Recruitment

The morning theory class ended with the ringing of a bell.

Students left the classroom one by one, chattering noisily.

Shinji declined Haku's invitation and, holding his bento box alone, slipped into an unoccupied grove of trees within the Ninja Academy.

Having learned from yesterday's lesson, he decided not to easily use Ninjutsu within the academy anymore, but to first practice the Breathing Technique, 'Water Breathing'.

This was because the cultivation of Breathing Techniques was very discreet.

Unless there was constant surveillance from the Byakugan, it would be impossible to discover.

So, while eating his bento, he reviewed the memory fragments of swordsmen who practiced 'Water Breathing' in his mind.

Just then, someone suddenly walked into the grove.

"Who?"

Shinji looked over.

The person stood in the shadows of the trees. "Good vigilance."

Seeing the person's appearance clearly, Shinji's expression remained unchanged, but he was secretly startled.

The other person was none other than Shimura Danzo, the one who had pushed for the Uchiha clan's extermination!

Danzō stared at Shinji, not hiding the aggressiveness in his gaze at all. "Your talent is good, but talent alone won't get you revenge!"

"Who exactly are you?"

Shinji showed appropriate hostility.

Danzō took a step forward, revealing his sinister face in the sunlight. "I am an Elder advisor of the village. Becoming my subordinate is your only chance for revenge!"

He wants to use the matter of avenging Itachi to lure me into joining Root?

Shinji found it absurd.

This Danzō had no shame. He had personally orchestrated the Uchiha massacre, and now he had the audacity to come and trick a victim into working for him.

First, use Itachi to destroy the Uchiha clan, then use me, an Uchiha survivor, to deal with Itachi.

What a beautiful plan!

Suppressing the disgust he felt towards Danzō, Shinji said, "I don't need anyone's help. I will kill that person with my own hands!"

"Those who refuse me will not have a good end."

Danzō snorted disdainfully, then turned and left.

Watching Danzō leave with a blank expression, Shinji mused, Being targeted by someone like that is truly disgusting! But he probably wouldn't dare to do anything to me openly now.

Shinji knew that Danzō's relationship with the Third Hokage was delicate.

In a sense, Danzō was a part of the Third Hokage's power structure, an important asset for the Third Hokage's control over Konohagakure.

So, let alone Shinji, even Uchiha like Shisui and Itachi, or even those with both strength and status like Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo, couldn't contend with Danzō in the village.

He retracted his gaze and continued eating his bento.

Danzō might not be able to do anything to him openly, but it was hard to say about behind the scenes, so he still needed to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

After finishing his bento, he calmed his thoughts and began to attempt practicing 'Water Breathing'.

Breathing Techniques were a development of one's physical potential.

'Water Breathing' was one of the five basic Breathing Techniques. Although not as powerful as 'Sun Breathing' or 'Moon Breathing', it provided a very significant improvement to the body.

In Demon Slayer, the swordsmen, who were essentially mortals, relied on these basic Breathing Techniques to fight against demons with infinite regeneration.

And because he had memory fragments from over a dozen swordsmen who practiced 'Water Breathing', Shinji felt a natural affinity for it.

After simply trying a few breathing rhythms based on the memory fragments, he gradually began to feel something.

Huu.

Feeling the rhythm of the airflow exhaled from his mouth, he vaguely discovered that his heart and lungs seemed to be echoing a certain rhythm.

However, this was different from normal breathing.

In just a moment, he felt his lungs start to feel stuffy, his heart rate and breathing quickened, and that rhythmic pattern was instantly disrupted.

Stopping the Breathing Technique, Shinji was secretly delighted.

According to the memories of those swordsmen, it generally took a month of arduous training to barely sense the rhythm and flow of a Breathing Technique.

Even Sabito, one of the best among them, took several days to feel the rhythm.

He, however, entered the rhythm on his very first attempt!

Of course.

This was mainly because he had obtained the training experiences of over a dozen swordsmen, making it as if the entry level of 'Water Breathing' had already been simulated more than ten times in his mind.

However, mastering the rhythm was only the first step.

The key to Breathing Techniques still lay in the deep development of bodily functions. Techniques could only reduce the difficulty of entry, not eliminate the process of cultivation.

If the heart and lungs couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the Breathing Technique, as happened just now, one would feel unbearable chest tightness after a short while and be unable to continue.

"It seems mastering the basic Total Concentration requires accumulated training over time, getting all the body's organs to keep pace with the Breathing Technique's rhythm!"

Shinji had a goal.

Time flew by, and two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

During this period, no more bizarre invasions occurred, allowing Shinji to breathe a slight sigh of relief. However, he didn't dare to let his guard down and continued to focus all his efforts on improving his strength.

After refusing Danzo's recruitment offer last time, he weighed his options and ultimately accepted Haku's offer to spar.

When it came to Taijutsu, a good sparring partner was essential!

Haku was both his classmate and neighbor, so sparring with him wouldn't arouse anyone's suspicion.

Of course, the premise was not to cause another flashy incident like the one that nearly burned down the Ninja Academy last time!

With Haku's help, his weak point, Taijutsu, improved rapidly. In just two weeks of strenuous training, he reached the average level of his peers.

At least no one with ill intentions could spot any flaws now.

The understanding Haku, not only didn't pry too much into why his Taijutsu foundation was so poor, but also thoughtfully created various training plans for him.

For Taijutsu improvement, the foundation was the most important.

The stronger the foundation, the higher the potential, so Shinji was very humble in this regard, working diligently to solidify his weak foundation.

Meanwhile.

After more than twenty days in a coma, Sasuke finally woke up in the hospital.

Initially, he refused to believe the fact that the Uchiha had been wiped out. He stumbled alone into the deserted Uchiha compound.

Then, in the light rain, he walked out, utterly dejected.

"Why..."

He walked like a puppet, his expression vacant, aimless.

His world had collapsed in a single night.

In that brief night, he went from being the son of the patriarch of Konoha's most prominent clan to the helpless orphan he was now.

What was even harder for him to accept was that the perpetrator of all this was his closest brother.

He simply couldn't come to terms with such a reality.

Thus, his personality, which had been lively and cheerful before the night of the massacre, turned into the gloomy, solitary, and world-weary demeanor he now displayed.

Shinji was also keeping an eye on Sasuke from the shadows.

However, when he discovered that the village hadn't assigned Sasuke to his apartment building but instead had him move into an apartment not far from the Anbu headquarters, his surveillance of Sasuke became even more covert.

It was obvious.

Sasuke was still under the village's watchful eye.

This was actually understandable.

Before Itachi Uchiha's defection, he had personally warned the Third Hokage and Danzo that if anything were to happen to Sasuke in the village, he would leak Konoha's top-secret intelligence to other ninja villages.

No one in the village dared to take Itachi, who had single-handedly annihilated the Uchiha Clan, lightly, not even the Third Hokage.

Therefore, whether it was to appease Itachi Uchiha or to keep him in check, the village had to strengthen its surveillance and protection of Sasuke.

Precisely because he understood this, Shinji not only avoided getting close to Sasuke.

Instead, he deliberately put on an act of disliking Sasuke, maintaining a distance from him to avoid attracting any attention.

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