Bieshu Feifan received another sizable compensation payment.
At the same time, Uchiha Ba's family beat him up with their eyes again.
With a million in compensation in hand, Bieshu Feifan returned home in high spirits.
He was just about to open the door when a voice suddenly rang out:
"Bieshu Feifan, you left quite an impression on me."
Who was it?
When had they gotten here?
Bieshu Feifan hadn't noticed a thing.
When he had activated his Byakugan to scout the way earlier, he hadn't spotted anyone suspicious.
Yet in just that short span of time, someone had crept right up to him.
Bieshu Feifan was shocked. His first thought was of the inherently evil Uchiha.
The instant Bieshu Feifan drew his kunai and turned, a dark blur flashed before his eyes, and a hand was already clamped around his neck.
A pair of Two-Tomoe Sharingan immediately filled Bieshu Feifan's vision.
Uchiha Ji?
That was the last conclusion Bieshu Feifan reached.
Holding Bieshu Feifan up with one hand, Uchiha Ji's eyes flickered red. He fixed his Two-Tomoe Sharingan on Bieshu Feifan's eyes, circulating chakra and driving his ocular power to its limit.
"Bieshu Feifan, did you really think my earlier mercy gave you something to brag about?"
Uchiha Ji's voice was as cold as water in the depths of winter, and his grip on Bieshu Feifan's neck tightened.
His previous raid on the Iwagakure Rear Supply Station had failed, and he had nearly died. Only after such a long recovery had he been able to get out of bed.
He knew Bieshu Feifan wasn't the one who had said his Sharingan Genjutsu was no good.
But as someone involved in the incident, Bieshu Feifan naturally made his list of people to vent his anger on.
A short while later, there was a thud.
Uchiha Ji released his grip, and Bieshu Feifan dropped to the ground.
There was no twitching, no struggling.
Bieshu Feifan simply lay motionless on the ground, his eyes vacant, as though he were dead.
An unknown amount of time passed. Uchiha Ji had already left without a trace.
At last, Bieshu Feifan blinked, then sucked in a sharp breath, his limbs twitching wildly.
After writhing on the ground for a while, Bieshu Feifan finally climbed to his feet and leaned against his front door, gasping for breath.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. His teeth were clenched, his expression pained.
That had been terrifying.
That Uchiha Ji had actually cast genjutsu on him, Bieshu Feifan.
In the illusion, Bieshu Feifan had returned to Earth, where he was still that promising young pig butcher.
But he discovered that all his pigs had escaped, scattering across the hills.
The customers waiting for their meat had nearly canceled their orders.
How terrifying.
This had been his worry when he first entered the trade in his previous life. He had never expected Uchiha Ji to make it come true.
The Uchiha's Sharingan was terrifying indeed.
It took Bieshu Feifan quite a while to recover before he remembered that he had transmigrated to the Shinobi World and was no longer a pig butcher.
But the terror of his pigs escaping lingered, impossible to shake off right away. It had felt far too real.
Bieshu Feifan had been happy about becoming a proper genin, but against an adult Two-Tomoe Uchiha, he hadn't had the slightest chance to fight back.
And even an Uchiha that badass had nearly been beaten to death on the battlefield.
Bieshu Feifan clenched his fists.
Chakra. He needed more chakra.
Genin were still cannon fodder. He had merely become standard-issue cannon fodder. There was nothing to celebrate.
All he had gained were the Byakugan, the Sharingan, and an extremely thin trace of Sage Body chakra.
Even a genuine Senju like Senju Nawaki had stepped right into his own death, hadn't he?
Bieshu Feifan took a deep breath and went inside to sleep.
Uchiha Ji's genjutsu had given him a headache.
Early the next morning, Bieshu Feifan got up and found Might Duy on his morning run.
"Brother Duy, I'm here."
Seeing that Bieshu Feifan was still wearing the jumpsuit he had given him, Might Duy immediately gave him a thumbs-up.
"Feifan, you really are someone who can set his youth ablaze! Let's run another five hundred laps!"
After finishing his morning run with Might Duy, Bieshu Feifan returned home and began practicing ninjutsu.
His talent was as terrible as ever, but his chakra had increased considerably, letting him force his way through certain points where its circulation had been sluggish.
Over the following days, Bieshu Feifan kept a very regular schedule.
He ran in the morning, trained at noon, went to the hospital to touch corpses in the afternoon, then returned in the evening to refine chakra before going to sleep.
The cycle repeated, and before he knew it, nearly a month had passed.
Bieshu Feifan could feel that he had grown much stronger, but he hadn't touched a second corpse possessing special chakra.
It seemed the Senju really had integrated into Konoha. There weren't even many of them working as ninja anymore.
The day before the month ended, Bieshu Feifan went to the Hokage Building of his own accord.
Jianyi was still guarding the entrance to the second floor.
