Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Shin had made great progress during that time. He had mastered the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Since Shin had copied the Shadow Clone Technique, he could create more than a dozen clones at once to study it. So even without anyone to teach him, he had managed to master it on his own.
"Here I go! Rasengan!"
Shin looked at the large tree in front of him and thrust the rapidly spinning sphere of chakra in his hand toward it.
Bang!
Tiny wood chips flew everywhere. A hole had been punched right through the tree, so large that even a person couldn't wrap their arms around it.
The hole also had a spiral pattern, left behind by the friction of the spinning chakra sphere.
"If I hit someone with that, I could probably punch right through them."
Shin was very satisfied with the Rasengan's power. It certainly lived up to its reputation as an A-rank technique.
Of course, Shin had figured out the Rasengan himself. Since he knew how it worked, it hadn't been too difficult to develop.
That was what he'd accomplished during the past half month. He hadn't only learned the Adamantine Sealing Chains; he'd also developed the Rasengan before anyone else had invented it.
"A tree this big must have taken decades to grow. And now you've gone and punched a hole through it." Kushina looked at the poor tree.
"Hey, Kushina, do you still want me to teach you the Rasengan?"
"Of course I do! Hurry up and teach me." Kushina jumped to her feet, ran over to Shin, and grabbed his arm.
"Ow, my shoulder's a little sore."
Shin sat down and looked at Kushina.
Kushina knew exactly what he meant. Reluctantly, she came over and started massaging his shoulders.
"Not bad, but you're a little too gentle. You'd do better to put more strength into it," Shin said comfortably, eyes narrowed.
Kushina gritted her teeth. But she wanted to learn this hand-sign-free technique, so she put up with it.
"It's getting late, and it's lunchtime. Let's head back. I'll teach you more this afternoon."
Shin squinted up at the bright sun and spoke to Kushina.
She really wanted to start learning the Rasengan right away, but eating was important. They could talk about it after lunch.
After they returned and ate, Shin began teaching Kushina the Rasengan. But she couldn't master it in just half a day.
She could already burst a water balloon, which meant she'd completed the second stage. She'd probably learn the Rasengan in just a few more days.
Seeing that the sky was already growing dark, Shin told Kushina to stop and continue practicing the next day.
The Rasengan had four stages. The first was simple: gather chakra in the palm of your hand.
The second stage was maintaining a steady flow of chakra. For example, you put a water balloon in your hand and release chakra, making the water inside move chaotically until the balloon bursts.
The third stage involved practicing with a rubber ball. You had to keep releasing chakra
and give it a tangible form until you could burst the ball.
At the third stage, the Rasengan could already cause damage, though not much.
The final stage was to combine everything from the previous stages: gather high-density chakra in your hand, keep releasing it and maintain its shape, then condense the chakra until it became tangible. Once you could do that, you'd mastered the technique.
After dinner, Kushina went to rest, and Shin returned to his room.
"I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling." Shin gazed out the window. The sky was unusually gloomy. There wasn't a single star, let alone the moon.
"I can't sleep. I might as well refine my chakra."
Time passed. A little after one in the morning, Shin stopped. He was starting to feel sleepy and was just about to go to bed when a loud noise jolted him awake.
Shin immediately looked out the window. A blaze was raging over the Uzumaki Clan Grounds.
"Could it be...?"
His sleepiness vanished. He hurried to Kushina's room.
"Kushina, wake up!"
"Shin, what is it? I was sleeping so nicely. Why'd you wake me up?" Kushina looked at him unhappily.
"Stop sleeping. Something terrible has happened."
Shin tapped Kushina on the forehead to wake her up. This was no time for jokes.
If Shin was right, disaster had struck the Land of Whirlpools. There was nothing he could do to change what was happening. All he wanted was to protect himself and Kushina.
"What happened?" Seeing how serious Shin looked, Kushina grew serious too.
Shin pointed out the window. Kushina looked and saw the blazing fire over the clan grounds.
"Ah! The clan grounds are on fire!"
"It's more than a fire. We're under attack. Listen to the explosions—they must be from Explosive Tags."
"Who would dare invade the Uzumaki Clan?"
"Now isn't the time to discuss that. Come with me."
Shin told Kushina to get dressed and gather her important belongings. He planned to take her and leave the house.
Although they were far from the clan grounds, there was no way to know whether it was safe.
"Captain, this is the outskirts of the Uzumaki Clan Grounds, right? Why is there a house out here?"
As soon as they stepped outside, Shin spotted several people dressed as ninja and wearing masks. His expression darkened.
Kushina grabbed Shin's arm, looking nervous.
"Well, look at that. We actually caught two stragglers. And they're just a couple of brats."
A ninja wearing a tanuki mask looked at Shin and Kushina mockingly.
"Just our luck."
The area was supposed to be secluded, and yet they'd still run into enemies.
The five ninja were surprised too. They'd been ordered to surround the area around the Uzumaki Clan Grounds and prevent anyone from escaping, but instead they'd run into two children.
With their red hair, they were obviously from the Uzumaki Clan. And if they were Uzumaki, they couldn't be allowed to escape.
"Enough talk. Kill them."
The Jonin leading the five-person squad gave the order to the others.
The squad consisted of one Jonin and four Elite Chunin.
Seeing them move to attack, Shin instantly pulled three shuriken from his Ninja Tool Pouch and threw them at the Jonin in front.
While the Jonin dodged, Shin sprang into action. He appeared in front of one of the Elite Chunin, then leaped up
and punched him in the neck.
He was so fast that the Elite Chunin couldn't react. Shin's punch snapped his neck.
The unlucky man coughed up blood. In just a second, he was dead.
It had taken Shin less than two seconds to kill the Elite Chunin. As soon as he'd done it, he retreated to Kushina's side.
"Run!"
Shin scooped Kushina up and fled toward the distant forest.
"Damn it! After them!" the Jonin in front roared in fury. A five-year-old had killed one of his men and escaped right under his nose. It was a humiliation beyond compare.
The other three snapped back to their senses. Shin's decisiveness in killing their comrade had truly shocked them.
A five-year-old had killed an Elite Chunin. Even in the brutal Warring States period, that was unheard of.
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