Black-Gold Shroud

Moonlight shone on the ground, stretching out Uchiha Ling's shadow.

The outline of the pitch-black shadow grew larger and larger.

Uchiha Ling's hair grew longer and longer. A large amount of Yang-nature chakra made it shoot out behind him, forming a thick mass over a meter long.

As it grew longer, it also became harder.

To test the results, he created a Shadow Clone.

The Shadow Clone looked at the original body and said, "Your hair's already past your waist. Do you have to lift it when you take a dump?"

"Can't I retract my hair when I take a dump? Quit talking nonsense and get to work."

The Shadow Clone reluctantly took the shuriken, stood at the doorway, and threw it at the original body's back.

When the shuriken struck the hair, it actually made the sound of metal clashing.

The hair was hard enough to block the kunai, and its thickness also absorbed the impact. After sinking four or five centimeters into the hair, it got stuck.

The defensive effect was not bad.

Jiraiya had mastered the Needle Jizo, using chakra to harden his silver hair and wrap it around his entire body.

By imitating the Needle Jizo, he could develop a defensive ninjutsu, especially one that protected the back. A ninja's back was their most vulnerable point.

As a ninja, even in death, one could not expose their back to the enemy.

Ordinary physical attacks and assassination attempts from behind could both be defended against with this ninjutsu.

After adjusting the direction of his hair, it slowly curled forward, forming a black cocoon.

The Shadow Clone threw another kunai and shuriken, but neither achieved anything.

The problem now was that he did not have enough chakra. His hair grew too slowly, and its hardness could not compare to Jiraiya's technique in the original work.

He named this defensive ninjutsu the Black-Gold Shroud Technique.

"Shadow Clone, go find a wooden board!"

Grumbling curses, the Shadow Clone went to work and found a stool with a broken leg in the storage room.

Uchiha Ling began trying other uses for the hair Multi-Size Technique.

He had the Shadow Clone place the wooden board half a meter in front of him.

"What are you doing? That's a wooden board, not a mirror."

Uchiha Ling ignored the Shadow Clone and tested another application.

When exchanging taijutsu blows with an enemy, he could use his hair as a concealed surprise attack, enlarging it at close range and stabbing it outward.

Thud!

A lock of hair atop Uchiha Ling's head gathered together, suddenly lengthened, and shot forward, piercing through the stool's wooden board.

If it could pierce through a board several centimeters thick, then an ordinary ninja's fragile throat would be no problem.

Other than a handful of freakish ninja, ninja were all glass cannons. This single strike was enough to threaten an enemy's life.

It was extremely concealed and could be used for sneak attacks.

He named this technique the Black-Gold Pierce Technique.

The initial test had produced good results.

What remained was to train over a long period, turning defense and offense into instinct and increasing the speed so it could be used in actual combat.

As for enlarging other parts of his body... ahem, he would think about that later.

On the first day of vacation, when Uchiha Ling arrived at the training ground at noon, he saw two girls sparring.

Kurenai Yuhi was suppressing Rin Nohara.

After fighting for a while, Kurenai Yuhi became increasingly anxious. "Rin, your movements lack force. Uchiha Ling said it himself—ninja battles aren't child's play. Put some strength into it!"

Rin Nohara also envied Kurenai Yuhi's increasingly fierce taijutsu, but her punches and kicks were weak and soft. She did not know why.

"Kurenai!" Uchiha Ling said. "Let me handle it. I'll give Rin Nohara some special training."

As if she had seen a savior, Kurenai Yuhi hurriedly told Rin, "Rin, train with him. He changed my taijutsu style in just a month, and it's much more suited for combat."

Uchiha Ling walked onto the training ground and stared at Rin Nohara.

"Rin Nohara, I know you're a gentle girl. But the enemy won't go easy on you just because you're gentle. Spar with me with the resolve to kill me."

Rin Nohara nodded and threw a punch straight at Uchiha Ling's chest.

