Anbu

The three Uchiha were terrified, but they still fought back. They grabbed their shuriken and kunai and hurled them at Shiyu.

"Uchiha Style: Shuriken Jutsu? Looks like you haven't been practicing hard enough! Eight Trigrams Palms: Rotation!" Shiyu spoke as he spun his entire body like a top. A powerful wind surged around him, and Rotation—an Absolute Defense—instantly deflected the shuriken flying at him. Its range and power even surpassed Hizashi Hyuga's.

Shiyu had, in fact, copied the Hyuga Clan's secret technique, Rotation.

The lights in the entire security force interrogation room went out. The three Uchiha crashed into the walls, coughing up blood once again.

Their injuries piled on top of one another. They were already gravely wounded, but Shiyu showed them no mercy.

"You—you can't kill us!" Uchiha Kaku said.

"We're members of the Uchiha Clan! You'll be in serious trouble if you kill us!" Uchiha Wei added.

"That's right! Shiyu, you're an Uchiha too, and a Konoha Genin! How can you kill your own clansmen?" Uchiha Toyo abandoned all pretense and immediately begged for mercy.

"So now we're clansmen? Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"If you wanted to kill me, you should've been ready to pay the price!"

"Enough talk! Die!"

As the saying went, repay kindness with kindness and vengeance with vengeance!

Shiyu showed no mercy. He struck their hearts with Gentle Fist, taking all three lives in an instant.

After carefully hiding the four bodies, Shiyu used Transformation Jutsu to take on the appearance of an Uchiha Anbu and easily made his way through the Konoha security office.

Shiyu then raced to his home, which had already been reduced to ruins. He lay down on the bed, now completely charred. Since it was his first time killing someone, he felt somewhat unsettled.

The next day, Shiyu woke just as dawn was breaking. He saw several Konoha Anbu preparing to knock on his door, and readied himself to fight to the death.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Who is it?" Shiyu asked warily.

"Konoha Anbu. I have a message from the Third Hokage. I'm here to escort you to the Hokage's office!"

Shiyu thought it over, then opened the door. The Anbu member waited quietly outside, seemingly without any ulterior motive.

"Why does the Hokage want to see me? Is he going to question me about last night? If I go, won't I be walking straight into a trap?" His home was in this state, so surely everyone would suspect him. But Shiyu figured that if the Third Hokage meant to move against him, he wouldn't have invited him over like this.

"What's there to be afraid of?" Shiyu calmed himself and followed the Anbu toward the Hokage's office.

Before long, the Anbu brought Shiyu to the Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage wore his fiery red robes and Hokage hat. His expression was solemn as he smoked, blowing out rings.

Three Anbu stood nearby.

"Go! Keep looking!" Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand.

"Yes!" the three Anbu replied, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

"You can leave too." Hiruzen glanced at the Anbu who had brought Shiyu, then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique as well.

"All right, Shiyu. How have you been lately?" Hiruzen Sarutobi forced a smile, though it looked strained.

"Reporting to you, Hokage-sama. I've passed my graduation exam and graduated from the Ninja Academy!" Shiyu answered truthfully.

The Hokage nodded, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said, "Good. Hizashi has already told me about you. You've done exceptionally well."

"I told you before that I'd take you on as my student once you graduated from the Ninja Academy. I meant it. From now on, you're my student. Of course, you'll still be a Konoha Genin in Team Seven, and Hizashi Hyuga will remain your team leader."

The Hokage continued, "I'll give you some guidance, but the rest will be up to you."

Shiyu found it very strange. As far as he could tell, there was no way the Third Hokage hadn't noticed anything.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a sheet of white paper.

"Chakra Paper?" Shiyu blurted out.

"Hm? You recognize it? Good, that saves me the trouble of explaining. Here, take this sheet." The Hokage handed Shiyu the chakra paper.

As soon as Shiyu took it, his chakra flowed into the paper, which immediately underwent several changes.

"One section wrinkled, one was cut, one became wet, one caught fire, and one crumbled."

Even the Hokage couldn't help taking his pipe from his mouth and staring at Shiyu with wide eyes. "What an incredible child! Your chakra affinities are so diverse!"

"You have all five basic nature transformations. Your potential is greater than that of other Uchiha!" The Hokage couldn't help remarking.

"Every nature on the chakra paper showed up evenly, and each mark was deep. That means you have a tremendous amount of chakra. Could it be because of the Uchiha Clan's physique?" The Hokage took another puff.

Then he said, "The fact that you could take Hizashi's bells means you've already learned to use ninjutsu and chakra well. As for taijutsu, Hizashi can teach you. Genjutsu isn't my specialty, so how about I teach you ninjutsu?"

"By the way, is there any ninjutsu you'd like to learn?" Hiruzen asked first.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi was known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, and he knew countless techniques. But four of his most impressive were Summoning: Monkey King Enma's Adamantine Staff, the Reaper Death Seal, Compound Ninjutsu, and shuriken techniques."

"The Summoning Technique was out of the question; he wouldn't teach me that. The Reaper Death Seal took ten thousand enemies and ten thousand of your own life in exchange—a mutual death. No sane person would learn it. Shuriken techniques were powerful, but the Sharingan could copy them easily. So, I'd better choose Compound Ninjutsu. There's no time to waste!" Shiyu quickly reached his decision.

"Hokage-sama! I want to learn Compound Ninjutsu!" As soon as Shiyu said this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes lit up.

"Child, you know Compound Ninjutsu exists? How interesting! But this technique may be a little too difficult for you. Are you sure you want to learn it?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked again.

"I'm sure, Hokage-sama!" Shiyu said once more.

"Then why are you still calling me Hokage-sama?" Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at Shiyu.

Shiyu realized his mistake and quickly corrected himself. "Teacher Sarutobi!"

Only then did the weary-looking Third Hokage manage a faint smile. It didn't look forced.

"Good boy." The Third Hokage nodded at Shiyu.