A Spark of Thought

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up the document on his desk and read it carefully.

Mo Jingxian, once an outcast of the Uchiha Clan, a fallen genius.

The document recorded every detail of his life, even including evaluations from Jiraiya and Orochimaru at the end.

Root had conducted the investigation, and Danzo had personally handed it to him.

For a moment, he hesitated. Someone he hadn't paid much attention to had suddenly stepped into the spotlight.

Whether he was Uchiha Sen or Mo Jingxian, a shinobi without the right mettle had limited value.

But things were different now.

Mo Jingxian had acted at the funeral, and the power of his Ice Release had left a deep impression on Lord Hokage.

Others might not have understood, but the Hokage, a professor of ninjutsu, had recognized the true worth of the technique.

It was instant.

Everyone knew that the more powerful a technique was, the more complex its inner workings.

The time needed to prepare a technique depended on its structure.

In other words, the shorter a technique's casting time, the more valuable it was.

Most so-called masters of chakra nature transformation simply shortened a few Hand Seals through practice. That alone was enough to earn them the title of master.

After all, a single second could decide life or death in a shinobi battle.

Even if you were only a little faster than your opponent, your chances of surviving would increase greatly.

Mo Jingxian's technique combined attack, control, and sealing. Its underlying structure had to be incredibly complex, yet he could use it instantly.

What was more, before the technique began, it gave off no trace of its presence. It had even fooled everyone's senses at the scene, including his own.

To be honest, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't quite make sense of it.

Mo Jingxian was only nine years old, and the only person whose talent he had seen rival this was Orochimaru, back in the day.

No!

Perhaps Mo Jingxian could do even better, because he also had a dōjutsu unlike the traditional Sharingan.

There were no records of those eyes, and their specific abilities remained unknown.

The available information was too limited. What they could confirm was that the eyes enhanced genjutsu; Yashiro had tested that himself.

As an elite shinobi from the previous era, Yashiro was more than qualified to serve as a test subject.

They didn't need to understand everything. The small part Mo Jingxian had revealed was already enough to attract everyone's attention.

Danzo might have lost sight of the bigger picture, but he did have a keen eye for talent.

Everyone he set his sights on was a genius among geniuses. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi had to admit that.

He had just rejected Danzo's request to take the boy.

Now Lord Hokage was troubled, unsure where to assign Mo Jingxian.

Perhaps he could approach this from another angle.

Hiruzen Sarutobi lit his pipe. The pungent smoke traveled from his nose to his lungs.

After he exhaled, his thoughts gradually took shape.

He turned to the evaluations at the end of the document.

[Jiraiya: No signs that Mo Jingxian will become a destroyer. Continue observing.]

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed helplessly. His former student had been brainwashed by Toads, and now all he cared about was finding the Child of Prophecy.

He read on.

[Orochimaru: Keeps himself detached from everything in the world. Defiant by nature.]

Orochimaru's evaluation was fairly balanced. That was exactly the impression Mo Jingxian had made on him.

Before, Hiruzen could have ignored the boy and left him to fend for himself.

But now, as Hokage, he had a duty to bring this brilliant but troubled youth back onto the right path.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of the desk, then dropped to one knee. "At your service."

"Bring Mo Jingxian to me."

"Yes, sir!"

The bow was 1.5 meters long, made entirely of purple sandalwood, with a white gohei at the end.

Chakra Metal had been added at key points. Paired with chakra arrows, it could deliver maximum impact.

The bow had a draw weight of 120 pounds. Its normal range was within 150 meters, though it could reach up to 300.

The master of the "One Iron Umbrella" had provided two bowstrings and five chakra arrows.

Mo Jingxian opened the case and took out the longbow. Five chakra arrows, glimmering faintly, lay inside as well.

Two bags of ordinary iron arrows sat beside them, each holding a hundred arrows—more than enough for Ayako Hyuuga's needs in battle.

He handed the bow to the girl. "Give it a try."

"It's so heavy." Ayako's arm sank as she took the bow. "All right, I'll try."

She activated her Byakugan.

The target 90 meters away looked no different from one right in front of her.

"Thrum!"

The bowstring snapped back, and the arrow flew like a shooting star, striking the bull's-eye in the blink of an eye.

"Your clan was born to be archers," Mo Jingxian remarked, then suggested, "Let's see how powerful it can get."

The days off flew by, and five days passed in the blink of an eye.

This morning, the two of them picked up their custom-made bow and arrows and headed straight to a secluded training ground to test them.

The results were impressive. With the Byakugan and a ranged weapon, the Hyuga Clan could make full use of its natural advantages.

Ayako Hyuuga took an arrow from the case and nocked it.

Chakra flowed from her palm into the weapon.

The bowstring began to tighten. Each time she drew it farther back, it took more effort.

Gradually,

the arrowhead began to glow with chakra. Energy was spilling from it.

The bow bent into a full moon, and Ayako fixed her gaze on a large tree outside the training ground.

It looked to be about two hundred meters away.

Ayako released the string.

"Thwang!"

The bowstring vibrated, its sound echoing through the surrounding area.

The arrow glowed white as it cut through the air in a streak, moving far faster than the naked eye could track.

