"Yami, you're back!"
After school, Izumi spotted a familiar figure standing at the school gate. Her eyes lit up, and she rushed over to him like a butterfly, even using Chakra to speed up.
Seeing the bright smile on the straight-haired black-haired girl's face, Yami opened his arms and hugged the approaching Izumi. As usual, he rested his hands on her soft hair and gently stroked it.
His mood lifted as well.
"Yeah. Our squad's Jōnin instructor got severely punished by his brother, so he won't be leading us on missions for a while."
"Huh? He's already a Jōnin, and he's still getting scolded by his brother?"
"He had it coming. Who told him to go out and have fun without ? So I ratted him out."
"Wow, that's a bad uncle."
Izumi nodded, not fully understanding, but she quickly let it go. Holding Yami's hand, she walked ho with him, chatting about the little things that had happened at school over the past few days.
Without Uchiha Itachi and Yami around, Izumi's talent stood out and was quickly noticed by the teachers.
If it had been any other Uchiha who stood out like this, they would've already been targeted by Danzō and Hiruzen. But since Yami had specifically instructed to protect her, Danzō couldn't make a move, and Hiruzen only kept a close eye on her without taking further action.
So, there was no need to worry about Izumi's safety.
…
After eating dinner at Izumi's house and helping her train her Fire Release for a bit, Yami said goodbye.
However, he didn't leave the Uchiha clan compound. Instead, he walked toward the forest behind it.
He had heard from Izumi that after losing to him, Itachi had beco even more focused on training. Other than going on missions, he spent the rest of his ti training in the forest behind the clan.
Sotis, Izumi would go there to train too, and the two would occasionally run into each other. But besides exchanging nods, there wasn't much interaction.
One was the clan head's son. The other, a peripheral figure within the Uchiha. Their only real eting during the Nine Tails' night had been interrupted by Yami. Izumi and Itachi were only classmates who happened to be acquainted.
Upon entering the woods, Yami realized a weakness of his own.
Without strong sensory ninjutsu, finding soone was extrely troubleso.
Originally, he had hoped to acquire the Byakugan bloodline from Hizashi. But the rewards from the two stages so far had all been body-related. It looked like he'd have to grind further to get the Byakugan he wanted.
It seed he would need to find a sensory-type ninjutsu that suited him.
Yami darted through the forest while thinking about his future training plan.
Suddenly, a ball of fire lit up deep in the forest. The sky was already dark, so it stood out clearly.
Without hesitation, Yami rushed toward the light.
He didn't bother hiding his presence. Uchiha Itachi, who was training, noticed the movent as he approached. He raised his kunai warily and looked in the direction of the sound.
"An old classmate pointing a kunai at right after we et? What, want to spar again, Itachi?"
Yami's voice rang out, and in the next mont, he was already standing in front of him.
"Yami."
Itachi responded flatly, but he didn't lower his kunai. "Hardly anyone cos here. I thought it was a beast, or maybe a spy from another village sneaking in, so I acted on instinct."
"Forget the sparring. If we et in the Chūnin Exams, we can have another match then."
Although he had made considerable progress under the guidance of Shisui and Fugaku lately, Itachi knew there was still a gap between him and Yami. At the very least… he would only be truly qualified to fight him once his Sharingan evolved again.
"I'm always available." Yami shrugged nonchalantly.
If Itachi had awakened the Mangekyō already, he might've been a threat. But if it was just the regular Sharingan, whether one tomoe or three, it made no difference to him.
"I ca here specifically to see you today."
"To see ?" Itachi looked puzzled.
Yami smiled. "I noticed Shisui-senpai wasn't ho. It's been a while since I last asked him for advice, and I'm getting a bit itchy. So, pass the word to him—I'll be ho all day tomorrow. He can co by anyti."
Itachi gave a slight nod. "I'll let him know. Anything else, Yami?"
"Nope. Keep training. Try to last longer next ti."
With a wave of his hand, Yami activated Body Flicker Technique and vanished in front of Itachi.
Itachi stared silently in the direction Yami had left, then turned back to his Fire Release training.
But this ti, a small fla seed to ignite in his eyes, and the temperature of his Fire Release grew even more intense.
Last longer… Hmph. Underestimating the Uchiha will co at a price!
…
Back at ho, Yami began rummaging through boxes and cabinets. He gathered all the ninjutsu scrolls in the villa and spread them across the floor.
Then, he began flipping through them one by one.
"I already learned Multiple Shadow Clone… Water Barrier… got that too. Vacuum Sphere… I'll keep that around for now. Why are these all elental ninjutsu?"
As he flipped through the scrolls, Yami frowned. There wasn't a single sensory-type ninjutsu at ho, just various elental jutsu and the swordsmanship scroll that Danzō had given him.
"Looks like I'll have to go borrow the Book of Sealing from the old man."
Setting down the final scroll of Earth Release, Yami gave up.
He rembered that Namikaze Minato had mastered a technique that allowed him to sense enemies by touching the ground with his fingers. It was likely recorded in the Book of Sealing.
But when Yami opened his [Status Panel] and checked his current stats, he still wasn't sure if he had any sensory talent.
That said, he felt it was unlikely that sensory ninjutsu required a specific talent. Otherwise, after grinding for over a year, he wouldn't still be missing even the most basic one.
"Forget it for now. Ti to sleep."
After putting all the scrolls back into the bookshelf, Yami took a bath and returned to his bedroom to rest.
The next day, around ten in the morning, Uchiha Shisui arrived at Yami's house with a sword strapped to his back.
"Shisui-senpai."
"Yami, long ti no see." Shisui smiled warmly.
Yami nodded. "Yeah, it's been a while. I've reserved the training ground, I wanted to learn from you and see how much I've improved lately."
Last night, when he returned ho, Shisui had seen the note left by Itachi and wasn't surprised.
The two of them left the Shimura compound and headed toward the training ground.
(To be continued.)
***
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