The Disaster Descends Upon the Land of Whirlpools

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

During these two weeks, Shin had gained a great deal, having successfully mastered the Adamantine Sealing Chains.

Because Shin had copied the Shadow Clone Technique, he could split into over a dozen shadow clones to conduct research at once; thus, even without a teacher, he had managed to master it on his own.

"Hah! Rasengan!"

Shin stared at the large tree before him, the high-speed rotating sphere of chakra in his palm thrusting toward the trunk.

BOOM!

Wood chips sprayed everywhere, and the tree, which was too wide for one person to wrap their arms around, was pierced clean through by a gaping hole.

Furthermore, the interior of the hole was etched with spiral patterns—the marks left behind by the friction of the rotating chakra sphere.

If this hit a person, it would surely punch right through them without issue.

Shin was extremely satisfied with the power of the Rasengan; it was truly worthy of being an A-rank ninjutsu.

Of course, the reason Shin knew the Rasengan was that he had researched it himself; knowing the principles behind it, it hadn't been very difficult to develop.

This was the fruit of Shin's cultivation over the past half-month: not only had he learned the Adamantine Sealing Chains, but he had also successfully researched the Rasengan before it had even been officially created.

"A tree takes decades to grow this big, and you just punched a hole right through it," Kushina said, looking at the poor, mangled tree.

"Hey, Kushina, do you still want to learn the Rasengan from me or not?"

"Of course I do! Teach me, hurry!" Kushina stood up, ran to Shin's side, and tugged on his arm.

"Oh my, my shoulders are feeling a bit sore."

Shin sat down and fixed his gaze on Kushina.

Kushina knew exactly what he meant; she walked over reluctantly and began to knead his shoulders.

"Not bad, though the pressure is a bit light. A little more force would be better," Shin said, squinting his eyes in comfort.

Kushina gritted her teeth, but for the sake of learning the hand-signless ninjutsu known as the Rasengan, she endured it.

"It's getting late, and it's time for lunch. Let's head back first; I'll teach you more this afternoon."

Shin squinted at the bright sun in the sky and spoke to Kushina.

Although she was eager to learn the Rasengan right now, eating was important, so they decided to have lunch first.

After returning and finishing their meal, Shin began to instruct Kushina in the Rasengan, though it was impossible to teach her everything in just half a day.

"You've already managed to pop the water balloon, so you could say you've completed the second stage. I reckon it won't take more than a few days for you to master the Rasengan."

Seeing that the sky had grown dark, Shin told Kushina to stop and continue practicing tomorrow.

The Rasengan consisted of four stages. The first stage was simple: gathering chakra in the palm of one's hand.

The second stage was to release a stable, continuous flow of chakra—for example, holding a water-filled balloon in one's hand and releasing chakra to make the water inside move erratically until the balloon burst.

The third stage was the rubber ball exercise: maintaining the release of chakra while solidifying it until one could burst the ball.

By the third stage, the Rasengan could already cause damage, though the destructive power was still limited.

The final stage was to combine everything that came before: gathering high-density chakra in the palm, maintaining a continuous, stable release, and finally condensing the chakra into a solid form. Once that was achieved, the ninjutsu was mastered.

After dinner, Kushina went to rest, and Shin returned to his own room.

I don't know why, but I have a lingering sense of unease. Shin looked out the window; the sky was exceptionally gloomy—not only was the moon invisible, but not a single star could be seen.

I can't sleep. I might as well refine my chakra.

Time slipped away bit by bit. Around one in the morning, Shin stopped; feeling drowsy, he was just about to sleep when a sudden noise jolted him awake.

Shin immediately looked out the window and saw flames soaring into the sky in the direction of the Uzumaki Clan Grounds.

Could it be?

Shin's sleepiness vanished instantly, and he rushed to Kushina's room.

"Kushina, wake up, hurry!" Shin shook her awake.

"Shin, what are you doing? I was sleeping so soundly, why did you wake me up?" Kushina looked at Shin with annoyance.

"Stop sleeping, something terrible has happened."

Shin tapped Kushina on the forehead to snap her out of it; this was no time for jokes.

If Shin's guess was correct, the disaster of the Land of Whirlpools had arrived. He couldn't change the outcome of this catastrophe; he only wanted to protect himself and Kushina.

"What happened?" Seeing the serious look on Shin's face, Kushina became alert.

Shin pointed out the window. Kushina looked toward the horizon and also saw the towering flames rising from the clan grounds.

"Ah, the Uzumaki Clan Grounds are on fire."

"It's not as simple as a fire; we're being invaded. Listen to those sounds—that explosion must be from explosive tags."

"Who would dare invade our Uzumaki Clan?"

"Now is not the time to discuss this. Come with me."

Shin had Kushina get dressed and gather her important belongings, preparing to take her away from their home.

Even though they were far from the center of the Uzumaki Clan Grounds, there was no telling if it was still safe.

"Captain, this is the outskirts of the Uzumaki Clan Grounds, right? Why is there a house here?"

Just as they stepped out the door, Shin saw several figures dressed in ninja attire with masks on their faces, and his expression sank.

Kushina gripped Shin's arm, looking nervous.

"Well, well, I didn't expect to actually catch two stragglers, though they're just brats."

A ninja wearing a raccoon mask looked at Shin and Kushina with a mocking gaze.

How is my luck this bad?

This place was clearly remote, yet they still ran into enemies.

In truth, the five ninjas were also surprised. They had been ordered to blockade the perimeter of the Uzumaki Clan Grounds to prevent anyone from escaping, and they hadn't expected to run into two children.

Seeing their red hair, they were definitely from the Uzumaki Clan, and since they were, they couldn't be let go.

"Enough talk, kill them."

The leader of the five-man squad commanded the other four.

This squad was led by a Jonin, with the other four being elite Chunin.

Seeing them prepare to strike, Shin instantly pulled three shuriken from his ninja pouch and threw them at the lead Jonin.

While the Jonin dodged, Shin moved, his body instantly appearing before one of the elite Chunin before he leaped up and slammed a fist into the man's neck.

The speed was so fast that the elite Chunin couldn't even react; the punch snapped his neck instantly.

The unlucky fellow began foaming blood from his mouth, and within a single second, he had breathed his last.

Killing the elite Chunin hadn't even taken two seconds, and after doing so, Shin immediately retreated to Kushina's side.

"Run."

Shin scooped Kushina up and fled toward the distant forest.

"Damn it, chase them down!"

The lead Jonin roared in shame and anger. To have a subordinate killed by a five-year-old child and then watch them escape right in front of him was an utter humiliation.

The other three snapped out of their shock; Shin's decisive killing of their comrade had truly stunned them.

A five-year-old child killing an elite Chunin—even in the brutal Warring States period, such a thing was unheard of.