Uchiha Madara's Smile

Since that adorable little brother had resolutely walked away, Madara didn't mind letting him experience an older brother's affection once more.

Watching Izuna clutching his forehead with a pitiful look, Kosuke's gaze froze again.

What's going on? Big brother doesn't love little brother anymore?

Seeing this, Mina quickly got up and went to Izuna's side, fussing over him with concern.

Uh~

As expected, still a troublesome brat—he'd learned to play people already?

Tch!

Aoba, sitting beside Kosuke, watched the four little ones with a smile in her eyes, their four faces each wearing a different expression—quite a sight to behold.

"Madara, I might need to borrow the scroll a while longer. If you could find me more blank paper, that would be great."

Kosuke rubbed his throbbing temples vigorously and spoke without hesitation.

"Scroll?"

"Blank paper?!"

Two completely different exclamations burst out at once.

Aoba quickly reached out and grabbed Kosuke's wrist, her voice gentle: "Little Kosuke, what do you need so much blank paper for? And what's this scroll you mentioned?"

Hearing his mother's tender concern in his ears, Kosuke once again felt that familial warmth he'd never experienced in his past life.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to tell his mother about it.

"Mom, I borrowed the chakra refinement method. But don't worry, don't get worked up—your son hasn't practiced it."

As a ninja, looking at her three-year-old son, Aoba didn't believe him right away.

Instead, she circulated chakra and carefully examined Kosuke's body.

Seeing his mother so anxious, Kosuke waved his other hand repeatedly: "Mom, really! I've only studied it—I haven't even touched the basic hand seals!"

Watching her mother and brother's actions, Mina suddenly remembered that her mother was home today, and a blush crept onto her face.

She sat back down in a fluster, head lowered, not daring to look at anyone, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

Meanwhile, Madara, upon hearing Kosuke mention needing a large amount of blank paper, furrowed his brow and fell into thought.

He really wasn't sure if the clan had that much blank paper.

After a moment, Madara's eyes sharpened, and his hands moved swiftly through hand seals.

Ram—Snake—Tiger.

As Madara completed the final seal, the earth beside him churned violently.

A puff of white smoke spread out.

Under Izuna and Mina's watchful eyes, an Earth Clone identical to Madara in appearance stood there.

It crossed its arms and stood tall, even the stray strand of hair sticking up from its forehead was exactly the same.

"Hmm—Earth Clone?!"

Aoba, who had been keeping an eye on Kosuke, had just finished checking that there was no sign of chakra refinement in his body when she keenly sensed this chakra fluctuation, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.

"Madara, I didn't expect you to already be proficient with the Clone Technique. No wonder you're the most outstanding of this generation's clan members."

"Wow—amazing! Big brother, when did you learn it? When you have time, teach me, okay? Then I can teach Mina."

Hearing this, Mina secretly glanced up, the blush that had just faded returning as she let out a soft "Mm-hmm~"

"Uh~"

Madara had been basking in the praise from the four—well, not counting Kosuke—three of them, feeling a deep sense of pride.

But then Izuna suddenly launched a magical attack, utterly shattering the smile that had just formed on his lips.

Watching the smile that hadn't even fully appeared on Madara's face turn into dejection, Kosuke's mouth split into an exaggerated grin, and he burst into unrestrained laughter, the cheerful sound echoing through the courtyard.

"Go home and look for blank paper. If you find any, just bring it over."

"Alright, Mother, please rest easy. Your son takes good care of his body."

As Madara's Earth Clone departed, Kosuke took the chance to gently pat his mother's hand, his eyes sincere.

"Good, Mom understands."

"As for the blank paper I need," Kosuke said, sitting up straight again, "a few days ago, the three of them asked me how to refine chakra quickly. I analyzed that during training, mental training also needs to keep up, and then I mentioned reading..."

He pointed at the papers he'd transcribed over the past few days on the table and continued, "Later, I thought about whether the chakra circulation path could be changed, so I decided to write everything down."

"Who would've thought the paper wouldn't be enough? I couldn't find any extras at home this morning, so that's what just happened."

Hearing Kosuke's explanation, Aoba shuddered, frozen in shock on the spot.

"Change the chakra circulation path?"

Almost reflexively, she flicked her wrist and threw out several Barrier Kunai.

A flash of blue light passed, and an invisible barrier instantly sealed off the entire courtyard.

Aoba's body was taut, her expression grave as she stared at the group. "Does anyone else know about this? Kosuke, how did you even think to alter the chakra circulation route?"

Little Kosuke scratched his head. "Uh... Mom, if Madara and Izuna haven't mentioned it to the family, then it's just the four of us... five who know." As for how I thought of changing the chakra circulation route, I was just curious what would happen if I changed it."

Feeling Kosuke's gaze, Madara immediately sharpened his eyes. "What kind of look is that? I, Uchiha Madara, am hardly the type to go around blabbing!!"

Seeing this, Kosuke helplessly spread his hands and shot his mother a confirming look, signaling that only the five of them knew.

Aoba shifted her gaze and said in a low voice, "In that case, Kosuke, Madara—this matter must not be spread outside, understand?"

"Uh... Mom, I already told Madara and the others about it that day, and they agreed."

Looking down at her young son's serious little face, Aoba instantly understood what he meant.

She stopped what she was doing and sat back down.

"Alright, Little Kosuke, Mom will listen to you."

Hearing this, Kosuke gave his mother a sweet smile, then turned back and continued, "After thinking it over these past few days, I've reorganized all the meridians in the human body—the ones you all know as chakra pathways."

Saying this, Kosuke took out the Chakra Refinement Scroll, spread it flat on the table, and pointed at the diagram of human chakra meridians on it.

[This is all I could find]

Then he pulled three sheets from a stack of paper, drawn according to the Chinese medical meridian system.

Lesser Heavenly Circulation, Greater Heavenly Circulation, and the human acupoint meridian chart.

He placed them together for everyone to see.

Their eyes followed Kosuke's small index finger as it moved, and when they saw his densely packed diagram of human acupoints and meridians—only partially revealed—they all felt a headache coming on.

No wonder Kosuke said he couldn't find blank paper; this thing probably wasn't even finished yet.

But to them, it looked completely like a celestial script—something no normal human could understand.

Sensing their bewildered gazes, Kosuke's sliding finger slowed down.

"You... don't understand?"

"Understand?!" Even Aoba looked at her young son with doubtful eyes, her tone oddly low. "Aside from getting a rough idea from the pictures, and recognizing the characters, I doubt anyone in the entire Ninja World could grasp the meaning behind this. Maybe not a single person."

Kosuke looked back and forth between the two different meridian diagrams from the two worlds, and a wave of frustration welled up inside him.

"Do I really have to become a teacher and teach the basics?"

Kosuke rubbed his throbbing temples with both hands.

He took a small sip of juice, cleared his throat, and picked out some enlarged diagrams from the pile of papers.

Holding them up, he stood and pointed to several key spots on his own body.

"This thing called chakra—its flow route inside the body didn't exist from birth. It's like an underground river beneath the earth, choosing the optimal 'channel' to flow through. And these channels, we call them 'chakra meridians' or simply meridians."

Seeing Kosuke so serious, Izuna perked up immediately. "Meridians? Like the Naka River next to the clan grounds?"

"Pretty much!" Kosuke nodded slightly. "The main 'big rivers' have several important convergence points, which we call 'chakra points'—those black dots on the diagram on the table, the 'acupoints'."