Chapter 20: Guiding Mina, The Power Of Love

The next day, Uchiha Tonan arrived at the academy early. He didn’t meet Uchiha Mina along the way. Presumably, yesterday’s face-off with Hyuga Chiryo dealt her confidence a huge blow.

But that had nothing to do with him. If possible, he hoped she would be shamed into training harder. It would be even better if she awakened the Sharingan.

He had barely entered the classroom when he saw Chiryo supporting her face with her hands and staring shyly at him. Tonan immediately nodded warmly at her.

Mina who was sitting at her desk saw this and gritted her teeth. She was trembling with anger. During the break after every class, Chiryo seized every chance to go over to Tonan’s side and asked him to help with her schoolwork.

Tonan wouldn’t refuse the approach of his ration. It seemed that in this love triangle, the other two considered him as the harmless prey. As for who was the game and who was the hunter, no one would know until the last moment.

After school, Chiryo had no reason to pester Tonan. After all, everyone knew that his time post-school belonged to Kakashi. But on the way to the Hatake household, Mina caught up with them.

“Tonan-kun!”

Tonan and Kakashi turned around at the same time.

“Mina, did you need something?” Tonan adjusted his glasses and asked gently. She took a deep breath, looked straight into his eyes, and said, “I want to become stronger, can you guide me in my training?”

“Troublesome.” Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and muttered. He then said to Tonan, “I’ll go ahead to train and wait for you.”

After Kakashi left, Tonan stared at Mina seriously and said, “We are all classmates. We should help each other. I’d be very happy to help you in your training.”

Mina bowed and said, “Thank you, Tonan-kun.”

Tonan nodded, then stroked his chin and said, “It’s just that I have to practice with Kakashi every day after school. So, every day after dinner, I’ll guide you for an hour at the clan’s northern training ground. Does this work for you?”

Mina nodded and agreed.

“Alright then, I’ll leave now. See you on the training grounds at night,” Tonan turned around to leave.

But Mina called out to stop him. He paused and asked with a puzzled look, “Was there something else?”

“Do you like Chiryo?” Mina stared at Tonan with bated breath, waiting for his reply.

“What kind of like do you mean?”

“It’s… like between a boy and a girl.”

Tonan just smiled, shook his head, and said, “Why would you think so? I see Chiryo as a younger sister. Moreover, we are still very young, how can we fall into things like puppy love? That’s wrong.”

Puppy love?

Mina was dumbfounded for a moment. This was the first time she heard anyone use this expression. After all, the average life expectancy in the Ninja World was short. Many got married and had kids in their teens.

Wasn’t falling in love before marriage the usual way? And they were already six years old. After this year, they would be seven years old! They were not three-year-old kids anymore. What was wrong with falling in love? Absolutely nothing at all.

But as long as Tonan said he had no intention of a romantic relationship with Chiryo, Mina’s goal was achieved. She was suddenly full of energy.

She smiled at Tonan and said, “Never mind, see you on the training ground at night.”

……

Tonan headed to the northern training ground after dinner. At this moment, the sky had already darkened, marked with a few stars.

Ding.

Mina was already here, practicing with her kunai. Seeing Tonan, she looked overjoyed.

“Tonan-kun, you are here.”

Tonan glanced at the kunai target, nodded at Mina, and said, “Mina, you are very diligent. But I just saw your kunai throwing movement, and it’s not up to the mark. Come, let me teach you. You should do it like this.”

Tonan’s lessons started with pressing and groping her body to adjust her posture.

“You shouldn’t use your arm to throw a kunai, use your wrist.”

“Yes, bent a little here.”

“When training, use your waist to help control the strength of your body.”

“Come, bend your waist a little more, bend over a little.”

Feeling Tonan’s hands wandering over her, helping her adjust her posture, Mina’s face was blushing. She bit her lip and said, “Tonan-kun…”

Tonan looked at her with innocent eyes, and asked, “What’s wrong? Is it too difficult?”

Hearing Tonan’s magnetic voice, Mina swallowed a mouthful of saliva, shook her head, and said, “No, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do.” Tonan smiled warmly and continued to help Mina.

“Retract your belly.”

“Slightly part your thighs…”

There was no one around, the sky was dark. And a young boy and girl were alone here. Mina couldn’t concentrate at all. The result was that even after Tonan sincerely helped her, she continuously missed the target.

An hour later, the two people sat on the grass, side by side.

Tonan looked at Mina apologetically and said, “I’m sorry, Mina. I might be teaching it all wrong, and made you waste an hour.”

Facing Tonan’s apology, Mina immediately got flustered and said, “No, Tonan-kun’s teaching is very good. I was getting distracted during the training. Perhaps, it’s because I’m too tired these days. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

Tonan stroked his chin and seemed to suddenly realize something, “Is that the case? Then you should rest.”

Listening to Tonan’s caring words, Mina couldn’t help feeling sweet in her heart. She moved her butt slightly towards Tonan. They were closer now.

Worried that Tonan would notice her actions, she quickly looked for a topic and said, “Tonan-kun, I heard a clan member say that you unlocked the Sharingan because someone important to you passed away?”

Tonan looked up at the stars and said in a deep voice, “Yes, I awakened the Sharingan because my brother Teno-san was killed by a fellow clan member. As for the three tomoe, it was after father and mother died on the battlefield.”

Mina stared at Tonan’s side profile and said in a daze, “That was harsh. My parents died in the last war but I was still very young at the time. Also, my talent is inadequate. I guess it will be very hard for me to awaken the Sharingan.”

“Not at all, I believe you can awaken it.” Tonan hastily lowered his head and looked back into Mina’s eyes. Her heart trembled, and as if she was caught doing something wrong, she lowered her head and said, “Unlocking the Sharingan needs strong hatred. But I… it seems I can’t awaken it even with that kind of emotion.”

“Wrong.”

“Huh?” Mina looked at Tonan in confusion.

Tonan said in all seriousness, “The awakening doesn’t rely on hatred.”

“But everyone in the clan says so.” Mina was puzzled. After all, the Uchiha clan had existed for so many years, and everyone had figured out the conditions to awaken this dojutsu.

However, today, Tonan said that this method was wrong. She saw Tonan adjusting his glasses and speak in an inexplicable tone, “Uchiha is a family of love, and the power of love will always be stronger than that of hatred. If you have someone you love and protect, but your strength is not enough, our bloodline gives us the power to awaken our eyes. It is so that we can protect those we love.”

“Love?” Mina’s mind was already spinning.

Tonan nodded and said, “That’s right. Because I loved Teno-san, father, and mother, when my strength was not enough to protect them, the Uchiha blood in me fuelled the power to awaken my eyes and protect them.”

Mina vaguely felt that something didn’t add up in this, but she couldn’t put her finger on it, and it did sound reasonable. Half believing, half doubting, she said, “But I don’t understand love…”

Suddenly, Mina felt a hand around her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Tonan patting her with a smile, “I’ll help you find a way. I will do my best to make you feel the power of love, alright?”

“Is Tonan-kun confessing his love to me? What am I thinking? Tonan-kun is obviously thinking about helping me awaken the Sharingan. But to awaken, I need to feel the power of love. How can I feel this love?”

While she was thinking, she felt a slight squeeze on her shoulder, and her heart trembled.

She lowered her head and let out an inaudible murmur.

“I seem to… have already felt it.”

The night curtain had fallen. In the darkness, Tonan’s deep gaze looked down at the girl in his embrace, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly. It was true that hatred awakened the Sharingan. But the ultimate hatred was birthed from love.

“Don’t fail to live up to my good intention… ration.”