While Izayoi and Hinata were accompanying Hanabi on a shopping trip.
Near the Uchiha Clan, beneath a massive waterfall by the Naka River.
If a member of the Hyuga Clan were here and activated their Byakugan, they would discover a cave hidden beneath the waterfall.
At this moment, loud noises were emanating from within the cave, though they were drowned out by the sound of the waterfall.
If one were to touch the rocky walls around the waterfall, they could feel occasional tremors.
A blue light tore through the darkness of the cave.
A blue-white sphere, like a water-filled balloon, rapidly expanded.
Then, this energy ball, the size of a basketball, shot into the darkness.
Boom—
With the sound of an explosion, a shockwave roared, and sand and gravel scattered.
The dust and mist didn't escape the cave, as they were dispersed by a gust of wind.
Once everything calmed down, another energy ball appeared, flying deeper into the darkness and causing another violent explosion.
The cave had clearly been formed by the bombardment of such energy balls.
"The core is complete. Now, I can create smaller spheres inside it."
Izayoi's Shadow Clone appeared at the cave entrance where light filtered in, organizing the day's gains.
The Super Hurricane Consecutive Spheres, an original technique from the TV anime, was something Izayoi had now grasped the basics of—transforming the Rasengan into a size just below that of the Giant Rasengan.
This had taken Izayoi a full two years.
Izayoi finally understood why Uzumaki Naruto, after three years of training, still needed the assistance of Shadow Clones to perform the Giant Rasengan.
For someone who couldn't even manage a one-handed Rasengan, trying to expand the Rasengan to that size while maintaining balance and preventing the Chakra from exploding was nearly impossible.
Even for Izayoi, it took two full years to elevate his Chakra Control to this level.
If it were just about gathering Chakra into such a massive form, it wouldn't be too difficult.
The real challenge was keeping that much Chakra concentrated and spinning at an ultra-high speed.
This was truly a hellish difficulty! After all, the Rasengan was already the pinnacle of Shape Transformation, with a learning difficulty rated at A-rank.
The Giant Rasengan was undoubtedly somewhere between A-rank and S-rank.
No wonder S-rank ninja techniques were referred to as Secret Arts—even with immense effort and exceptional talent, mastering them was never a guarantee.
Just creating an energy ball of this size was already so challenging.
Trying to create five spheres inside it would be no less difficult than Uzumaki Naruto perfecting the Wind Release: Rasen Shuriken.
And then, simultaneously infusing five different Nature Transformations into those five spheres? The mere thought of it made one's head ache.
If successful, regardless of its power, the learning difficulty would undoubtedly surpass S-rank, reaching SS-rank.
Even Asura Otsutsuki couldn't achieve this.
Yet, it had become Izayoi's goal.
His current potential was even more astonishing than Asura Otsutsuki, who needed to draw power from Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
If purple-level Chakra Control wasn't enough, he would elevate his Talent in Chakra Control to the golden level.
As long as he successfully developed the Super Hurricane Consecutive Spheres, he could, like Uzumaki Naruto, rely on a single technique to dominate any opponent.
No matter the enemy, he could solve them with a Rasengan.
Sitting cross-legged in front of the waterfall, Izayoi's Shadow Clone continued to gather Chakra in both hands, forming an energy ball the size of a basketball. This time, however, he did not throw it.
Only when the clone had exhausted its Chakra did it dissipate into a puff of white smoke.
The fatigue and experience were all transferred back to the original body.
Izayoi, who was feeding Hanabi some rice cakes, merely raised an eyebrow slightly before returning to his usual demeanor.
Even Hinata, who had been secretly watching him, didn't notice any change in Izayoi.
Ever since mastering the Rasengan and attempting to develop the Super Hurricane Consecutive Spheres, Izayoi had rarely trained with his original body.
He usually sent his Shadow Clone to train in the cave, while his original body only trained occasionally, mostly accompanying Hinata in the abandoned training grounds.
He was certain that Hiruzen Sarutobi had spied on him using the Crystal Ball Gazing Technique.
Over the past two years, Izayoi had fought Uchiha Sasuke every one or two weeks.
He didn't believe that his Unrestricted Duel with Sasuke had gone unnoticed by Hiruzen.
After all, before Uchiha Itachi left the Leaf Village, he had first reported to Hiruzen and then gone to threaten Shimura Danzo.
