Gamabō

"Will this child become a second Madara?"

The Great Elder watched Uchiha Gen sparring with Mikoto, his gaze turning distant for a moment before he quickly dismissed the thought.

Throughout the thousand-year Warring States Period, how many beings possessing such great power had there been?

Even though the Great Elder thought highly of Uchiha Gen, he had only believed that Gen had the potential to become one of the strongest in the ninja world and revive the Uchiha Clan.

But Gen's performance at this moment only made the Great Elder more certain of that.

That alone was enough for the Great Elder to make some new decisions.

More than ten minutes later.

"Big Sis Mikoto, you're amazing. Sparring with you really put a lot of pressure on me."

Uchiha Gen panted heavily as he and Mikoto stopped at the same time.

"The truly amazing one is you, Gen. If it had been me right after graduation fighting you, I probably wouldn't have lasted even a minute against you."

Uchiha Mikoto brushed aside her beautiful hair, damp with sweat against her forehead. Her smile remained gentle, but compared to before, it now carried a little more frankness.

This was only a spar, not a fight to the death. Neither of them had gone all out, and by this point, they had already shown everything that needed to be shown. Naturally, they could stop.

Even so, the eldest daughter of the Great Elder's household had been deeply shocked by the strength Uchiha Gen displayed.

So this was what a true genius was like?

"All right, Mikoto, Gen, come over here."

At some point, the Great Elder had returned to his calm, detached demeanor, as though he had weathered the ups and downs of the world and seen through everything. He led the two of them toward the Clan Vault while offering pointers on several techniques for using the Sharingan.

Those who had awakened the Single-Tomoe Sharingan were qualified to browse the third floor of the Clan Vault. At this point, they could also begin cultivating certain secret techniques related to the Sharingan.

Very soon, just an hour later, Uchiha Gen returned home carrying copies of several scrolls.

Uchiha Style Swordsmanship: Intermediate Volume, Daily Training and Maintenance of the Sharingan, Sharingan: Windmill Triple Blade...

"Tch, I just finished reading those torturous Medical Ninjutsu books, and now more have come along."

Uchiha Gen sighed with some frustration.

Since graduating from the Ninja Academy, his days had been fulfilling and his progress rapid, but he had also been genuinely busy, with barely any time to rest.

But in this era, every bit of progress and every increase in strength was capital for surviving in the future.

No matter how bitter or exhausting it was, if he wanted to survive in this danger-filled ninja world, he could only grit his teeth and endure.

No matter what, before he became truly strong enough, he had to survive the two Ninja World Wars with the highest intensity and longest duration.

That night, after the Orochimaru Squad gathered at Yakiniku Q of the Akimichi Clan, they announced a temporary disbandment.

The next day, at dawn, outside Konoha.

A sizable Kumogakure Delegation arrived at the village gates under the escort of Konoha's Anbu.

Hokage Advisor Mitokado Homura and the Jonin squad leader Orochimaru led members of the Administration Department in receiving them.

As for the Third Hokage, he did not come out personally to welcome them.

The two sides were not of equal status. For the Third Hokage to personally receive them, it had to be the equally ranked Third Raikage who came. Otherwise, Konoha would appear too eager and lose face.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Gen and his two teammates were staring suspiciously at the tall white-haired man before them.

"Hey, hey, hey! What kind of looks are you brats giving me?"

Jiraiya spoke with an embarrassed, irritated expression.

Utsuki Ruri sighed.

"We don't want to look at you this way either."

Uchiha Gen stared at him with dead-fish eyes.

"But what kind of team leader is still peeping on a bathhouse when it's time to meet up?"

Sarutobi Enju covered his face.

"It'd be really embarrassing if something like this got out. How about we just leave Jiraiya-senpai behind and train on our own?"

"Hahaha, don't worry. I'm always very careful. With my superb infiltration skills, I usually won't get caught. After all, something like this could easily have a huge negative impact on my lofty reputation and magnificent image in the village."

Jiraiya laughed loudly, though his eyes flicked toward Uchiha Gen.

He wasn't bragging—his infiltration skills really were excellent. Even though he had let his guard down somewhat while peeping on the bathhouse because he was in Konoha, he had not expected this kid to actually catch him.

An Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan could use Sensory Ninjutsu too?

"Ahem, I thought so. So, Jiraiya-senpai, you wouldn't want something like this getting out either, right?"

A smile resembling Anya's immediately appeared on Uchiha Gen's face as he spoke to Jiraiya in a shameless tone.

The latter instantly went blank.

"You little brat, why does that line sound so familiar? Which work did you learn it from? Share it with me?"

"Jiraiya-senpai, you're overthinking it."

"Tch, you little brat. Looks like unless I bring out something good today, I really won't be able to send you off. That Orochimaru really is something, dumping such a huge problem on me."

Jiraiya scratched his head, then formed hand seals and slapped a hand against the ground.

"Ninjutsu: Summoning Technique."

A summoning array spread across the ground. Amid a burst of white smoke, a toad over twice the height of a person appeared before them, its entire body jade green and its wide mouth painted with lipstick.

This toad...

Uchiha Gen's heart skipped a beat.

"Little Jiraiya, you summoned me all the way out here. What do you need?"

A deliberately flirtatious, coquettish male voice rang out, and the toad even winked at Jiraiya.

(Appearance as shown)

"Gamabō, I called you here this time because these little ones want to ask you to train them."

Jiraiya pointed behind Gamabō.

The latter hopped as he turned around, looking at the three of them. His gaze then shifted between Uchiha Gen and Sarutobi Enju.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of these little ones. Slurp!"

It seemed Uchiha Gen's ominous premonition was about to come true. He turned to the side and found that Sarutobi Enju's face had gone green with fright.

"Ahem, that little Uchiha Clan brat doesn't need to train his Genjutsu Resistance. He's already awakened the Sharingan, so I'll take responsibility for him."

"Ah, is that so? What a pity. That little Uchiha Clan fellow is clearly the most handsome."

Gamabō said with a regretful look.

Uchiha Gen quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, he had escaped disaster.

Having the Sharingan meant one was naturally at least two levels above ordinary ninjas of the same rank in the field of genjutsu. There was no need to train Genjutsu Resistance.

Thank the Uchiha Clan bloodline, thank young Lord Madara's Sharingan, for sparing me from this torment.

"Um... Senior Jiraiya, can we skip the Genjutsu Resistance training? Teacher Orochimaru also gave us a ninja tool for training Genjutsu Resistance, so..."