The Third Hokage watched the crystal ball. Inside it, Yashui finished forming the hand seals for the Summoning Technique in reverse and vanished from the spot.
"Jiraiya, this child really is like you. He can freely enter and leave the summoning realm he found for himself." The Third Hokage seemed to be talking to himself.
A hand suddenly emerged from the Third Hokage's shadow. It braced against the ground, and soon an entire person crawled out. The man had white hair, wore red, and carried a large scroll on his back—it was Jiraiya.
"He's nothing like me," Jiraiya said. "I've seen plenty of children like him. If he sets his heart on doing good, he'll become the child of destiny who changes the world. But, like Sasuke, he bears the hatred of the Uchiha Clan..."
"He still doesn't know he's part of the Uchiha Clan... probably..." The Third Hokage had gone to great lengths to educate Yashui.
"Anyway, I think we should just leave him to fend for himself. You don't need to teach him any ninjutsu, Sensei. Of course, I won't teach him any high-level techniques either." Jiraiya walked up to the Third Hokage. "War and hatred are the eternal themes of the ninja world... This child will probably just have to go with the flow..."
With that, Jiraiya transformed into a frog and hopped out of the Third Hokage's office.
Elsewhere, Yashui appeared in front of the Three-Legged Golden Crow.
"Master, here's what you asked me to prepare." Yashui held out two jin of rice wine. He had already filled it with his chakra, but his chakra was nowhere near enough to fill the whole jar.
"Is this all the strength you have right now?" The Three-Legged Golden Crow glanced at Yashui, narrowing its eyes to slits. "This is going to be a little difficult."
"What's wrong, Master?" Yashui asked.
"You know what chakra is, right?" the Three-Legged Golden Crow asked.
"Yes. Chakra is the basis for performing ninjutsu. Without chakra, you can't use ninjutsu," Yashui replied.
"Correct." The Three-Legged Golden Crow seemed troubled. "Chakra can do many things: walking on water, performing ninjutsu, sticking to a cliff face, and so on."
"You're from the Uchiha Clan, so naturally you have Fire Release chakra. Fire Release chakra has another quality: it can heat liquids. Take rice wine, for example. If you can infuse it with enough chakra, the wine will heat up and boil." The Three-Legged Golden Crow pointed at the rice wine with the tip of its wing. "How hot do you think this wine is now?"
Yashui lowered his head. His chakra reserves really were too small.
"Your task today is to make these two jin of rice wine boil in front of me." With that, the Three-Legged Golden Crow lay down nearby to rest. "You don't need to go anywhere else. Do it right here, in the Sun Palace, where I can watch you."
So this magnificent palace was called the Sun Palace. It suited the Three-Legged Golden Crow's identity. But still... making two jin of rice wine boil was going to take a lot of work.
"Master, before I start, there's something I'd like to ask." Yashui remembered the problem with his Sharingan. He couldn't afford to forget to ask about it again today. "Sometimes I can't control my Sharingan. It activates on its own when I don't want it to, and then I can't turn it off. Is something wrong with me?"
The Three-Legged Golden Crow glanced lazily at Yashui. "There are three kinds of chakra in your body. You just haven't learned to harmonize them. Once you complete the task I gave you, this problem will resolve itself."
The Three-Legged Golden Crow didn't seem to think much of Yashui's question.
Hearing that put Yashui somewhat at ease. He sat down cross-legged and began to mold chakra as the Three-Legged Golden Crow had instructed.
This training was rather difficult for Yashui. Just infusing the rice wine with chakra was already a struggle. The wine's resistance made the transfer of chakra very inefficient. Even after putting all his strength into it, he had only managed to warm the wine a little.
But the Three-Legged Golden Crow's task was to make two jin of rice wine boil! How much chakra would it take to do that?
Yashui spent the entire day on this training. His chakra was constantly being squeezed out of him and poured into the rice wine, like water disappearing into a bottomless pit.
His body kept burning through chakra all day. By nightfall, his chakra pathways were swollen from the intense training. On top of that, although all he had been doing was molding chakra, the muscle cells that produced it hurt as if they were on fire.
The first day of hard training ended, and all Yashui had managed to do was warm the wine.
At one point, forget making it boil—even keeping the wine at its current temperature had taken everything he had.
The Three-Legged Golden Crow had watched all day without saying a word, only shaking its head now and then.
Seeing that night was nearly upon him, Yashui knew he had done poorly today. He asked the Three-Legged Golden Crow, "Is there some trick to this training? I'm still young, so I can't keep up with the amount of chakra it takes."
"So soon, and you're already looking to rely on someone else?" The Three-Legged Golden Crow shook its head again. Yashui had lost count of how many times it had done so that day. "I know your chakra reserves aren't enough, but I still asked you to do this training. That means you must be able to do it."
Yashui looked at the lukewarm wine before him. He wanted to try again. Maybe if he pushed just a little harder, he could succeed.
"You can definitely do it, but you'll need to figure out the trick first." The Three-Legged Golden Crow spoke just as Yashui was about to make another attempt.
Yashui looked at his body. He was so sore that he could only keep going through sheer willpower. He couldn't keep blindly relying on brute force. Maybe the Three-Legged Golden Crow was right; he should stop and think carefully about what to do.
"That's enough for today. Your performance was terrible. My previous student finished this training in just three days. Compared to him, you haven't even made it halfway through one day's progress." The Three-Legged Golden Crow had a sharp tongue and never knew when to hold back.
The Three-Legged Golden Crow released the Summoning Technique, and Yashui returned to Konoha.
Yashui had used the Summoning Technique to go to the Hundred Bird Nest from an empty training ground after leaving home that day. When the Summoning Technique was released, he returned to that same training ground.
Watching the moon slowly rise, Yashui regretted leaving home. If he'd stayed there, he wouldn't have to endure the ache in his muscles as he trudged home step by step.
At dinner, Yashui stared at the miso soup in front of him, wondering how he could make the rice wine boil. Without thinking, he infused the miso soup with chakra.
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