If it weren't for the fear of being discovered by the Byakugan, Izayoi would have even been tempted to activate it to check if there were any Anbu watching him.
Having always let his Shadow Clone train, Izayoi had long since mastered controlling the amount of Chakra used by the clone, ensuring that the fatigue feedback remained at an acceptable level.
After Hanabi finished her rice cakes, Izayoi took her around to play, using the Body Flicker Technique to carry her high up, or climbing trees and practicing Water Walking.
Although Hanabi hadn't started training yet, having watched Hinata and Hyuga Neji's battles, as well as Hinata and Izayoi's training and fights, she had developed a desire to become as gentle and strong as her sister, just like in the original story. Therefore, apart from being a bit of a glutton, Hanabi didn't enjoy playing with her peers and preferred to have Izayoi take her on thrilling 'roller coaster' rides.
Once she reached the age to extract Chakra and began training, she would undoubtedly become even more clingy.
"Oniichan, goodbye."
"Bye."
After playing with Hanabi until dusk, Izayoi finally waved goodbye to his clingy little sister-in-law with a smile.
Then, instead of going home, he went to the market to buy some ingredients before using the Body Flicker Technique to head to the vast Uchiha clan grounds, where only Sasuke remained.
"You're here."
Sasuke, who was training in the courtyard, looked at Izayoi with a fierce fighting spirit as he carried two bags.
"Let's eat first, then we can fight. Take a break for now," Izayoi said with a smile.
"Alright."
Sasuke didn't refuse.
As night fell, the two of them sat on the engawa, eating hot pot.
When the night grew quiet, two small figures darted through the clan grounds, entering a forest like arrows.
Bang, bang, bang...
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The sounds of objects colliding, heavy things hitting the ground, and projectiles cutting through the air echoed continuously through the night forest.
Boom—
Not long after, an explosion rang out, and a red flame burst forth.
However, the flames quickly died down.
Half an hour later, the two small figures emerged from the forest.
Under the moonlight, Izayoi and Sasuke stood in stark contrast to each other.
Izayoi's clothes were neat, as if spotless.
On the other hand, Uchiha Sasuke's attire was tattered, with burn marks covering his body.
The exposed skin still bore faint scars.
However, the exhausted young man's eyes sparkled with a sharp gleam, clearly indicating significant gains.
"I won again," Izayoi said, looking at Uchiha Sasuke with a smile. "As per our agreement, I'll take a look at your family's ninja technique library."
"Go ahead, it's just a few things anyway," Uchiha Sasuke replied indifferently.
After the fall of the Uchiha Clan, the village had buried the clan members' bodies.
As a price, all the scrolls had been confiscated.
Even the family's inheritance was reduced to a few low-level Element Release Technique scrolls.
Uchiha Sasuke had asked the Third Hokage about it. The village hadn't touched the advanced ninja technique scrolls from his family; they were likely taken by Uchiha Itachi.
As for the village confiscating the clan's scrolls, Uchiha Sasuke didn't mind.
The Third Hokage had promised him that once he became a ninja and grew strong enough to take over the Uchiha Clan, he could apply to the village to reclaim the land deeds and ninja technique scrolls.
For now, he didn't have the strength to safeguard those things.
Izayoi knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi was telling the truth.
Apart from secret techniques like Izanagi and Izanami, the Uchiha Clan's ninja technique scrolls weren't particularly coveted.
Compared to a powerful Uchiha combatant, such things were hardly worth coveting.
It was the same with the inheritance left by Izayoi's parents.
However, the Uchiha Clan's ninja technique library was still quite useful to Izayoi.
His mastery of Shape Transformation was extremely high, but his Nature Transformation was almost nonexistent.
Practicing the Five Elements Release Techniques could enhance Nature Transformation.
To perfect the Super Hurricane Consecutive Spheres, Izayoi needed to master all five Nature Transformations and make them strong enough to fuse with the Super Hurricane Consecutive Spheres.
For Wind Release Transformation, Izayoi could draw inspiration from the original Uzumaki Naruto. As for the other four Nature Transformations, he would have to comprehend them himself by practicing ninja techniques.
Alternatively, he could seek guidance from his Jonin Instructor after graduation.
Of course, there was a shortcut to possessing the highest level of Nature Transformation without needing to practice.
That was… awakening the Rinnegan or the Tenseigan!
(End of Chapter)