.

The hips hold the lower body and legs together. They also generate a huge amount of power by pivoting the whole body when needed. Another important function is that the hips have to do with balance.

Since he was riddled with injuries, Jun made sure to train this part very carefully, not wanting to worsen them any further.

Feeling sore after finishing everything, he took a small break. This body wasn't yet used to such intensive training and was taking its time to acclimate.

After a short rest, Jun continued with his abs, back, and upper body. Always targeting the most important muscles to a fighter.

Once he was done, he felt like his muscles were in flames, threatening to come crawling out of his skin. Thanks to all the stretching he did beforehand, coupled with his expertise, he managed not to pull a single muscle.

Like a madman, Jun relished in the pain his training had caused him. After a while, he let out a huge breath and carefully took off his bandages, before walking right into the ice-cold lake.

Because of his intense exercise, Jun felt the tiny tears inside his muscle fibers. These would cause him soreness when he woke up the next morning if he didn't do anything about them.

Therefore, he decided to take a cold bath. This was in order to constrict blood vessels and flush waste products, like lactic acid, out of the affected muscles. It also served to decrease metabolic activity and slow down physiological processes, reducing swelling and tissue breakdown in the process.

"Ah, nothing like a cold bath after exercise."

Fiding the long-lost sensation of an intense training session, Jun felt like he had gone back in time, to when he was just a kid.

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#

Sitting in the water with only his head poking out, Madara closed his eyes, rotating his chakra throughout his pathway-system.

Feeling out every nook and cranny of it, he noticed that his chakra reserves were slowly growing.

'Chakra is a mixture of both Yin and Yang energies. The former is related to the mind and soul, while the latter is linked to one's physique. Only by training both of these aspects, can a ninja increase their chakra level...'

Then again, the speed at which one grew was relative to their genetics. Some were simply born with a better aptitude for chakra, or with bigger reserves from the get-go. Being a member of the Uchiha clan, at least his talent was higher than a commoner's, albeit nothing grand.

'I'm surprised that my soul was able to completely integrate with this body… Logically, such a weak vessel would succumb under the pressure. A Yi-Yang imbalance would only lead to problems down the road…'

Jun was surprised. Apparently, his soul's energy was locked away, slowly leaking out its strength as his body grew more powerful.

'I'll go with the flow for now… Who knows what'll happen in the future?'

After ten minutes in the water, he rose to his feet and walked out of the lake, drying himself with a towel he had brought out earlier. He then meticulously replaced his bandages and stretched a little more.

Feeling energized, he walked into the cabin and started cooking breakfast with some ingredients he found in the fridge, along with the leftover fish from yesterday. Being from the warring-states era, he'd learned a quite few survival skills, cooking included.

The smell of breakfast woke Aito up, who rubbed his eyes as he tiredly walked into the small kitchen. Seeing the food on the table, he couldn't help but drool.

In front of him was a traditional Japanese breakfast, complete with the fish, miso soup and rice. It didn't matter how little they had, Jun made it all look incredible.

'Who would've thought that the great Madara would one day become someone's cook…? Well, it's true that I used to do this for my brothers, as a kid… Father never really cooked.'

Although he could've just cooked some fish half-heartedly, Jun had to admit that he had taken a liking to Aito. His uncanny resemblance to his little brother only made it worse. It made him want to spoil the kid.

Only his family ever saw the caring side of the great Madara, before he got brainwashed.

"You made this?! Unbelievable!"

Stuffing his stomach with the delicious food, Aito cried in joy. He hadn't eaten this well, ever. With their lack of funds, they couldn't afford to eat anything fancy.

"You like it? Well, eat up… Because today, you're not going to the academy."

"What?"

With rice all over his face, Aito gave Jun a perplexed look.

"I'm going to personally teach you for the next seven days. It's not going to be easy… Prepare to vomit a few times."

Finishing his sentence, Jun's expression turned evil, sending shivers down Aito's spine. It was as if he had turned into a demon, straight from the depths of hell.

