Kaida approached the first house on the list. It had a big yard in front, filled with various physical training equipment.

  ‘A Taijutsu user among the Uchiha? With the Sharingan, a traiaijutsu user definitely be deadly,’ Kaida thought, giving a quick s of the equipment. Some were familiar, but others were unique and seemed specially made, likely issioned for specific purposes.

  Dong, Dong!

  “Who is it?” A young boy came out, not much older than Kaida.

  ‘What the heck? Another prodigy? The paper said a Jonin, ahe same age as me! How the Uchiha have so many prodigies?’

  “Yes, how I help you?” the boy asked, notig Kaida staring at him silently.

  “Oh, sorry. I’m here for this,” Kaida said, handing over the letter.

  “Okay, take a seat. Dad will be here in about 10 minutes,” the boy said, pointing to some chairs in the yard.

  “Would it be a bother if I used one of those?” Kaida asked, gesturing toward the maes. Eae targeted different parts of the body, but unlike regur gym equipment, these seemed more practical. Instead of just buildihetic muscles, they helped develop funal strength. However, this didn’t mean the muscles they built were not aesthetically pleasing—quite the opposite. The results looked more natural and banced, no matter he or dehe muscles became.

  “No, not at all. Feel free to use any mae you like. Dad is really proud of his creations and always boasts about them. He’ll be thrilled to see someone using them,” the boy replied.

  “Your dad made these maes?” Kaida asked, genuinely surprised.

  “No, ly ‘made’ them. He desighem acc to his needs and then issiohe Uchiha ’s bcksmith to build them,” the boy expined.

  “Still, designing something this precise requires a keen eye and a lot of experience. I see that each mae is made to maximize gains with minimal effort,” Kaida said, starting to use a mae for his arms. It increased resistance while pung, with gloves in pce of handles.

  “Quite a good observation, young man. I see you’ve got an eye for Taijutsu,” a voice said from behind. A man, blurry in appeara with an impressive presence, approached them. He had likely been listening to their versation.

  “Thank you, sir, but I’m currently fog on Ninjutsu. My name is Kaida Uchiha, sir,” Kaida said, bowing politely.

  “Saburo Uchiha. And this is my son, Suzaku Uchiha,” the man introduced himself.

  “Wait a minute—you’re Kaida Uchiha? The one who went to the in Exams with Itachi, right?” Suzaku asked.

  “Yeah,” Kaida replied.

  “Oh! How were the finals? Was yht with him really so close? What were your ces of winning?” the boy asked all in one breath.

  “Haha! He’s a little fan of Itachi—and, from now on, probably yours too,” Saburo said with a light ugh.

  “I’m not his fan! I’m his rival! Rival!” Suzaku shouted, annoyed.

  “He’s already a in, and you’re still in the academy. How you be his rival? If you want to be anything close to that, you’ll o traiimes harder than you do now,” Saburo said firmly.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m going to the academy,” Suzaku mumbled, running off—most likely to avoid another lecture about hard work.

  “We truly live in peaceful times. When I was his age, I was already fighting in wars,” Saburo said, shaking his head.

  “And it’s because of those times that he live like this,” Kaida replied.

  “Leave the fttery aside, boy. I see you’re here to learn the Iron Skin Jutsu, huh? If you’re talented, you pick it up in a day,” Saburo said.

  “I hope so, sir. But I’ll try to learn it as fast as I . I don’t want to waste too much of your time,” Kaida replied, refraining from mentioning that he nning to learn two other jutsu the same day.

  “Nonseeag the younger geion is never a waste of time. But since you want to learn quickly, let’s get started right now. How much do you know about the Iron Skin Jutsu?” Saburo asked.

  “Holy, not much. All I know is that it’s ah Chakra-based defesu that toughens the user’s body,” Kaida admitted.

  “That’s only half the knowledge. It doesn’t toughen equally. Here, try pung me,” Saburo said, his skin suddenly darkening in color.

  Kaida, fident in Saburo’s expertise, didn’t hesitate. He put all his strength into a punch aimed at Saburo’s stomach.

  Pack!

  ‘It felt like hitting a brick wall,’ Kaida thought, shaking his hand.

  “That was a det punch,” Saburo said, dusting off his clothes as though nothing had happened.

  “Now, try again,” Saburo instructed. This time, his skin darkened further, being almost metallic.

  Kaida uood the significe but still decided to proceed.

  Thud!

  This time, the sound was more metallid Kaida felt a his fingers. He quickly healed the minor fracture but couldn’t ighe difference.

  “The sed time, your body was almost three times tougher than before. It was like pung a steel statue,” Kaida remarked.

  “Good, good,” Saburo said, nodding approvingly. The fact that Kaida was more focused on analyzing than his injury elevated Saburo’s impression of him.

  “You’re correct. In this state, even uncoated sword strikes are almost useless against me. Fireballs and teiques like the Electric Spear also be tahe downside is the absurd amount of practice required. You must activate the jutsu instantly because it’s only useful when you ’t avoid an attack. And for it to be effective in battle, mastery is essential,” Saburo expined.

  “I’ll keep that in mind while learning,” Kaida said, nodding.

  “Good. Let’s begin the learning process,” Saburo said, looking expetly at Kaida.

  After a moment, Kaida realized why Saburo was waiting. Activating his Sharingan, the three tomoe in his eyes glowed red. Saburo nodded in approval and began demonstrating the jutsu.

  “With these hand seals, you activate the Iron Skin Jutsu. It will be weak at first, but if you add these two seals and mold your chakra…” Saburo began expining, perf each hand seal and the chakra molding process iail.