Teacher

After getting such a blade, it was impossible not to feel excited. Shiyu simply drew the Meteor Blade and gave a tree a light slash. The huge, sturdy tree split cleanly in two, showing just how sharp it was!

Unmatched sharpness! Paired with a more suitable sword style, it would surely become a nightmare for Shiyu's enemies—a terrifying trump card.

I won't think about that for now. Shiyu set those thoughts aside. The most important thing now was to return to Konoha. He was already starting to miss his little sister, Xiao Xing.

After saying goodbye to Noguchi, the bearded man, Shiyu set off for Konoha with his companions.

The return journey wasn't as tense and exciting as the trip there. But even without encountering any enemies, Shiyu and his companions still worked hard to improve their strength.

Nao and Kurenai had made further progress in controlling their chakra. They could now walk freely on the surface of the water.

They had learned to walk on water in less than half a month, which was certainly something to be proud of. But the others knew that compared with Shiyu, they still had a long way to go.

While his companions practiced chakra control, Shiyu naturally made use of the precious time on the journey back to keep familiarizing himself with his ninjutsu. He also picked up his Meteor Blade and practiced slashing. He was certain that, in the future, his White Rinnegan would let him easily pinpoint an enemy's vital spots and strike them hard.

But first, he would need to pair it with the Body Flicker Technique—Flying Thunder God would be even better—as well as a sword style suited to him, and his White Rinnegan's ability to lock onto enemies.

Just imagining it was terrifying.

But Shiyu wasn't in a hurry to work on his sword style. For now, the most important thing was to finish the third stage of the Rasengan.

Every day, Shiyu practiced the Rasengan with a Shadow Clone. He could already use his chakra to burst the rubber ball, but he still needed to go further and create a small typhoon in his hand.

"Focus."

"Focus."

"Focus."

"Begin!" Shiyu kept telling himself. He controlled his chakra to the utmost, setting it into motion along its path and making it spin in circles.

"Good! That's it! Keep going! Make it spin in a regular pattern!" Shiyu encouraged himself, concentrating completely. The chakra in his hand flowed perfectly, and under his steady control, it grew larger and larger.

When it was about the size of his palm, Shiyu couldn't help getting excited. It wasn't very big, but he could feel the terrifying, densely compressed chakra inside it.

"I did it!" Shiyu cried excitedly, then turned toward a nearby tree trunk and shouted, "Rasengan!"

The Rasengan struck the trunk, crushing a huge, spiral-shaped dent into it. The whole tree began to creak, its leaves fluttering down, and even the ground seemed to tremble.

"Ha!" Shiyu put even more strength into his hand. At last, the tree trunk was blasted over, crashing to the ground with a loud thud. Countless birds scattered into the air.

Shiyu was thrilled. He tried again, recapturing the feeling from before, and the blue sphere formed in his hand once more!

"I did it again!"

Shiyu tried more than a dozen times in a row, until he finally memorized how the Rasengan felt.

"I did it! It looks like I've basically mastered the Rasengan! Now I just need to stabilize the chakra output, then I can use it in actual combat!" Shiyu was incredibly excited. The A-rank Rasengan was already powerful, especially since it didn't require Hand Seals, and it had plenty of room for development!

It could be developed into other advanced techniques, such as the S-rank Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, which was made by adding Wind Release chakra.

"This is a good start."

As Shiyu continued on his way, he kept practicing the Rasengan. By the time he was close to Konoha, he could form and release it at will.

"Most importantly, unlike Naruto, I can release the Rasengan with just one hand! That makes it far more useful in actual combat!"

"Now that I understand the technique, the Rasengan doesn't seem that difficult after all," Shiyu thought. He was about to increase the chakra output and turn the Rasengan into a Great Ball Rasengan when Hizashi called out to him.

"Shiyu. Come here for a moment."

"Okay." Shiyu walked over to Hizashi.

"If I'm not mistaken, your Kekkei Genkai means your eyes have awakened, right?" Hizashi Hyuga suddenly asked, making Shiyu very wary.

"Teacher, why would you say that?" Shiyu asked.

"That's right. It's okay—you can just tell me that your eyes have awakened. There's no need to hide it. Through my Byakugan, I can see chakra flowing intensely in your eyes. Are you trying to hide your strength so you can catch your enemies off guard?"

"It's fine. Next time you want to use your Sharingan, just use it! You don't have to use the Mist Technique to block my vision. My Byakugan can see you just fine," Hizashi Hyuga said with a smile.

Realizing that Hizashi Hyuga thought he had awakened the Sharingan and hadn't noticed the White Rinnegan, Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't know much about the Sharingan. But I know that the Three Tomoe Sharingan can copy ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. So when I think about it that way, it makes sense that you've learned so many techniques."

"You copied all the techniques you use, didn't you? You can kill an enemy with a single strike at close range. Does that mean you copied the Gentle Fist too—"

"Teacher..." Shiyu was shocked all over again.

But Hizashi shook his head. "Don't be nervous. I was only joking. The Gentle Fist of the Hyuga Clan is a family secret technique, but it can only unleash its full power when used in conjunction with the Byakugan!"

"So there's no need for you to avoid the subject. You have the Sharingan, after all. I don't know much about the Sharingan, or I might be able to help you. Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques are sensitive matters, but if you can copy them, that's a good thing for you."

"From now on, I can teach you the true taijutsu of the Hyuga style. But I hope you won't let anyone else in the Hyuga Clan know. If they find out, there'll be nothing I can do." Hizashi didn't reprimand Shiyu harshly. Instead, he was willing to guide him and help him make the most of the Hyuga Clan secret technique he'd copied.

Shiyu was deeply moved.

"Teacher Hizashi, just for that, you're a hundred times better than that Hiashi! I won't let you die!" Shiyu clenched his fist, thinking this to himself.

Shiyu knew that in the future, Hizashi would be forced to die in Hiashi's place, taking his own life. He wanted to change that.