"Geh…"

Hearing his brother's words, Aito lost all appetite. On one hand, he wanted to learn from his brother, but on the other, he felt like it would be dangerous… His expression didn't help either.

#

Inside a small clearing, located in the forest surrounding the Uchiha complex, two dark-haired youths were having a spar.

"Make sure to maintain your form when you throw the punch."

"That kick was terrible! You left yourself open in a total of ten spots..."

"Wrong… Wrong! Why are you shifting your attention away from the enemy!? This could be a fatal error in a life-or-death battle!"

His brother's comments were harsh, but Aito knew he was right. In the past three days alone, he had learned more than the academy taught him in a whole year! He could feel himself getting stronger.

He looked angry on the outside, but he couldn't help but feel satisfied inside. Aito was a quick learner and got most of the lessons he imparted to him.

Jun was also making good progress. His physique had been steadily improving, allowing him to last longer in training and maximize his potential. He even started to get used to this new body, allowing him to use it as if it was originally his.

"Alright! Let's stop for today. Keep the things I said in mind and ponder over them as you rest. Good job."

"Yessir! Thanks, Aniki!"

Completely out of breath, as soon as Aito heard the word rest, he sighed in relief and ran to the lake for a cold bath.

Seeing him run off, Jun let out a small smile. So far, their lives had been peaceful, with no outside contact aside from the occasional visit from Akane. In four days, he'd take the graduation exam, as planned.

Smiling, he sat cross-legged and gathered up his chakra. Now familiar with his new body, he was capable of doing so at a much faster rate than three days prior.

Once he had gathered enough chakra, he got up to face a large tree. Closing his eyes, he meticulously directed the chakra towards the soles of his feet, and slowly walked up to the tree.

Placing one foot on the large trunk, he made sure the ratios were correct before placing another foot. Soon, he was standing horizontally, his body close to the ground.

Smiling, he walked up and down the tree a few times, feeling himself run out of chakra already. Clicking his tongue, he walked back down and sat on the ground.

"What was that… Ten laps? Such puny chakra reserves…"

Then again, he couldn't complain. If it had been three days ago, he might've not been capable to even stick to the tree. Even though he had all the experience, his body wasn't good enough yet…

After a while of meditation, he gathered up enough chakra and tried again. This time, instead of walking, he ran up and down the tree.

After twenty-five laps, he finally got off and sat down to recuperate. Because he was going faster, it required finer control but also drained less chakra per-step. It all came down to how efficient he was with it.

Chakra control was separated into two different sections, efficiency and flexibility. First, a ninja would have to learn how to use his chakra efficiently, in order to last longer during a battle. On the other hand, flexibility was about how proficient one was with chakra control.

Things like hanging upside-down from a branch, walking on water, performing maneuvers while off the ground… All of these fell in the flexibility category. The better one was with this category, the harder the Jutsu they could master.

"Next up, I'll start hopping around the tree branches. Once that's done, I'll move on to walking over water..."

Smiling, Jun got up with a determined expression.

#

The last four days before the exam passed by in a flash.

Konoha's academy was lively, since on this particular day every year, legends were born.

Students that would participate in the exam all walked into the academy with their hopes high. Some were nervous, while others were confident. If they failed, they'd have to stay for one more year.

In time, they all gathered in the classroom, filling it with chatter.

In a corner of the class, Jun sat with his arms crossed. Looking around, he tried to find anyone worth noting… After all, two of these kids would become his partners for a while.

Suddenly, he heard two girls gossipping in front of him.

"Hey, do you think that I'll be ut in Minato's team? Kyaaa! That would be so perfect! It''s only his first year in the academy, yet he's already about to graduate!"

"No way… He's just ten! I'd much rather be put in a team with Usele- Ahem. I mean Jun… Even though he's weak, he's so dreamy!"

