Two months after Kurenai and the others graduated, clashes along the Land of Fire's borders began growing more frequent by the day.
Infiltrators and intelligence ninja frequently entered the Land of Fire. Although the Konoha ninja immediately struck back, quite a few always slipped through the net.
With a major war looming, the frontline forces could not spare large numbers of personnel, so they could only send out these students who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy.
Yuzuru and Kakashi still focused on improving themselves every day.
Kakashi, in particular, had undergone a complete transformation over the past year or so.
Unlike the Kakashi of the original story, who had sunk into grief over Sakumo's death and become a mission fanatic left to his own devices, the current Kakashi had grown increasingly proficient in the Hatake Clan's swordsmanship under Sakumo's guidance. He already showed traces of the Konoha White Fang.
He had become even more proficient in other areas, especially Lightning Release.
Most importantly, Kakashi really did have a talent for the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Although Yuzuru had always believed he did, seeing it for himself still surprised him.
Now that Kakashi was no longer a ninja, he would most likely lose the Sharingan, but in exchange, he would gain stronger swordsmanship and taijutsu, stronger Lightning Release, and the Flying Thunder God, which he was certain to master in the future.
Most importantly, Kakashi no longer ran out of mana!
That was important.
Everyone joked about Kakashi's chakra reserves in the original story, but that was all because of Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan. In reality, Kakashi's chakra reserves were far from small. After all, he could use Susanoo at the end. Though it had only lasted briefly, it was still outrageous.
With a constant drain twenty-four hours a day, probably anyone would have struggled to hold out.
Things were different now. Kakashi would not run short of chakra after using three or four ninjutsu. He had plenty of chakra in his body, enough to spend freely.
A Kakashi who could go all out could also shake off his "fifty-fifty" nickname completely.
At least in Yuzuru's view, the adult Kakashi's chakra reserves would definitely be no smaller than Minato's, and would only be greater.
However gifted Minato was, he could not surpass Kakashi in talent, and his constitution certainly could not be stronger than Kakashi's. After all, the Hatake Clan was also a major clan, and their physical capabilities spoke for themselves.
Over these two months, Yuzuru had continued maintaining two shadow clones each day, one studying the Flying Thunder God and the other continuing to develop Ice Release.
As for his real body, he went to Shikkotsu Forest.
"Little Yuzuru, how is it going? Have you sensed natural energy yet?"
Beside a pool in Shikkotsu Forest, Yuzuru sat cross-legged, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.
At Katsuyu's question, Yuzuru smiled and nodded, looking at the Katsuyu clone beside him, who was only as long as his arm.
"Thanks to you, I've finally sensed natural energy after two months."
"Really? It looks like you really can learn Sage Mode, little Yuzuru."
"But you mustn't rush things yet. Little Yuzuru, you need to sense more natural energy first. Only after you become familiar with this energy can you slowly begin absorbing it."
"I know. For now, this is enough."
Yuzuru stood up and stretched.
"Well, I'll head back now."
"All right. Goodbye, little Yuzuru."
With that, Yuzuru left Shikkotsu Forest and returned home.
After getting dressed, Yuzuru called his father over.
"You want to go away?"
Hatake Sakumo looked at Yuzuru in surprise.
"Yeah."
"Why do you suddenly want to leave the village? You know what it's like out there. War could break out at any moment."
"Dad, don't you know me? With the Flying Thunder God, I won't die. At worst, I can use the Reverse Summoning Technique to take refuge in Shikkotsu Forest."
"But going out at a time like this..."
"I want to look for some things."
"You've never left the village before. You don't know how dangerous it is outside."
Hatake Sakumo felt nothing but worry for Yuzuru.
"Then consider this a trial for me. Besides, I'm not a ninja. As a civilian, I won't cause much of a stir."
Looking at Yuzuru, Hatake Sakumo ultimately could not win him over.
"If you encounter danger, come back immediately, or use Katsuyu to notify me."
"I know."
With that, Yuzuru got up and headed outside.
"I'm going to see someone first. I won't leave until tomorrow, so don't worry, Dad."
