Visiting

I've Katsuki the Hatake clan many times.

It's a small courtyard located alone in the center of the village, very similar to the place where the Katsuki Katsuki live. Originally, the Hatake clan wasn't a prestigious clan, just an ordinary family. This house was allocated to them by the village after Sakumo made great contributions; otherwise, they would have been living in an apartment before, similar to where Naruto would live in the future.

Clumps of bluish-purple Rindou grew in the corner of the wall, and a heavily pregnant woman was watering the flowers with a watering can.

"Madam, why are you still doing these things? You're not alone anymore. Be careful."

With his hands clasped together, he formed a Ren seal, and two Shadow Clone appeared. One picked up the fruit basket that had just been thrown on the ground, while the other darted forward and took the showerhead from the woman's hands. Meanwhile, the real man carefully helped the heavily pregnant woman into the house.

"It's alright, it's alright. I can still tell whether I'm good or bad." The woman smiled at Katsuki, not intending to refuse him. With Katsuki's help, she went up to the corridor and sat on the large rocking chair. From there, she could see the flowers and plants in the yard and admire the plants she had carefully cultivated.

This is one of the few hobbies women have.

Her husband was a very powerful ninja. Ability and responsibility are often proportional; the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. This saying was well reflected in her husband. He spent most of the year traveling around. She stayed at home alone and developed a hobby of cultivating flowers and plants to pass the time.

As for Katsuki, her husband's former disciple, she had practically watched her grow up. Not only was she clever and quick-witted, but she was also very filial. She liked this child very much, who had lost both her parents and was living with her sister.

"Alright, Katsuki, leave a Shadow Clone and chat with me for a bit, then go find your teacher yourself; he's in the backyard."

The practicality of Shadow Clone is truly astonishing. Their combat effectiveness is self-evident, and they can even be quite useful in daily life. Chatting with someone should be a good business, right? There seem to be many elderly people living alone in the village Katsuki pondered these unreliable thoughts, leaving the Shadow Clone there to talk to the woman.

He himself went to the backyard.

The backyard wasn't large. A rather tall red maple tree was planted in the yard, its crimson branches and leaves resembling burning flames. Under the tree was a large, square Taiseki. Sakumo sat cross-legged on the stone, his eyes tightly closed, cultivating his spirit.

"Why can't I learn this method of mental training?"

He muttered under his breath about this Zen-like exercise method, saying he couldn't learn it and had tried many times but failed each time.

"That's because you're too young."

Sakumo's voice came from behind him. He looked up, but there was no one on the square rock.

"What's the big deal? Does it have anything to do with age? And shouldn't children, with their purer hearts, be more likely to cultivate their spiritual energy in this way?"

Chakra is a power formed by the fusion of spiritual energy and physical energy. Physical energy is fixed, and there is no conventional and feasible way to enhance it. Therefore, training spiritual energy is the only way for most commoner ninjas without ancient and powerful bloodlines to become stronger.

"You brat, don't underestimate adults." Sakumo flicked his finger on the forehead. "Training spiritual energy requires experience and the accumulation of time. You could say that most ninjas spend the first half of their lives expending physical energy, while the second half relies on spiritual energy. Time is the secret of spiritual energy, something you can't comprehend yet..."

"Time?"

Katsuki curled her lips, clearly not satisfied with the answer.

"Alright, stop worrying about this. You can't rush this. Besides, for someone with such excellent bloodline as you, a little weak spiritual energy doesn't matter. You can make a living off your body for the rest of your life." Sakumo reached out and patted Katsuki's shoulder, but the phrase 'make a living off your body' wasn't exactly flattering.

Katsuki's eye twitched.

"How's it going?"

"It's a bit slow. I feel like I've hit a bottleneck. I feel like I still have enough energy left, but... I can't unleash it. I can't release my power. It's like a wild beast with a bridle on... It feels very frustrating."

The master and disciple quickly changed the subject, discussing Katsuki's cultivation progress.

Time always slips away so quickly without us noticing.

After glancing at the sun in the sky, Katsuki licked her lips; it was time to take her leave.

"Are you leaving?" Sakumo asked.

"Hmm, I need to go see the Lord Hokage to make a record later. I have to go out tomorrow." Katsuki turned her neck, listening to a series of crisp cracking sounds.

"Go!"

Sakumo's answer was simple.

Katsuki smiled, returned to the front yard to say goodbye to the woman, and then quickly left, heading towards the Hokage Building.

The Land of Rain.

The cold wind blew the raindrops askew, and the chilly, damp air made the skin pale. Strands of fiery red hair, soaked with moisture, fell across the forehead, creating a stark contrast with the pale skin.

Can our eyes be deceived?

"The ninjas of Konoha, hmm, they were Chunin, and they didn't notice the ordinary people in the houses... After discovering the hidden civilians, they immediately attacked and killed them, mistakenly killing two civilians... Yahiko, do you think that's possible?"

The orange-haired boy remained silent.

When he was just an ordinary homeless orphan, he didn't doubt the truth of the matter. But after he learned Ninjutsu and became a ninja, he understood the difference between ordinary people and ninjas. Simply put, the death of Nagato's parents was unreasonable, completely unreasonable.

"I had never considered this kind of question before; my heart was filled only with hatred... hatred for Konoha, hatred for the ninjas, hatred for this world..."

Nagato lowered his eyes, his expression blank. The fact that what he had always firmly believed was not the true truth was such a blow to him. His will wavered, his beliefs shattered, and he didn't know where to go. The road ahead was shrouded in mist...

"Nagato, don't think nonsense, don't forget we're here." The girl reached out and pinched the red-haired boy's ear, the pain causing him to scream.

"Haha, you're right. You can't stay so gloomy all the time. Let's think about things together, we're comrades after all!" The orange-haired boy Yahiko, revealed a bright, sunny smile.

"By the way, Nagato, do you still remember that guy Katsuki?"

"--Of course, I've never forgotten." Nagato nodded. He still remembered the phrase, 'What the eyes see is not necessarily the truth.' It was this phrase that aroused his suspicion, and as he recalled that painful memory once again, he discovered many suspicious points.

"That guy seems to have made quite a name for himself in the Land of Wind lately, he's supposedly been called [the Calamity]," Yahiko said solemnly.