While Izayoi and Hinata were out with Hanabi shopping, a different scene unfolded near the Uchiha clan grounds, by the Naka River.
Beneath a massive waterfall, if a Hyuga clan member were present and activated their Byakugan, they'd spot a cave hidden under the cascade.
Inside the cave, loud noises echoed, masked by the roar of the waterfall.
Touching the surrounding rock walls, one could feel occasional tremors.
A blue light tore through the cave's darkness.
A blue-white sphere, like a water-filled balloon, rapidly expanded.
Then, the basketball-sized energy ball shot into the shadows.
Boom—
An explosion roared, air blasted outward, and gravel scattered.
The dust didn't escape the cave, dispersed by a gust.
Once calm returned, another energy ball formed, hurtling deeper into the darkness, triggering another violent blast.
The cave had been carved out by these energy balls.
"The core's done. Now I can start forming smaller spheres inside."
Izayoi's Shadow Clone stood at the cave's lit entrance, reviewing today's progress.
The Ultra Hurricane Linked Spheres, an original technique from the anime, was one Izayoi had grasped at its basic level—scaling a Rasengan to just shy of the Big Ball Rasengan's size.
It had taken him two full years.
Izayoi finally understood why Uzumaki Naruto, after three years of training, still needed a Shadow Clone to perform the Big Ball Rasengan.
For someone who hadn't mastered the single-handed Rasengan, scaling it to that size while maintaining balance—preventing the Chakra from exploding—was near impossible.
Even for Izayoi, it took two years to refine his Chakra Control to this level.
Gathering that much Chakra into a large mass wasn't too hard.
The challenge was making it spin at ultra-high speeds.
It was hellish difficulty!
The Rasengan was already the pinnacle of shape transformation, with an A-rank learning curve.
The Big Ball Rasengan? It sat somewhere between A and S-rank.
No wonder S-rank Ninjutsu were called ultimate techniques—ones that, no matter how much effort or talent you had, weren't guaranteed to be mastered.
Just creating a sphere this large was already so tough.
Forming five smaller spheres inside? That difficulty rivaled Uzumaki Naruto perfecting the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
And injecting all five elemental natures into those spheres? The thought alone was a headache.
If successful, its power aside, the learning curve would exceed S-rank—SS-rank, no question.
Even Otsutsuki Asura couldn't pull that off.
But it had become Izayoi's goal.
His potential now outstripped even Asura, who relied on power from Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
If purple-tier Chakra Control wasn't enough, he'd upgrade his Chakra Control entry to gold-tier.
Once he perfected the Ultra Hurricane Linked Spheres, he'd be like Uzumaki Naruto—one technique to dominate all.
No matter the enemy, a sphere would solve it.
Sitting cross-legged before the waterfall, Izayoi's Shadow Clone continued condensing Chakra into a basketball-sized energy ball, this time not throwing it.
He trained until his Chakra ran dry, and the Shadow Clone vanished in a puff of white smoke.
The fatigue and experience fed back to his main body.
Izayoi, mid-feeding Hanabi a sticky rice dumpling, merely raised an eyebrow before returning to normal.
Even Hinata, stealing glances at him, didn't notice the shift.
Since mastering the Rasengan and starting work on the Ultra Hurricane Linked Spheres, Izayoi rarely trained with his real body.
He sent Shadow Clones to the cave, while his main body, if training at all, joined Hinata at the abandoned training ground.
He was certain Sarutobi Hiruzen had spied on him with the Telescope Technique.
Over the past two years, Izayoi sparred with Uchiha Sasuke every week or two.
He didn't believe their no-rules duels hadn't caught Sarutobi's attention.
After all, before leaving Konoha, Uchiha Itachi had reported to Sarutobi and then confronted Shimura Danzo.
If not for fear of exposing his Byakugan, Izayoi might've activated it to check for Anbu surveillance.
Always using Shadow Clones, he'd fine-tuned their Chakra to keep feedback fatigue manageable.
After Hanabi finished her dumpling, Izayoi played with her more, carrying her with Body Flicker for "high rides," climbing trees, or walking on water.
Though Hanabi hadn't started training, having seen Hinata and Neji's fights, as well as Hinata and Izayoi's training and spars, she—like in the original story—dreamed of becoming someone gentle yet strong like her sister.
So, aside from her love of food, Hanabi didn't care for playing with peers, preferring Izayoi to take her leaping across rooftops, thrilling like a "roller coaster."
Once she reached the age to extract Chakra and began training, she'd likely cling to him even more.
"Onii-chan, bye-bye!"
"See ya."
After playing with Hanabi until dusk, Izayoi waved goodbye to his clingy little sister-in-law with a smile.
Instead of heading home, he bought ingredients at the market, then Body Flickered to the Uchiha clan grounds—vast, empty, save for Uchiha Sasuke alone.
"You're here."
Sasuke, training in the courtyard, eyed Izayoi, who carried two bags, with battle-ready intensity.
"Let's eat first, then fight. Take a break," Izayoi said with a grin.
"Alright."
Sasuke didn't refuse.
As night fell, they sat on the engawa, eating hotpot.
Late into the night, two small figures darted through the clan grounds, slipping into a forest like arrows.
Bang, bang, bang…
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
Sounds of collisions, heavy landings, and thrown objects cutting through the air filled the night forest.
Boom—
Soon, an explosion erupted, red flames flaring briefly.
But the fire quickly died out.
Half an hour later, the two small figures emerged from the woods.
Under the moonlight, Izayoi and Sasuke were a stark contrast.
Izayoi's clothes were pristine, as if untouched.
Sasuke's were tattered, scorched marks littering his body.
His exposed skin bore faint scars.
Yet the exhausted boy's eyes gleamed, clearly having gained something.
"I won again," Izayoi said, smiling at Sasuke. "As agreed, I get to check out your family's Ninjutsu library."
"Whatever, it's just a few things," Sasuke said, unconcerned.
After the Uchiha clan's fall, the village buried their bodies.
In exchange, all their scrolls were taken.
Even the family's inheritance was reduced to low-level Ninjutsu scrolls.
Sasuke had asked the Third Hokage—none of the clan's advanced scrolls were touched by the village; Uchiha Itachi likely took them.
Sasuke didn't mind the village seizing the clan's scrolls.
The Third had promised that once he became a ninja and grew strong enough to lead the Uchiha, he could request the return of their land deeds and Ninjutsu scrolls.
For now, he lacked the strength to safeguard them.
Izayoi knew Sarutobi was telling the truth.
Aside from secret techniques like Izanagi and Izanami, the Uchiha's Ninjutsu scrolls held little worth coveting.
Compared to a strong Uchiha warrior, they were negligible.
Much like the inheritance Izayoi's parents left him.
Still, Sasuke's family library was useful to Izayoi.
His mastery of shape transformation was exceptional, but his nature transformation was nearly nonexistent.
Training in Five-Element Ninjutsu could improve his nature transformation.
To perfect the Ultra Hurricane Linked Spheres, Izayoi needed to master all five nature transformations, strong enough to integrate with the technique.
For Wind Release, he could draw on Uzumaki Naruto's example from the original story. The other four? He'd have to learn through practicing Ninjutsu himself.
Or, after graduation, consult his Jonin instructor.
Of course, there was one shortcut to instantly gain top-tier nature transformation without training.
And that was… awakening the Rinnegan or Tenseigan!
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