Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Shen had been holed up at home for more than a month.
Inside the Uchiha clan training grounds, Fugaku watched Shen spit out a massive fireball and felt his teeth ache.
"So what do you think, Brother Fugaku? My Great Fireball isn't any weaker than Father's, right?" Shen boasted proudly.
During this time, besides occasionally checking on the store, Shen had thoroughly studied several Fire Release ninjutsu techniques recorded by the clan. He examined Fire Release techniques thoroughly from every angle until he reached an astonishing conclusion: chakra was essentially fuel for ninja techniques, while transforming chakra into various jutsu required a kind of "password"—those long, annoying hand seals he found so distasteful.
Moreover, by mentally simulating the symbolic "passwords" corresponding to each seal, Shen successfully cracked the long, confusing sequence of hand seal codes, even optimizing their length and improving the efficiency of chakra flow paths.
If Indra—the creator of hand seals—had learned about this, he would have called it brilliant indeed! But if one of his descendants from the Uchiha clan had produced such a genius, wouldn't he be laughing wildly toward the sky?
Indra: Haha, Asura! My descendants clearly have better brains!
Asura: You can't beat me!
Indra: !
Unfortunately, because of his intense remarks, Indra was kicked out of the live broadcast by the Sage of Six Paths.
"Indeed, the power has increased significantly... but are you sure these shortened hand seals and chakra pathways are safe enough? You're not trying some trick to mess with me again, are you?" Lately, Fugaku had been shocked beyond belief; now, even if he saw his younger brother activate the Mangekyo Sharingan, his expression probably wouldn't change.
"I swear on it! If I lie again, may Father chase me nonstop for three whole days!"
Shen's promise left Fugaku skeptical, but curious enough to give it a try. With uneasy feelings, he began channeling chakra within his body using the method Shen had demonstrated. At the same time, his hands swiftly performed the optimized seals.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!]
Fugaku opened his mouth, took a deep breath, silently recited the technique's name, and spat out a fireball no smaller than the one Shen had demonstrated earlier.
Seeing the tremendous power of the Fire Release technique he had just unleashed, Fugaku stood there stunned. He turned his head, looking at his younger brother—his tail practically wagging with pride—with deep satisfaction: "This little brother might be a bit mischievous normally, but when it comes to crucial matters, he's truly serious."
Ever since that day when Fugaku brought Shen to the training grounds and demonstrated the Great Fireball Jutsu, he publicly declared he'd "arrange" this technique within a month.
Although Fugaku didn't really understand what "arrange" meant, he thought it meant learning the technique properly within a month. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that "arrange" actually meant modifying the jutsu so that even a five-year-old child could produce adult-level power.
"Brother Fugaku, how about we..."
"No! Absolutely not! Can't allow it!" Fugaku cut him off instantly. In his mind, what kind of suggestion could this younger brother possibly make that would be good? Just days ago, he'd been tricked into peeking at Mikoto bathing.
Swear to heaven and earth!
Fugaku Uchiha was famously known as an upright and dependable guy within the clan. That day, when Shen claimed something happened while Mikoto was taking a bath, he rushed over immediately. Then he was sent flying skyward by Mikoto's soft, pale little foot.
Only after the incident did Fugaku realize: How could that brat have known exactly when something happened to her during her bath? Wasn't this just bullying the good-hearted guy! From then on, he understood one important truth: Not even a single punctuation mark in anything Shen Uchiha said could be trusted!
This time, if it weren't for the other party swearing seriously on oath, Fugaku wouldn't have dared follow Shen's advice again.
"Tsk! Fugaku-nii is such a coward. I already said last time was a misunderstanding. I just happened to pass by Mikoto's house and heard her scream thinking something had happened. Who knew she'd been scared by a tiny cockroach."
Shen insisted that day was purely a misunderstanding, though judging from his expression, Fugaku clearly didn't believe it was that simple a coincidence.
