The Uchiha's Future Is In My Hands

"Meow!"

The sound of the cat's meow came intermittently.

Kurenai Yuhi had strong senses and could quickly pinpoint the cat's location, but in the jungle, with all the trees, flowers, and grass obstructing her, she couldn't pick up speed.

Sometimes, she'd almost catch it, but the cat would dart into the bushes and disappear again in the blink of an eye.

"Enough speed, but poor utilization."

Kyoichi shook his head.

It's fine.

He'd let her train slowly, run a few laps first, and make Kurenai Yuhi understand her own shortcomings before offering advice. That way, it would be more effective.

He was in the trees, contemplating swordsmanship.

Yesterday, he had used the Willow Sword Technique on someone for the first time, and he became even more convinced that Willow could be integrated into Iaido.

There was no need for such a long Genjutsu control.

A single moment was all it took to strike down the enemy.

Creating a new technique wasn't something that happened overnight, especially since it wasn't system-issued. Kyoichi now only had a general idea, and to further integrate it, he needed to acquire more knowledge.

"Teacher, I... can I rest for a moment?"

Kurenai Yuhi panted.

She was utterly exhausted. Her hair and clothes were covered in dust and leaves, completely unlike her usual elegant and composed demeanor.

But.

She still couldn't catch the cat.

In fact, she felt like it was getting faster. She could keep up before, but now it was becoming increasingly difficult to handle.

"Take a short break. I'll explain it to you while we're at it. Do you know what your problem is?"

"Mm."

Kurenai Yuhi nodded.

Poor stamina, not fast enough.

"You can actually keep up with the speed. At worst, you could add the Body Flicker Technique, but you're not agile enough. You can't control your own speed."

Kyoichi said, "Secondly, what about your Genjutsu? You don't specialize in taijutsu, so why not try to subdue it with Genjutsu once you catch up?"

"Huh? You can use Genjutsu too?"

Kurenai Yuhi was stunned.

She thought she understood, but it turned out she didn't.

Genjutsu...

Right!

She didn't rely on taijutsu, so why wasn't she using Genjutsu when she caught up?

She suddenly had an epiphany.

Of course.

Kurenai Yuhi knew very well that even if she used Genjutsu, it wouldn't be easy to catch the silly cat.

Genjutsu required hand seals!

The cat was agile, and while she was still forming the seals, the cat might have already run off.

She needed to combine her skills and devise a strategy based on the environment.

She wasn't stupid.

Soon, Kurenai Yuhi's eyes lit up.

"Teacher, I understand! I'll go catch it right now!"

Hokage's Office.

"Catching cats can also be considered training?"

The Third Hokage's tobacco was almost burned out, but he didn't notice, his face full of astonishment.

Most of these cats were pets of nobles.

Their speed wasn't particularly fast, and there wasn't much difficulty in catching them. They were usually assigned as preliminary training for team combat.

However.

Kyoichi had a unique idea, assigning them to Kurenai Yuhi to train her speed and on-the-spot reaction.

This was something the Third Hokage hadn't considered.

After his surprise, he actually felt it made a lot of sense!

"The other two, chopping wood, carrying water?"

The Third Hokage first glanced at his son.

Asuma was carrying water.

Two large buckets at a time, carried on a shoulder pole, from the distant riverbank to the water vat.

Spilled?

Carry again.

Is this training taijutsu?

He used Clairvoyance Jutsu again, and looked at Shisui.

Shisui was chopping wood.

The difference was.

He used a pure swordsmanship style to chop wood, seemingly contemplating how to split the firewood with the least amount of effort.

"This kid has too many weird ideas, doesn't he?"

The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe, only to find the tobacco had already burned out, and he felt a pang of heartache.

He hadn't even taken a single puff.

What a waste!

After the heartache, Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts returned, and he began to ponder if it could be popularized.

It seemed not.

Each team was different; they couldn't be treated the same.

Most importantly.

He realized that many people in Konoha were rigid in their thinking—including himself.

Chopping wood, carrying water, catching cats.

They indeed treated D-rank missions as opportunities to train Genin, and some missions were even fabricated by the village, but they hadn't thought of deliberately honing them; their focus was more on team development.

It was a good method, but it couldn't be popularized and implemented.

It was fine recently, with a pile of accumulated missions, so it wasn't a big deal for him to accept three at once.

If it were usual times, and one small team accepted three missions, what would the other Genin do?

However.

Elite teams could be encouraged to try and imitate it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi thought.

At the same time, he focused Clairvoyance Jutsu on Shisui.

Could Uchiha Shisui become the second Kagami Uchiha?

"I hope so, otherwise..."

He sighed and canceled the jutsu.

In the afternoon, as evening approached.

Kurenai Yuhi finally, exhausted, caught the cat and went to turn in the mission, receiving today's reward.

When they returned to Konoha.

At the barbecue restaurant, Kyoichi and his team encountered Team 7, who had passed their mission today.

"Shisui, Asuma!"

Obito waved enthusiastically upon seeing them, as if he were the one treating them to dinner this time.

Minato Namikaze stood beside them, beaming, and greeted Kyoichi very warmly.

Seeing empty seats, he pointed to an empty spot and said, "Kyoichi-kun, why don't you sit down and join us?"

"That would be good, we'll order some more."

Kyoichi didn't refuse.

Anyone who refused free food was a bastard; these three brats had only eaten Ration Pills for lunch and must be starving now.

Kakashi turned his head away, appearing indifferent.

However.

His eyes, as if intentionally or unintentionally, were fixed on Kyoichi's sword.

Minato Namikaze found it amusing.

Kakashi was usually very calm, unlike his peers Obito and the others, but when it came to Kanda Kyoichi, he lost that calm, mature demeanor.

He knew Kakashi was curious, and after glancing at the sword himself, he was also a little surprised.

"Kyoichi, is your sword the Second Hokage's?"

"I borrowed it from Lord Hokage. Alas, it's because I'm poor."

Kyoichi sighed.

If he were as rich as the Sarutobi Clan, he would have forged a chakra weapon like Asuma.

Why would he need to borrow weapons to get by?

At first, the Genin didn't know which sword it was, but upon thinking about it, they all recalled: "The Thunder God Sword?"

"Mm."

Kyoichi drew the Thunder God Sword.

The blade was slender and very thin.

For ordinary slashes, this sword wouldn't last more than a few blows before chipping. Like the White Fang short sword, it was a chakra weapon and required chakra to be used.

Shisui, who deeply researched swordsmanship, also knew a lot about the Thunder God Sword and quickly remembered the situation during that test.

The teacher hadn't even used full strength!

"If the teacher alone is this powerful, let alone Konoha... Those people in the clan are holed up in the police force, growing more arrogant by the day. It's utterly foolish!"

This was the only thought in Shisui's mind.

He had come to understand the clan members' thoughts somewhat recently. Their ambitions were nothing more than power and fame, believing that the Uchiha were one of the village's founders and had the right to share in its glory and victories.

But.

Times had changed.

Not to mention Teacher Kyoichi, but even this Minato Namikaze, how many in the clan could match him?

The more he observed, the more Shisui felt fortunate about his choice.

Relying on those people, the Uchiha would be finished sooner or later. Perhaps the clan's future would depend on himself and Obito, and others like them.