Uchiha Shigure leaned back on the tatami floor, staring at the soft flicker of the candlelight. A thought crossed his mind with a trace of amusement. Now that I think about it, it might actually be simpler if I told people I'm Obito's cousin.
"Okay! Blow out the candles and make a wish! This cake was bought for you by Miss Narcissus!" Hoshiko beamed proudly as she pushed the cake closer, her eyes sparkling. "I've never even tasted cake before."
Her excitement was infectious, and Shigure's lips curved into a small smile.
"All right, don't rush me… hehe." Shigure took a breath and closed his eyes. The warmth he felt was strange but not unwelcome. He hadn't expected Hoshiko to even remember his birthday. The gesture stirred something inside him, and in that moment, his opinion of Akane's family—especially Amemiya Narcissus—softened.
He made his wish quietly, before extinguishing the candle. Then the three of them—Hoshiko, Narcissus, and Shigure himself—shared the cake together. It was an odd, nostalgic feeling. He was celebrating turning five years old, yet in truth, he was a man in his twenties, his soul having crossed time and space into this young Uchiha body. The parallel left him oddly sentimental.
The night carried on, and before long, his birthday passed into memory.
A Body in Transformation
By dawn, Shigure noticed something remarkable. His body felt stronger—his skin paler and smoother, his chakra heavier in his veins. His visual prowess had sharpened; he could feel the flow of chakra in his Sharingan more vividly than before. The expansion of his ocular power excited him. Every increment brought him closer to mastering what the Uchiha bloodline promised.
Still, his chakra reserves seemed to butt against a wall—bounded by his physical growth and his young age. He had already pushed himself to what could be called a half-step toward Kage-level strength, but until his body matured, that barrier would not easily be crossed.
For a few days after his birthday, there were no missions. Their team leader, Hyūga Hizashi, informed his students that the Chūnin Exams were approaching. The entire squad—Shigure, Hyūga Akane, and Kusuo Hatake—had agreed to participate.
With no duties pressing on him, Shigure turned his energy inward. He spent his days drilling two jutsu that had consumed his thoughts: the Rasengan and the legendary Flying Thunder God Technique.
First Steps with the Flying Thunder God
It was said to be one of the most formidable techniques ever created, the legacy of the Second Hokage. To Shigure, however, it was a challenge—a puzzle to be unraveled and rebuilt into something uniquely his own.
He inscribed one of the Flying Thunder God seals he remembered and concentrated, attuning his chakra to the spatial formula. Hours passed, but then—suddenly—the world folded. With a soft crackle of space, he vanished from his training spot and reappeared directly beside the seal.
Shigure exhaled sharply, a grin tugging at his lips. "Done… I've mastered the first level of the Flying Thunder God."
It was almost too easy.
This first version of the technique—marking a fixed point with the spatial formula and teleporting to it—was known as the Stage One application. Useful, but also predictable. If the formula was discovered, his movements could be countered.
That wouldn't do.
So he explored the next level.
The Second Stage
He practiced throwing specially marked kunai across the field. Then, with a flicker of chakra, he was gone—vanishing from his starting point and materializing directly above where the kunai landed.
From the sky, he would follow up instantly with a Rasengan crashing downward.
"This is more like it," he murmured. "Not just teleportation, but suppression. Even Minato Namikaze scarred Obito with this technique."
But again, he found limitations. If the enemy could read his rhythm, predict his angles, they could prepare counters. Shigure frowned thoughtfully. How do I stay ahead, no matter what?
Inspiration Strikes: Shadow Clone Enhancement
Then, a wild thought struck him, and he nearly laughed aloud.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu!
The theory sparked in his mind like flint on steel. If Stage One used markers on fixed objects, and Stage Two placed them onto moving kunai—why not inscribe the formula directly onto his clones?
"If I can leave a marker on my shadow clone, then I can warp to wherever they are moving. My enemies might know I can teleport, but they'll never know where I'll appear."
His eyes lit with mischievous intensity. And if the clones themselves could use the Flying Thunder God too… He shivered. "It would be chaos incarnate. They'd never even know which one was the real me."
He tested the idea. A clone stood ready beside him. Shigure placed the formula on his clone's chest and attempted to reverse the technique—warping toward it as if it were a beacon. It worked perfectly.
His second experiment, however, failed. When he tried to make the clone execute the teleportation on its own, the copy flickered and dispersed into a puff of smoke.
"So it's harder for a clone to perceive spatial fluctuations," Shigure mused, tapping his chin. "Still… if I can't have them teleport, then they'll just serve as vectors for throwing marked kunai in my stead. That alone will multiply my battlefield presence."
It wasn't quite Stage Three, but it was close enough. With a grin, he christened it: "Flying Thunder God—Second Stage Combo." The name was simple, inelegant perhaps, but his all the same.
Refining the Rasengan
After hours of pushing the Flying Thunder God to its limits, he turned once again to the Rasengan. Unlike space-time ninjutsu, where precision was everything, the Rasengan was raw power distilled into perfect form.
His absurd chakra reserves gave him an idea. If he simply funneled more chakra into the spiral sphere…
The globe grew larger in his hand, spinning ferociously. But as it swelled, it bucked against his grip, harder and harder to contain. Sweat beaded his forehead as the sphere expanded to the size of a melon, then faltered and dissipated in a burst of wind.
"It grows stronger, but controlling it…" He grimaced. "That's another matter."
He tried again and again, managing to create a massive orb—the Big Ball Rasengan. But in his small child's body, such power was unwieldy. The room rattled with every failed attempt. He reluctantly abandoned further scaling for now, shelving the idea alongside countless future experiments.
For a moment, he even considered altering its chakra nature—infusing Fire Release or Lightning into the whirlpool. Yet the danger stopped him. To lose control even once could level his home. That, even he didn't dare.
Summoned by the Hokage
Just as he prepared to resume his solitary training, masked ANBU arrived outside his window.
"Uchiha Shigure. Lord Third Hokage summons you."
Shigure wiped his brow, nodded, and followed silently. He was escorted through familiar streets, eventually standing once again before the looming chamber of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Elder of the Leaf.
The Third sat in his chair, pipe smoldering, eyes filled with grandfatherly calm—but beneath that calm lay the sharpness of a hawk.
"Shigure," Hiruzen said, his voice mild yet probing. "Hizashi reports that you performed remarkably well in your last mission. I have heard whispers that you already wield compound ninjutsu fluently. Tell me—" his gaze sharpened, the weight of the Hokage pressing over him like a mantle, "—is that true?"
The words lingered like flint on kindling, waiting for a spark.
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