"Don't be nervous. Sit."
Uchiha Setsuna spoke calmly, then pulled a shuriken from the ninja tool pouch at his waist and tossed it to Uchiha Ci.
Uchiha Ci caught it casually and examined it, but found nothing special about it.
If he had to say something, it was probably that the Great Elder's shuriken was high-end equipment—finely made, sturdier and more durable than the kunai he used for blocking.
"Great Elder, what is this?" Uchiha Ci was somewhat baffled.
"Who did you learn your Shurikenjutsu from?" Uchiha Setsuna asked with his eyes half-closed.
Uchiha Ci's heart immediately tightened. He had only made a simple move against Kiyochiro earlier and had not even used the silk manipulation techniques from Silk Manipulation Shuriken Jutsu, yet Uchiha Setsuna had already noticed something unusual about his Shurikenjutsu.
But Uchiha Ci had no idea how to answer that question.
After all, he had gotten this skill from Uchiha Setsuna himself. He could hardly say, "Ci had long admired you and gained a little insight after watching the Great Elder throw shuriken for a year." What kind of bullshit trash talk would that be?
Within the clan, Uchiha Ci could not even get close to higher-ups on Shisui Uchiha's level, much less learn such advanced shuriken-throwing techniques.
After holding it in for a long while, Uchiha Ci could only put on an honest expression and say:
"Great Elder, I'm just a Genin. Other than the clan's ninja training courses, I have no other way to learn ninjutsu. I can only practice things like this that don't cost money."
"Oh?" A sharp gleam suddenly flashed beneath Uchiha Setsuna's half-lowered eyelids.
So this kid was a buried talent?
No wonder that proud brat Shisui had been making eyes at him.
"Is that so?" Uchiha Setsuna pondered for a moment, nodded, and took another shuriken from his ninja tool pouch.
Then, he held the shuriken in one hand and formed a Tiger Seal with the other.
Something astonishing happened.
The shuriken in the Great Elder's hand was wrapped in flames, slowly floated into the air, and began spinning rapidly midair.
"Phoenix Sage Fire and Phoenix Sage Fire Flower Claw Red come from the same source. There is no real difference in the seals."
"The technique is simple as well. Like this: wrap the ninja tool in Chakra, then form a Tiger Seal to alter the Chakra's nature before throwing it."
The Great Elder spoke calmly.
Uchiha Ci could not help but freeze, his expression turning strange.
Was the Great Elder instructing him?
Phoenix Sage Fire Flower Claw Red was an advanced version of Phoenix Sage Fire, a B-rank ninjutsu. Unlike Phoenix Sage Fire's fireballs, it wrapped spinning shuriken in flames.
While increasing their sharpness, the wind generated by the spinning shuriken also enhanced the Fire Style's power.
"Your turn. Do it once." Uchiha Setsuna withdrew his Chakra and gave the order calmly.
He did not catch it with his hand, instead allowing the scorching shuriken to fall directly to the ground.
Leaving Uchiha Ci, whose eyes had widened, slightly disappointed.
He had thought the Great Elder would demonstrate an Iron Hand without mercy.
Apparently, even an expert of Uchiha Setsuna's caliber was still flesh and blood.
Uchiha Ci could only obey. He placed the shuriken before him, wore a serious expression, and formed a Tiger Seal with both hands.
He used Chakra whose nature had been altered to grasp the shuriken.
A faint flicker of flame rose around the shuriken lying on the ground. It twitched twice, then fell over with a clatter and stubbornly refused to move again.
An awkward look appeared on Uchiha Ci's face.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Setsuna, who had been watching from the side, narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded without revealing anything. Then he said calmly:
"That's it. This is the simple Form Change of Fire Style. Remember this."
"From there, you can derive many applications of Fire Style, such as—"
The Great Elder tossed out another shuriken, which embedded itself in a tree trunk nearby.
The difference was,
this shuriken had Steel Wire tied to it.
Then, the Great Elder seemingly casually formed four seals with one hand. Uchiha Ci immediately recognized them as the seals for Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique.
Snake—Dragon—Rabbit—Tiger!
A line of fire immediately crawled along the Steel Wire.
"This is Dragon Fire Technique. Practice with this technique first. Once you have mastered it, practice Phoenix Sage Fire Flower Claw Red. When you reach this level, come find me."
Uchiha Setsuna gave the order in an even tone, then tossed another shuriken tied with Steel Wire.
This time, he formed only a simple Tiger Seal.
Then, Dragon Fire Ascends.
He had actually simplified the sealing process into a single seal.
Uchiha Ci was dumbstruck. So there were Uchiha who could do this too.
Using Fire Style with one seal was only slightly inferior to Hashirama Senju clapping both hands together and getting whatever he wanted.
"Once you practice it properly, you will have mastered Fire Style's Nature Transformation. After that—"
Uchiha Setsuna frowned, raised his head slightly, looked into Uchiha Ci's eyes, then shook his head and said coldly:
"Forget it. Survive first. We can discuss everything else afterward."
In just two minutes,
Uchiha Setsuna, an old man from the Warring States Period, had taught Uchiha Ci Fire Style's Form Change and Nature Transformation.
He really dared to teach.
If it had been an ordinary ninja, there was no way they could have understood Uchiha Setsuna's teaching method.
But Uchiha Ci had already mastered Uchiha Setsuna's master-level Uchiha Style: Silk Manipulation Shuriken Jutsu, and he also possessed Kiyochiro's proficient Phoenix Sage Fire.
Once the knowledge in his head was verified and viewed from a lofty perspective—
Phoenix Sage Fire, Flower Claw Red, and techniques including Dragon Fire Technique were nothing more than special methods of application. With his master-level control over his body, Uchiha Ci only needed to try reproducing them in his mind.
Then Uchiha Ci discovered, teeth aching,
that he had actually understood it.
[You have mastered Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique (Beginner, C).]
[You have mastered Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Claw Red (Beginner, B).]
The two notifications appeared before his eyes at just the right moment, and Uchiha Ci blanked out for a moment.
Then he looked at Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna with a resentful expression.
Stop teaching! Stop teaching!
My brain is so itchy. It's growing a brain!
At this rate, before we even reach the battlefield, I'll have already maxed out my levels.
Does that make any sense?!
At that moment, Uchiha Seiichiro, who had gone out to set up Alert Traps, returned with a grave expression.
"Great Elder, a squad of Yugakure Ninja is searching the area nearby. I think we should retreat for now—"
However,
when Kiyochiro saw Uchiha Setsuna teaching Uchiha Ci ninjutsu, he froze. Then his eyes turned red.
He knew it!
No wonder Uchiha Setsuna had chosen Uchiha Ci to join the mission.
So this slick-haired brat was a spawn of the Hawk Faction!
And he had even deceived Young Master Shisui, making Shisui believe he supported the Dove Faction!
This was absolutely outrageous!
"What did you say?" Uchiha Setsuna frowned slightly and asked again.
Uchiha Seiichiro could only suppress the dissatisfaction on his face and report:
"There is a squad of Yugakure Ninja ahead. They seem to be conducting a targeted patrol of the surrounding area."
Then he offered his suggestion:
"The Ninja Code says that it is best not to create unnecessary trouble outside the mission."
"Moreover, Great Elder, given the current chaos in the Land of Hot Water, it would be best if we avoided direct contact with them."
Uchiha Ci frowned slightly. Obito had told him about this last night.
It was experience Namikaze Minato had taught his disciples. Put simply, the Land of Hot Water was now in complete disorder, and there were several types of people one had to watch out for on the road.
They should avoid contact with ninjas unrelated to their mission whenever possible.
One such type was the local ninjas of a War Zone.
Because Yugakure Ninja at this time might no longer be serving Yugakure.
Of course, Uchiha Ci had nothing to fear.
He actually hoped to encounter strange and unusual ninjas.
But unlike his earlier proposal to cross the border at night, he currently had no suitable excuse to persuade the squad to take a risk.
However,
upon hearing the news, Uchiha Setsuna's half-closed eyes suddenly opened. A pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan slowly began to turn.
He kicked apart the campfire, drew a long blade from behind his back, and ordered coldly:
"Prepare for battle."
"Seiichiro, lead the way. We will deal with the Yugakure Ninja squad you discovered first."
"Then we will force-march and cross the Land of Hot Water's border at night!"
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