Training Complete

Yashui slowly channeled chakra into the cooling miso soup, and before long, steam began to rise from the bowl.

"Big Brother Yashui, how did you make your miso soup heat up?" Konohamaru was still young; aside from playing with kunai and attempting to ambush the Third Hokage every day, his knowledge of ninja arts was virtually non-existent.

"This is a special technique of mine, Big Brother Yashui's secret~" Yashui seized the opportunity to show off in front of the clueless Konohamaru: "Though, I still haven't figured out how to make the soup actually boil."

"Make the miso soup boil?" the Third Hokage said with a smile: "To make the soup boil, this level of heat isn't enough. You need to increase the firepower."

Yashui stared at the Third Hokage, completely bewildered. When it came to cooking, he was utterly clueless.

"Don't let my appearance fool you, Grandpa's cooking skills are actually quite good~" The Third Hokage continued to explain: "For example, when I make miso soup and wait for you all to come home, I turn the gas stove down low. This way, the heat output drops to a level that only maintains the temperature. But when I want to reheat it, I turn the flame up high. This way, the miso soup receives more heat in a short amount of time. Naturally, it boils."

Hearing the Third Hokage's explanation, a flash of inspiration struck Yashui: "That's it... the training to make the rice wine boil follows the same logic..."

Yashui channeled chakra into the miso soup once more. This time, the amount he injected was not as much as before, but the speed of the injection was several times faster.

Sure enough, the miso soup boiled!

The Third Hokage looked at Yashui and nodded with satisfaction.

Yashui finally understood why the Three-Legged Golden Crow had insisted he complete this training even though he knew his chakra reserves weren't enough to make the rice wine boil slowly. This wasn't a training exercise for chakra volume at all; it was a training exercise for chakra output speed.

Only when the speed of chakra output reached a certain threshold would the rate of the rice wine's temperature rise exceed the rate of heat loss. Only then would the rice wine boil!

After dinner, Yashui returned to his room and locked the door. He used the Reverse Summoning Technique once again.

"Poof!" Yashui appeared before the Three-Legged Golden Crow once more.

"Yashui, why have you come back so late? Your body should have reached its limit." Although the Three-Legged Golden Crow's tone was sharp, he was still quite concerned about Yashui's physical condition.

"Master, I have found the trick to making the rice wine boil—a trick that allows me to reach this goal even when my body has reached its limit!" Yashui said with a determined look in his eyes.

The Three-Legged Golden Crow narrowed his eyes, watching Yashui with interest: "Very well, try it again in front of me."

Having received the Three-Legged Golden Crow's permission, Yashui sat cross-legged on the ground and began to refine chakra.

This time, Yashui did not act as he had during the day, rushing to inject the rice wine as soon as he refined a little chakra. This time, he spent a full ten minutes just on the process of refining chakra.

"That should be enough!" Yashui placed his hands on the outside of the rice wine bottle and abruptly surged the chakra inside.

He dumped all the chakra he had just refined into the rice wine in one go. The temperature of the rice wine rose rapidly, and in less than a minute, it was boiling.

The training he had failed to complete after trying all day was finished in no time at all.

"Great!" Yashui jumped up in joy, but as soon as he did, he curled up on the ground, clutching his body due to muscle soreness.

"Not bad." The Three-Legged Golden Crow seemed to be smiling: "How did you come up with this method? Did someone give you a hint?"

"Something like that. While I was eating, I wanted to heat up my miso soup, but I couldn't get it to boil no matter what. Later, after Grandpa Third explained how to use the high and low settings on a gas stove, I suddenly realized it," Yashui said happily.

"The Third? You mean the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen?" the Three-Legged Golden Crow asked.

"Yes." Yashui nodded.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen should be an accomplice in the destruction of the Uchiha Clan. He turned a blind eye to what Shimura Danzō wanted to do. Why would he give you a hint?" The Three-Legged Golden Crow understood well—perhaps Yashui didn't realize it yet, but the Third Hokage's hint was no accident; he had given it intentionally. If Yashui hadn't grasped it then, the Third Hokage would likely have taught him the technique to boil the soup directly.

"Well..." Yashui scratched his head: "Actually, ever since the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, I have been adopted by the Third Hokage. My name was also changed from Uchiha Yashui to Sarutobi Yashui."

The Three-Legged Golden Crow sighed: "I never thought the Uchiha Clan would one day be reduced to living under someone else's roof."

"Indeed, the world is unpredictable," Yashui echoed. Taking the surname of one's enemy after being adopted by them was what the Chinese called "recognizing a thief as one's father"—it should have been a very shameful thing.

If the Three-Legged Golden Crow were a more radical master, he might have demanded that Yashui immediately sever ties with the Third Hokage and reclaim the Uchiha family name.

"I don't understand what the Third Hokage is planning, but for now, he is someone you can trust," the Three-Legged Golden Crow advised: "As for when you can no longer trust him, that is something you must judge for yourself."

"Understood, thank you, Master." Yashui formed the hand seal for the summoning technique: "Master, I'll head back now. I'm a bit tired today. I'll come back tomorrow!"

"Go."

"Poof!" Yashui vanished from before the Three-Legged Golden Crow and returned to his room.

The Three-Legged Golden Crow was right; the Third Hokage was still worth trusting for now. He might already know everything about him, but he hadn't pointed anything out. Just like in the original story, he was a soft-hearted old man.

After taking a bath, Yashui quickly fell asleep.

He woke up again; this was the second day of training. After telling the Third Hokage, Yashui immediately went to the same training ground as yesterday, intending to head to the Hundred Bird Nest from there.

Yashui had originally wanted to go to the Hundred Bird Nest from home, but he didn't know how to explain to the Third Hokage why he kept hiding in his room. Furthermore, he figured that returning from the training ground was a form of exercise in itself. Perhaps, without realizing it, he could improve his physical strength.

Upon arriving at the training ground, Yashui immediately headed to the Hundred Bird Nest.

Yesterday's training left Yashui's body still aching, but he was young, and his metabolism was fast; it was no small feat that he could alleviate most of the muscle soreness in just one night.

The Three-Legged Golden Crow's attitude toward Yashui today was better than it had been yesterday; perhaps completing the training last night had made the Three-Legged Golden Crow look at Yashui with new eyes.