The next day, Riku awoke bright and early. Today was the first day of his "training plan."
He familiarly slipped into the Uchiha clan's black short-sleeved training uniform, carefully wrapping bandages around his elbows and knees. Riku looked at his reflection in the mirror, full of vigor.
Sasuke's sense of style really was something else. But more importantly, I myself am quite handsome. One of the most handsome guys around, at the very least.
With his daily dose of vanity complete, Riku set off for the Uchiha ninja tool shop with a spring in his step.
As he walked, he couldn't help but think to himself.
"The Uchiha really are a clan with an absurdly high sense of honor."
"On the street, any Uchiha you see has the clan crest printed on their clothes."
"Later on, Sasuke and Itachi stopped wearing the crest, but isn't activating their Sharingan all over the place the best proof of being an Uchiha?"
Lost in thought, Riku arrived at the largest Uchiha ninja tool shop.
As for why he didn't go to one of Konoha's public shops--of course, it was because his own clan's quality was guaranteed, and the prices were fair.
Uchiha don't cheat other Uchiha.
Walking into the store, Riku had expected to face someone as arrogant as Uchiha Kyo.
But to his surprise, the shopkeeper was a beautiful, vibrant young woman.
"Hello there, little one. What can I help you find at our ninja tool shop today?"
Her unexpected enthusiasm caught Riku off guard.
"Oh my, our little ninja seems a bit flustered. From the looks of it, you must still be in the Academy, right?"
"Are you here to buy some kunai for practice?"
Riku came back to his senses.
"That's right. I need some practice kunai and shuriken, a set of weights, and finally, a standard-issue combat ninja tool pouch."
The shopkeeper seemed surprised by Riku's sudden clarity. She paused for a moment, then smiled.
"Alright, we have practice kunai, shuriken, and weights suitable for you right here."
"However, the standard Uchiha ninja tool pouch contains explosive tags and military rations pills."
"Explosive tags are too dangerous for a child to play with, and eating too many rations pills is bad for your health. Kids aren't allowed to buy them, you see."
Riku suddenly felt a strange sense of detachment.
It was a peculiar feeling. When he used to watch the anime, he felt that while the characters had their own emotions and logic, they never felt truly real.
But now, this shopkeeper's simple words had made him feel the reality of this world.
In his memories, besides Obito, other members of the Uchiha clan had helped him in ways big and small.
You could say Riku was raised by the combined efforts of the kind-hearted members of the Uchiha clan.
"I can't imagine what Itachi must have been feeling when he slaughtered all these innocent Uchiha civilians."
"Some of them didn't even have the aptitude to be ninja. They just wanted to live their lives in peace."
"Just because their last name was Uchiha, did they deserve to have their lives taken?"
Snapping back to the present, Riku looked at the kind young woman before him, and the importance of strength became clearer than ever in his mind.
He truly didn't want the beauty before him to be destroyed.
"That will be 48,000 yen."
Suddenly, the shopkeeper in front of him didn't seem quite so beautiful anymore.
His heart aching, Riku took out his wallet and accepted the brand-new kunai and shuriken.
The moment he put on the weights, he felt his body grow significantly heavier.
"Good thing I earned 60,000 yen from Obito and Kyo. I can't just rely on my inheritance."
With the sound of the shopkeeper counting money in the background, Riku walked out of the ninja tool shop and headed straight for the Konoha Training Grounds.
Did the Uchiha not have their own training grounds? Of course they did. The clan's facilities were well-equipped and set in beautiful scenery.
But the reason Riku chose the public Konoha grounds was to meet his future training partner--Might Guy.
By the time he arrived at the training grounds, Riku was already drenched in sweat. The weights made every step a greater effort than usual for a child of only six.
"Alright! Time to start training."
Riku didn't have a systematic taijutsu training method. He hadn't found any scrolls on taijutsu among his parents' belongings.
The Uchiha style of taijutsu was practically unknown in the ninja world, and even within the clan itself.
That was because the Uchiha family cared the least about taijutsu. As long as their physical conditioning was good enough, they could break through ordinary taijutsu with a single glance, as demonstrated by Sasuke's self-developed Lion Combo.
It was truly a case of "You have no chance before these eyes."
Therefore, Riku had no way of obtaining a taijutsu training method. The solution he devised was to first build up his body.
Only with a strong enough physical foundation would he have the capital to practice taijutsu.
As for acquiring techniques, he could get them by "touching the heads" of Might Guy and Might Duy.
The Konoha Strong Fist style... for me, who currently lacks chakra, cultivating taijutsu is the only path to increasing my strength.
Without further delay, Riku began to push his body to its limits.
In the morning, he did warm-up exercises. At noon, he practiced throwing kunai. In the afternoon, he engaged in relentless taijutsu practice.
At night, Riku would replenish his body with necessary nutrients and treat the injuries he'd sustained during training.
Time flew by, and nine days passed in the blink of an eye.
During these nine days, Riku became a frequent customer at the ninja tool shop, not only because he went through tools at an alarming rate, but also because he could buy bandages and liniment there.
He also became much more familiar with the shopkeeper.
Obito would come looking for Riku from time to time, but Riku would always drag him into a mandatory training session, much to Obito's dismay.
Besides Obito, Kyo also came by one evening and saw Riku's body covered in cuts and bruises from the high-intensity training.
He left without a word, only to return with a fruit basket before leaving silently once more.
Only Kyo's underlings knew that from that day on, he began dragging them all into mandatory training sessions every afternoon.
Over these nine days, because his training was so life-threateningly intense, his spending on training equipment and medical supplies skyrocketed.
To cover the costs, Riku resorted to playing "rock-paper-scissors" with the other Uchiha children, with the rule being, "If you lose, you let me touch your head." This earned him a substantial income.
Everything was proceeding smoothly until the evening of the ninth day.
Just as Riku was finishing his last set of push-ups, an enthusiastic voice echoed from a corner of the training grounds.
"Come on, Guy! Just 2000 more kicks! Let your youth burn!"
"Alright, Dad! I can feel my youth burning!"
Riku smiled faintly. It seemed the people he was waiting for had finally arrived.
However, he didn't act immediately. Instead, he persevered and finished his last set of exercises.
"Father, it looks like there's an Uchiha over there training, too."
Might Duy heard his son and looked over toward Riku.
Channeling his ancestral lack of stage fright, Riku walked toward the father and son.
"Hello. I saw your training, and I was moved by your youth."
"May I join you?"
Hearing the word "youth," Guy became exceptionally excited.
Ever since he and his father started training, all they had received were jeers and mockery from others.
"A couple of weirdos with thick eyebrows. What's the point of only practicing taijutsu?"
"Haha, he's just a perennial genin. What can he possibly achieve besides training his body?"
But today, he heard an Uchiha "genius" acknowledge their youth.
His excitement was beyond words. Guy looked at Duy with anticipation, hoping his father would agree.
At that moment, Duy's eyes were also brimming with tears. But Duy was an adult, a ninja who was both brawny and shrewd, accustomed to deceit and scheming.
What if this child was sent by someone to feign closeness with me, but his real goal is to learn our forbidden technique--the Eight Inner Gates?
And this child is from the Uchiha clan...
But then Duy saw Riku's clothes, filthy from training, and took a closer look at the boy's appearance.
Riku was drenched in sweat. His bandages and clothes showed clear signs of training, and he was wearing weights. It was obvious this wasn't his first or second day.
Duy pondered for a moment, then broke into a wide grin, revealing his gleaming white teeth.
"Alright! Young man of the Uchiha, you may join us! Let us make our youth bloom together!"