"Don't talk anymore! Luckily Mikoto was reasonable; she even kept apologizing repeatedly afterward. Otherwise, do you think you could've eaten and drunk so well every day?" Fugaku felt he had to flex his "older brother authority" a bit—after all, if he didn't use it now and then, it might just vanish entirely!
Shen scoffed skeptically, "Tsk! Fugaku-nii is boasting again. Can you even catch up with me? Save those words until you've mastered Nature Transformation with Lightning Chakra!"
"You little punk!"
"Time to bounce! Fugaku-nii, I'll track you down next time I'm free."
As Shen vanished in a flash of white light, Fugaku sighed deeply. That "older brother authority"—probably counterfeit, right? Or maybe Shen's resistance stats were maxed out? Completely immune to all negative effects? Thinking carefully, he actually believed this was truly the case. Otherwise, without any resistance, who would dare call their father "old man" directly and end up not hanging from the ceiling getting sun-dried for three days?
That night, after finishing dinner, the head of the Uchiha household, along with his family, were chatting casually.
"Aiko, thank you for helping handle clan affairs recently," Kazushi thanked Aiko while hugging her.
"My dear, don't say like that, the kids are here," Aiko blushed unusually.
"" x2
The two Uchiha brothers exchanged glances before simultaneously rolling their eyes.
"What's there to fear? Fugaku is already ten years old, why are you trembling, you little punk?"
"I'm shivering from goosebumps, Father." Saying that, Shen hugged his arms tighter, shaking more dramatically.
"" x3
The baffled trio couldn't quite put into words what they were feeling—this drama king really outdid himself this time!
Ever since Shen started acting unhinged, he completely let himself loose. This boldness and fearless attitude toward everything had become commonplace for the three of them this past month.
"We must think of a way to make this kid go bother others instead!" x3
After exchanging meaningful glances, the trio reached a consensus—they couldn't allow someone to keep being a homebody.
"Why are you guys staring at me like that?" Being stared upon, this time Shen genuinely got goosebumps.
Feigning anger, Kazushi suddenly slammed the table, making Shen jump out of his skin.
"Punk! You seem pretty idle lately, having time to act dramatically at home!" Spoke Kazushi, improvising further in a tone mixed with three parts fury and seven parts determination, "I think you better return to school tomorrow!"
Hearing this tone, Shen sensed something strange—how come looking idle suddenly meant returning to school?
He stared hard at his old man, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Cough cough," Kazushi started coughing awkwardly under Shen's intense gaze.
"Oh come on, my dear son, why don't you just go to school already!" Aiko quickly stepped in when she sensed trouble.
"Just look at you! You don't go to school and spend all day loafing around the house doing nothing! Mother, mother, how my heart aches!" Aiko cried out in anguish, her voice echoing through the house.
Fugaku also jumped in to back her up, "That's right, Shen. If you keep this up, you'll truly become a good-for-nothing second-generation heir."
Shen was immediately speechless. What had he done to deserve this? Did they really need all three of them ganging up on him like this? He rolled his eyes, muttering that this whole thing was total BS and gave it a thumbs-down.
"Exactly! So Shen, you should just go to school already! Waaah!" Aiko wailed dramatically, tears streaming down her face like she'd just watched a soap opera.
"You've gotta be kidding me? Since when did Lady Mother get so over-the-top with crying scenes? And old man, stop glaring at me like that—if you were truly angry, this table would've been gone already! And finally, Fugaku-san, since when have you been such a great actor? It's just going to school for crying out loud! Do you really think I don't want to go? It was Hokage who wouldn't let me go in the first place!" Shen saw right through their little act.
"Then isn't it fine if Third Hokage agrees?" Aiko wiped away her tears and became excited in an instant.
"You—you—"
Shen now clearly knew he'd been tricked. So this whole thing had been staged from the beginning! Was this family even capable of normal anymore?
Before long, Kazushi returned home carrying a formal letter granting permission for Shen to attend school, personally signed by the Third Hokage.
But at that moment, all Shen wanted to know was whether there had been some shady behind-the-scenes deals involved.
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