RADG: Chapter 41/42

Chapter 41: Goodbye, Itachi

"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 me? 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 home 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 become even more focused on training. Other than going on missions, he spent the rest of his time training in the forest behind the clan.

Sometimes, 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 meeting 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 someone was extremely troublesome.

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 seemed 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 movement as he approached. He raised his kunai warily and looked in the direction of the sound.

"An old classmate pointing a kunai at me right after we meet? What, want to spar again, Itachi?"

Yami's voice rang out, and in the next moment, he was already standing in front of him.

"Yami."

Itachi responded flatly, but he didn't lower his kunai. "Hardly anyone comes 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 meet 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 came here specifically to see you today."

"To see me?" Itachi looked puzzled.

Yami smiled. "I noticed Shisui-senpai wasn't home. 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 home all day tomorrow. He can come by anytime."

Itachi gave a slight nod. "I'll let him know. Anything else, Yami?"

"Nope. Keep training. Try to last longer next time."

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 time, a small flame seemed to ignite in his eyes, and the temperature of his Fire Release grew even more intense.

Last longer… Hmph. Underestimating the Uchiha will come at a price!

…

Back at home, 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 elemental ninjutsu?"

As he flipped through the scrolls, Yami frowned. There wasn't a single sensory-type ninjutsu at home, just various elemental 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 remembered 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. Time 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 time 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 home, 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.)

Chapter 42: A Small Victory, Yami’s Request

Although he had another reason for seeking out Shisui this time, Yami genuinely wanted to exercise his body.

So he took the sparring seriously.

Of course, his level of seriousness remained within the limits of what Shisui could perceive.

In this world, no one knew that he had already awakened five basic chakra natures along with the special attributes of Yin and Yang.

As far as the outside world was concerned, Yami only had Fire and Wind attributes, along with excellent swordsmanship.

That alone was enough to support his reputation as a genius.


---

[Status Panel]

[Name: Shimura Yami]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 7 and a half years old]
[Date of Birth: April 1, Year 46 (Konoha Calendar)]

[Chakra Attributes: Fire, Wind (Limit Break), Earth, Water, Thunder, Yin, Yang (Ultimate)]

[Total Chakra: 9.3 Cards (1 Card ≈ 5 Standard Jōnin Chakra)]

[Chakra Control Talent: Ultimate]

[Mastered Ninjutsu: Basic Three Techniques, numerous C-rank elemental jutsu, and a few B-rank elemental jutsu]

[Nature Transformation: Wind Release (Limit Break), Fire Release (Mastery), Earth Release (Proficient), Water Release (Proficient)]

[Special Talents: Father's Expectations, Mother's Love, Senju Bloodline (Ordinary, Developing), Stealth Mastery, Swordsmanship Genius, Ninja World Darkness, Mother-in-Law's Expectation, Space Ninjutsu Talent (2/3), Uchiha Bloodline (Rich)]

[Evaluation: Your age and physical development limit your current potential. Be patient and gradually turn talent into strength.]


---

The second stage of the Mother's Love bond reward had made Yami's talent panel exceedingly luxurious, but his strength had not significantly improved during this period.

As the system noted, even the greatest talent takes time to mature, and requires corresponding physical development to support it.

The gap between an ordinary shinobi and a Kage can't be bridged overnight.

...

Training Ground No. 18

In the open field, Yami and Shisui were locked in fierce combat. Under the effect of Body Flicker Technique, it looked as if the two of them were using Multiple Shadow Clones.

But in reality, they weren't. What appeared to be clones were merely afterimages left behind by Body Flicker.

Each afterimage had no mass or substance but every flicker was the real body.

At this point, Shisui had fully unleashed the power of his three-tomoe Sharingan. With his dynamic vision, even if his swordsmanship couldn't match Yami's, his reaction speed and sight were extraordinary.

Meanwhile, Yami kept his head slightly lowered, avoiding direct eye contact to prevent getting caught in genjutsu.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Shisui suddenly switched tactics, spewing a massive fireball from his mouth. Yami turned his blade, coating the Kusanagi sword with wind chakra and slashing forward.

The powerful sword energy split the fireball in two, but Shisui had already vanished behind its cover.

In the next moment, Yami abruptly swung his sword backward, colliding with Shisui's short sword.

All while keeping his head lowered.

But the next second, he cursed silently, "Crap!"

The gleaming blade of the Kusanagi had reflected Shisui's gaze, eyes filled with a subtle smile.

In that instant, Yami felt as though countless monsters lunged at him, baring their fangs and claws.

Just when Shisui thought the battle was over, Yami—who should have been caught in the genjutsu suddenly moved and kicked him away.

Shisui tumbled through the air several times before crashing to the ground more than ten meters away. He stood up in a bit of a mess, staring at Yami in disbelief.

"You weren't caught in the illusion?"

Yami sheathed his sword and replied modestly, "Almost. I was right on the edge of getting trapped."

"You acted that well, huh?" Shisui gave a bitter smile and slung his short sword back over his shoulder.

The fight had indeed ended but he was not the winner.

That kick Yami landed had been held back. If Yami had attacked with full strength in that moment of vulnerability, or even swung his sword instead of kicking, he might have been seriously injured—or worse.

"Your chakra's growing at an incredible rate," Shisui remarked as he took out two bamboo water tubes, tossing one to Yami and taking a sip from his own.

The essence of genjutsu is disrupting chakra flow. Shisui had misjudged the total amount of Yami's chakra, so the illusion failed.

But a loss was still a loss. Shisui didn't make excuses, only felt genuinely happy about Yami's progress.

After all, he was half his disciple too.

Yami took a sip of water and said calmly, "Everyone's good at something. I just happen to have more chakra."

"More?" Shisui looked at him strangely.

Yami's chakra was far more terrifying than his own, and that was even with the enhancement of his three-tomoe Sharingan. If this was "just a little," how could ordinary shinobi even survive?

Still, Shisui didn't press the matter. Tilting his head slightly, he asked, "You didn't call me out today just for sparring, did you?"

"There is something else." Yami nodded calmly. "But this isn't the right place to talk about it. Let's move somewhere more private."

Hearing that, Shisui was even more curious.

He leapt down from the stone and put away the bamboo tube.

"Follow me. There's a spot I often use for training. Not many people go there."

...

Fifteen minutes later, the two arrived deep in the forest on Konoha's eastern side. A cliff loomed ahead, with a waterfall roaring down below.

"How's this?" Shisui asked.

"It'll do."

Yami picked up a stone and tossed it back and forth in his hand. "Shisui-senpai, what's your opinion on Root?"

Shisui was taken aback. He hadn't expected Yami to ask something like that.

After thinking it over for a moment, he replied honestly, "Everyone works hard to protect Konoha, each following their own sense of justice. The methods may differ."

"Root may dwell in darkness and employ extreme methods, but I know there are missions only Root can complete. They do it for Konoha's safety."

"Exactly. Everyone acts for Konoha. You see things clearly, unlike some who hold deep prejudice against Root."

Yami looked up slowly, still playing with the stone in his hand. "There's a difficult mission right now. After searching the whole village, I found you to be the most suitable person for the job, Shisui-senpai."

"For the sake of the village, would you be willing to carry it out and promise not to inform the Third Hokage?"

(To be continued.)