"Yo, you're here?"
After saying goodbye to Uchiha Madara, Raijin saw Naruto sitting on the steps in front of his house at the first glance when he returned home.
"Teacher."
Seeing Uchiha Raijin, Naruto stood up and called out to him.
"Hmm? Are you still going to fight?"
Raijin raised an eyebrow, folded his arms, and asked Naruto.
"I'm done. I'm not your match."
Naruto pressed his lips together and looked a little embarrassed.
"Come on in."
Raijin walked past Naruto and slowly entered the yard.
Whether or not Naruto was the reincarnation of Indra, Raijin couldn't really tell.
But since he was going to teach Naruto, the most important thing was to understand what level Naruto was currently at.
Raijin formed a hand seal with one hand and created a shadow clone, then sat down on a lounge chair in the yard and spoke to Naruto.
"Use all your strength to defeat this shadow clone."
"Okay."
Naruto nodded and turned to look at the shadow clone.
At the same time, Madara had also approached Uchiha Fugaku.
"I hope your son, Uchiha Sasuke, can train with me."
Uchiha Madara said to Uchiha Fugaku at the Fugaku family home.
"Ah?"
Uchiha Fugaku froze for a moment, looking at Uchiha Madara in surprise.
What was this feeling?
It was like... suddenly receiving a large amount of money from the sky, causing a kind of shock.
For a moment, Fugaku felt a bit dizzy.
"Go and call Sasuke and Itachi."
Fugaku's first reaction was to tell the maid beside him.
As the maid left, Uchiha Fugaku pressed his lips together and asked Uchiha Madara again.
"Well... are you interested in seeing my eldest son, Uchiha Itachi? I think Itachi has quite good potential too."
"I don't have enough energy to teach two people."
Madara shook his head and replied to Uchiha Fugaku.
The reason he wanted Sasuke to train with him was simply because Sasuke resembled Izumi somewhat.
It was a sort of... spiritual comfort in a way.
"Madara-sama."
As they were talking, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi arrived.
"Well, if you want, you can train with me now."
Madara said to Uchiha Sasuke.
"Ah? But I haven't finished the task you gave me."
Sasuke paused, surprised. While he was happy to train with Madara, there were still some things that couldn't be hidden.
As the son of the Uchiha clan leader, Sasuke still knew when to be cautious.
In front of a powerful ninja like Madara, the only thing he needed to do was nothing—no hiding, no scheming, just listen and obey.
"Ah... right now, that kid named Naruto has become Raijin's disciple. Although you haven't really done anything important here, luck is also a part of strength, isn't it?" Madara said with a light chuckle, speaking to Uchiha Sasuke.
"If possible, I hope you can defeat Naruto."
Standing up, Uchiha Madara said to Sasuke.
"I will work hard and defeat Naruto!" Sasuke said without hesitation.
As a child of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke was confident, equal to any of his peers.
"Mm, follow me."
Madara nodded, walking with his hands behind his back toward his home.
During this time, Madara didn't even glance at Itachi.
Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Itachi didn't feel anything was strange either. They just looked on with smiles as Sasuke was taken away by Madara.
Although Uchiha Fugaku knew Sasuke couldn't possibly become as strong as Uchiha Madara...
Still, becoming Madara's disciple was surely much better than just staying in the ninja academy and later being assigned to some random higher rank or joining the Konohagakure police force, right?
After all, in Fugaku's view, most of the current upper-ranked ninjas still leading teams weren't even as strong as he was.
As for those strong upper-ranked ninjas, they no longer lead teams.
For example, Raijin's children, Ryuri and Tatsu, Tsunade's brother, Senju Nawaki.
And Madara's most capable assistant, Namikaze Minato, not to mention the members of the Hokage bodyguard team.
So, for Sasuke to become Madara's disciple was truly fantastic.
"Have you activated your Sharingan?" Madara asked Sasuke during the walk.
"No," Sasuke replied, feeling a bit embarrassed. Actually, Fugaku had once tried to fake his death a couple of years ago, but unfortunately, Sasuke hadn't awakened his Sharingan.
He had only gotten a good beating from Fugaku.
"It's hard to believe that at your age, you still haven't activated your Sharingan. After all, with the current atmosphere in the Uchiha clan..." Madara said, a little helpless as he pursed his lips.
"However, not having awakened your Sharingan can also be a good thing. It means you are more rational. Now, with the existence of Senjutsu, your Sharingan will definitely awaken eventually. But emotional people will always struggle to become rational."
Madara continued speaking to Sasuke.
"Just like that guy, Uchiha Raijin, he's too emotional, not at all like a qualified ninja."
Madara almost instinctively started badmouthing Uchiha Raijin to Sasuke.
"Huh? Ah! I think so too. I've heard about your and Raijin-sama's deeds since I was little. Although Raijin-sama has done a lot for the Uchiha, I've always thought that you are the most important person to the Uchiha clan," Sasuke said, surprised at first but quickly responding seriously to Uchiha Madara.
"Tsk… You can't even activate your Three Tomoe Sharingan, and you still don't know what to say?"
Madara narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced back at Sasuke.
This kid was too honest.
Being too honest made it hard to survive in this world.
Which meant… it was his responsibility to help him.
"What kind of ninjutsu have you been learning all these years?"
As they walked, Madara asked Sasuke again.
"I've mainly been training in Lightning Release armor and sword techniques. Right now, I'm working on lightning transformation."
Sasuke answered honestly.
"Not bad. Way better than your senior brother."
Madara nodded in approval.
"My senior brother… You mean Senior Tatsu?"
Sasuke asked.
"Yeah, that guy. He still hasn't mastered lightning transformation."
Madara shook his head in disappointment.
A simple lightning transformation—was it really that hard to learn?
