( day)

  Kaida was about to leave for the hospital when an Uchiha ninja came to their house.

  “The head is asking if you are ready for the spar. He has already arranged everything for that.”

  ‘Shit, I fot about that once again,’ Kaida thought.

  “Yes, just give me a sed. I have something important to take care of,” Kaida said a inside his room. He came out in a mier creating a shadow e to tell Mitsuru that he would be a little te for the lesson.

  He had fotten to inform her, and today she was going to teach him something important. He didn’t wao wait for him, so he sent his shadow e to inform her.

  “Where are you going, Kaida?” Hae asked, ing out of the kit. She had only heard about Fugaku calling him.

  “Aunt, do you remember that when we were living at the head’s house, Itachi and I decided to have a little spar but were uo do that because of all the things happening?”

  Hae nodded her head.

  “The head yesterday asked if I was ready for that spar now, and I agreed to that, so he has made some arras for the spar,” Kaida said.

  “Oh! Then wait for a sed. I also want to see that. I was just going to get bored sitting in the house for now. Your spar would be eaining to watch,” Hae said with a smile ao her room to ge her clothes. She was sure that Mikoto would be present there as well, so she could also have a chat with her friend.

  After some time, she came out of the house pletely ready as if she was going for a social event. Kaida didn’t say anything about that and just turo the ninja and said, “Let’s go.”

  The ninja nodded, and they slowly made their way toward one of the training areas reserved specifically for the Jonins of the Uchiha . They had modified it with many ptforms for spars and jutsu practice, mainly fire-reted ones, while still leaving ample space for a forest area if someone wahat type of enviro for training.

  They followed the ninja to one of the sparring ptforms, where they could see Fugaku sitting with Mikoto and some of the elders of the . Seeing them, Kaida could tell that, even though they were old, they were still very powerful and could easily take on a Jonin in a one-on-one fight, though ae Jonin might be a pletely different story.

  It was simple nature that while getting old a ninja could not retain their peak strength, but still being at the level of Jonin at the age of 70 and above was in itself a symbol of their strength at their peak.

  But then Kaida remembered Hiruzen, who was still an upper Kage-level ninja even though he was so old.

  ‘No doubt he got the title of God of Shinobi after Hashirama Senju,’ Kaida thought.

  “Hi Mikoto, I knew you would be here,” Hae said as she went to where Mikoto was sitting. She was a little away from the crowd as Fugaku and the elders were discussing something. Kaida could also see Shisui sittihem, and they were talking to him from time to time.

  Shisui was looking at Kaida with a smile on his face. Then Kaida looked at the other er of the sparring area where Itachi was standing, leaning on the wall. The air was blowing his hair, and his eyes were closed.

  ‘I don’t know why the hell Naruto was the main character; this guy has everything he o be a main character. Just look at him, looking all cool and handsome without even trying… tch,’ Kaida thought as he could see some of the kunoichi stealing g the area, aurally thought they were looking toward Itachi.

  Seeing everyone had arrived, an elder stood up and said, “Today both of yoing to have a spar, and we are also using this opportunity to judge the future potential of our . But siachi is one year older than you and quite powerful, a simple spar will not be fair. So, we have made some ges. Acc to Shisui, who knows both of you, Kaida has better Kenjutsu and Itachi has better Genjutsu abilities. Only these two are allowed in the spar; no use of any other jutsu. Any doubts?” the elder said.

  ‘Me, better than Itachi isu? Like hell this is true,’ Kaida thought but didn’t say it out loud as everything would bee clear in a minute or two anyway.

  “No, sir,” Kaida said while Itachi stood straight and just nodded his head. Seeing everyone was ready, the elder went back. Only Kaida and Itachi remained oform.

  ...

  "Are you ready?" Itachi asked, his voice calm and posed.

  Kaida nodded, his gaze unwavering. "Let's begin."

  Without another word, they sprang into a. Kaida closed the distance quickly, his sword fshing in a swift horizontal ssh aimed at Itachi's midse. Itachi parried smoothly, their bdes g with a metallig.

  Kaida pressed the attack, his movements fluid aless. He aimed a series of precise strikes at Itachi, eae inteo test his oppo's defend speed. Itachi tered each blow with practiced ease, his eyes never leaving Kaida's.

  Kaida could swear that even though both of them didn’t have their Sharingan active, Itachi was somehow fighting like he was using Sharingan. He tered each of his blows like he was able to see them beforehand, like he could predict Kaida’s move.

  Then, Itachi made his move. With a subtle flick of his wrist, he cast a minenjutsu. For a split sed, Kaida saw Itachi's sword ing down in a vertical ssh. Reag instinctively, Kaida moved to block, but the real strike came from the side. Itachi's bde grazed Kaida's arm, drawing a thin line of blood.

  "Impressive," Kaida muttered, stepping back to reassess. He had to be more cautious about Itachi's illusions.

  ‘That was great, just like the one I read from that book, but I had not tried it till now. Well, no time is better than now,’ Kaida thought.

  He focused and used his owsu to create a feint. He made it appear as though he was going for a high ssh, but iy, his sword was aimed low. Itachi saw through the illusion just in time, defleg the true attack with a swift parry.

  The exge tinued, eabatant using a blend of Kenjutsu asu to outmahe other. Kaida's swordsmanship was truly great, his strikes fast and precise. Itachi, however, tered with a ey of motion, his Genjutsu creating openings where none should exist.

  Kaida's bde sang through the air in a wide arc, aiming for Itachi's shoulder. Itachi cast anenjutsu, making Kaida see the attack as a straightforward thrust. Kaida adjusted too te, his sword missing its mark as Itachi sidestepped and delivered a swift terstrike. Kaida barely mao block, their swords log together in a test of strength.

  "Yood, Kaida," Itachi said, his eyes glinting with respect. "But you rely too mu direct attacks."

  Kaida smirked, breaking the lod spinning away. "And you rely too mu illusions."

  Saying that, Kaida activated his Sharingan. In his red eyes, three tomoe emerged and started rotating. But his oppo was also an Uchiha and quite a talented o that. Itachi also activated his Sharingan too, now both had three tomoe rotating in their eyes.

  ‘Well, Sharingan should help me in falling for any menjutsu a little, right?’ Kaida thought, but before he could think anything else...

  They cshed again, their swords moving in a deadly dance. Kaida focused his chakra, heightening his seo detect the subtle ges in Itachi's Genjutsu. With the help of his Sharingan, he saw through the illusion—a feint aimed at his left side—and tered with a swift upward ssh. Itachi was forced to leap back, the tip of Kaida's sword narrowly missing him.

  The tide of the battle began to shift. Kaida's relentless offense and keen perception started to put Itachi on the defensive. He pushed harder, his attacks being faster and more uable. Itachi, for the first time, found himself having to fully trate to keep up.

  Especially since he had to make sure he didn’t use anything deadly. Yes, he was holding back a lot because from a young age he was traio kill, so he had to be careful not to use ahal move against Kaida. Not that he was uimating his oppo, but being a ninja doesn’t mean being the most powerful; that is what a warrior or samurai does.

  A ninja is someone who effitly and swiftly kill their oppo in the most optimal way. The oppo's strength may be higher, but they will still die to a well-trained ninja, and Itachi was already one.

  Siachi was holding back a little in most of his main moves, Kaida and Itachi were evenly matched in the fight. Though Kaida had taken some hits, he was able to heal them by following yang chakra in his body with the help of his Sharingan.

  The exge of sshes and strikes tinued for a whole ten minutes

  . Kaida was learning a lot from Itachi, but Itachi was also surprised by how effit and precise Kaida’s Kenjutsu was at such a young age, especially his defense. Kaida was able to block most of his attacks at the st sed even when he was getting fooled by the Genjutsu.

  None of them used any majenjutsu for two reasons: it would be pointless as both of them could e out of masu easily, and in such cle fights, the precious seds it would take to cast any majenjutsu would be enough for the eo end the fight.

  But Itachi had one more thing that Kaida didn’t have—experieachi had already fought many people and done many missions. He stantly fought many Jonin arranged by Fugaku, so his battle strength and battle IQ were higher than Kaida’s. Due to this, the wounds Kaida was getting in the spar were much more frequent than what Itachi was getting.

  After ten minutes, Itachi cast the most powerful Genjutsu he could in that short amount of time and then appeared behind Kaida. But for Kaida, Itachi was still standing in front of him. Itachi suppressed all of his killing and battle i and swiftly moved his sword near Kaida’s neck.

  If there was any killing i in that strike, Kaida would have blocked it like he had done many times. So Itachi took advantage of the fact that it was just a spar and removed any i behind his strike. Even though it sounded simple, it was one of the most difficult things to do for a ninja.

  With the sword on Kaida’s neck, Itachi stood behind Kaida, and Kaida came out of the Genjutsu.

  ‘Well, I hought I would win against him anyway,’ Kaida thought. He looked toward the audience, but their expressions were not what he was expeg.

  …

  (A.N: Hey guys, this is one of the lo chapters I have written, and that's because even while I was writing it, I got more ied in it than usual. I gave my all in this chapter. Please do tell me if you liked it or not! ^~^)