"That useless junk? There's no way he'll pass the exam. I just hope we don't get placed with the habanero."

Are they even whispering?... Kids these days…'

Ignoring them, he followed their line of sight and noticed a youth. His blonde hair and blue eyes immediately reminded him of someone.

"It's him… Interesting."

From what he recalled, that boy would become a legendary war figure in the village. Namikaze Minato, better known as Konohagakure's yellow flash.

Immersing himself in his memories, Jun recalled his fight against the shinobi alliance. Minato had been one of the few who really caused him trouble, having integrated with one of the Nine-tails' halves and wielding the power to teleport around.

Snapping him out of his trance, the teacher walked into the room. He was just a lowly Chūnin, so Jun decided to not pay him any extra attention.

Clearing his throat, the teacher looked up to the whole class and checked if everyone was present. Seeing Jun, he couldn't help but look disappointed. This kid hadn't attended his classes for so long, and he still dared to come and take the exam?

Deciding to not call him out on it, he scratched his head and spoke up.

"All of you... Lets quickly get this over and done with. Line up!"

Following the students, Jun got in the back of the line and waited for his turn. One by one, all students attempted to perform the clone technique, receiving a forehead-protector if they managed.

So far, a total of eight students out of the original twenty had passed. Now, he was the only one left. Of course, the whole class dismissed him, thinking he would fail again. Even the teacher looked impatient for them to finish up.

"Uchiha Jun, second attempt. Please come up and perform the clone technique."

Hearing the teacher's words, some students started whispering.

"He's definitely gonna fail."

"Yeah, no doubt about it. Even though he's an Uchiha…"

Ignoring their words, Jun walked up to the front and performed a hand-seal.

"Bunshin."

With one word from him, everyone shut up. Next to him, an exact copy of his attractive self stood for everyone to see.

"What…"

"Oh my god…"

"Am I seeing it right?!"

Seeing Hun's clone, most of the class descended into madness... They couldn't believe what just happened. Even the teacher had his mouth open.

"U-Uchiha Jun… Pass… Come and get your forehead protector..."

Acting as if though all the other students didn't exist, Jun walked over to the table and picked his protector. Looking at it, the corners of his mouth rose.

#

After the exam was finally over, all of the students were dismissed. Those who graduated were all smiles, while the ones who failed could only accept their fate.

Jun went back home, ready to continue training. Passing the exam was nothing, he could've probably done so on the first day he was brought back. His top priority at the moment was just to get stronger.

Knowing the nature of ninja villages and their people, he knew he wasn't completely safe. At any moment, someone might consider him a threat and decide to target him, especially because of the blood flowing through his veins.

He had to stay under the radar until he grew stronger. Even though he feared no one, he had a brain and knew when and how to use it.

'They say geniuses die early… In my previous life, I overcame countless trials, rising up over others' corpses and gaining power. Even though I fought adults while still a child, I always came out victorious…'

No one could hold him. If he wanted something, he would get it… That was the way Uchiha Madara operated.

Exuding pure, unadulterated confidence, Jun walked through the streets of the Uchiha complex until he finally reached the cabin. Going straight to the lake, he stopped at the bay and removed his sandals, dipping his feet into the water.

Feeling the energy around him, Jun closed his eyes. Suddenly, the chakra around him became agitated, as he performed multiple hand seals.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Following his words, he filled his lungs with air, mixing it with the fire he had kneaded from his chakra.

The result was a big fireball, almost perfectly spherical. Although it wasn't that big, its shape was close to perfect, indicating masterful chakra control.

It flew across the lake, causing some of the surface water to evaporate before dying down. Seeing this, Jun looked somewhat dissatisfied.

"If it wasn't for my chakra reserves being this low… Well, I guess I just need to train some more. No big deal."

Thinking this far, he continued practicing this technique until it gained some size and became perfectly circular. This took him approximately an hour.

Content with the result, Jun decided to stop. In the past few days, he had perfected all of the basic, elementary ninjutsu and through that, completely acclimated to his new body.