Then a series of "thuds" came from the distance, startling a few crows from their roosts.

"Let's go take a look."

Mo Jingxian rushed ahead, with Ayako close behind.

When the two of them arrived, they were stunned by the sight.

The chakra arrow had pierced four trees thicker than a person before embedding itself deep in a fifth.

Cracks spread from the holes in the trunks, and the trees' internal structures had been badly damaged.

If that hit a person, there probably wouldn't be any need to use chakra to control it afterward.

Mo Jingxian had miscalculated.

Not because anything had gone wrong, but because it had worked too well.

"Not bad." Mo Jingxian struggled to pull the arrow out. "It's powerful enough to threaten an elite High Ninja."

Ayako held the chakra arrow, reluctant to let go. Judging by the wear on its tip, she figured she could use it twice more at most.

Mo Jingxian was amused by how protective she looked and teased her:

"When I have money, we'll forge a pile of chakra arrowheads. Then you can shoot as many as you want."

"You're so silly!"

His expression froze for a moment. "I mean... could you stop imitating the way I talk? It feels wrong. It doesn't suit you at all."

"How does it feel wrong?" Ayako raised an eyebrow and glanced sideways at him. "I think it's great."

"Fine. Whatever makes you happy."

Mo Jingxian found a quiet spot to sit down and continued nurturing the element he had converted today.

Until all his Chakra had been converted into elements, he tried to avoid using Chakra whenever possible.

He wanted to keep it in its nurtured state as much as he could.

Ayako Hyuuga knew what was going on with him, so she chose to familiarize herself with the new weapon on her own.

After practicing for two hours, Ayako came over and gestured to him. "There's a little kid who's been watching you. Do you know him?"

Mo Jingxian looked over.

"I do. He's a genius from the Uchiha Clan, Shisui Uchiha."

"So that's Shisui. I heard he's only five this year."

Mo Jingxian nodded.

As they spoke, Shisui walked over to them.

"Uchiha Sen, sir." Shisui stopped in front of them, polite and respectful.

"Mo Jingxian." He gestured to the space beside him. "If you've got something to say, sit down. No need to be so stiff."

He had now found his true self again, and his personality was increasingly like the one he'd had in his previous life.

Back then, all he had wanted was to scrape by in this chaotic Ninja World.

He still wanted that, of course. But if he could create a Peach Blossom Spring as well, that would be even better.

He could spend his free time online and grill skewers late at night. Just thinking about it made him happy.

It seemed like wishful thinking for now, but who knew? Maybe it could happen.

Shisui Uchiha was clearly taken aback. Mo Jingxian didn't seem anything like the way the clan described him.

He hesitated for a moment, then sat down beside them.

"Go ahead." Mo Jingxian smiled at the little kid. "What did you want to ask me?"

"I don't understand." Shisui gathered his thoughts. "Everyone in the clan says you're a traitor, but you fought on the front lines to protect Konoha. I don't think what they're saying is right."

Shisui looked up at Mo Jingxian. "Can you tell me who was wrong?"

Mo Jingxian sighed inwardly. Another little kid who thought like a Hokage.

At that age, shouldn't he be pestering his parents for candy?

But there was no helping it. That was just the Ninja World.

"Before I answer you..." Mo Jingxian winked at Shisui. "Let me ask you something first."

"All right, ask away."

"Suppose the Five Great Shinobi Nations were all going to be destroyed tomorrow, and you had the power to save one village. Which one would you save?"

Shisui answered without hesitation. "Konoha."

Only after saying it did he furrow his brow, troubled by a pang of conscience.

Mo Jingxian smiled even more warmly at his reaction. The boy had a kind heart.

"Let me ask you something else. If the person in that situation were a Sand shinobi, which village do you think he'd save?"

Shisui couldn't bring himself to say it. He didn't want to, but the answer was obvious.

"So you see." Mo Jingxian patted little Shisui on the shoulder. "There's no right or wrong. People just stand in different places and see things from different angles. Don't you agree?"

Shisui's little head felt like it was itching. He'd just been stuffed with a lot of new information.

He thought it over for a while, then decided Mo Jingxian made sense.

"Then, big brother Sen..." Shisui's eagerness to learn was practically spilling out of his eyes. "What can people do to understand one another and stop wars from happening?"

The change in how he addressed him showed that Shisui accepted him, but the boy's question was clearly beyond his years.

Mo Jingxian thought for a moment, then explained in terms Shisui could understand:

"That's a huge question, and it's too abstract.

"How about we talk about something smaller first?

"For example, what do you think of me?"

Shisui thought for a moment. "I think you're a good person, big brother Sen. You're not the way people in the clan described you. They were wrong."

"They weren't wrong. It was a matter of perspective, like I just said." Mo Jingxian pointed to the woods beside them. "Look... there's a big tree, flowers, and wild grass. They're all different, but they coexist peacefully in the same place. Why can't people do the same?"

Ayako glanced at Mo Jingxian, then at Shisui, and understood what he was getting at.

So she chimed in, "Because people have thoughts. Some are noble, and some are malicious, so conflicts arise."

Shisui's eyes lit up. "Then how do we tell good thoughts from bad ones, big sister?"

"Use one standard to judge them: treat others as people, and treat yourself as a person!"