Life after the academy's year-end exams was quite peaceful.
No one knew what Sasuke had gone through at home, but when facing Hatake Kusuo, he no longer acted so provocative.
Over this past year,
Sasuke had become much more reserved.
To Kusuo, the academy's curriculum was incredibly boring.
What he longed for now was to quickly learn a particular technique: Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"Cousin."
Determined, Kusuo had been lying in wait these past few days.
Kakashi's movements were unpredictable, and it was rare to catch him.
But today, after Kusuo had been practicing swordsmanship in the yard for half the day, Kakashi finally returned.
"Hm? What's up, Kusuo?"
Kakashi looked at him in surprise.
"I want to learn Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Kusuo didn't beat around the bush at all with his cousin.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
Kakashi stroked his chin and instantly understood what this genius cousin of his was thinking.
"Didn't your parents leave you any scrolls?"
"No. I've searched the house thoroughly, but there aren't any scrolls related to that jutsu."
"I see. I'll bring you the scroll tonight. But remember, don't let it go to your head. Respect every opponent you face."
Geniuses always grew restless with what the academy had to offer.
Kakashi was like that. So was Itachi.
Kusuo wanted to learn Shadow Clone Jutsu for one simple reason: to skip class and train his swordsmanship.
That little scheme
Kakashi could see through it perfectly.
Seeing his cousin agree, Kusuo felt satisfied and returned to his yard, resuming his endless practice with the sword.
…
Over the course of that year,
hidden currents ran through Konoha.
Only the most perceptive could sense that the conflict between the village and a certain powerful clan was becoming more and more intense.
The two sides had reached a point of complete hostility.
"Whew."
"Finally done."
"I've finally unlocked the next form of Sun Breathing."
Kusuo exhaled deeply. Just moments ago, the system had notified him that his impersonation rate had reached 5%, successfully unlocking the next sword form of Sun Breathing.
Fourth Form: Fake Rainbow.
A specialized evasive dance achieved through high-speed twists and spins.
But the better one's vision, the easier it was to spot the afterimages left by the user.
So to truly master it, Kusuo still needed greater strength of his own.
Otherwise, eyes like those of the Hyuga and Uchiha clans could easily see through his movements.
"Either way, my offensive techniques just became more versatile."
"But this still isn't enough."
"True strength comes from being powerful in every aspect. The combat techniques of Sun Breathing only help me avoid being passive in battle and give me more ways to strike."
"The most urgent thing right now is to master Total Concentration Breathing: Constant."
Kusuo frowned slightly at the fragments of gourds shattered all around him.
His progress had been rapid. Even without activating his mark, he could already go toe-to-toe with a Chunin-level opponent.
And if he did activate the mark, his strength would rise another notch.
But even so,
he still hadn't grasped the key to Total Concentration Breathing: Constant.
He had a feeling.
His training was solid.
But it was as if he was stuck at the final step, unable to break through.
To overcome this bottleneck,
he would need some sort of external help…
"Sasuke! Don't leave after class! Let's have a one-on-one fight again!"
At the ninja academy, Naruto once again cornered Sasuke, eager to challenge him.
Sasuke looked at Naruto's face,
his eyelid twitching.
Great.
It was that annoying guy again!
And why again?
Because Naruto was always picking a fight with him.
Couldn't this dead-last just stay at the bottom where he belonged?
Sasuke was exhausted by it.
"No time!"
He threw out the words coldly, glanced at Kusuo as he walked out the door, and left.
"Nii-san!"
The moment he stepped outside and saw his beloved brother Uchiha Itachi waiting to pick him up, all of Sasuke's irritation vanished, and he ran over happily.
Itachi patted his head and smiled, ready to take him home.
But then Sasuke said,
"Nii-san, wait!"
He had spotted Kusuo and wanted to catch up to him to set a new time for their rematch.
For the past year, he had begged both Itachi and their father to train him, spending nearly every evening practicing harder than anyone.
He was confident that in terms of shurikenjutsu and taijutsu, he had far surpassed the boy he'd been a year ago.
"And with these eyes, Hatake Kusuo, I will defeat you!"
Sasuke charged ahead, full of determination.
Itachi too had seen Kusuo's figure and felt curious about this supposed new prodigy of the academy.
After all, this was the boy who had somehow driven Sasuke to awaken his Sharingan early—a major event in their clan.
So,
he followed as well.
Kusuo, for his part, moved quickly, turning corners until he slipped into a deserted alley.
After glancing around to make sure no one was watching,
poof!
A puff of white smoke rose.
Kusuo's figure vanished without a trace.
All that remained at the spot were Sasuke and Itachi, who had just witnessed it all.
What…
what just happened?
Sasuke stared, dumbfounded, his heart churning like stormy seas.
"That was Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"So that's it. All this time… it was a clone coming to class?"
Itachi's eyes above those deep tear grooves became even more thoughtful.
"He's just like I was back then… Hatake Kusuo really is an interesting boy."
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100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter