Electric Nerve Activation Technique

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A pale-faced youth with long black hair stood on a tree branch. Facing the white-haired boy who was constantly looking around for him, he suddenly unleashed a mighty gust of wind.

The compressed wind, condensed to its limit, slammed into the spot where the white-haired boy had just been, like an Air Cannon.

"Orochimaru, you sneaky bastard! You ambushed me again!"

The white-haired boy had somehow used the Body Flicker Technique to appear on a branch level with Orochimaru. He shouted angrily, looking thoroughly displeased.

On a tree not far from the two of them sat a pretty, fair-skinned blonde girl. Chewing gum, she looked utterly exasperated.

"Jiraiya, are you an idiot? How many times have I told you? When you get the chance, take advantage of it and ambush him! Why stand there yelling?"

"Heh heh, who says I wasn't getting ready to ambush him..."

Poof!

Before he'd even finished speaking, Jiraiya grinned, and his figure on the tree suddenly turned into a cloud of white smoke. Then a fierce shout rang out from behind Orochimaru.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

A thick ball of fire instantly slammed into the spot where Orochimaru stood.

"Yeah, I won!"

On a nearby branch, Jiraiya stood with his hands on his hips, laughing uproariously. But before he could laugh more than a few times, a size-thirty-eight foot slammed into his face.

The tremendous force sent him tumbling more than ten meters.

Orochimaru landed lightly on a branch and said coldly:

"Idiot. You still can't tell the difference between a Clone Technique and the real thing's chakra."

After a brief silence, Jiraiya suddenly sprang out of a pile of dirt. Blood trickled down his forehead as he raged and yelled.

"Orochimaru, you mother—"

For a moment, the entire forest was filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.

Tsunade jumped down from the tree and rolled her eyes helplessly. Then she punched Jiraiya, who had been cursing for nearly a minute, right on the head, driving him into the dirt.

"Idiot Jiraiya, you're so noisy!"

After hitting him, she used Medical Ninjutsu to treat the idiot.

When he tried to start cursing again, she punched him back into the dirt, then treated him once more...

After repeating this a few times, the boy finally settled down.

Zzzzt...

Just then, a figure wreathed in blue lightning shot out of the forest. It moved so fast that the three of them only caught a blur before it vanished.

Orochimaru reacted first. His little face tightened, and he quickly backed away. Tsunade followed close behind, carrying Jiraiya, who was still seeing stars.

But the figure crackling with electricity paused in front of them for just an instant. "Huh?" it said, muttered something about "why isn't it B yet," then sped off north once more.

The three kids held their Kunai in reverse grips and stared at the blue flash as it receded into the distance and disappeared. They looked at one another, baffled.

After a moment of silence, Jiraiya was the first to break it.

"That was a Ninja from the village, right...? He looked kind of familiar.

Do you know him?"

"...I think I do. Uchiha Ao, the teacher from Class Two, First Year."

Tsunade nodded, her eyes sparkling. "Wasn't he pretty gloomy before? How did he suddenly get so handsome?"

Jiraiya immediately grew jealous. "What? I thought he was just average. I'm better-looking than him!"

Thwack!

Another punch landed on his head.

Orochimaru, standing alone to one side, watched the figure disappear into the distance. A trace of longing flashed in his eyes.

That Ninjutsu is so interesting. I want to learn it!

Konoha, Hokage Building.

"Hokage, Uchiha Ao took a B-rank Reconnaissance Mission issued by the village and headed for the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning."

A Tiger Mask Anbu knelt before Tobirama Senju.

"Takumi asked me to find out whether we should keep following him."

Rustle.

Tobirama Senju opened a sheet of paper and read it. After a long while, he replied:

"No need to follow him. I left a Flying Thunder God Mark on him. He can't get away.

"Tell Takumi to come back. I have a mission for him."

"Yes!"

The Tiger Mask Anbu vanished on the spot.

Rustle...

Tobirama Senju continued turning the pages, handling the work before him.

After a long while, he pulled out a classified report. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

"Have Iwagakure and Kirigakure started fighting too?

"The Shinobi World is in turmoil again..."

In the mountains and forests.

Zzzzt...

A figure wreathed in blue lightning suddenly stopped on a tree.

"Phew... Not bad, not bad. I can maintain Thunder Breathing a little longer now."

Uchiha Ao sat cross-legged on a branch, exhaled slowly, and gradually drew in the Lightning Release Chakra around his body.

Looking closely, the electricity crackling around him was much thicker than yesterday.

"The Sharingan really is one of the most powerful Kekkei Genkai in the Shinobi World. Awakening just one Tomoe raised my chakra to nearly the level of a Special Jonin."

As he used the time on the tree to recover his chakra, he couldn't help admiring his current status panel again.

[Name: Uchiha Ao]

[Age: 21]

[Chakra: Upper Chunin]

[Taijutsu: High Chunin]

[Ninjutsu mastered: Eight Inner Gates, Great Fireball Technique · Modified, Lightning Release: Lightning Clone, Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, Substitution Technique, Shadow Clone Technique...]

[Kekkei Genkai awakened: Sharingan, One Tomoe]

[Kekkei Genkai traits:

Dynamic Vision Enhancement: Tracks high-speed movement and perceives an opponent's quick movements as slow, allowing for basic prediction

Genjutsu Mastery/Perception (Beginner): Can cast unique Genjutsu and has some resistance to and recognition of a small number of Genjutsu (can be upgraded by studying Genjutsu theory)

Chakra Vision: Can see the flow and color of chakra, and detect simple concealment and Clone Techniques

☆Uchiha Ao☆ Exclusive Copy: By observing, can learn and copy basic Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, including Kekkei Genkai]

Ever since he woke up, Uchiha Ao hadn't been able to stop grinning at the panel before him.

"No wonder Orochimaru became such a huge fan of the Sharingan in the future. Who wouldn't be impressed by this thing?"

Just the abilities this pair of eyes granted him were enough to boost his strength to the level of a Special Jonin.

Once he passed the village's assessment, he could take on higher-paying A-Rank Missions. He might even be selected for the Anbu and receive guidance from Kage Level experts.

Even if war broke out between the Ninja villages, Special Jonin wouldn't be treated as expendable cannon fodder. He could say that with his current strength, he was already qualified to become one of a village's main fighting forces.

"To be honest, there was a bit of luck involved in getting through this time."

Thinking back to last night's breakthrough, Uchiha Ao still felt a lingering fear.

If he hadn't mostly perfected that secret method for stimulating the body, making it possible to stop at any time, then one more second would have been enough for the flood of memories to turn him into an idiot.

Based on the conclusions he'd drawn afterward, becoming an idiot would have been the mildest possible outcome. In a worse case, it could even have killed him on the spot.

"But fortunately..."

By a strange twist of fate, he'd also come up with something new.

With a thought, Uchiha Ao tapped the panel with his finger, flipping it over. A blue stream of information appeared.

[Electric Nerve Activation Technique (Incomplete) 0/100]

[Effect: Promotes Sharingan evolution]

[Side effect: Every training session carries an extremely high risk of death, estimated at around 98%]