Chương 30: Encountering the Team of Destiny

After the graduation ceremony, Shisui was indeed not assigned to a squad. Just as he had speculated, he returned to the clan to receive further internal training. Especially since he had been stimulated by Dongye Zhen into awakening a two-tomoe Sharingan on the spot, it was now even more impossible for the Uchiha clan to let him out.

Zhen had originally advised him to keep it hidden as much as possible, but Zhen was not an Uchiha; he could not truly grasp their pride, nor could he understand the immense significance the Sharingan held for their clan. Furthermore, Shisui informed him that once the Sharingan is awakened, a person's chakra changes. While shinobi without sensory abilities might not notice, in the eyes of the Three-Tomoe masters within the clan, it was as conspicuous as a beacon in the dark. It was impossible to hide.

An eight-year-old with a two-tomoe Sharingan was a genius rarely seen even in the recorded history of the Uchiha. He had instantly become the clan's greatest treasure. There was no way they would let him join a random squad and waste his time. After all, the world outside was currently far from peaceful; if he were to die on a mission, it would be a catastrophic loss for the Uchiha. A genius who falls halfway means nothing.

Of course, this didn't mean the clan would lock Shisui away like a greenhouse flower, as he would likewise fail to grow without proper tempering. Instead, he would be led by clan experts to experience blood and fire. They suffered from a form of persecution mania—they did not trust the protection of outsiders, including the village. In fact, they believed certain individuals within the village were the very source of danger themselves. Danzō Shimura: "..."

I don't know anything! Stop throwing every blame at me!

Nani? An eight-year-old two-tomoe genius has appeared in the inherently evil Uchiha clan? Come, let this old man see what is going on! Gekkō Hayate, on the other hand, followed the standard shinobi procedure, obediently forming a squad with others to begin his pleasant life as a Genin. Of the original quartet, only Dongye Zhen and Uzuki Yugao remained. Zhen would occasionally bump into Hayate, but Uchiha Shisui? The boy had practically vanished.

As for Dongye Zhen, aside from occasionally teaching Yugao, he poured the rest of his time back into the cultivation that so addicted him. Time would not stop for war, and war grew more cruel with the passage of time. It was early summer. The temperature was rising, and the sun shone brightly. Inside a training ground far from the main residential area, Dongye Zhen held the short sword gifted by his father and infused it with Wind-natured chakra.

This blade was an heirloom of the Dongye family; its forging involved a significant amount of chakra metal, allowing for very smooth energy flow. If it were made entirely of chakra metal, it would be even more effortless to use, but that was practically impossible—chakra metal production was extremely low, and its price was high enough to make Kakuzu explode five times on the spot. Sharp Wind-natured energy condensed on the blade into a visible, physical chakra coat, but this was too obvious.

Zhen continued to exert control, retracting the energy until the chakra's color faded to near invisibility. He compressed it tightly within the blade; the sword returned to its ordinary appearance, but its internal essence was now on a completely different level. Zhen swung the blade casually twice. Several crescent-shaped blade waves, so faint they were nearly invisible, sliced through the air at high speeds, piercing through several large trees before finally dissipating.

This was the primary offensive method Zhen had developed for himself after desperately training the sharp, cutting nature of the Wind attribute: unstoppable sharpness and extreme speed. Most importantly, the size was adjustable. Small ones were like miniature bullets—a single hit to the heart would guarantee an instant trip to the afterlife. With increased chakra, a single blade wave could give the forest ahead a buzzcut.

The inspiration for this hand-seal-less ninjutsu came from Danzō's B-rank Wind Style: Vacuum Wave and Vacuum Serial Waves, as well as the future A-rank Wind Style: Vacuum Sword used by the elite Jonin Shiragumo Hayama. However, those were things from over a decade in the future; he didn't know if that senior had developed the Vacuum Sword yet. If not, Zhen would become the copyright holder. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Zhen was a man of efficiency.

He didn't like his methods being easily dodged by enemies, because wasting chakra was wasting life. Therefore, he was dissatisfied with the Vacuum Wave series, which required seals and being spat from the mouth. The Vacuum Sword also required seals; though not many, the resulting wind blades were as obvious as the Vacuum Waves.

