Meanwhile.
At the Ninja Academy.
Sasuke Uchiha sought out Yecheng again.
He seemed to have something on his mind today.
"Yecheng, fight me!"
Before Yecheng could speak, Naruto jumped out first.
"Sasuke, if you want to beat Yecheng, you'll have to get past me first!"
"...Naruto, this has nothing to do with you today."
Sasuke ignored him and stared straight at Yecheng.
Deep down, he felt that perhaps only Yecheng would have a solution to this.
Because Yecheng gave him the same impression as his brother Itachi: powerful and mysterious.
Like his brother, he must have had secrets all his own.
That was what Sasuke thought.
Lately, something seemed to have happened between his brother and his father, and their relationship had deteriorated badly.
His brother was always busy. The day before yesterday, they had finally gotten a chance to eat together, only for the two of them to start arguing after exchanging just a few words.
Young Sasuke couldn't understand why his brother and father were arguing.
He thought it must have been because he wasn't working hard enough and wasn't strong enough.
He felt that as long as he grew stronger, his brother and father would smile.
Then they wouldn't argue anymore, would they?
But his brother and father were always busy. Without their help, he really couldn't think of a good way to grow stronger.
So, to get his brother and father to make up, Sasuke decided to set aside his pride and ask Yecheng how to become stronger.
"Yecheng, I want to get stronger."
Sasuke struggled for ages before finally managing to squeeze those words out, his face flushed red.
Yecheng was stunned.
What's this supposed to mean?
I'm a student, so can you help me out?
Those student-discount hagglers from the secondhand marketplace in my previous life have followed me all the way here!
But Yecheng understood Sasuke's personality. He knew that, for Sasuke, saying something like that was almost as bad as running naked laps around the village, so he let it go.
The three of them walked over to a shady spot out of the sun.
It should actually have been just Yecheng and Sasuke, but Naruto insisted on tagging along, so they let him.
"Sasuke, have you tested your chakra nature?"
Yecheng asked.
"There's no need. We of the Uchiha Clan are all natural-born Fire Release ninja."
Sasuke spoke quite proudly, clearly taking great pride in the Uchiha name.
Yecheng took a square sheet of white paper out of his pocket and placed it in Sasuke's hand.
"What's this?"
Sasuke was bewildered, not understanding what Yecheng was up to.
"This is Chakra Paper. It can test someone's chakra nature."
Yecheng smiled. "Don't turn it down just yet. Everyone has different talents. Maybe you have other natures too."
Sasuke paused briefly.
"All right, I'll try."
Sasuke immediately began molding chakra and channeling it into the paper.
Naruto took the opportunity to ask, "Yecheng, I want to test mine too! Me too! Where did you get that thing?"
"My teacher gave it to me when I was training before. Unfortunately, this is the last sheet."
Yecheng lied.
He had actually looted this Chakra Paper from the bodies of those Root ninja killed by Shisui Uchiha.
Yep.
Shisui had done it all.
Shisui Uchiha was truly terrifying!
Soon, the Chakra Paper in Sasuke's hand first crumpled, then spontaneously ignited and burned to ashes.
Sasuke hurriedly shook the remaining ash off his hand.
"What's going on?"
Naruto's eyes were full of curiosity.
Yecheng explained, "Crumpling means lightning nature, and spontaneous combustion means fire nature.
Looks like Sasuke is a ninja born with two chakra natures. That's pretty rare."
After a pause, Yecheng continued, "An innate chakra nature lets a ninja use the corresponding release techniques better, and makes training in the related chakra nature transformation twice as effective.
Sasuke, judging by how the paper reacted just now, you should learn more Lightning Release ninjutsu."
As Yecheng spoke, he gathered chakra in his palm, then turned it into a little lightning dragon brandishing its claws. The little dragon climbed up and down around his fingers, making crackling sounds as electricity struck the air.
"Whoa, awesome! That's so awesome, Yecheng! How did you do that? Teach me!"
Seeing this, Naruto thought the little dragon in Yecheng's palm looked incredibly cool.
Sasuke was stunned.
I'm an Uchiha, and instead of playing with fire, I'm supposed to play with lightning?
Does that make sense?
It did. It made perfect sense!
Following Yecheng's demonstration, Sasuke performed a lightning-nature chakra transformation in his palm and easily produced an electric arc!
He was still far from being able to create a little lightning dragon like Yecheng's.
But this rate of progress was at least twice as fast as when he had trained in Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Sasuke was stunned. So I had such an astonishing talent all along?
So this is where my talent lies!
Watching the electric arc dance in his palm, Sasuke Uchiha smiled happily.
Great.
When I tell Father and my brother about this after school today, they'll definitely be happy.
Then they probably won't argue anymore!
"Once you've mastered lightning-nature chakra transformation, I'll introduce you to a good teacher."
Yecheng thought it over. Kakashi really was the most suitable teacher for Sasuke right now.
He could teach him Lightning Release ninjutsu and help him develop ways to use the Sharingan.
Although Sasuke hadn't awakened his eyes yet, it probably wouldn't be long.
The extremely oppressive atmosphere within the clan might well have been part of why Sasuke had come to him.
"A teacher?"
Sasuke froze again. Would that work?
Naruto chimed in with a timely assist.
"The teachers Yecheng finds are reeeally good! Like Guy-sensei-he trains with me after school every day. I feel way stronger than before!"
Sasuke looked Naruto over. Yes, he really was different from before.
His body was certainly much sturdier.
It was just that green bodysuit-it was an absolute eyesore!
Sasuke asked dubiously, "Are you sure this will be all right?"
Yecheng smiled and patted his shoulder.
"His name is Kakashi Hatake. Just ask your brother when you get home."
"Really?"
Despite what Yecheng had said, Sasuke still had some doubts.
Forget it. I'll ask Nii-san when I get back.
The Uchiha Clan compound.
Sasuke Uchiha returned home.
Before he could share what had happened today with his brother, Uchiha Yashiro, Uchiha Tekka, and Uchiha Inabi came knocking.
"Hey, Itachi. Come out here."
The three spoke harshly, clearly not there with good intentions.
"Brother..."
Sasuke looked at his brother worriedly.
"It's fine."
Itachi Uchiha smiled and tapped Sasuke's forehead with two fingers.
"I'll be right back. Wait for me at home."
Itachi Uchiha turned and walked toward the door, the smile gradually fading from his face until it was expressionless.
But beneath that calm face lay an abyss of chilling killing intent.
Shisui bought us time with his life, and you people still have the leisure to come make trouble for me.
How can we improve relations between Konoha and the clan with vermin like these?
Shisui, what am I supposed to do?
Before you continue