The Genjutsu Devil of Konoha

That Evening – Senju Compound

The doors burst open with a dramatic BANG.

"BIIIIIGGGG SIIIIISSSS!"

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork, one eyebrow twitching, already regretting having a sibling.

"If this isn't life or death, you better have brought me sake or silence."

Nawaki grinned like he just won the lottery.

"I mastered the Shadow Clone Technique!"

She blinked. Once. Twice.

"What?"

"I mastered the Shadow Clone Technique!" he beamed, puffing out his chest. "Bet settled! You owe me!"

Right. The bet.

She had told him, very clearly, that if he could master Shadow Clone Jutsu by the end of the week, she'd give him any one training favor of his choosing.

That had been four days ago.

Tsunade stood slowly, arms crossed, watching him with narrowed eyes.

"...How?"

Nawaki shrugged, looking way too smug for someone his size.

"I'm a genius."

Silence.

Tsunade's eye twitched.

There was a very familiar feeling creeping up her spine. That feeling of being scammed. Manipulated. Out-played. Like Danzo winning an argument by lying so confidently that even logic gave up.

"You're lying."

"I'm not!"

"You're lying. Who helped you?"

"No one!"

"Nawaki."

"Are you doubting my genius? I mastered it because I am smart!" he said with a proud smile. She didn't buy it, even for a second. Not even a singular second.

However, she had no way to prove how he cheated, so—

She sighed, shaking her head.

Still. A bet was a bet.

"Fine. What do you want?"

He grinned.

"Taijutsu training! I need to beat Seijuro in the mid-term. I know that he's ahead—he's been beating everyone in Taijutsu spars. Even the Hyuga!"

Tsunade's face went blank for half a second. Then slowly twisted into a smirk.

"...Ohhh. That's your plan, huh?"

He nodded excitedly.

"Yup!"

A long pause.

Then she cracked her knuckles.

"Cool. Let's start now."

Ten Minutes Later – Training Grounds

"LEFT!"

BOOM.

A crater where a tree used to be.

"RIGHT!"

CRASH.

There goes a boulder. And Nawaki's confidence.

"DODGE!!"

"I'M TRYINGGG!!"

Tsunade didn't pull punches. Literally. She was throwing them like they were boulders, and Nawaki had to dodge like his life depended on it. Which, incidentally, it did.

A tree got ripped out of the ground and launched at him like it was a volleyball.

"WHAT KINDA TRAINING IS THIS?!"

"The kind that builds reflexes!"

"THIS IS A WAR CRIME!!"

"You wanted to beat Seijuro. Keep moving, or I'll start aiming for vital organs!"

"YOU'RE ALREADY AIMING FOR EVERYTHING!!"

Nawaki dove, rolled, crawled, and scrambled like a squirrel being hunted by a bear on a sugar rush.

His clothes were torn. His hair was filled with leaves. His soul left his body three times in the last five minutes.

"THIS! ISN'T! FAIR!"

"Life isn't fair, and neither is Taijutsu!"

And that's where we leave him—a boy running from his sister... and his choices.

Meanwhile, as Nawaki was regretting his life decisions—

Seijuro could be seen walking along the floor. Takeshi and Kaito were nearby, looking quite beaten. They had once again challenged him to a fight. He even accepted the 2 vs 1.

Anyway, they lost.

They seemed rather hateful. Different from Mikoto. She was kind. Even though, as a fighter, she was like the fourth strongest in the class, the list went: Seijuro... Hiashi... Nawaki... Mikoto.

On the flip side, she was the strongest girl in the class, so there was that.

Thinking about it like this, she was in fact the strongest Uchiha in the class. It didn't start like this—she was like the third strongest—then she began asking him for help. He helped. Even showed demonstrations and gave easy instructions on how to do jutsu and even helped her perform the Uchiha clan's quick kata.

All in all, she had improved leaps and bounds. She was now as strong as, like, a 4th-year academy student. Yes, that was a big buff. And mind you, only six months had passed.

Being with someone like Seijuro does that to people. Since Seijuro explained it so nicely, he would help her awaken her Sharingan. He had studied it and wanted to see it in action.

Hm. He could be a scientist in the future. That seemed like a fun path—experiment on a human body to find all the secrets it holds.

Hm. He still had some morals. A 10-year-old with morals. How shocking. Anyway.

Mikoto was sweet. Reminded him of Yui. Hm... he walked back toward the Kurama Clan compound. Yui was there waiting for him as always. She had made food, which he ate. He liked it. It tasted rather good.

He would practice his Kenjutsu style.

Kenjutsu Style – Kyouken no Kage (Mirrorblade of Shadows)

He was getting better at it, especially since...

Poof

The Shadow Clone, which had been practicing the move for the past 12 hours, poofed. Usually, he would let it go for more, but at the beginning of each day, he made like six clones. Each clone was doing something.

One rule he did put there was the fact that each clone poofed with a two-hour time window between them. That was time for him to arrange all the memory, get rid of the migraine, and be able to function quite well without any sign of brain damage. He was not trying to shout dattebayo every five seconds.

He rather liked his brain.

Well, with his progress, he could graduate now. Which academy student do you know that could use a jutsu from every nature release? He was quite good.

He looked at his calligraphy.

It was aight.