A Peaceful Time of Training

"Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke, standing nearby, had gotten used to it. He'd heard it every day for the past two days; his ears were practically growing calluses.

At first, he'd mocked the dead-last. Then he'd offered to teach him. Eventually, he'd just given up. Naruto really was an idiot!

Hui, who'd been watching for a while, furrowed his brow. Was the Nine-Tails really interfering?

Thinking of himself, he realized that maybe the reason his father hadn't told him his mother was still alive was that he didn't want Hui to know she was alive but be unable to do anything about it.

His mother was only asleep, not dead.

Hui looked at Naruto. Should he tell him the truth? Better not for now. It would only bring Naruto a heap of trouble, and cause his father no small amount of trouble, too.

If even that "Grandpa Third Hokage" hadn't told him, then telling him now would only do harm. It would tell him who his dead parents were, but only add to his grief.

Could he count on those ignorant villagers? Would they believe the "Demon Fox's" lies? They'd only think he was insulting the village's hero. After all, the dead couldn't speak for themselves.

Just then, a voice rang out unexpectedly.

"Damn it, one more time. Shadow Clone Technique... I did it! Sasuke, Sasuke, did you see that?" Naruto shouted excitedly to Sasuke.

"Give it a rest. I saw," Sasuke replied, curling his lip. Only he knew what he was really thinking.

"Hey, don't you believe me? Damn it, watch this! Shadow Clone Technique—three clones..." Naruto said indignantly. Without dispelling the clones, he kept forming hand seals.

Sasuke stared, dumbfounded. For a moment, he just stood there, frozen.

"Still can't see it? Shadow Clone Technique—five clones!" Naruto continued forming hand seals.

"Y-you idiot! You'll get into trouble making so many shadow clones. Stop!"

Sasuke hurriedly tried to stop him. For a moment, he hadn't even noticed Naruto's unusually large chakra reserves.

Hui watched in amazement. Chuanhe had told him Naruto was especially suited to this technique, but seeing it for himself was still unbelievable.

He felt the ninjutsu scroll in his pocket. Chuanhe had given it to him, telling him to hand it to Naruto once he'd mastered the Shadow Clone Technique.

Hui had looked through it himself. It was the A-rank Flame Explosion Technique Sasuke had mentioned the other day.

After everything that had happened over the past two days, clever Hui quickly understood his father's intentions.

First, Chuanhe wanted Hui to play the "fool." He was to pretend he knew nothing and kindly teach Naruto a family jutsu.

That would indirectly tell "Grandpa Third Hokage" that the Uchiha Clan's trump cards were nothing special, and there was no need to keep testing them.

In reality, it was a trap for the Third Hokage. He probably wouldn't expect a technique like this to be as easy as D-rank.

Second, it was for Naruto. Now that Naruto had a weapon, if that so-called "Grandpa Third Hokage" continued to ignore the current situation...

If someone as suited to this technique as Naruto ever blew up part of the village one day...

The thought made Hui eager to see what would happen. He also took out a copy of the Multi Shadow Clone Technique that he'd transcribed himself.

It was one of Chuanhe's ninjutsu scrolls from the study. His father had said he could teach any of the techniques in there.

Looking at the two scrolls in his hands, Hui wondered if Naruto's life would change once he really learned the techniques.

The problem now was figuring out how to give Naruto a Fire Release affinity.

He'd use this as motivation to keep Naruto moving forward. With the talent of the Fourth Hokage's son, surely nothing would be impossible once he had a goal.

"Sasuke, don't worry. Naruto seems really suited to this technique. Even among jonin, not many can make this many clones," Hui said, stepping over to explain.

"W-who said I was worried about this idiot?"

"Naruto, congratulations. This is the surprise I promised you yesterday." Hui handed him the two scrolls.

Naruto took them, puzzled. After reading the descriptions, he cried out in amazement.

Sasuke glanced at the scrolls, then whipped his head around to look at Hui.

Hui gave him a look, and Sasuke finally calmed down.

"Really? This technique is really for me?" Naruto asked Hui excitedly.

"Of course. It's fine. We're friends, aren't we?" Hui said with a smile.

Naruto thought of the affinity test from the day before and suddenly grew dejected. "But my affinity is Wind. I can't learn this technique."

