"Wah... wah... I can't face Kakashi anymore. What use is any of this to me now?!"
Rin Nohara immediately threw the medical materials she had treasured so dearly onto the ground, venting her frustration.
As Rin descended into hysterics, she shoved the pork onto the ground too and tore at it with both hands, as if she wanted to rip it apart.
Unfortunately, the pork's skin was tough, and no matter how long Rin tugged at it, she couldn't tear it apart.
She ended up half-kneeling on the ground, covering her face as she sobbed.
Shimizu simply watched in silence.
Everyone had different capacities for acceptance and endurance.
Kurenai Yuhi had stayed silent, while Rin Nohara had shouted and screamed.
It was all understandable, so Shimizu waited for Rin to calm down.
Ten minutes, half an hour, an hour, two hours...
As Rin continued to sob without pause, Shimizu's patience was nearly exhausted.
He had wasted two hours of training time keeping Rin company, and she was still being so unreasonable.
"What are you crying for?"
Shimizu gripped Rin's chin and looked down at her tear-swollen eyes.
Rin said nothing, only glaring at Shimizu with resentment.
"I only touched you for a little while. You're still chaste. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, who else will find out?"
"Don't worry. When you and Kakashi get together, he won't know a thing."
Only after hearing that did Rin's sobs gradually quiet down.
Shimizu was right. She was still chaste, so she hadn't betrayed Kakashi.
Besides, she had done all of this for Kakashi.
"There was nothing I could do... Right... I had no choice..."
Rin closed her eyes, not wanting to look at Shimizu's face and let her anger rise again.
She had done all this for Kakashi. If he knew, he would understand... wouldn't he?
"In a week, I'll come again. But if you go any further and do anything inappropriate to me, I'll drag you down with me, even if it costs me my life."
Rin shot Shimizu a cold, emotionless glance. After straightening her rumpled clothes and picking up the medical materials Shimizu had arranged, she left the Shimizu Household.
"So I just can't go any further?"
Shimizu couldn't help laughing.
Wasn't Rin being rather cooperative?
She was treating it all as a transaction.
She provided a few services, and Shimizu gave her the materials.
In other words, as long as he didn't go any further, it was fine.
He was already looking forward to seeing Rin again next week. What would she be like then?
Once he had completely won Rin over, he would not only have an outlet for his urges, but also a capable assistant.
Then he could research Medical Ninjutsu with Rin and find a way to win Tsunade over. Just imagining it was enough to see how rapidly Medical Ninjutsu would advance, perhaps even allowing him to infer the bigger picture from a single detail.
He might even be able to work backward from Medical Ninjutsu and master the secrets of Yang Release.
After all, Medical Ninjutsu was entirely based on Yang Release. And Six Paths Naruto, who possessed Yang Power, had been able to save Might Guy when he was on the verge of death and even create an eyeball for Kakashi with his own hands.
It was truly the power to bring the dead back to life and grow flesh on bones—no different from the power of a creator!
For the next two days, Shimizu stayed home and practiced the Rasengan.
Buzz!
A sharp, cutting sound kept coming from Shimizu's palm.
A deep blue sphere formed into a perfect circle, giving off a faint glow.
"Rasengan."
Shimizu struck a wooden post. His attack went through it as smoothly as a knife through tofu, sending splinters flying and instantly punching a hole in it.
"Not bad."
Shimizu nodded with satisfaction.
He had mastered the Rasengan in very little time.
He was learning from the shoulders of giants, and the training method had been laid out clearly for him. It would have been strange if Shimizu still couldn't learn it.
Shimizu's natural aptitude was already good. On top of that, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan constantly released special chakra into his body, rapidly bringing his physical abilities closer to those of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
That made Shimizu's ability to learn even stronger.
The Sharingan was a mirror of the heart. Whenever a Sharingan wielder's mental power grew, their body quickly caught up with it.
That was the conclusion reached by Tobirama Senju, the Senju Clan's research expert, after spending his life fighting the Uchiha.
With his god's-eye view, Shimizu agreed with that explanation.
The Sharingan Kekkei Genkai was close to perfect in this world. Even the official databooks acknowledged the Uchiha Clan as possessing the finest Kekkei Genkai.
Awakening a One-Tomoe Sharingan granted powerful abilities such as observation, copying, and hypnosis. As the number of Tomoe increased, those abilities grew stronger still.
It was a multipurpose eye, and it also increased its wielder's chakra reserves.
The Uchiha Clan already had abundant chakra. They only seemed to have less in comparison to the Uzumaki and Senju Clans.
Other clans, like the Sarutobi, Aburame, and Inuzuka Clans, weren't even fit to carry the Uchiha's shoes.
Upon awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, its wielder would also gain two unique ocular techniques and be able to fight in the form of Susanoo.
"Things should be a lot safer on missions now."
After some time, Shimizu's chakra reserves had grown again, thanks to his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
He now had as much chakra as an ordinary elite jonin—about as much as Kakashi had in the first part of the story.
Fights between ninjas were always battles to the death.
Even clashes between opponents of equal skill, or those with only a slight difference in strength, involved a great deal of luck.
They were all glass cannons. One hit was enough to kill.
Now Shimizu had mastered the Body Flicker Technique and learned the Rasengan.
He was at least a younger, less experienced version of Minato Namikaze.
His odds of surviving missions and battles against other ninjas had improved immensely.
Shimizu removed the wooden post and set it aside, then sat down on a small chair in the yard to consider what to do next.
"Though relying on speed as a shortcut has improved my chances, I still need to strengthen my body. I need to excel at something, whether it's defense or recovery."
Shimizu had no intention of using Susanoo to increase his defenses. For one thing, he had no idea how long it would take to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Even setting that aside, Susanoo was an active ability, which made it rather impractical.
He could actively dodge attacks with the Body Flicker Technique, with much the same result.
What Shimizu needed was a passive ability, one that could help him evade sneak attacks.
"Lightning chakra..."
Shimizu stroked his chin, thinking of the Raikage's signature technique.
A B-rank jutsu—the Lightning Release Chakra Mode!
It could strengthen the body, permanently enhancing its physical toughness.
Its strongest user was the Third Raikage.
His powerful body could wrestle with the Eight-Tails, fighting until both of them were exhausted.
Shimizu had thought about this technique long ago and carefully searched through the jutsu taught by the Uchiha Clan.
Unfortunately, the best he had found were jutsu that strengthened specific areas or activated cells.
None could provide the full-body enhancement of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Besides, even if there were one, it wouldn't be something everyone could learn.
Unless someone had exceptional talent, they would need to be at least an elite jonin to master it.
It might look like a mere B-rank technique, but it came with plenty of requirements.
Before you continue