Playing Shogi

Watching Yin Xiang's retreating figure, Sasuke's eyes held an unreadable emotion. He thought of the way Yin Xiang had looked at Naruto just now, so tenderly, just like that man had once looked at him.

"Have you still not found that Sound Ninja, even after all this time?" Yin Xiang asked Shikaku.

"No, not a single clue. I'm not going on a mission today. Come over to my place and play shogi."

"...Shogi again?" Yin Xiang sighed. He and Shikaku had always been evenly matched, trading wins and losses, which had made Shikaku want to play with him often.

"Haha, you're the only person who can give me a real challenge at shogi. I'm starting to wonder if your brains are every bit as sharp as those of us in the Nara Clan."

"My brains are sharp? If they were, wouldn't it be embarrassing that I've spent almost a year studying your secret technique and still haven't figured it out?" Yin Xiang said as they walked.

"It's a secret technique, after all. If you could crack it so easily, would it still be a secret?"

"I thought I'd made some progress a year ago, but that move ended up pulling my shadow off the ground. It became a real shadow clone, all black and everything." Yin Xiang pursed his lips. A year ago, he'd covered his shadow with chakra, thinking he was close to success.

But the further he got, the stranger things became. His shadow had actually stood up from the ground, and he could control it with his thoughts. It had startled him back then.

"Isn't that a good thing, though? You didn't learn the Shadow Manipulation Technique, but you still created an A-rank jutsu, the Shadow Secret Technique. Only you and Kakashi could create your own jutsu at thirteen."

"Your Shadow Secret Technique can even let you switch places with your shadow. It's incredibly powerful."

"But switching places isn't much use to me when I know the Flying Thunder God." Yin Xiang's Shadow Secret Technique was a lot like Madara's Limbo. The only difference was that Madara's shadows couldn't be seen, while Yin Xiang's could. Yin Xiang couldn't understand how he'd created a jutsu like that; it had just happened by chance.

"So just teach me your Shadow Manipulation Technique! I'm your student, Shikaku Nara, and I can't even use the Shadow Manipulation Technique. That wouldn't look good if people found out."

"Don't try to change the subject. A teacher is a teacher, and a secret technique is a secret technique. I can't pass on the Nara Clan's secret techniques to you," Shikaku said with a smile. They soon arrived at his home, sat on the veranda, and began playing shogi.

As for Yin Xiang's current strength, he was about as strong as a Chunin. With the element of surprise from the Flying Thunder God, he could just barely reach jonin level. The Flying Thunder God was fast, but anyone who became a jonin was no pushover. They'd only fall for it once, at most—and that was Yin Xiang's version of the Flying Thunder God.

It would be different if the user were Second Hokage Tobirama Senju or Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze. Izuna Uchiha and the Masked Man were examples: one had died outright, and the other had his arm broken.

But Yin Xiang couldn't do that yet.

"Where's Shikamaru? He's not home today?" Yin Xiang asked Shikaku. He sometimes ran into Shikamaru when he visited.

"He has to meet up with the others today, too. Asuma's taking the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho." Shikaku set up the board, ready to begin.

"You may not know this, but your reputation as a genius has already spread."

"Huh? Since when? How come I didn't know?" Yin Xiang scratched his head. He really hadn't heard.

"Master of the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God and Rasengan, learns Wind and Lightning Ninjutsu at a glance, creates his own A-rank jutsu—the genius ninja, Namikaze Yin Xiang." Shikaku repeated what people were saying.

"...I really haven't heard that." How could people be talking about him without him knowing? He couldn't even enjoy the gossip about himself.

"Anyway, I'm honored to be your teacher. You have a bright future ahead of you." Shikaku laughed, and they started their game.

"Being famous just brings more trouble," Yin Xiang sighed. "I learned the Flying Thunder God to protect myself. I pick up Wind and Lightning Ninjutsu quickly because of my bloodline. Creating my own jutsu was an accident. How does that make me a genius?"

"I like how you don't let it go to your head. You've been studying Sealing Jutsu lately, haven't you? How's that going?"

"Not well. It's all scribbles to me. I can't make sense of a single symbol," Yin Xiang said, shaking his head.

"I see... As for Sealing Jutsu, Kakashi can use the Evil Sealing Method. If you want to find someone else who's good at it, there's the Third Hokage." Shikaku tried to think of a solution for Yin Xiang.

"Yeah, I'm planning to ask the Third Hokage for help with Sealing Jutsu. I have scrolls for the Five Elements Seal, the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, Adamantine Sealing Chains, and the Fire Sealing Method. They're all powerful sealing techniques, and my mother left them to me."

"Those four sealing techniques are things people would kill to get their hands on. If you want to master them, you'll have to ask the Third Hokage. But, Yin Xiang..." Shikaku suddenly looked at him very seriously. He rarely wore such a grave expression.

"Never learn the Dead Demon Consuming Seal."

"I know." Yin Xiang nodded, a trace of sorrow in his eyes.

Seeing him like that, Shikaku felt a pang in his heart. The truth was, Yin Xiang had no talent for Sealing Jutsu, but he'd kept studying it diligently. He wanted to master it not only because his mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the greatest user of Sealing Jutsu in Konoha, but also because...

He didn't want to disgrace her.

"Check."

Yin Xiang placed a piece, blocking Shikaku's king.

"Huh?" Shikaku blinked, then gave a wry smile. He hadn't even noticed he'd lost to the kid again.

Shikaku helplessly reset the pieces, then set down his king, also called the jade.

"Yin Xiang, do you know what the jade represents?" Shikaku asked.

"The jade?" Yin Xiang furrowed his brow. Asuma had once asked Shikamaru that question. It wasn't until Asuma died that Shikamaru understood what the jade represented.

"If playing shogi is my mission today, then the jade is the person I have to protect." Yin Xiang's answer made Shikaku pause in surprise.

"What if it's not a mission?"

"If it's not a mission... then the jade is whatever I want to protect. If I lose my jade, I lose everything."