Kakashi came up beside Sakumo and could not help asking, "Dad, just what is Yuzuru going to do?"
"I don't know either. He's always had a mind of his own."
Sakumo gave a wry chuckle at that.
Even though he had watched Yuzuru grow up, Yuzuru was mentally far more mature than most ninja-even more mature than him.
At the very least, Yuzuru had seen through the true nature of ninja.
So many people spent their entire lives trapped in the ninja profession, even taking it for granted that this was how ninja ought to be.
But Yuzuru had rejected everything about ninja.
Whether honor or responsibility, to Yuzuru, they seemed to be the most disgusting things in the world, and he rejected them utterly.
It was as though he and everyone else belonged to different worlds.
As for Yuzuru, he had seen what true peace was. He knew how peace could be brought about. In his previous life, beneath the red flag, he had been fortunate enough to see what a peaceful world meant.
By comparison, the Shinobi World was rotten to the core.
A warped profession, all sorts of fools, and psychologically twisted freaks.
The truth was that even in Naruto's era, the Shinobi World had never truly known peace. The great nations had not gone to war only because they faced stronger enemies, and because Naruto and Sasuke served as deterrents.
Once those enemies disappeared and Naruto and Sasuke died, war would sweep through the Shinobi World again. That was inevitable.
As long as the Shinobi World remained divided, peace could never come. Peace between nations? What a joke.
A Shinobi World rotten at its roots could only be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. Either destruction or rebirth-reform was not an option.
After leaving home, Yuzuru headed straight for the Uchiha Clan.
Although he could feel the gazes around him, Yuzuru did not care.
The Hatake Clan had abandoned the ninja profession entirely. They would not participate in any ninja affairs or any of the village's decisions. Over the past year or two, this had become common knowledge.
Yuzuru arrived at the Uchiha Clan Compound and found another genius from the original story with practiced ease.
"Yuzuru, what brings you here all of a sudden?"
Shisui Uchiha, who had been training, immediately ran over when he saw Yuzuru.
"I came to tell you that I'll be leaving the village for a while."
"Why?"
Shisui looked up at Yuzuru in confusion.
"Because I'm going to look for a way to change the Shinobi World."
Hearing that, Shisui fell silent.
Shisui had also been precocious and a top-tier genius in the original story, and Yuzuru had approached him early on. A child's world was simple and easily changed.
Before Shisui could be bound by those bullshit ninja rules, Yuzuru had immediately begun educating him with red ideals.
If he could change Shisui's way of thinking, Yuzuru believed Shisui would follow the same path as him without hesitation. He might even get a two-for-one deal.
"Do you remember what I told you?"
"Yes, but are ninja really that filthy? The elders in the clan all take pride in becoming powerful ninja."
At this point, Shisui was clearly still an innocent little boy, though his thinking was relatively mature.
"Shisui, have you forgotten what I said? You need eyes that look at facts objectively. There are many things you can only understand by taking part in them and experiencing them yourself. Neither the village nor the Shinobi World can be saved anymore."
"This world doesn't belong to ninja. It belongs to people. Before becoming a ninja, you must first be a person-a person with dignity."
"You're still young, but I believe you'll understand someday."
Yuzuru patted his shoulder.
"Also, when it comes to your Sharingan, never show outsiders anything beyond the mitsudomoe. Do you hear me?"
"Mitsudomoe? Is there something even stronger?"
"Shisui, you just need to promise me that no matter what, you'll show no more than the mitsudomoe. Everything else can wait until I return!"
Yuzuru looked at him with a serious expression.
"Yes! I will!"
"All right, get back to what you were doing. I should leave too."
Shisui watched Yuzuru leave, seeming to want to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
Yuzuru did not go home. Instead, he left the village directly.
Only after discovering that all the shadow clones at home had vanished did Sakumo realize what had happened.
"That little brat. He didn't give me a chance at all."
With a wry chuckle, Sakumo looked toward the village entrance, his face full of worry.
"Make sure you come home safely, Xiao Xian."