One wrong shout, one wrong swap — and suddenly the family training session turned into a supernatural incident report.
The moment Fugaku heard his son's roar, he froze as if struck by lightning.
Sasuke froze too, not even daring to breathe.
Their household discipline had always been strict. When Fugaku spoke to his wife or children, it wasn't a suggestion — it was an order.
Even Itachi, the so-called "genius," would still be branded a rebellious son if he ever openly contradicted his father.
And now…
Kaito had actually shouted something like that straight into Fugaku's face.
Sasuke couldn't even imagine how they were supposed to survive after this.
Fugaku's anger surged instantly, cold pressure flooding the air around them.
"You've got the nerve to say that ag—"
His voice dropped into a dangerous growl, fury gatheing — but right as he called Kaito's name—
Kaito vanihed.
Completely.
In his place, a brown ninja dog appeared in the exact same spot — still frozen in the humiliating pose of one hind leg lifted.
"Woof…? Awooo?"
The dog's eyes were wide and round, the confusion inside them not one bit less than what filled Fugaku's and Sasuke's faces.
That urine it had been holding in for ages?
The moment it met those murderous Sharingan eyes, the urge nearly retreated in terror.
But an arrow nocked must still be loosed.
Even as fear tried to choke it back, the dog still… awkwardly, intermittently… dribbled all over Fugaku's pant leg.
The "intermittently" part was purely because it was shaking.
Sasuke's first thought was doom.
We're finihed.
Tonight we're definitely getting dragged into this and beaten along with him.
Then he noticed something else.
Wait…
A dog clone?!
Kaito disappearing and turning into a ninja dog…
Sasuke had only ever seen something remotely similar once before — from Big brotherrrrrr.
Itachi could scatter into crows. The principle had to be similar, right?
Sasuke's molars nearly cracked from grinding his teeth.
So this whole time…
Kaito's so-called "training" was actually mastering a dog clone?!
And he'd lied, saying it was just taijutsu practice?!
Fugaku stared down at his soaked pant leg.
His fist clenched until it creaked, knuckles whitening.
Kaito's earlier words echoed in his ears again and again.
If he hadn't restrained himself—
His Mangekyō might've awakened on the spot.
But just as the spark of fury flared—
Fugaku's brows suddenly knit. He paused, thinking… then his expression slowly loosened.
Right in front of Sasuke's stunned eyes, Fugaku threw his head back and burst into laughter.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
"Just as expected of my son!"
"Good… good… very good!"
He laughed and praised repeatedly.
Meanwhile, Sasuke stood there in a daze, the only emotion he could still feel being fear.
Because when a father laughed like that…
It usually meant something horrifying was coming next.
"Whimper…"
The dog was even more terrified than Sasuke. It stared at Fugaku's wild laughter and began inching backward, careful as if walking along the edge of death.
If it stayed any longer…
It wouldn't be splashing urine.
It would be splashing blood.
The courtyard atmosphee twisted into something bizarre under Fugaku's manic laughter.
Sasuke and the dog, for once, felt like they were on the same side.
A boy and a dog, united by a single shared desire:
Please let us leave this place alive.
And while Fugaku remained lost in his exhilaration, he replayed the scene in his mind again and again — until he was absolutely certain.
That technique Kaito had just used…
Wasn't some "dog clone" at all.
It was—
A space-time ninjutsu.
My son, Uchiha Kaito…
…is a genius!!
The instant Fugaku imagined having a child capable of creating a space-time technique, all the recent frustration weighing on him vanihed like smoke.
"What are you barking about?!"
Kaito's voice rang out again.
The brown dog, which had barely managed three cautious steps backward, vanihed from the spot.
Fugaku watched Kaito activate the technique a second time. Excitement surged through him, his entire body trembling.
As for whethe it involved "barking" or not…
That detail didn't matter in the slightest.
Fugaku strode forward quickly and reached out to grab Kaito's shoulder — he needed answers, immediately.
But Kaito had only used the ability twice. With his vision snapping between positions, dizziness swam in his head.
His nerves were stretched taut. His body already felt awful.
And now his father was looming over him with an extremely unsettling grin, teeth bared like something out of a nightmare.
Kaito's first instinct was simple.
Genjutsu.
His reflexes took over.
He drove a straight punch into Fugaku's stomach.
Full force.
"Kaito, tell me what that technique— Hrk—!"
Fugaku didn't even finish the sentence before pain detonated through him. His breath vanihed. His voice died in his throat.
He clutched his stomach and dropped to his knees, staring up at Kaito with pure shock and confusion.
Kaito blinked at the sight of his father collapsing.
A question mark practically floated above his head.
"Fathe… were you holding back?"
After several seconds of frantic thinking, Kaito reached a conclusion that sounded ridiculous — yet also strangely reasonable.
Because… seriously. His father's Sharingan felt far beyond ordinary jōnin level.
Thee was no way he'd be dropped by one punch unless he'd deliberately let it happen.
He must've held back.
Sasuke, watching the entire exchange from the side, looked as though his soul had begun to fracture.
At such a young age, he was already wondering whethe he'd fallen into his father's genjutsu.
"Cough— cough… cough!"
Fugaku's emotions were… complicated.
He knelt there coughing as if his lungs were trying to escape his body.
Whethe he was coughing to mask humiliation, or because the punch truly hurt—
No one could say.
After several seconds, Fugaku's face fluhed red. He forced himself upright, bruhed imaginary dust off his clotherrrrrrs with deliberate calm, then turned away, hands clasped behind his back, restoring his dignified authority.
"Your recent training has been… good."
"Hiss—"
"Didn't expect you to notice your father holding back."
He delivered it so smoothly you might almost believe him — if not for the sharp inhale he couldn't quite suppress.
"I have matters to attend to. You and Sasuke go rest."
"Hiss—… Tonight, I'll speak with you both again."
With that, Fugaku didn't wait for a reply.
He walked away quickly — far too quickly — disappearing into the house.
He desperately wanted to interrogate that technique.
But right now, he looked a little too… undignified.
He couldn't allow his children to see him in that state. It would damage the towering image of "father" in their hearts.
Kaito watched Fugaku's retreating back and pointed after him uncertainly.
"Your dad… is he okay?"
Sasuke shot him a sideways glance.
"Isn't that also your dad?"
He wanted to demand why Kaito had secretly been practicing a new technique behind his back.
But the words jammed in his throat.
Instead, he stared at Kaito with complicated eyes.
"Kaito… that dog clone thing…"
"Is it… impressive?"
Kaito was just about to head back to his room when those words nearly made him trip and faceplant.
He had once considered naming the technique Canine Thunder God or Flying Thunder Dog.
But he had never — not even in his darkest nightmares — imagined that in Sasuke's mouth it would become—
Dog Clone.
And the worst part?
It was weirdly… horrifyingly… logical.
Kaito's face darkened instantly. He turned and marched straight into the house.
"Itachi taught it to me!"
"If you want to learn, go ask him!"
Sasuke's eyes widened, his expression screaming, I knew it!
Then, a beat later, anotherrrrrr realization hit him.
"He's your brotherrrrrr too! Stop calling him 'Itachi-this' and 'Itachi-that'!"
From inside the room, Kaito suddenly stuck his head back out, scanned Sasuke from head to toe, then replied calmly:
"I'm your brotherrrrrr too."
"And I've never heard you call me Big brotherrrrrr."
...
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