"Who says you can't? Look."

Hui skillfully formed hand seals and performed the Water Ball Technique.

"I didn't have a Water affinity before, either. I trained until I could use it."

"A-amazing! Hui, teach me!"

Sasuke said nothing. His feelings were complicated. Even Naruto has one. What about me?

And what about the family secret? Should he tell his brother?

He hadn't looked closely, but he knew one of the scrolls contained the Flame Explosion Technique.

Hui was revealing a family secret!

Sasuke hadn't considered the difficulty rank.

He'd instinctively assumed it was the technique he'd seen, since that was the only one he'd ever encountered.

But Hui had told him to keep quiet for now. Sasuke wanted to hear what reasonable explanation Hui could come up with.

"Sasuke, this is for you. These were given to me by one of your seniors. Don't worry, this isn't a leak of any secrets."

Hui deliberately avoided mentioning parents, so Naruto wouldn't feel any unnecessary emotional burden.

Sasuke happily took the little medicine bottle, then looked at Hui in confusion. At the same time, he felt relieved.

"Oh, this? Sasuke, use it at home under Shisui's supervision. Shisui seems to have tried it before."

His father had said the medicine could increase chakra reserves, but the process sounded painful.

He hoped Sasuke wouldn't come after him once he'd taken it. Hui shuddered at the thought.

It hadn't been Hui's idea. Chuanhe had insisted.

If Sasuke wanted even the slightest chance of changing his fate before then, his chakra reserves were undoubtedly his biggest weakness.

His fate had already been changed beyond recognition, but being prepared was still better than flying into a helpless rage.

Sasuke hesitated, then nodded.

During this time, both Sasuke and Naruto had mastered the Shadow Clone Technique, Water Walking, and the basics of wall- and tree-climbing.

For the past few nights, Sasuke had been thinking about how he had to blow up an even bigger crater over the weekend to prove himself.

But as their training progressed, things had been getting harder and harder for their classmates, too.

Their elders had been dragging them off for special training, kicking off a wave of competition in ninjutsu learning.

Shikamaru was the only one among them who knew the whole story. He usually acted lazy and laid-back, but he was the smartest kid in the class.

When he learned that even Naruto had mastered the Shadow Clone Technique, he knew his good days at school were over.

He couldn't help asking the question on everyone's mind: "We're all only six. Why are we working so hard?"

Night. Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the two scrolls copied by the Anbu and fell into thought.

After drawing deeply on his pipe, he issued an order to the empty shadows.

"Go and 'invite' Elder Danzo over."

The ninja in the shadows accepted the order and left.

Hiruzen looked over the ninjutsu scroll and judged it to be A-rank. As a man known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, he had the eye to recognize it.

"So it was you, Chuanhe. Did you plan all of this?"

Just as Hiruzen was thinking it over, Danzo pushed open the door and strode inside.

"Hiruzen! This is perfect. I've confirmed that Chuanhe has defected from the village. Give me the authorization. I'll lead a team to capture him!" Danzo immediately began rambling.

Danzo had made plans for both outcomes. Whether the plan succeeded or failed, Chuanhe had to die! If Shin, that useless fool, failed, so be it. Danzo had plenty of expendable men.

Hiruzen drew deeply on his pipe, then slowly exhaled. His voice was low as he spoke.

"Danzo, stop your operation. Don't interfere in Chuanhe's affairs anymore. Lay low for a while. Don't show your face."

"Hiruzen! You... you'll regret this!"

They'd barely exchanged a few words before Danzo stormed out, slamming the poor door with a force it had no business enduring at its age.

You idiot, Danzo. You tried to assassinate someone in the Uchiha Compound? I told you to investigate him, not assassinate him. You could've at least tried kidnapping him first... Forget it.

What would the other clans think if they found out? My old friend, how could you be so foolish?

He'd have to investigate in secret for now.

Hiruzen drew deeply on his pipe again and exhaled.

"Sun, look into Chuanhe. Find out where he really came from."

"Yes." A ninja wearing an ape mask accepted the order and left.

He was a member of the Sarutobi Clan, and Hiruzen trusted him deeply.

Gazing at the gloomy night sky, Hiruzen murmured, "I hope it isn't the worst-case scenario."