When Naraku returned home, Uchiha Shinji hadn't gone to bed yet; he was sitting in the living room, waiting for him.
Naraku hid the medicine jar in his arms, carefully walked into the living room, sat properly, and maintained a respectful demeanor.
"Father, I'm back."
"Where did you go?"
Uchiha Shinji glared at him, his eyes filled with anger.
Even though he was only a Chunin, the killing intent he deliberately leaked was more than Naraku could bear at present. His face turned pale, and cold sweat poured down.
Answering truthfully would definitely enrage his scum father.
According to Uchiha values, it was utterly shameless to disregard the pride of the Uchiha Clan and visit an opponent's home.
But at that moment, he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, so he could only admit, "To Hatake-kun's house—"
Before he could finish the sentence, a large hand clamped around his throat, and he was violently slammed against the wall. The immense impact made him cough uncontrollably.
"Cough, cough... Fa-Father..."
"Do you have no Uchiha dignity?!"
Uchiha Shinji looked at his son, who was wrapped in bandages; he had clearly been treated at the Hatake residence.
The thought that his son had not only lost again today but had also gone to those mere Hatakes to beg for mercy made him furious.
"He beat you into submission, didn't he?! You shamelessly followed him back like a dog! Fine, let's see if I can beat you into submission!!"
A punch filled with rage slammed solidly into Naraku's abdomen, causing a sharp pain that immediately made his vision go black and made it difficult to breathe.
"Get up! Keep going! Are you giving up?!"
Punches and kicks rained down like a storm, completely exceeding the training intensity Naraku could endure.
This was already a full-blown venting of anger.
Naraku could only struggle to resist, trying to prove that he hadn't given up and was still taking his father's teachings seriously.
Even as most of the attacks landed on him, he gritted his teeth and didn't utter a sound. When he truly couldn't hold it back, he only let out a muffled groan to avoid provoking more anger.
Gradually, his consciousness blurred, and he stumbled back a few steps. Uchiha Shinji picked him up and threw him back to the ground, causing a chubby earthenware medicine jar to roll out from his embrace.
Uchiha Shinji picked it up and saw that it was an unopened jar of healing ointment.
Naraku vaguely saw the medicine jar fall into his father's hands, and a surge of anxiety hit him. His muddled mind had no time to think, and he instinctively scrambled up, reaching out. "Don't... This is... this is Hatake's..."
This is the precious healing medicine Kakashi Hatake gave me.
"You!!"
Shinji, already raging, felt the last string of rationality in his mind snap. He violently smashed the medicine jar onto the floor.
Bang!
The earthenware jar shattered into pieces.
Naraku stared blankly at the fragments, heartbroken. He knelt down, his hands trembling as he tried to pick them up.
You damned scum father, do you know the value of this earthenware jar?
Uchiha Shinji vented for a long time, only stopping when Naraku lost consciousness. Seemingly utterly disappointed in his son, he left him unattended and went out to drink.
The System quickly woke Naraku and began reporting on how well its work of placing his inner thoughts had gone.
Naraku gasped in pain and cursed his scum father for hitting so hard. Fortunately, a lot of the ointment had gotten onto his wounds, and the bleeding had stopped.
Reviewing his performance and the System's excellent cooperation, Naraku was quite satisfied with today.
He was so miserable; he should at least gain some sympathy points. After getting Popularity Points, he had to quickly become stronger; after all, he couldn't play the victim forever.
After another few hours of rest, it was almost dawn. Naraku didn't plan on going to school today. He pretended to be severely injured and unable to get up, finding a more comfortable position to lie on the floor.
He had the System connect to the internet and open the website. Naruto III had already updated with episodes five and six.
Since he had nothing else to do, Naraku eagerly clicked on them, hoping there would be scenes of him in these two episodes.
Two hours had passed since this update, and there were nearly ten thousand dense comments.
Skipping the theme song, episode five opened with Kakashi entering school in the morning. Rumors were circulating among the students about Minato Namikaze's heroic feat of single-handedly pursuing the culprit and rescuing the hostage, and several young girls with heart-shaped eyes were gushing about whether to choose Minato or Kakashi.
There was a combat class in the morning. After the homeroom teacher called out "Kakashi Hatake," he immediately called his name: Uchiha Naraku.
[Uchiha? Why is he dressed more gloomily than the Aburame Clan?]
[I believe the face under that hair is handsome, like the Undertaker.]
[To the one above, good point!]
Within half a minute, the battle ended. Kakashi won, and Uchiha Naraku lost.
[A battle without suspense]
[Why does this child seem so unpopular?]
[His classmates are avoiding him like the plague.]
[No choice, the Uchiha already have a bad reputation, and he's so gloomy.]
The scene shifted. School was already out, and Kakashi chose to train alone in the small forest. The animation spent several minutes just showing this part.
Finally, it was Naraku's turn to appear again. Not long after he got home, his drunken father returned with a bottle of alcohol, and upon seeing him, began the same angry scolding and beating from before.
"Useless! Move faster!"
"You were actually outrun again by that Hatake kid who doesn't even have a Kekkei Genkai. Do you want to die?!"
"If only Kako hadn't given birth to you! If I had known you would be such a failure, why would I have let Kako insist on giving birth?! Why would I!"
As the "training" progressed, the animation gradually revealed Uchiha Shinji's past.
He was mocked by some of his clansmen because he still hadn't awakened his Sharingan and his rank had remained at Chunin.
To achieve a better life, or rather, for vanity, he persuaded his wife, who had severe internal injuries and faced a high risk in childbirth, to have a child. This led to her death in childbirth, something he regretted for the rest of his life.
His son, Uchiha Naraku, had decent talent, but from the moment he entered school, he was firmly suppressed by the more talented Kakashi Hatake. No matter how Shinji encouraged, reprimanded, or even beat and scolded him, Naraku couldn't surpass his opponent.
He could only numb himself with alcohol, living a sloppy life, gradually becoming indifferent to his son's fate...
This segment performed unexpectedly well. Uchiha Shinji's ugly desire to rise through the next generation, his willingness to sacrifice his wife for it, and his ultimate rage and humiliation upon realizing he had lost his gamble were exposed, provoking intense anger from all the viewers in the comments.
[Can he just die?]
[I despise men who only bully their wives and children the most.]
[His wife is so pitiful. She risked her life to have his child, and now she's gone.]
[Naraku was beaten like that and barely made a sound. Has he gotten used to it?]
[You're purely abusing him like this. How could he possibly beat Kakashi? Do you have a brain?]
The torment finally ended. Naraku silently went to the bathroom and pushed aside his hair to reveal his injured face, which triggered another wave of comments.
[I knew Naraku was very handsome!]
[Don't hit the face, you bastard scum!]
[So Naraku grew his hair long to cover his injuries, is that it? QAQ]
[Naraku won't turn evil later, will he?]
The screen lingered on Naraku's numb expression for several seconds before turning completely black, then lighting up again to indicate the next day.
There was another combat class today. Naraku seemed a bit nervous before class, but when the assignments were given, the homeroom teacher still paired him with Kakashi.
Compared to yesterday, Naraku struggled even more. Even the audience could see from his performance that he was in very poor condition, barely managing a few moves before losing again.
[Kakashi being so popular really creates a stark contrast with Naraku.]
[Little brats, move aside, Kakashi is for us big sisters.]
[Naraku looks to be in very bad shape.]
[Why is it always like this? Can't they assign other opponents?]
[It's truly despairing. How can he possibly win living like this?]
[Here, Kakashi noticed Naraku was a bit off.]
[He actually thought Naraku was doing extra training. Kakashi, you really are... I'm crying.]
[He really loves to train.]