Four Quiet Months

The weather had gradually turned colder, and the leaves had begun to yellow.

These four months had been so uneventful that, if you ignored the increasingly vicious rumors, it almost seemed as though the village and the Uchiha had reconciled completely.

There had apparently been some unrest in the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth during this time, further confirming Hiruzen Sarutobi's suspicions.

Fortunately, the appointed time was almost here. If nothing unexpected happened, only two members of the Uchiha Clan would remain.

During this time, Chuanhe had made every preparation. He seemed to have figured out Itachi's intentions, too.

Itachi's way of thinking was simple. You only had to look at Sasuke's situation to see that.

Chuanhe had also given the Uchiha problem more thought over these four months.

Just as Itachi had stepped outside his clan and considered things from Konoha's perspective,

Chuanhe had now stepped outside Konoha's narrow sphere and considered things from the perspective of the entire Shinobi World.

Why did the Uchiha Clan have to be wiped out?

When facing the other four great nations, the Byakugan was clearly the more threatening power.

A battlefield with radar and one without it were worlds apart.

Yet the Hyuga Clan had survived in peace right to the end.

During Pain's invasion, they had even gone to visit relatives as a group. It was completely absurd.

Putting aside whether they really had relatives outside the Land of Fire, Chuanhe simply couldn't believe that none of the other villages would be tempted when members of the Main Family like Hyuga Hiashi traveled beyond the Land of Fire.

At the time, Naruto had only just made a major breakthrough in his friendship with Sunagakure, so they really had no motive to act.

And besides, Kumogakure had done something similar before. It wasn't realistic to think they wouldn't be tempted.

From this broader perspective, Chuanhe was more inclined to believe that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Because Black Zetsu had no reason to do so.

A thousand years had already passed. If something happened to the Rinnegan, he would still need the Uchiha bloodline.

Whether the Hyuga Clan perished or not was completely irrelevant to Black Zetsu.

But if the Uchiha Clan were wiped out, Black Zetsu would have no choice but to risk everything.

Perhaps the reason the Hyuga Clan had been spared was that they could become "vessels."

Thinking carefully about the Shinobi World's strength as a whole, it had been declining ever since Konoha was founded.

There were fewer and fewer top-tier fighters.

There were also fewer and fewer Kekkei Genkai.

All of them belonged to people who posed a threat to the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

During the Warring States Period, the entire Shinobi World had been full of life.

There had been wars and many deaths, but for creatures like shinobi, it was practically the perfect breeding ground.

After the world entered an era of "peace," its overall strength had suddenly dropped by a huge margin.

The Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan, who had fought each other for who knew how many years during the Warring States Period, had both perished in an age of peace.

If this were a story, it wouldn't matter.

But Chuanhe was living in the real world now, and this strange, abnormal phenomenon had finally caught his attention.

Is Ōtsutsuki Isshiki really that clever? Chuanhe wondered to himself.

The Ōtsutsuki in Chuanhe's memories were all like Kaguya, as if they possessed a pure, guileless stupidity.

When it came to strength, they relied on brute force. Their whole approach was to hit things hard and hope for the best.

Perhaps, from this perspective, taking the Uchiha Clan into seclusion really was a good idea.

Chuanhe had neither the reason nor the energy to protect this world. He was a selfish person who only wanted to protect his own little patch of land.

His kindness only extended as far as he was able to help.

Perhaps Chuanhe was overthinking it all, but he couldn't afford to let his guard down.

Even if the chance of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki appearing was extremely small.

He had still prepared for the worst. If Ōtsutsuki Isshiki appeared now, Chuanhe would do his best to seal him inside the Four-Dimensional Topological Labyrinth.

Hmm, perhaps he could give it another name.

[Samsara Deadlock]

No entrance, no exit. It fit perfectly.

At least that way, this world could remain safe until Boruto's era.

At present, Chuanhe had no way to deal with Karma.

There was a good chance the thing had no soul.

As long as it had a vessel, Chuanhe couldn't kill it.

It was similar to his [Soul Sealing Technique].

Thinking of that, Chuanhe suddenly thought of Orochimaru.

He wondered how Orochimaru's research was going, and whether he had gained the immortality he wanted.

Given Orochimaru's nature, there was no way he would experiment on himself first after obtaining the technique.

Chuanhe really meant no harm. He just wanted a kindred spirit to accompany him through the endless years ahead.

As for Hui, Chuanhe didn't think he showed any signs of that yet.

Hui had recently begun to feel numb from all the training. These days, he tried to talk to his mother every day.

The time Chuanhe had told him about was drawing closer and closer.

Instead, Hui was growing a little uneasy. Perhaps this was what they meant by feeling apprehensive the closer one got to home.