If he ever needed it, he'd probably pick it up in two weeks, tops.
"That kid Naruto has the Uzumaki clan's Kekkei Genkai. He was born with a massive chakra reserve and has a natural talent for sealing techniques."
Madara continued.
"To be honest, he's much stronger than you right now—especially since you haven't even awakened your Sharingan. So if you want to defeat him, you better work hard."
"I will!"
Sasuke nodded firmly.
He didn't have much interaction with Naruto, but if Madara told him to defeat him, he wouldn't refuse.
It was just a fight, not like he had to kill him.
…
"You're doing better than I expected."
Raijin crossed his arms, looking at the panting Naruto in front of him.
If the Nine-Tails wasn't factored in, Naruto was already way stronger than his twelve-year-old self in the original timeline.
Back then, the only real jutsu he knew was the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
But now, he had mastered not only Shadow Clones but also Rasengan and a variety of sealing techniques.
Having parents really made a huge difference compared to growing up as an orphan.
The only pity was that Naruto hadn't learned the Flying Thunder God technique, so he probably wouldn't follow Namikaze Minato's path.
If not the Flying Thunder God, then what would suit him best?
Raijin could arrange for Naruto to get a Tailed Beast, but honestly, there was no need.
Most Tailed Beasts wouldn't make much difference for him, and as for the Nine-Tails…
He couldn't just pull it out of his mother right now, could he?
If he did that, not only Naruto but even Namikaze Minato would fight him to the death.
Considering the Uzumaki clan's physique, the best path for Naruto was definitely Taijutsu.
"Have you heard of chakra nature transformation?"
Raijin thought for a moment, then asked.
"I have."
Naruto nodded. He wasn't unfamiliar with the concept, but since Namikaze Minato never had time to teach him, and Kushina specialized more in sealing techniques, he had never learned about chakra nature transformation until now.
"Before I mastered Senjutsu and obtained the Tenseigan, my strongest ability was Lightning Release," Raijin said to Naruto.
"Then please teach me!"
Naruto blinked and, without any hesitation, made his request.
He had already started training in Senjutsu, and as for the Tenseigan, he knew there was no way he could obtain it.
That meant the only thing left was Lightning Release—if he didn't learn it, wouldn't that make him a useless student?
"Alright, but before I teach you, you have to promise me one thing," Raijin said.
"What is it?"
Naruto was taken aback and looked at Uchiha Raijin in confusion.
"There's someone in the Uchiha clan named Uchiha Sasuke. I want you to defeat him."
"Uchiha Sasuke?"
Naruto froze for a moment. He knew who Sasuke was—his classmate at the Ninja Academy, someone really popular.
Most importantly, the girl he liked, Sakura, had a huge crush on Sasuke.
Just thinking about that made Naruto angry.
"No problem! I'll definitely beat him!"
Besides, Naruto remembered that Sasuke was really good at Lightning Release.
It was that technique—the one that covered his whole body in Lightning Release chakra—that made it impossible for Naruto to win against him.
But now, he was finally going to learn Lightning Release himself.
Hmph! Just you wait, Sasuke!
Still, wasn't Uchiha Raijin also an Uchiha? Why would he want him to defeat another Uchiha?
"Good. Then let's begin with your first Lightning Release Ninjutsu," Raijin said.
If nothing unexpected happened, Sasuke was probably already Madara's student by now.
Whether it was intentional or not, both Raijin and Madara had taken on students at the same time.
That meant there was no way to avoid comparisons.
Since the two of them had fought each other to a near standstill countless times, there was no doubt their students would also end up competing against each other.
"This Ninjutsu was originally a signature technique of Kumogakure Village. It's called the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Most ninjas simply refer to it as the Lightning Armor."
As he spoke, Raijin's body was instantly covered in a layer of golden-purple chakra.
The flow of chakra crackled, making a sound like a thousand birds chirping.
"That's so cool…"
Naruto stared at the scene in awe.
He instantly recognized it as the technique Sasuke had used before.
But compared to Sasuke's blue Lightning Release chakra, Raijin's golden-purple glow looked way more impressive.
"To reach this level, the first step is to convert your chakra into Lightning Release chakra."
After deactivating his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Raijin spoke to Naruto.
Then, he explained to Naruto how to transform chakra into Lightning Release chakra.
"You're really taking this seriously, huh, Teacher Raijin?"
Just as Raijin was teaching Naruto, Tsunade's voice rang out.
She stood behind Raijin, then leaned onto his back, letting her hands slide down his shoulders and loosely wrap around his neck.
"There wasn't much else to do, so I figured I'd train Naruto for a bit."
Raijin looked up at Tsunade, and as their eyes met, she gently pressed a kiss onto his lips.
Nearby, Naruto, who was practicing with a leaf, got distracted. The leaf in his hand instantly turned to dust as his chakra flared out of control.
"By the way, once this situation settles down, Madara and I are planning to take care of Otsutsuki Kaguya."
Raijin spoke to Tsunade.
"You two already decided on that?"
Tsunade frowned slightly as she asked.
This was no small matter.
"Yeah, we talked it through. It's better to deal with her while we can. Leaving her be could be dangerous—there's no telling when she might become a problem again. If that happens, we'll be in an even worse position."
Raijin nodded as he answered.
"If you and Madara have already decided, then the village will give you its full support."
Tsunade nodded in agreement. Just as Raijin said, if a problem exists, leaving it alone won't make it disappear. The sooner it's handled, the better.
Still, she couldn't help but worry about Raijin.
…
A technique that can restrict space-time ninjutsu?
Jigen sighed and rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
As expected, if Konohagakure was left unchecked, they would only grow stronger.
Losing five subordinates in such a short time had forced Jigen to put his current plans on hold.
He understood one thing very clearly—at this point, his plan was meaningless.
(End of Chapter)
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