Shisui: You've come at the perfect time!

"Are you free tomorrow afternoon? We can start with shurikenjutsu," Shisui said.

"I noticed the shuriken technique you used during the exam; it has traces of the old style, but the details could still be optimized."

"I... I am," Qingyu said hurriedly. "I'm free anytime after three in the afternoon."

"Then three o'clock, I'll see you at Training Ground 3." Shisui patted his shoulder with a gentle touch.

"Don't be nervous. The clan head just hopes that promising young people can grow up quickly. After all... the Uchiha of today needs more successors capable of shouldering the burden."

After saying this, he turned and left, disappearing among the eaves in a few leaps, his use of the Body Flicker Technique effortless.

Qingyu stood where he was, watching the direction in which Shisui had vanished, remaining motionless for a long time.

My intuition, and my gut feeling, confirm this is purely for instruction.

Inside his mind, the two voices were uncharacteristically silent together.

After a long while, Izuna spoke first, his tone rarely this serious: "That Shisui... his blade is fast! Not just ordinarily fast, but the kind of fast where 'the intent arrives, and the blade is already there.' I only saw a few people reach that realm during my lifetime."

Tobirama was silent for a moment before adding: "His eyes... are even more worthy of vigilance. Although they look like ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan for now, the way his ocular power fluctuates is very peculiar. It isn't just a simple Sharingan; something else is fused within it... a certain nature of the 'soul'."

Qingyu's footsteps faltered.

Even these two well-informed big shots from the Warring States period are this sharp?

He suddenly felt that behind the name Shisui Uchiha lay secrets far more complex than those in the original story.

If Shisui were to find out he was a transmigrator, it would be an instant Kotoamatsukami, followed by a triggered defeat CG...

"Sorry, I can't let you have a good New Year!"

Walking on the road home, the moonlight spilled coldly onto the stone path.

Qingyu rubbed his face, which had grown stiff from smiling at the clan meeting, and looked at the pitiful 1.2% awakening probability on his system panel.

He thought about the upcoming special training with Shisui, Itachi's observation, and the final public tournament seven days later...

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, could he really hide the little secret of his Water-Fire Fusion Technique and the fact that two old antiques were living in his head?

"Forget it..." He sighed and pushed open his front door. "The boat will naturally straighten when it reaches the bridge... no, that's not right, it's 'the boat will naturally go straight'!"

My boat, however, is famously fast!

I'll sleep first.

Tomorrow's problems can wait until tomorrow.

Anyway, if the sky falls, the two big shots in my head will hold it up first... probably?

If the sky really falls, he'll be the first one to run!

[Ding!]
[Side Quest: Uchiha's Invitation Completed]
[Completion Assessment: A-]
[Quest Reward: Sharingan awakening probability increased (slight). Current probability: 0.7% → 1.2%]
[Bonus Reward: Due to contact with key character "Shisui Uchiha", subsequent interactive plot lines unlocked]
[New Hint: Special training with Shisui Uchiha will directly affect the advancement direction of the "Water-Fire Fusion Technique". Please take it seriously (smile)]

Qingyu looked at the "smile" in the parentheses at the end and felt that the system was mocking him.

He shook his head and flopped onto the bed.

Three seconds later, the sound of snoring began.

He was too tired.

In the distance, on the roof of the Naka Shrine, Fugaku Uchiha stood quietly, looking at the faint light leaking from the window of Qingyu's house, his gaze deep.

"What do you think?" he said to the air.

In the shadows, the figure of Yashiro Uchiha emerged.

"His rate of progress is abnormal, and his approach to ninjutsu is unique—not something someone of his age and experience should possess. But his chakra fluctuations do have the characteristics of an Uchiha, and there are no traces of external modification."

"Continue to observe," Fugaku said.

"Do not alert him before the final tournament. If he can make it into the top three..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Yashiro understood.

Under the moonlight, the two figures vanished into the eaves.

The next day at 2:55 PM, Qingyu arrived at Training Ground 3 five minutes early.

Then he discovered that he might have had a misunderstanding about what "on time" meant.

In the center of the training ground, Shisui Uchiha was already there.

It wasn't a case of just arriving; it was the "already here" kind of arrival, where he had finished a full set of warm-ups and even found the time to throw fifty shuriken, all of which had struck the bullseye.

He was currently squatting on the ground, drawing some kind of pattern with a twig.

"Senior Shisui." Qingyu hurried over, feeling a bit embarrassed, "I'm late..."

"No, you're right on time." Shisui looked up, his smile radiant.

"It's just that I arrived early. It's a habit, an old quirk from my mission days; I'm always worried that being late will lead to an enemy ambush."

Qingyu: "..." Senior, that joke of yours is a bit dark.

"Sit." Shisui tapped the ground opposite him with the twig, "Before we start the shuriken training, let's chat about something else first."

Qingyu sat down obediently, his heart drumming.

Could he be planning to interrogate me about the origin of my Water and Fire ninjutsu?

"Qingyu-kun," Shisui set the twig down and crossed his hands over his knees, his posture as relaxed as if he were just making small talk.

"Do you know why the Uchiha shurikenjutsu is recognized as the best in the ninja world?"

"Because of... the Sharingan's dynamic vision?" Qingyu tried to answer.

"That is the result, not the cause." Shisui shook his head.

"Many outsiders, and even a portion of the Uchiha themselves, have it wrong.

The strength of the Uchiha has never been because of the Kekkei Genkai itself, but because of how we 'use' it."

He casually picked up three pebbles from the ground.

"Watch closely."

The next second, Qingyu witnessed a scene that left his brain briefly blank.

Shisui didn't even stand up; he merely flicked his wrist.

The three pebbles crisscrossed in the air like three unpredictable bolts of lightning.

They flew out at the exact same speed, yet carved three completely different arcs through the air.

One was straight as an arrow, one spiraled upward, and the third actually flew backward for half a meter before suddenly snapping forward.

All three pebbles struck three different bullseyes thirty meters away almost simultaneously.

No chakra infusion, no wire manipulation—it was purely a matter of technique and control of force.

"This..." Qingyu opened his mouth.

In his mind, Izuna's voice rang out: "Oh? Interesting. My brother knows this 'Three Swallows Return' too, but this kid uses it... more 'lightly'."

Tobirama immediately analyzed: "It isn't lightness; it's precision! He calculated air resistance, the weight of the pebbles, and the frequency of his wrist flick.

He even accounted for the wind shear near the ground; it requires terrifying spatial awareness and muscle control."

Shisui brushed the dust off his hands and said with a smile, "This isn't ninjutsu, nor is it a Kekkei Genkai; this is a 'craft'.

It is a 'craft' carved into muscle memory through tens of thousands of repetitions."

He looked at Qingyu, his gaze turning serious.

"I heard from the Clan Head that you used the Ancient Uchiha Style shuriken deflection technique during the exam. Could you demonstrate it? Just the most basic 'Single Swallow Return'."

Qingyu stood up, feeling a bit nervous, and pulled three standard shuriken from his ninja tool pouch.

He took a deep breath, recalling the key points Izuna had emphasized during their three days of special training:

The angle of the wrist, the way the fingers exert force, the micro-adjustment of chakra at the moment of the throw...