Konoha Reinforcements

"Uzuki, where is Qin Yu?" Minato Namikaze asked urgently.

At first, he had still doubted Qin Yu's talent for learning ninjutsu.

The talent he was showing now went beyond instantly learning the Rasengan.

Minato had thought its shape transformation had already been honed to the utmost, but Qin Yu had not only raised it to another level.

He had even combined it with nature transformation!

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Minato Namikaze would never have believed it.

"Lord Minato, Qin Yu is resting in the cave." Uzuki Cangwu paused.

He had never seen the man hailed as Konoha's most likely candidate for Fourth Hokage lose his composure like this.

"I'll be right back." Leaving those words behind, Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from the spot.

Inside the cave, Qin Yu had just stretched when his expression turned serious. He slightly curled the five fingers of his right hand, and chakra poured into them, instantly forming a Rasengan.

Without any flourish, he swung it straight behind him.

The moment Minato Namikaze appeared, he saw the Rasengan rapidly growing in his field of vision. His expression changed, and he immediately made another space-time leap, reappearing seven or eight meters away.

"I didn't realize you'd left so many Flying Thunder God Formulas behind." Qin Yu dispelled the Rasengan in his hand.

Minato Namikaze smiled helplessly. "You really are a freak, kid. Not only did you learn the Rasengan, you honed its shape transformation even further and combined it with nature transformation, too."

"Want to learn?" Qin Yu asked with a playful smile.

Minato Namikaze shook his head. "Forget it. I've been trying to figure it out on my own for so long, and I still haven't managed to hone the Rasengan's shape to perfection. It seems it suits you better."

"But I do know a few ordinary jutsu. Want to learn them?"

Qin Yu didn't refuse. Since he couldn't learn the Flying Thunder God Technique for now, mastering some other jutsu in the meantime wouldn't be a bad idea.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

The Wind Release chakra in Qin Yu's mouth suddenly swelled, then blasted out the next instant.

The gale surged like a tide, transforming into blade after blade of wind. With a fierce whistle, it sliced through the trees in its path in the blink of an eye.

It cleared the trees from the open ground in front of him.

"Freak. You learned Wind Release that quickly?" Minato Namikaze shook his head helplessly.

Back when he'd learned this jutsu, it had taken him three days.

Qin Yu had managed it in half a day.

It was simply too astonishing.

Of course, Qin Yu had deliberately made it look like it took half a day.

Otherwise, if Minato Namikaze knew he'd mastered the jutsu in an instant, he'd probably be so shocked his jaw would hit the floor.

"Ding-dong. Wind Release chakra nature detected in host. Would you like to instantly max it out?"

"Yes!" Qin Yu quickly gave the command.

Over the past three days, besides learning some basic jutsu, he had also studied various nature transformations.

Besides Wind Release, there were Fire Release and Water Release.

Qin Yu had already developed all kinds of Rasengan.

He'd simply kept them under wraps to avoid drawing too much attention.

"Congratulations, host. Wind Release chakra nature transformation has reached max level."

"Congratulations, host. Wind Style: Rasenshuriken has reached max level."

Hearing the system's familiar notifications, Qin Yu smiled to himself.

"Qin Yu, Lord Minato, Konoha's reinforcements have arrived." Uzuki Yugao glanced at Qin Yu.

A trace of worry flashed in her eyes.

"Konoha's reinforcements?" Qin Yu smiled warmly. "Did they specifically ask to see me?"

"Looks like they're not here on friendly terms."

Minato Namikaze's expression shifted.

He had stayed here for three days because he'd been assigned to guard the pass by Konoha.

After discovering Qin Yu, he could have left early.

But because of Qin Yu, he had decided to stay.

"Qin Yu, if anything happens, I'll step in," Minato Namikaze reminded him.

He couldn't risk guessing whether Konoha's High Command's ambiguous way of doing things would change how they treated Qin Yu.

After witnessing Qin Yu's astonishing ability to learn, Minato Namikaze had concluded that it must be due to some special Sharingan, one with powerful copying and adaptation abilities.

That was how Qin Yu could learn the jutsu Minato taught him in such a short time.

Three days earlier, he had secretly sent word of this to the Third Hokage.

Now that reinforcements had arrived, Minato Namikaze hoped all the more that they represented the Third Hokage's wishes.

Inside the cave, Gekko Kuro Yoru, Uchiha Fugaku, and a jōnin wearing an Anbu mask arrived with fifty Konoha Ninja.

After Minato Namikaze had sent back the intelligence, the Third Hokage immediately issued an emergency summons, recalling Gekko Kuro Yoru, one of the Eight Colors of Konoha.

He also summoned Uchiha Fugaku, who had been serving as captain of the Konoha Military Police Force.

The Third Hokage's goal was simple. Since Uchiha Qin Yu had awakened a special Sharingan, only Uchiha Fugaku, the current head of the Uchiha Clan, was qualified to examine it.

He would also be better able to understand the mysteries of the Straight Tomoe Sharingan.

Although this had been handled with great secrecy, the mobilization of such a large force—

and the fact that the pass had not been breached—

meant that Root, led by Danzo, had learned of the matter as well.

They intervened directly and dispatched Root Division ninja, too.

Officially, they were there to help guard the pass. Their real intentions, however, were anyone's guess.

"Uzuki Cangwu, where is Qin Yu? Why isn't he here?" a Root Division ninja suddenly asked.

Uchiha Fugaku hesitated. "Someone's already gone to inform him. I heard he's with Minato. Let's wait a little longer."

As the overall captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, Uchiha Fugaku had some authority.

But outside the Uchiha Clan, no one paid that authority much attention.

At least, the Anbu Root under Danzo had always been openly hostile toward the Uchiha Clan.

"Hmph. Uchiha Qin Yu's motives and identity are unclear. This pass is of the utmost importance, yet he left it without permission. He's disregarding Konoha's safety and neglecting his duty."

The Root Division ninja snorted. "What if he has some ulterior motive and defects to the enemy with Konoha's important intelligence? What then?"

The ninja present couldn't help but look alarmed.

For any village, loyalty was of the utmost importance.

Both the Second Hokage and the current higher-ups, including Danzo, had always regarded the Uchiha Clan as a clan with rebellion in its blood.

That was precisely why they had constantly pushed the Uchiha Clan aside and moved their district to the outskirts of Konoha.

It was all to guard against the Uchiha Clan's defection.