Preparations After the Rain

Naruto Uzumaki had been feeling quite miserable lately.

The Third Hokage had strictly forbidden him from attempting to cultivate the [Flame Explosion Technique] ever again, and had further insisted that he keep this news from everyone.

As compensation for this, Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him two new ninjutsu scrolls, while once again emphasizing the need for secrecy.

[Rasengan] and [Flying Thunder God Technique]!

A two-for-one trade was fair enough, especially since neither of these techniques was any less difficult than the [Flame Explosion Technique] Naruto had originally acquired.

At first, Naruto had been somewhat resistant, given how long he had already spent training his fire affinity.

He had been fully prepared and ready to begin practicing the [Flame Explosion Technique].

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had given him a reason he could not refuse.

He told Naruto that if he mastered these two techniques, he would finally reveal the identity of Naruto's parents.

However, if Naruto insisted on continuing his cultivation of the [Flame Explosion Technique], Hiruzen Sarutobi would never tell him.

Naruto had immediately protested, pestering his "Grandpa Third" to tell him who his parents were right then and there.

He was met only with silence.

Faced with this situation, Naruto ultimately chose to be understanding.

Grandpa Third was the only person Naruto could rely on from the very beginning; he figured there must be some hidden hardship behind the man's actions.

For this reason, Naruto had to halt his cultivation of the [Flame Explosion Technique], whispering an apology to Hui in his heart.

In reality, he was thinking that once he found out who his parents were, he would simply start practicing the [Flame Explosion Technique] all over again.

Because of the extreme difficulty of these two new techniques and the lack of anyone to teach him, Naruto's training had been going less and less smoothly lately.

Naruto was currently so distracted that he hadn't even noticed that Sasuke's state of mind had been off recently.

Sasuke had been feeling both happy and sad lately.

His older brother had finally reappeared after disappearing for five days.

He had chatted gently with Sasuke for an entire night, telling him that he had to go on a long journey to execute a very complex mission.

He probably wouldn't be able to see Sasuke for a long time, but Itachi promised that he would return shortly after the final exams.

At the same time, Itachi patted Sasuke on the head and told him softly.

The [Flame Explosion Technique] was harmful to the heart; he was very worried about Sasuke and asked him to try his best not to cast it anymore.

He told him to spend more time chatting with Fugaku and Mikoto while he was away.

As for "Senior" Chuanhe, he should avoid visiting him until Itachi returned, as the man seemed to be busy with something lately.

Sasuke felt a warmth in his heart as he agreed to his brother's request.

After all, it was only a short while ago that Senior Chuanhe had told him that Fugaku actually loved him very much.

Yet, he felt deeply saddened by his brother's departure.

Three days after that night of torrential rain, Hui noticed his father leaving the house for the first time in a long while.

When he returned, his face was clouded with an unshakable gloom.

Combining this with some of the inside information he had gathered recently.

It seemed that the village was soon going to go to war with the Uchiha clan.

Thinking of this, Hui felt incredibly anxious.

He had no idea just how strong his own combat power actually was.

The [Space Leap] technique was indeed a space-time ninjutsu, much like the [Flying Thunder God Technique].

However, due to the issue of latency, it did not hold much of an advantage on a direct battlefield.

If war truly broke out, he might not be able to achieve his primary wish—to protect his father.

Hui had recently been pondering a new ninjutsu combat strategy.

Since, aside from the [Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder] which possessed a space-cutting capability, his most powerful offensive ninjutsu was the [Flame Explosion Technique].

Even though it was still an early version that required about a second of casting time—even after removing the time needed to manifest a physical clone—it was his best option.

Therefore, Hui had a sudden inspiration.

He would use the [Transformation Technique] to turn the physical clone currently casting the [Flame Explosion Technique] into a kunai.

This process was not simple, but Hui's current chakra control was far beyond what a conventional ninja could hope to match.

The only issue was that due to the four-dimensional nature of the [Flame Explosion Technique], any object transformed this way would glow with flames until it detonated.

While testing this technique, Hui kept silently praying that his mother would not have to bear this level of pain for him.

It seemed Yuki could hear him, as this time, he finally received the clone's feedback normally.

Hui was thrilled; in five more months, he would finally be able to truly communicate with his mother.

Suppressing the emotions within his heart, Hui continued to ponder the problems of combat.

The Transformation Technique solved the most awkward issue of the Flame Explosion Technique—the inability to fully release it at close range.

In truth, this usage was widely circulated among Uchiha jonin.

The reason it did not spread universally was that unless one had trained their ninjutsu to a certain level, they could not achieve it even if they knew the method.

Regarding mobility, Hui could fly and possessed Wave Treading, allowing him to move at high speeds through the air.

Furthermore, Hui also possessed Space Leap.

He was not worried about this aspect.

The only problem was defense.

If he encountered a ninjutsu he was forced to block, he seemingly had no means to do so.

Because if an opponent could get close enough to that degree, the conventional five-element ninjutsu Hui knew simply could not resolve the issue.

Could Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder serve as a shield?

Hui felt a surge of excitement. That was right; he had never heard of anything capable of shattering space itself.

Chuanhe's lessons had clearly told him that everything in this world that appeared to be a spatial phenomenon was, in fact, a dimensional phenomenon.

While calling them spatial phenomena was not incorrect, it was highly misleading.

Since he could briefly enter the fourth dimension, he could naturally allow other objects to enter as well.

It was just that this method seemed to be very taxing on the brain.

The longer and deeper he utilized his Four-Dimensional Perception, the more severe the side effects became for his mind.

It was just as it had been when Chuanhe taught him.

Forget it, that was not important; he should come up with a different name for this method of defense.

After all, this was not Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder.

Hui feared that even Chuanhe would be unable to find anything he sent into the fourth dimension.

The three-dimensional world was already exaggeratedly vast. Adding another dimension was like the difference between a single sheet of paper and a thick book.

The ultimate result was that finding a character on a sheet of paper was an analogy for three dimensions, while finding a character inside a book was an analogy for four dimensions.

This description was already a very conservative estimate of the gap.

Let's call it Space Severing.

Hui thought with a hint of pride.

In appearance, it looked like a bottomless dark disc that swallowed everything.

Although it looked very similar to a Truth-Seeking Orb, it was not actually one.

For the sake of understanding, this was closer to what the public perceived as a spatial rift.

Since the black disc could serve as a defense, it could naturally serve as an attack as well.

Moreover, Hui could simply shape this thing.

Unfortunately, at Hui's current level, he could only use it at close range.

However, the good news was that this method could sever anything.

At this point, Hui felt that perhaps he only lacked a super long-range method.

Uh, it seemed there was also taijutsu.

As for genjutsu, the necklace on his chest and his Sharingan could solve all problems.

At dinner, Hui finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Father, is a war about to break out? Is there anything I can do?"

Chuanhe did not want Hui to face all of this, because this was his own battle to fight.

This was a promise Chuanhe had made to Yuki, not a task for Hui.

But Hui's status was different from his; he was indeed his son, but he was also an Uchiha.

Chuanhe could not bypass this identity to make decisions for him.

If he were to truly do that, Chuanhe would become the kind of person he hated most.

In his previous life, he had lived a life where everything was "decided for him."

Thus, Chuanhe said: "Hui, the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village has reached a point where it is completely irreconcilable."

"If you were the one in charge, how would you handle this matter?"

Hui fell into a slight panic; he was only six years old, and even though he now possessed powerful strength, he was still just a child.

Ninjas in this world were generally precocious, but the consequence was that the answers they arrived at were often overly naive.

After much careful deliberation and internal struggle, Hui said to Chuanhe, "Father, why don't we just take the Uchiha clan and leave Konoha? Taking a step back would open up a world of possibilities."

"Konoha certainly has many dark corners, but I believe that the majority of the Uchiha still view the village as something they need to protect."

"If they truly hated it that much, there wouldn't be such great division among them."

Hui's thoughts happened to coincide with his own, but this was not what Chuanhe wanted.

At this point in time, Hui should have naively told him that they ought to sit down and have a proper talk with the Konoha leadership.

Hui's mindset was drawing closer and closer to those extreme Uchiha he remembered from his impressions.

It was true that they were very different now, but he could already smell the scent of madness in the air.

Reaching out to pat Hui on the head, Chuanhe gazed out the window toward the distance.

"A very good idea; I feel the same way you do."