Guidance

Tobirama Senju Residence.

Renye lay on the bed, still wearing an expression of disbelief. A Ninjutsu Scroll sat by the bedside.

His mind kept replaying Tobirama Senju's earlier words.

He'd been adopted by Tobirama Senju for a year now, and the Old Man had always been on guard against him, let alone guiding him in training.

But now the other had voluntarily offered to instruct him in cultivation, which gave him an unreal feeling.

"I'm not caught in a genjutsu, am I?"

Renye bit the tip of his tongue. The pain that shot through it made him realize—this wasn't an illusion.

He truly hadn't expected that those words would carry such a powerful impact.

Not only had they made Hashirama Senju gift him the Senju's Ninjutsu Scroll, even Tobirama Senju was willing to guide his training.

Renye's heartbeat quickened, his face unable to hide his excitement.

Tobirama Senju was a Kage-level powerhouse. With his guidance, Renye believed he could go further and become stronger!

Immersed in the thrill of future strength, Renye unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

Tiger Hour. A crescent moon hung hooked over the Senju Clan Compound.

The sky had yet to lighten when a low voice sounded outside the door:

"Brat, how much longer are you going to sleep?"

Hearing the commotion, Renye scrambled out of bed in one motion, pulling on his clothes while shouting toward the door, "Uncle, hold on a sec, coming right away!"

Soon, Renye was fully dressed, clutching the scroll as he opened the door.

Tobirama Senju stood at the entrance, glanced at Renye, said nothing, and turned to head for the Training Ground.

Seeing this, Renye silently followed behind him.

The two arrived at the center of the training ground.

Tobirama Senju turned around, his gaze fixed directly on Renye—or rather, on the Ninjutsu Scroll in Renye's hand.

Seeing this, how could Renye not understand?

He decisively handed over the Ninjutsu Scroll.

Tobirama Senju took the scroll, nodded in satisfaction, and then tucked it away.

Under Renye's shocked, suspicious, and bewildered gaze, Tobirama Senju explained with an unnatural expression, "We won't learn ninjutsu today. We'll start with basic training."

Renye stared at Tobirama Senju with suspicion. "Uncle, you're not planning to trick me out of the scroll and then Run Away, are you?"

Tobirama Senju's face flushed red. "Brat, what do you mean by that? Am I that kind of person?!"

Though he had genuinely intended to guide Renye at first, what was wrong with studying the clan's Ninjutsu Scroll during the process of instruction?

Renye said nothing, just kept pursing his lips.

Tobirama Senju: "..."

To be honest, he felt like turning around and leaving right now.

Fortunately, Renye didn't dwell on the topic. He said eagerly, "Uncle, weren't you going to guide my training? Let's start!"

"Let me see the ninjutsu you release," Tobirama Senju said.

He had watched Renye train before. Renye's control over Chakra was simply indescribable—he wasted a lot of Chakra when releasing ninjutsu.

Back then, he'd held the intention of not letting Renye grow, so he hadn't pointed it out...

But Renye's earlier words had made Tobirama Senju realize that he had indeed harbored prejudice against the Uchiha Clan.

The Uchiha Clan was indeed prone to falling into extreme emotions, but that also showed they understood "love" better than ordinary people.

Renye's words had thoroughly awakened him, changing his ingrained impression of the Uchiha.

Of course, the only Uchiha Tobirama Senju acknowledged was Renye—not all Uchiha...

That was why he had voluntarily offered to guide Renye.

Hearing Tobirama Senju's words, Renye didn't hesitate. He formed hand seals and released a ninjutsu.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball erupted from his mouth, its scorching light illuminating the training ground.

Renye was quite satisfied with this—it was the fruit of a year's training.

He had expected to hear praise from Tobirama Senju, but the other's next words struck Renye like a bucket of cold water.

Tobirama Senju frowned deeply and said coldly, "Fire Style isn't just a simple discharge of Chakra."

Renye looked up in confusion, as if he didn't understand the meaning of those words.

Seeing this, Tobirama Senju raised a hand and formed a seal. A faint blue flame flickered at his fingertip, utterly different from the usual orange-red blaze.

"Your technique just now seemed fierce, but in truth, your Chakra was chaotic—like a wildfire out of control."

With a shift of his gesture, the flame suddenly condensed into a slender whip of fire, precisely latching onto a wooden post in the distance, then gently setting it back in place without damaging it at all.

Renye watched, dumbfounded.

Such precise chakra control—no wonder he was the Master of Forbidden Jutsu of the ninja world.

But thinking about it, if he couldn't control chakra accurately, wouldn't he have been blown to bits while developing jutsu?

Besides, the jutsu Tobirama Senju created were all extremely powerful, requiring even finer chakra control.

Renye felt a pang of envy. If only he could have that kind of chakra mastery...

"Kid, try again." Tobirama Senju cut off Renye's daydreaming.

Hearing this, Renye tried once more, focusing on controlling his chakra flow as he formed the hand seals.

This time, flames burst from his palm, but they formed an irregular clump, instantly scorching the grass and trees in front of him to ash.

"Your chakra flow is too stiff." Tobirama stepped forward and pressed his wrist; the icy touch made Renye's whole body tense. "Imagine the flame is alive. You're not driving it—you're dancing with it."

A surge of chakra, carrying a frigid aura, traveled along his meridians, strangely soothing his turbulent, scorching fire-natured chakra.

When Renye gathered his chakra for the third time, Tobirama Senju suddenly struck, disrupting his hand seal sequence.

"In real combat, no one will wait for you to go step by step," Tobirama Senju said gravely. "Adapting your techniques on the fly is more important!"

Clearly, he wasn't just going through the motions—he was seriously teaching Renye.

Renye adjusted hastily, and the flame in his palm eerily transformed into a fire serpent that shot out. Though its direction was off, it had already taken a rough shape.

"Progress." Tobirama Senju nodded, raising a hand to form the "Snake" seal. A precise fireball struck a wooden post, instantly igniting a roaring blaze. In no time, the post was reduced to ash.

"Some jutsu have too many hand seals, making them hard to release in battle. You need to learn to simplify them." Tobirama Senju paused, then added, "Never mind—you can't grasp that yet for now..."

Take Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet, for example. An ordinary Jonin would need to form 44 hand seals to release it, while Tobirama Senju could do it with just three.

Renye had no particular thoughts on that. Simplifying hand seals was inherently difficult, requiring powerful chakra control to achieve. He wouldn't be thinking about it anytime soon.

"The essence of Fire Style lies in the balance between burst and control. Go—before dawn, make your flame learn to obey."

With that, he turned and left.

"Uncle, I'll succeed!"

Renye watched Tobirama Senju's retreating back, his heart brimming with motivation. A flame reignited in his palm, and he threw himself back into training.

Easy to think, but the actual execution was a different story...