He hadn't advanced to the next stage during this time.

Chuanhe had told Hui that this was something people learned over the course of years.

It was like how long it had taken us to learn to walk, talk, and hold chopsticks.

To the four-dimensional beings they were, they had only just been born.

But Hui had made some progress, too. He could now use [Space Severing] to cut a path about three meters long, or create a fixed-point [Space Severing] the size of a fist within five meters.

Those were secondary, though. The best news was that he could finally use Four-Dimensional Perception normally while at full chakra.

Unfortunately, he hadn't discovered anything unusual about the Ninjutsu Rifle. Chuanhe was a little disappointed as well. Perhaps some things simply couldn't be rushed.

Of the Dimensional Techniques Chuanhe taught him, aside from those that required Sealing Techniques, the others didn't consume much chakra. In fact, they could be used without chakra at all.

They consumed "mental energy" instead.

The Dimensional Techniques in the Opening Gate stage were too taxing on his brain, and Hui still couldn't leave them to the Ninjutsu Core to process.

During this time, Hui had also discovered a drawback to the [Shadow Clone Technique].

For Hui and Chuanhe, the technique's flaw was that the clones couldn't inherit Four-Dimensional Perception.

Shadow Clones had simulated souls. When faced with the same situation, they could only react the same way as the original.

For chakra, the technique was very useful.

But for Chuanhe's family, it was just a tool.

What Hui was really worried about now was his Taijutsu. It was a genuine weak point.

It seemed Chuanhe hadn't told him how to train in it at all.

That left Hui feeling rather frustrated.

What little Hui knew, he had learned from Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto Uzumaki had finally learned that damn [Rasengan] over the past few months.

During this time, he had sped up his training with a large number of Shadow Clones and successfully mastered the technique.

The main reason it had taken so long was that there had been no one to teach him.

It wasn't that Hui didn't want to teach him, but Chuanhe had firmly refused. Over the past few months, Hui still hadn't shown Chuanhe what he wanted to see. Naruto was only just starting out, and it wasn't time to interfere too much.

Chuanhe only decided to teach Hui things after Hui had understood them to a certain degree.

Naruto hadn't even figured out the trick of using Shadow Clones to help form the Rasengan. He had learned the technique the hard way.

Once Naruto had a goal, his determination was incredible.

But he still had no clue how to use the [Flying Thunder God Technique].

Damn it! Grandpa Third, did you plan all this out?

Next semester, I'll definitely learn this technique!

Sasuke had been at a loss lately. There were no techniques left for him to practice.

After completing his training in the Earth Clone Technique, Sasuke Uchiha could only pass the time practicing Shuriken and Taijutsu.

As for what had changed for Sasuke during this time, he had finally managed to talk with his father, Fugaku.

Sometimes Fugaku even trained with Sasuke.

That made him happier than anything.

Senior Chuanhe really hadn't lied to him. Fugaku truly loved him.

During this time, most of the Ninja Academy students had been told by their parents to go straight home after class. Apparently, there were bad people in the village who were abducting children.

Hui saw all of this and felt a flicker of worry.

For some reason, a line Chuanhe had once said to him came to mind.

"Danzo is the most straightforward villain in this village."

Could it be him?

Since the one staying at the academy was only a Shadow Clone, he always left late so he could dispel it directly.

But recently, he seemed to have noticed a problem. Why was the young lady of the Yamanaka Clan leaving just as late as he was?

That day, Hui finally couldn't hold back. He turned around and asked Ino, who was walking behind him with her head lowered, "Ino, what's been going on with you lately? Why aren't you going home at this hour?"

"Ah... well... they've been saying there are bad people in the village lately, so I was worried about you."

Ino stumbled over her words.

Over these four months, Sakura had noticed that Ino was acting strangely, too.

At that moment, she was eavesdropping beneath a corridor window.

Hearing Ino's answer, Sakura crouched down and covered her mouth, giggling to herself.

Hui was taken aback by Ino's answer. He seemed to understand what she meant.

He felt a little awkward. Was he really that slow when it came to this sort of thing?

Still, it was a nice feeling.

So Ino wouldn't worry, Hui motioned for her to come closer. He was going to tell her a little secret.

Ino shyly leaned in.

Sakura could feel her face heating up.

She had thought she was about to witness a sweet encounter.

But then Sakura heard this:

"You big dummy, Hui!"

Then Ino stormed past her and ran off.

"Huh?"

Sakura, still crouching on the ground, stared in confusion.

How had Hui not noticed something so obvious about Ino?

What had just happened?

Sakura curiously peered toward the classroom, but she couldn't see anything.

It seemed Sakura was the only one left standing there in the wind, bewildered.

"Huh? What on earth happened?"