Chapter 115: Ruthless and Unyielding

“Let’s stop here.”

On a relatively open hill, Uchiha Ri came to a halt.

Itachi, seeing this, also stopped and quietly stood in place, watching Uchiha Ri, waiting for him to speak.

Uchiha Ri scanned Itachi, assumed a fighting stance, and said, “Come on, show me what you’ve got.”

“Yes, teacher.”

Itachi’s youthful face darkened with determination; without any hesitation, he launched the first attack.

Seeing that Itachi intended to rely solely on hand-to-hand combat, Uchiha Ri decided to respond in kind.

Bam, bam, bam…

The dull sounds of fists and feet colliding echoed as the two engaged in the first round of their duel.

“Too slow. Is this all you’ve got?” Uchiha Ri easily blocked Itachi’s attacks and shouted, “You shouldn’t be so cautious around me. Standing before you is an opponent, not a teacher…”

Uchiha Ri spoke without mercy, and his strikes were equally relentless.

Every time Itachi attacked, Ri would criticize and counterattack without holding back.

Given his age, stamina, and the physical enhancements from concealing his Mangekyō Sharingan, Itachi was no match for him at this moment.

Thus, Uchiha Ri didn’t even exert his full strength; with just a bit of effort, he disrupted Itachi’s rhythm, forcing him onto the defensive.

But the more Itachi defended, the more powerless he felt.

“Yes!”

Gritting his teeth, Itachi responded and then launched his full assault.

He refused to be so defeated and was unwilling to accept such a loss.

However, as Itachi quickened his punches and kicks, he realized the problem.

No matter how fast he moved, Uchiha Ri was always a step ahead.

All his attacks were tightly restrained, utterly ineffective.

“Is this really all you can do?”

“Do you want me to let you go home for a meal first before continuing?”

“To be honest, you’re nowhere near Shisui’s level!”

Uchiha Ri showed no mercy as he doused the struggling Itachi with cold water.

Today, his goal was to utterly crush Itachi’s spirit, to make him question his own existence.

Only then could Itachi realize that his strength was far from sufficient.

From now on, no matter what he intended to do, this scene would haunt him.

“Damn it!”

Itachi, overwhelmed by Uchiha Ri’s relentless attacks and harsh words comparing him unfavorably to Shisui, felt his stubborn spirit ignite.

Yet, before such an overwhelming gap in power, sheer will was not enough.

No matter how hard Itachi tried, he couldn’t match Uchiha Ri’s movements; the gap only widened.

Seeing Uchiha Ri remain calm and unshaken, Itachi steeled himself and activated his Sharingan.

“Double tomoe...”

Uchiha Ri looked into Itachi’s eyes and understood the source of Fugaku’s pride and confidence.

Itachi was roughly eight years old now; opening a double tomoe Sharingan at this age was indeed impressive.

Moreover, Itachi likely awakened his Sharingan with double tomoe from the start, as the original story depicted.

During one mission, Itachi witnessed the death of Tenma firsthand, understood the pain of life, and thus awakened his double tomoe Sharingan.

At that time, he too was eight years old.

It seemed that despite his two years of silence, many things were still progressing as expected.

“Too bad, the double tomoe might be effective against others, but not against me.”

Uchiha Ri chose not to activate his own Sharingan, continuing to fight Itachi in his usual stance.

Thanks to the dynamic vision granted by the double tomoe Sharingan, Itachi’s reaction speed improved significantly, at least no longer as clumsy as before.

But as Uchiha Ri increased the intensity of his attacks once more, the situation reverted to what it had been moments ago.

Itachi began to retreat step by step, looking even more disheveled than before.

Uchiha Ri remained unrelenting, deliberately provoking Itachi:

“So, you think you’re competent just because you activated your proud Sharingan?”

“I heard from the clan leader that you learn anything instantly. So why are you in such a sorry state now?”

Hearing this, Itachi felt indignant and opened his mouth to retort.

He wanted to tell Uchiha Ri that the age difference explained the current situation—it was only natural.

But his pride prevented him from speaking; he refused to admit he was inferior to Uchiha Ri.

Seeing Itachi’s expression, Uchiha Ri continued to taunt him:

“Do you think being young means failure is to be expected?”

“Or that if you meet an enemy, they’ll hold back just because you’re young?”

“Or that next time, when facing death, your comrades will die in your place?”

At that, Uchiha Ri stopped holding back, striking Itachi fiercely again before throwing him to the ground.

That blow marked the end of the battle.

“How could this happen...”

The pain did not snap Itachi back to reality; he lay there, dazed and motionless.

Before coming, he had never imagined such a crushing defeat.

He had thought that, having awakened the double tomoe Sharingan at this age, he could at least hold his own against Uchiha Ri.

Even if he lost, it should have been after a few rounds of combat.

Yet, with his Sharingan activated, he couldn’t even mount a counterattack.

Of course, the words Uchiha Ri had spoken were what suffocated Itachi the most.

Those words reminded him of the moment he first activated his Sharingan—a scene he could never forget.

That masked man had slain everyone, including his comrades, effortlessly!

He had believed that awakening the Sharingan would prevent such tragedies from ever happening again.

But now, Uchiha Ri had given him a harsh lesson once more.

Even with the Sharingan, he was still nothing.

With that thought, Itachi lowered his head deeply.

Uchiha Ri, watching Itachi’s current state, revealed a satisfied smile.

Though his heavy hand against this still-childlike Itachi seemed harsh and somewhat inhumane, he harbored no regrets.

Because Itachi could not be measured by ordinary standards; he was perhaps more mature and obstinate than Shisui.

A person like Itachi, once committed to something, would likely pursue it unwaveringly—just as he had when ultimately disappointed by the clan.

Watching Itachi bow his head in silence, Uchiha Ri spoke gravely, “Feeling despair, so you don’t know what to do? Wanting to run away?”

Itachi snapped back to attention, a flicker of confusion in his eyes: “I... don’t know.”

Uchiha Ri tilted his head and said, “If it’s too much to bear, you can ask the clan leader to change your teacher. I wouldn’t mind.”

After speaking, Uchiha Ri quietly watched Itachi, waiting for his reply.

Itachi bit his lip and shook his head, “No, please continue to teach me.”

After such a defeat, he absolutely refused to retreat.

The more Uchiha Ri said this, the more Itachi wanted to prove himself under his tutelage.

Seeing Itachi’s resolve, Uchiha Ri said meaningfully, “Very well, but don’t regret it later...”

He had already warned him in advance; if there were problems with future training, he would not be to blame.

Itachi shivered inexplicably at Uchiha Ri’s tone.

But now that the words were spoken, there was no turning back.

Taking a deep breath, Itachi comforted himself silently: “No matter what, it shouldn’t be worse than today’s situation...”