Thump.

Her punch hit Uchiha Ling squarely in the chest. Rin Nohara looked confused and raised her head to look into his eyes.

"What was that? Are you massaging my pecs? If a mosquito landed on my chest, you probably couldn't even kill the mosquito."

Uchiha Ling performed an over-the-shoulder throw, flinging Rin Nohara far away.

Rin Nohara hit the ground and rolled several times in a miserable tumble before finally stopping.

When she climbed back up, her face was covered in dirt.

Kurenai Yuhi watched with heartache, but she herself had gone through the same thing.

"Rin Nohara! Put away that useless gentleness!

The most useless thing for a ninja is gentleness when weak. Even more useless is a soft heart when strong.

I heard you like Kakashi. Kakashi's father committed suicide, and Kakashi must now want to absolve his father's guilt by dying for the Hidden Leaf Village.

Kakashi is someone with suicidal or martyrdom tendencies.

The way you are now, if Kakashi gets beaten to death, you won't even have the ability to avenge him!"

Rin Nohara felt anxious. She had never considered this before. Could Kakashi really have suicidal tendencies?

"Show some ruthlessness! You're a ninja! You're not an apprentice arranging flowers in a flower shop!"

Rin Nohara charged at Uchiha Ling with all her might and swept her leg at his side.

Uchiha Ling easily caught Rin Nohara by the ankle.

"That's some improvement, but what comes next? Once someone grabs you, do you just give up resisting? Rin Nohara! Hit me like you've gone mad!"

Rin Nohara's supporting foot sprang up, and she turned her body sideways in midair, kicking at Uchiha Ling's cheek.

Uchiha Ling caught Rin Nohara's foot again.

"Where are you kicking? Are you trying to kick my face and disfigure me? Why didn't you kick my temple? Kick me like you're trying to kill me!"

Both her legs were in the air. As Rin Nohara fell, Uchiha Ling kicked her in the lower back, sending her flying before she crashed heavily onto the ground again.

"Come on, Rin Nohara! Fight me with the resolve to kill me! This isn't sparring—we're simulating the situation where you're avenging Kakashi!

With that dead-fish look of his, Kakashi clearly doesn't have long to live. Maybe you'll hear news of his death next month!

Come on, Rin Nohara!"

After half an hour of sparring, it could be said that Uchiha Ling had beaten Rin Nohara up one-sidedly.

The effect was extremely obvious. Rin Nohara's eyes now held the same sharpness as Kurenai Yuhi's.

"Rin Nohara! If you want to stand by Kakashi's side, then at the very least, you can't be dead weight or useless trash who needs others to take care of you!"

Kurenai Yuhi thought Uchiha Ling would let Rin Nohara rest, but Rin Nohara charged forward again.

Uchiha Ling was very satisfied. He could already see ferocity in Rin Nohara's eyes.

Rin Nohara had opened herself up. Every strike she made used all her strength, and every attack carried the intent to kill.

"That's more like it. You're a ninja. You're a weapon meant to kill. A weapon cannot be weak."

That afternoon, Obito Uchiha came rushing over to find Rin Nohara after doing who knew what good deeds.

When he saw the bruises on Rin Nohara's arms and legs and the dirt all over her body, he shouted anxiously, "Rin! What happened to you? Who beat you up like this?"

Rin Nohara rubbed the painful spot on her left arm and said, "Obito, I'm fine. I was only sparring with Uchiha Ling."

Obito glared furiously at Uchiha Ling.

But Uchiha Ling thought that Obito Uchiha had not snapped even now, so plotting against him would be a waste of time.

Madara Uchiha's methods were still more effective. He had Kakashi directly kill Rin Nohara, and Obito snapped instantly.

Days passed one by one. Every day, Uchiha Ling trained taijutsu during the day and practiced Yang-nature chakra at night.

One night, Uchiha Jing came to find him.

"Ling, come meet the clan head with me. The clan head wants to see you."