The system chimed again the moment Tobika finished his noodles.
[New Task Issued:]After earning Kakashi's acknowledgment, word spreads across Konoha that Uchiha Tobika's talent rivals that of Uchiha Itachi. Parents tell their children to look up to you.A swarm of starry-eyed girls seeks your guidance.Even Uzumaki Naruto notices you and challenges you to a duel.Your Uchiha pride refuses to back down.
But after two C-rank jutsu and one B-rank jutsu, your chakra tanks dry.Naruto shrugs off your deliberately misaimed fireball, marches up, and punches you in the face.
One thought fills your mind:My chakra is pathetic.
Task: Find a way to increase your chakra through external means.Optional.Reward: Sharingan progress, 30-day taijutsu acceleration card, and a weapon similar to Samehada.
Tobika shut the interface with a twitching brow.Externally increasing chakra?There were… options.
Grabbing a tailed beast.Stealing Hashirama cells.Becoming Samehada's chosen wielder.
None of these were easy.All were insane.
And the strongest chakra battery in history… was the Nine-Tails.
The image of himself gnawing on Kurama's fur flashed across his mind.He clicked his tongue.
Yeah. I'm not dying today.
He briefly considered persuading Minato to seal the other half of Kurama into him.Then immediately discarded the thought.The Fourth would never hand a tailed beast to an Uchiha.Not unless he completely lost his mind.
He sighed long and deep.
The next morning, Tobika dragged himself to the Uchiha Elder's residence.
"Elder."
The old man seated himself heavily. "The clan treasury has many scrolls, but most are ninjutsu catalogues. As for the forbidden arts… Madara took them."
Tobika stared.So the legendary thief melted down half the clan's history before leaving.
After a walk through the treasury, Tobika confirmed what he feared.No mysterious box.No secret vault.Just a pile of scrolls and some dusty décor.
He grabbed a sealing technique on the way out—because leaving empty-handed would be embarrassing.
He was halfway out when the elder knocked his staff on the ground.
"Ah! Clan meeting this evening. The village approved Fugaku's request to take Itachi to the battlefield."
Tobika blinked. "At this time?"
The elder nodded. "War is ending, but a few skirmishes remain. Let the boy see reality early. The era of peace is coming—soon he won't have the chance."
Tobika couldn't help scoffing inside.
You think taking Itachi to battle will make him strong?It will make him a pacifist who hates war so much he'll destroy you all for peace.
He waved a hand. "I'll attend."
He still had to give his three students one last lesson before departing for Suna.
That afternoon, Nanga Shrine
Tobika was drenched in sweat, burning through another set of exercises.
He had let himself go.Months off the battlefield softened him.
The upcoming trip to Suna wasn't safe.He needed to be sharp.
"108…""201…""326…"
When he hit five hundred finger push-ups, he collapsed back and rolled his shoulders loose.
One by one, Uchiha jōnin gathered. They stood silently, giving him space. They understood why he was pushing so hard.
By the time night fell, nearly every Uchiha warrior had assembled for the clan meeting.
Except the clan head.
Elder Ryoichi checked the sky. "Old man, did you get the wrong day?"
"No," the Grand Elder muttered.But doubt crept into his expression.
A strange, sour smell suddenly drifted through the air.
The elder sniffed sharply. "Ryoichi. Did you—let one loose?"
"You're the one who farted, you old fool."
"Then why does it smell like a latrine? Who defiled the shrine!?"
The third elder rose, Sharingan spinning, pointing accusingly into the darkness.
"Get out here! This is not a toilet!"
Silence.
The stench grew stronger.
Ryoichi turned slowly… toward Tobika, who was quietly slurping noodles on a bench.
"Young man. Eating… that? Now?"
Tobika waved him off. "Hungry."
He went back to devouring his snail noodles.
All around him, elders clutched their noses, faces scrunched in agony. Their eyes watered.
Ryoichi stomped over, ready to grab him by the scruff—
Then froze.
The smell was strongest right here.
Slowly, he leaned down.
Sniffed the bowl.
He collapsed backward in horror.
"What… what is that?!"
Tobika held up the empty bowl. "Ah. This? A special Uchiha dish I developed. It contains… the taste of love."
Ryoichi stared at him.Then at the bowl.Then at the steaming pot Tobika summoned next.
Love smelled like… this?
Two makeshift chopsticks later, he slurped a bite.Memories burst into his mind—lost comrades, old regrets, fading laughter.The sourness stung his nose like heartbreak.
"…It truly is the taste of love."
He offered the bowl to the Grand Elder.
The old man faltered—but the expectant gaze of his clansmen forced his hand.
"Boy. Give me a fresh one."
A second bowl materialized with a burst of smoke.
Soon every Uchiha jōnin stood inside the shrine, holding bowls of pungent snail noodles, eyes red—not from emotion, but from the fumes.
If anyone walked by, they'd think the clan was cooking something unspeakable.
Later that night
Fugaku, Mikoto, and young Itachi finally arrived.
"Father," Itachi whispered, "what did the Hokage want?"
"Battlefront assignments," Fugaku answered grimly. "We will head to the borders. Possibly Rain or Water Country."
Itachi accepted calmly, though his eyes flickered with uncertainty.
They pushed open the shrine door—
And immediately recoiled.
"Did… someone spill a chamber pot?" Mikoto muttered, frowning.
The elders stared back with glassy eyes.
"Clan Head," the Grand Elder rasped, "close the door. People might think the Uchiha are cooking forbidden things."
Fugaku shut the door, face stiff.
"What is this smell?"
"Love," the elders chorused.
Mikoto's expression went blank as Tobika summoned three steaming bowls and set them before them.
"This evening belongs to the Uchiha," he said solemnly. "Taste the flavor of love."
Fugaku hesitated, then took a bite.
"…Acceptable."
Mikoto's nostrils flared.Her eyes sharpened into a Sharingan glare that promised violence.
This is worse than the failed pastries.Chocolate flavored like excrement would be kinder.
She silently pushed the bowl toward Fugaku and clenched her fists.
Deep into the night
The clan dispersed, eyes reddened, noses numb.
Back home, Itachi reached for his mother.
Empty.
"Mother…?"
She sat upright against the wall, Sharingan spinning violently, face pale.
"Mother? What happened?"
Mikoto inhaled sharply, eyes flicking toward the distant direction of Tobika's home.
"Sleep."
"You aren't resting?"
"...I had a dream."
Itachi blinked. "About what?"
Mikoto's jaw clenched.
"The kitchen. Pots boiling.Filled with… unmentionable things."
Her Sharingan whirled faster, fury shaking her voice.
"Tobika. When you return from Suna… I will deal with you."