Watching Bieshu Feifan head upstairs as though he knew the way by heart, Jianyi didn't know whether to stop him.
After all, Lord Hokage had said they should care for intellectually disabled children.
After some hesitation, Jianyi decided to leave him alone. Bieshu Feifan was an acquaintance of Lord Hokage's anyway.
And so, Bieshu Feifan reached the second floor without trouble.
Since Jianyi hadn't stopped him, Bieshu Feifan gave him a curious glance.
He pushed open the door. Sure enough, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still reviewing documents.
Bieshu Feifan shook his head inwardly. Didn't he know to find a few secretaries to help?
"Brother Hokage, I've come to see you."
Bieshu Feifan went straight to Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk, hollering with easy familiarity as he poured himself a glass of water.
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. He didn't want to deal with Bieshu Feifan.
"What are you here for? Have you learned that ninjutsu?"
Bieshu Feifan waved a hand.
"Not exactly. That Fire Release Ninjutsu you gave me was pretty good, brother, but it's too hard to get started. I suspect you wrote some parts wrong.
"Why don't you explain it to your little brother in person so we can see whether anything's wrong?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe and took two puffs before replying:
"Child..."
"Just call me brother."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took another puff to compose himself before continuing:
"I don't have time to teach you right now, but I'll have someone guide you later. There's nothing wrong with the scroll. Just practice diligently."
Bieshu Feifan hadn't really intended to make Hiruzen Sarutobi teach him. He immediately changed the subject.
"Brother, I discovered something incredible recently."
As he spoke, Bieshu Feifan even leaned toward Hiruzen Sarutobi's ear, acting very mysterious.
Hiruzen Sarutobi instinctively tilted his head away.
"What is it?"
"It's about the Uchiha. You don't know this, brother, but over twenty days ago, when I came home, I suddenly passed out right outside my door. At the time, I thought I was just too tired, but something kept feeling off.
"After thinking about it all these days, I think I fell victim to the Uchiha."
Looking at Bieshu Feifan's earnest expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi was momentarily at a loss for words.
The Anbu had reported Uchiha Ji knocking Bieshu Feifan out as soon as it happened.
Since nothing had come of it, he hadn't bothered to intervene.
He simply hadn't expected Bieshu Feifan to spend twenty days thinking before realizing it had been the Uchiha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took another deep drag from his pipe.
"You're overthinking it. You were just too tired."
Seeing that Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't want to discuss the Uchiha, Bieshu Feifan promptly changed the subject.
"So it wasn't the Uchiha after all. Looks like there are still bad people in Konoha. I'll have to watch out.
"But brother, about that Fire Release we were discussing-do you think it might not suit me?
"I heard ninja have chakra natures.
"Give me a sheet of Chakra Paper so I can see what sort of talent I have."
Faced with the utterly shameless Bieshu Feifan, Hiruzen Sarutobi really did have a headache.
Why did this man have absolutely no sense of boundaries?
There was no reasoning with him, either.
"Go fetch a sheet of Chakra Paper."
Hiruzen Sarutobi issued the order to thin air.
Bieshu Feifan stared wide-eyed at Hiruzen Sarutobi, making him thoroughly uncomfortable.
"Bieshu Feifan, what are you looking at?"
"Brother, who were you talking to just now? Did you fall under the Uchiha's genjutsu too?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened. He smoked his pipe without answering.
Soon, an Anbu arrived with a sheet of Chakra Paper and, perceptively, handed it directly to Bieshu Feifan.
"Channel chakra into it."
Bieshu Feifan did as instructed, feeding chakra into the paper.
Instantly, one side of the Chakra Paper burst into flame, while the other was sliced apart.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
"Not bad. Fire and wind, two natures."
Hiruzen Sarutobi genuinely thought it was pretty good. He had assumed that, with Bieshu Feifan's intelligence, he would excel in at most one nature. He hadn't expected two.
It seemed that although this Bieshu Feifan boy was a little lacking in brains, his physical talent was passable.
Bieshu Feifan was also very pleased with his chakra natures.
"Not bad, not bad. I've got a promising future. But Brother Hokage, you only gave me a Fire Release technique before. You'll have to make up for it with a Wind Release technique."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened.
"Bieshu Feifan, don't bite off more than you can chew. Learn that Fire Release technique first."
Startled, Bieshu Feifan looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in disbelief.
"Brother, are you doubting my Will of Fire?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression sank, and he took a deep drag from his pipe.
"I'll give you Wind Release once you've learned Fire Release."
"All right, that works. But brother, there's one more thing."
"Speak."
"I found some flaws in that book you gave me, The Third Hokage's Will of Fire: Deluxe Edition. There are some statements in it I don't really agree with."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been about to chase Bieshu Feifan out, immediately grew attentive upon hearing this. He set down his pipe and looked at Bieshu Feifan solemnly.
"Tell me what's wrong with it."
Before you continue