Relying on his supreme level of chakra control, Zhen synthesized the advantages of both techniques and refined them, finally developing an instantaneous, high-speed, nearly invisible blade wave. Zhen named it: Wind Style: Shadowless Blade. Using the Body Flicker Technique, Zhen appeared within the forest. With a light tap of his toe, he snapped a razor-thin steel wire on the ground, triggering a trap. A dense volley of kunai and shuriken shot out from all directions, targeting the figure standing in the center.

Zhen remained motionless, his right hand wielding the sword blurring into a series of afterimages as numerous wind blades precisely intercepted the projectiles.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! A continuous series of crisp sounds rang out. Before the kunai and shuriken could strike Zhen, they were swatted out of the air, falling powerlessly to the ground. Unlike before, where he merely deflected them, this time the kunai and shuriken were sliced clean in two, the edges smooth as mirrors. Finally, a heavy log was swung toward Zhen by immense tension and momentum, only to be dismantled mid-air by a succession of wind blades. Cracking sounds echoed as splinters flew everywhere.

Zhen was satisfied with the results. Next, it would be time to develop auxiliary offensive means and defensive ninjutsu; the requirement remained that they be instantaneous. He already had ideas for this. One could only say that while performing ninjutsu with hand seals was cool, it lacked efficiency. It was fine for a performance or teaching others, but for his own battles, his only requirement was the swift and accurate instant elimination of the enemy.

Who would stand there talking for half an hour and then weave signs to have a beam struggle? Even if he were standing on the right side, he wouldn't do it. Let those "honest shinobi" do that if they wanted; he certainly wasn't willing. After finishing the ninjutsu test, Zhen looked at the broken kunai and shuriken littering the ground and sighed.

Fortunately, he was using damaged goods accumulated from his usual training; if they had been brand new, it would have been a financial disaster—ninja tools forged from refined steel were not cheap. Extending his right hand, the chakra condensed in his palm turned into a swirling wind, vacuuming the broken shuriken and kunai into a bundle and dropping them into a prepared backpack. Truthfully, if chakra wasn't used for combat, it was quite convenient for daily life.

As for cleaning up the battlefield, that was something he did after every training session. A ninja must keep their intelligence secret; this was a rule Dongye Jiro had cautioned him about more than once. Thus, every time he trained, he kept his sensory abilities active to prevent anyone from spying. For instance, right now, several figures had appeared in Zhen's perception. He recognized the chakra signatures of two of them, but the other two were unfamiliar—especially one whose chakra felt bright and powerful.

He immediately guessed who was coming. Zhen finished tidying the wires in the forest and concealed himself atop a large tree not far away. Soon, a boisterous voice approached from a distance: "I told you I didn't oversleep! I just encountered an old lady who needed help on the way here!" A listless voice replied: "Whatever. It's the same as always anyway. I don't expect you to be helpful; as long as you don't drag us down, I'll thank the heavens."

"What did you say, you bastard Kakashi? Who are you calling a drag?!"

"People usually scream louder the more useless they are."

"Agh! Bastard, arrogant Kakashi! I'm gonna kill you!"

"Obito! Kakashi!" A crisp female voice called out their names, and like magic, the bickering ceased instantly. Following behind the three was a handsome young man wearing a green flak jacket with spiky yellow hair. He wore a sunny smile, seemingly accustomed to the bickering among his students. However, as he approached the area where Zhen had just been training, his smile vanished. He glanced at the marks on the grass and the scattered wood splinters.

The thick-headed Obito Uchiha noticed nothing unusual, but Kakashi was different. He whispered, "Minato-sensei?" Minato Namikaze scanned the surroundings and shook his head.

"Those aren't traces left by a battle. Someone was training here just now. Likely a comrade from the village who has already left." Kakashi nodded and said nothing. This was an internal training ground for the village, so such occurrences were common. The four continued on, their bickering fading into the distance. Atop the tree nearby, Zhen smiled slightly. He had just confirmed one thing: Minato Namikaze indeed possessed excellent sensory abilities.

However, Zhen's own perception, a byproduct of his Natural Energy cultivation, was even more miraculous—finer than ordinary sensory skills while also masking his own presence. If Minato wanted to find him, there was only one way: entering the Toad Sage Mode of Mount Myoboku—assuming he had already learned it. Watching the retreating backs of the four, Zhen felt a surge of emotion. This might be the last time he would see this team in such a harmonious and friendly scene.

Calculating the time, Obito and the others were already twelve years old. Before long, destiny would push them in entirely different directions. All the tragedies of the shinobi were condensed within this single team. Dongye Zhen never had any intention of interfering.