Clan Massacre

On a dark, windy, moonless night, the night of the Uchiha clan massacre finally arrived—and ahead of schedule. The Ninja Academy's second term had not even ended yet.

Compared to something as major as a clan massacre, a little prodigy from the Ninja Academy was far less likely to draw attention.

Lin Chuan could roughly guess that the old pot king was behind this. The old pot king was using public opinion to force the Uchiha into rebellion!

This gluttonous feast over the Sharingan would likely draw the scheming Shimura Danzō, the Uchiha nesting dolls, and Orochimaru, who was hiding near Konoha, all waiting for their chance to act.

Three major early-, mid-, and late-game bosses would all join this battle for the Sharingan. The Sharingan was a powder keg—whoever touched it would die.

That was also why he did not want to get involved with Yota. The night of the clan massacre was imminent, and Orochimaru had placed Yota near Konoha. Who knew whether Orochimaru would seize the chance to make a move?

Orochimaru and Danzo were practically wearing the same pair of pants. There was no way Orochimaru did not know about an event this major. After all, traitors would always leak information.

Yota was the child Naruto, Shikamaru, and the others had met in the forest. Naruto and Shikamaru's new friend could make it rain whenever he cried.

Naruto and the others had even invited Lin Chuan to play with them. They wanted him to go into the forest and meet their new friend Yota, but he declined on the grounds that he needed to train.

If he had guessed correctly, Yota was a failed product of Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation, abandoned in the forest near Konoha. His Kekkei Genkai was the ability to control the weather.

It looked like he had been abandoned, but who knew whether Orochimaru was secretly keeping an eye on that failed subject? In the anime, the children who played with Yota were basically all direct descendants of Konoha's major clans. Naturally, Orochimaru would not touch them.

After all, they came from clans with secret techniques. Grabbing their children would be troublesome once those clans came after him. Besides, Orochimaru was only interested in the Sharingan.

But Lin Chuan was different. If he were captured, only his adoptive parents would be heartbroken, Teacher Maruboshi Kosuke would worry, and Naruto's group would worry. No one else would care whether he lived or died. A genius who had yet to grow up was no genius at all, so he could not afford to be reckless.

Until he had the ability to protect himself, he did not intend to leave the village. After graduating from the Ninja Academy, he would leave the village to do missions with a Jonin leading the team. That would not be nearly as dangerous. That would be the right time to leave.

Fortunately, his home was on the left side of Hokage Rock, while the Uchiha clan was on the right. The two were farther apart than anything else. Even when the night of the clan massacre came, it would not affect his home.

In the backyard of the wooden house, he looked up at the full moon hanging high overhead. He was not training tonight for once, because the village had imposed a curfew. His adoptive father had even gotten off work early. They said some sort of counterespionage drill was being conducted.

When school ended that afternoon, he had unusually not skipped class. He had also seen Iruka tell Sasuke to stay after school. It really was the night of the clan massacre.

He would not train tonight. Giving himself a night to relax was not bad. After eating dinner early with his parents, he returned to his room and checked the Grind Panel from this period.

[Ninjutsu]

[Non-Elemental Ninjutsu]

[E-rank Ninjutsu: Transformation Technique (Genin: 1014/2000)]

[E-rank Ninjutsu: Clone Technique (Genin: 1013/2000)]

[E-rank Ninjutsu: Substitution Technique (Genin: 1017/2000)]

[D-rank Ninjutsu: Body Flicker Technique (Genin: 1412/2000)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone (Usable: 11/100)]

The Shadow Clone technique could finally be used to speed up his grinding. Unfortunately, after creating Shadow Clones, he did not have enough chakra left to train B-rank Water Release. He could only use them to practice C-rank Water Release or the Body Flicker Technique. For B-rank Water Release, only his main body could restore chakra and continue grinding.

[Ninjutsu]

[Water Release Ninjutsu]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Clone (Genin: 152/1000)]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Shock Wave (Genin: 143/1000)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Formation Wall (Usable: 17/100) (Two hand seals)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet (Usable: 19/100) (Six hand seals)]

Through the tireless grinding of his main body and Shadow Clones, the proficiency of all his Water Release techniques had risen. In the end, chakra still limited his grinding. He had to allocate his daily chakra carefully between different techniques. If only he had endless chakra. Becoming a jinchuriki actually did not sound too bad—at least he would never lack chakra.

His personal panel was still the same. Learning B-rank Water Release had not made him a Chunin, though his Water-nature chakra proficiency had broken through and become Genin...

[Life: 3 points]

[Bloodline: Background Character]

[Talent: Mediocre]

[Strength: Genin]

[Chakra Nature: (Water (Genin: 21%))]

[Throwing: (Kunai Throwing)] [Ninjutsu: (Non-Elemental Ninjutsu) (Water Release Ninjutsu)] [Taijutsu] [Genjutsu] [Other Functions]

It seemed ninja rank was judged by overall strength. To advance to Chunin, he would probably need to grind every aspect of his abilities up to Chunin level.

Still, his talent had risen a little. It seemed learning more ninjutsu helped increase talent.

[Talent: [Nin: 5+] Tai: 4+] Gen: 3+] Wis: 4+] Str: 3+] Spd: 4+] Sta: 3+] Seal: 4+] Total: 30]

Thirty points across the eight ninja attributes still had not taken him beyond Genin level. The twelve rookies in the Chunin Ninja Exams were basically all around thirty, though Neji's team was somewhat higher than the others.

The highest was Neji's forty-two points. Calling that Chunin strength would not be an exaggeration. Even Iruka only had forty-eight points, and Wisdom had raised his average score, since Iruka was a teacher and Wisdom was related to knowledge reserves.

After closing the Grind Panel, around eight or nine o'clock, he went up to the roof and looked toward the other side of Hokage Rock, in the direction of the Uchiha District. A dark barrier covered that area. No sounds or screams could escape it, only the low cries of crows.

"Caw, caw, caw—"

He gently raised his arm, and an unusually intelligent crow landed on it. He had raised this crow for over half a year. It had even learned how to refine chakra. He had taught more than a dozen crows, but only this one possessed chakra. It was more than qualified to serve as a summoning beast.

"Stay in your nest. Don't fly around tonight," Lin Chuan softly instructed the crow as he stroked its head. Then he turned, jumped into the backyard, entered the house, shut the door, washed up, and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be another new day.

Early the next morning, on his way to school, he heard a shocking piece of news: the Uchiha clan had been massacred. They said Uchiha Itachi had done it, and Itachi had been listed by Konoha as an S-rank rogue ninja.

When he arrived at school and entered the classroom, everyone was discussing it. Their gazes subtly gathered around Uchiha Sasuke's seat. If nothing unexpected happened, Uchiha Sasuke would not be coming to school. He would be in Konoha Hospital.

After being hit by one of Itachi's Tsukuyomi, even though Itachi had held back considerably, Uchiha Sasuke would still need to be bedridden for at least a month.

By now, Danzo had probably been stripped by that old Sarutobi bastard of his position as Root's leader. Still, those two old bastards were likely playing their usual game of promoting him openly while demoting him in secret.

Once that old Sarutobi bastard needed a black glove, he would definitely reactivate Danzo to do his dirty work. It was only a matter of time.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with Lin Chuan. He continued attending class and training as usual, carving wood with the Chakra Scalpel in the morning, then skipping class in the afternoon to return home and train.

Until that old schemer Shimura Danzō arrived. What was meant to come had finally come...