"Rumble!!!"
The Wind Style: Rasenshuriken Uchiha Chen had casually thrown moments earlier came crashing down like a meteor, pulverizing everything in its path. The boulders along its trajectory shattered instantly, leaving a small trench more than ten meters long in front of them.
Jiraiya:!!!
Jiraiya stiffly turned to look at Uchiha Chen, stammering,
"Chen, you... you've already mastered the Rasengan?"
"Mm-hmm. After listening to your explanation, Big Brother, I suddenly felt like everything had clicked. I tried gathering chakra to form a Rasengan, and I didn't expect it to actually work."
Uchiha Chen smiled, looking "embarrassed."
"No, that's not it. You haven't just mastered the Rasengan—you've even added the changes in nature and form of wind-natured chakra to it!"
At that thought, Jiraiya looked at Uchiha Chen with even greater disbelief.
"This... doesn't seem that difficult, though? Why are you so surprised, Big Brother?"
Uchiha Chen scratched his chin in confusion.
Jiraiya: ...
Right, it wasn't difficult. It wasn't difficult for a genius like you, anyway!
"I used to think that an exceptionally talented genius like Minato, who only came along once in a decade, would be hard to find again. But today, I realized I was wrong."
"Chen, when it comes to ninjutsu, you're just as gifted as Minato—no, you might even be more gifted!"
Jiraiya murmured to himself, then suddenly looked at Uchiha Chen, his eyes shining with undisguised admiration.
But faced with Jiraiya's praise, Uchiha Chen shook his head and said firmly,
"Big Brother Jiraiya, I'm no genius. I've only gotten this far thanks to my own hard work!"
In his heart, Uchiha Chen silently added: And the tiny, insignificant help from Max-Level Comprehension.
"Uh..."
Jiraiya stared at Uchiha Chen with a strange expression. Hard work?
He had lived at Uchiha Chen's house for several months, after all. During that time, Uchiha Chen practiced basic ninjutsu every day, and spent the rest of his time sitting in meditation and refining chakra. That didn't exactly seem like hard work, did it?
But seeing Uchiha Chen's serious expression, Jiraiya nodded. Fine, if you said it was hard work, then it was hard work. He believed you!
"Haha, Big Brother, let's eat our popsicles first. They're almost melted!"
Uchiha Chen knew Jiraiya wouldn't believe him, but didn't dwell on it. He laughed it off and handed him one of the popsicles.
Taking it, Jiraiya thought for a moment, then spoke seriously,
"I originally set aside three days for you to learn the Rasengan, but your talent has far exceeded my expectations. In that case, we can move up our plan."
Konoha, Uchiha Clan Compound, the Fourth Elder Uchiha Sanhe's residence,
Inside a secret room,
The Fourth Elder, Uchiha Sanhe, sat in the main seat with his eyes closed, resting.
Below him, a member of the Uchiha clan knelt on one knee and reported expressionlessly,
"Fourth Elder, Uchiha Chen and Jiraiya have split up!"
The Uchiha clan member was named Uchiha Hengxing. His strength was at the Chunin level, but thanks to his exceptional tracking skills, he had risen to Special Jonin.
Ever since Uchiha Sanhe had been humiliated at Uchiha Chen's house several months ago, he had returned to his residence and ordered Uchiha Hengxing to watch Uchiha Chen, waiting for an opportunity.
But Uchiha Sanhe hadn't expected Jiraiya to move into Uchiha Chen's home—and stay there for several months!
With Jiraiya there, Uchiha Sanhe naturally didn't dare act rashly.
Just as Uchiha Sanhe was losing patience and even considering giving up, Uchiha Hengxing brought him some good news.
Jiraiya and Uchiha Chen had gone on a mission!
Hearing the good news from Uchiha Hengxing, Uchiha Sanhe suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze brightening with excitement.
"Excellent! Excellent!"
"I thought you'd cling to Jiraiya forever, Uchiha Chen. Now that you're alone, don't blame this old man for showing no mercy. Hahaha!"
"I thought I'd be able to ride on someone else's coattails. Turns out I still have to rely on myself!"
Uchiha Chen muttered as he ambled in a certain direction. Anyone who didn't know better would've thought he was out sightseeing.
Uchiha Chen had originally thought his mission with Jiraiya would simply involve gathering information about the movements of Sunagakure's main force. He never imagined that Jiraiya would infiltrate enemy territory.
As for him, he'd been assigned to investigate the movements of Sunagakure's vanguard.
"At this pace, I'll have to hurry if I want to cross the Land of Fire's border!"
Uchiha Chen suddenly sped up, shooting forward like a cannonball.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh, whoosh!!!"
After traveling for who knew how long, several sharp whistles suddenly came from ahead.
Uchiha Chen frowned and instantly activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. He clearly saw more than ten Kunai with Explosive Tags attached flying toward him.
"Damn, more than ten Explosive Tags. They're really trying to kill me!"
But the Explosive Tags had already detonated!
"Rumble!!!"
A series of thunderous explosions rang out. Rocks flew everywhere, and several trees snapped in half and crashed to the ground.
After the explosion, five mysterious figures in black cloaks and animal masks appeared in unison. They stared at the wreckage and the smoke billowing upward, strange laughter escaping from behind their masks.
"So this is the disciple the Sannin chose? He doesn't seem like much!"
"Heh, looks like Jiraiya and Tsunade can misjudge people too."
"Hahaha, I can't believe this mission was so easy to complete."
"Let's go back and claim our reward!"
With that, the five turned around to leave.
"Oh? You're leaving already? Isn't this mission of yours a little too sloppy?"
Just then, Uchiha Chen's lazy voice suddenly rang out.
The five stiffened and slowly turned toward the sound. They saw Uchiha Chen leaning casually against the trunk of a towering tree, grinning as if he were enjoying a show.
The five stared in astonishment at the center of the explosion, where a charred wooden post lay in the rubble.
"A Substitution Technique?"
"When did he use it? How did I not notice?"
The Tiger Mask Man standing in the middle murmured in disbelief.
"Heh. If you could've noticed that, how would I ever survive in this world?"
Uchiha Chen scoffed and gave the Tiger Mask Man a disdainful look.
Though Uchiha Chen had openly ignored him, the Masked Man's face was hidden. But his trembling body made it clear he was furious!
At the same time, a flash of red flickered in his eyes. Though his mask concealed them, Uchiha Chen still noticed!