Judging from the nature of his fire-release, he was almost convinced that he had a fire affinity, like most Uchiha.

Although his head was filled with a monstrous arsenal of various Jutsu, he wanted to focus on two for the time being. There was no use trying to teach himself everything at once.

'For now, I should perfect both the great fireball and the surface merging technique.'

The latter was a technique he developed after studying Hashirama's wood-release. It gave him a similar ability to Zetsu's mayfly[1] but was less versatile. Although he could merge with any surface and erase his presence, his movement speed suffered greatly.

These two techniques would be a perfect starting point for him. Both of them required high-levels of chakra control, serving as training methods as well.

In terms of close-combat, he was already confident. Since he had already become one with his new body, all of his combat experience and knowledge had come right back. Then again, once he awakened his Sharingan, his opponents could only resign themselves to their fates.

"Well, you're certainly diligent!"

Somewhat startled the sudden comment, Jun turned around and noticed an old man wearing traditional clothes from the warring states era. This man was none other than Uchiha Masaki, the head of the Uchiha clan.

#

Masaki was tall, well above the average height. Although he was old, his body exuded limitless vigor.

What stood out about his appearance was his hair. It was spiky, and although it couldn't be called long, it certainly was… thick. It almost looked like he had a black flame for hair. [1]

Seeing him, Jun didn't back down or get nervous. Although he didn't exactly know who this person was, he already had a few guesses. After all, Aito had mentioned a few important figures to him.

"What brings the clan-head to my humble abode?"

"Heh! Straight to the point, I like it. I heard that you recently beat up my son… Is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct."

Hearing Jun's nonchalant response, Masaki's opinion of him had risen by a lot. In the face of danger, he didn't even consider backing down!

"Aren't you afraid of the consequences?"

"Consequences? Your son, with all due respect, came knocking at my door, threatening to beat both me and my brother up. If it were you, Masaki-sama, would you take it lying down? As an Uchiha, I refuse to let anyone, not even the clan head's son, trample over my dignity."

Hearing the boy's response, Masaki's blood started boiling. Suddenly, he let his chakra permeate the area around them, exuding tremendous pressure.

Feeling the pressure, Jun remained calm, not moving an inch. His mental strength had already long surpassed logic, and pressure of this caliber could do nothing to him.

This surprised Masaki. Although he held back, this sort of pressure would make most people kneel in forgiveness! Satisfied, he turned around and started walking off. After a few steps, he turned his head back and spoke up.

"Brat… You've piqued my interest. I've been waiting for an Uchiha with your level of backbone for a long time. Our clan grows weaker each generation… Not in strength, but in mindset. Back in the day, we were still prideful, but not conceited! True strength is in the head as much as it is in the body... "

"Well, I've talked enough. I'll be on my way, so keep training hard!"

With those last words, Masaki flickered away, disappearing from his previous spot. Jun smiled, taking a liking to this clan head. Although he was probably just some small-fry back when he deserted the village, Jun still found him quite interesting.

'He's right. I need to get stronger and change the clan's mentality. Only I am capable of that.'

Adding this to his list of things he needed to do in this life, Jun got back to work. Next up, he would train in the surface merging technique.

Jun was excited. Because of his power, the only person that really posed a challenge in his past life was Hashirama. Now, he would take his time, in order to rediscover the thrill of battle.

Not too far away, Masaki was hiding behind a tree, observing Jun.

"His way of speaking, composure, and arrogance… Something about the way he behaved... Why did it remind me so much of Madara-dono?"

"I must have gone senile... He's just a kid. Even then, I get the feeling that I can rely on him… Why is that?"

Scrapping such thoughts, Masaki took one last look at the youth before turning away, not even leaving a trail of dust behind.

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[1] Here's a visual reference of what Masaki looks like. Although his hair is actually black, and his clothes feature much darker tones: bit.ly/2xwF1zt