Shadow Clone

Time slowly passed.

Before he knew it, night had completely fallen.

Yin Jie activated his Sharingan and continued honing his shuriken-throwing technique beneath the moonlight.

The polished, gleaming-black kunai were like mirrors, reflecting the handsome, delicate features of the young Uchiha beneath the faint moonlight.

Drawing shuriken one after another from the ninja tool pouches strapped to his thighs, Yin Jie suddenly erupted with chakra. His hands flashed like a raging storm, and in an instant, he threw every shuriken.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Crisp collisions rang out in the air almost simultaneously as a metal storm descended beneath the night sky.

This was followed by a series of dull thuds as they struck their targets.

Not one missed!

Every single one hit!

And all of them struck the bullseye!

A hint of relief and satisfaction flashed through Yin Jie's scarlet eyes.

This was the first time he had "perfectly" hit every target.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

At that moment, applause came from atop the courtyard wall in the distance, followed by the faint sound of someone landing.

Hearing it, a trace of disdain and helplessness passed through Yin Jie's eyes.

He did not even need to look to know that it had to be Uchiha Fugaku.

Among all the clansmen close enough to Yin Jie to casually visit one another, only Uchiha Fugaku had somehow developed such a bad habit.

Still, Yin Jie could understand. In memories from his previous life, people like Jiraiya and Hatake Kakashi were all the sort who "didn't like using the front door."

Besides, during the past few months in the village, he had often seen ninja hopping across rooftops.

So he could not be bothered to say anything more. As long as Uchiha Fugaku was happy, that was enough.

After all, Yashiro had complained about Fugaku's behavior before, yet Fugaku had never shown the slightest intention of changing.

However.

When Yin Jie shifted his gaze toward the direction Fugaku's voice had come from, surprise appeared in his eyes, which had only just faded from scarlet.

Because he saw Uchiha Mikoto.

This was the first time Yin Jie had seen Uchiha Mikoto go out with Fugaku at night.

Even if it was only a visit.

But Fugaku's home was right next to Yin Jie's.

Which made things obvious: Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto were no longer visiting each other's homes as before. They had officially begun living together.

Yin Jie understood, but he merely raised an eyebrow at Fugaku before ignoring him. He walked right past him and headed straight for Uchiha Mikoto, who was following behind.

He was also very close to Mikoto.

After all, compared to a rough man like Fugaku, who would refuse the chance to get close to and build a good relationship with a gentle, adorable, beautiful, and graceful Uchiha big sister like Mikoto?

Of course, Yin Jie had absolutely no other intentions.

Although his mental age was not merely six like his appearance suggested, one reason was that a friend's wife was not to be trifled with. Another was that Uchiha Mikoto simply was not his type.

So they were merely very close friends.

"Big Sister Mikoto!"

Yin Jie's tone rose as he openly displayed his delight, wiggling his eyebrows at Uchiha Mikoto.

Uchiha Mikoto immediately understood. Amused, she played along with him.

She bent down and gave Yin Jie a gentle hug, then pulled him in front of her and affectionately ruffled his hair.

What a touching display of sibling affection!

"Hey! What's with this little brother?"

Uchiha Fugaku, whom Yin Jie had deliberately ignored, immediately stiffened, looking rather unhappy.

Seeing Yin Jie and his girlfriend—or rather, fiancée—leave him aside as they interacted so intimately made him even more unhappy. A faint sourness even rose in his heart.

After all, he and Uchiha Mikoto had always treated each other with respectful courtesy. They had almost never been so "inseparable."

Of course, he knew it was his own problem. He was not someone who knew how to be romantic. In fact, most Uchiha men were like that—straightforward to the extreme.

So Fugaku merely sighed inwardly and shot Yin Jie a helpless glare.

He had realized that this was Yin Jie's little retaliation for not using the front door.

But what ill intentions could a six-year-old child possibly have, even if he did seem somewhat mature for his age?

So he was not going to be harsh with Yin Jie.

Yin Jie also knew when to stop. The moment he saw Fugaku's stiff expression and the faint signs that his defenses had cracked, he smoothly stepped over to Fugaku and took the initiative to greet him.

"Big Brother Fugaku, let's go inside and talk!"

"Come on, Big Sister Mikoto!"

Yin Jie led Fugaku and Mikoto away from the training ground and back into the house.

After turning on the lights, Fugaku made his way straight to the sofa in Yin Jie's living room and sprawled across it.

He was very familiar with the place. After all, he and Yashiro were neighbors and visited each other often. Even after Yin Jie moved in and changed much of the original layout, Fugaku had still come by plenty of times.

Uchiha Mikoto, meanwhile, curiously wandered around the house. Although she and Yin Jie were close, this was her first visit to his home.

After casually chatting with Yin Jie for a while about life at the Ninja Academy, Fugaku changed the subject and brought up the real reason he had come so late at night.

He took a scroll from his robe and handed it to Yin Jie.

"This is..."

After opening the scroll and seeing the characters upon it, still carrying a faint scent of ink, surprise and delight appeared on Yin Jie's face.

This was truly like being offered tea when thirsty, or being handed a pillow when sleepy.

Hadn't he just been thinking about this ninjutsu, which could not only free him from the boring life of the Ninja Academy but also serve as an excellent "training cheat"?

Well! Here it was!

"Thank you, Big Brother Fugaku!"

So his handsome Big Brother Fugaku had come to solve his urgent problem!

He really had been neglectful!

That was right. What Fugaku had brought Yin Jie was the ninjutsu scroll for the Shadow Clone Technique. Judging by the scent of fresh ink, it had clearly been made only recently.

Fugaku waved his hand, telling Yin Jie not to stand on ceremony. This was simply what he ought to do.

After all, geniuses needed to be trained like geniuses.

Since Yin Jie had already mastered the basic three techniques required for graduation from the Ninja Academy—the Substitution Technique, Transformation Technique, and Clone Technique—it was only natural for him to learn the B-rank ninjutsu known as the Shadow Clone Technique, which could create tangible clones.