20 [New Techniques]
Within the Hyuga Clan's training ground, a young girl, approximately three years old, frolicked around in a cute pink kimono. Her pale lavender eyes widened with shock as she witnessed a living person vanish into smoke before her.
"Huh?" The initial confusion on the child's face gave way to a flood of shock, her tiny form now consumed by copious amounts of fear. The abrupt realisation overwhelmed her, and with wide, terrified eyes, the child began to break down into tears.
*Sniffle*
"There's a ghost! Dad, save me!" The child's hysterical cries echoed through the training ground as she frantically turned to flee. Tears streamed down her rosy cheeks, and her small form shook with fear. Snot dripped from her nose, leaving a trail behind her as she ran away in panic...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke, blissfully unaware of the emotional turmoil he had inadvertently triggered in a young child, smiled with glee upon receiving the information from his shadow clone.
"With this, I can begin developing a new Jutsu for myself," Sasuke mused to himself, contemplating the myriad of possibilities. However, he decided it would be prudent to postpone his training until the following day. For now, he would simply focus on practicing Fuinjutsu.
The next day, Sasuke rose early to meet with Guy and Lee. Although he typically engaged in morning exercises, today's routine involved sparring sessions with his energetic pair of comrades. They converged at a training ground in the heart of the village, exchanging greetings.
"Good morning," Sasuke offered, to which Lee responded with a similar greeting.
"And a most splendid and vibrant morning to you, my youthful compatriot, Sasuke!" Guy replied, his voice echoing with the boundless enthusiasm and unbridled energy.
"Guy-sensei, I have a question regarding my Taijutsu. Do you have any ideas on how I could make my Taijutsu more deadly? For now it seems to be primarily useful for stalling opponents but lacks lethality," Sasuke inquired.
"Well, that's a real head-scratcher, Sasuke. But don't you forget, unlike me and Lee, you've got a whole bag of tricks. Why not spice up your Taijutsu with some chakra infusion? It's worth a shot. Now, as for my Eight Inner Gates technique, it's a real powerhouse, but it demands you pour all your energy and time into Taijutsu. And I reckon you're a bit spread thin for that, aren't you?"
"Hmm... Chakra?" Sasuke contemplated the notion before setting it aside for the time being, engaging in sparring with the duo.
After the morning sparring, Sasuke returned home to refresh himself. Sending a shadow clone to the academy as usual, he then made his way to the Uchiha training grounds to practice his new Jutsu.
Pondering the choice of location, Sasuke considered the Uchiha compound safe for his training. With Itachi's influence protecting him from harm and the support of Hiruzen, there seemed to be little risk. The worst consequence might be the academy realising he had been skipping classes.
Unlike the controversial origin of the Rasengan, Sasuke's creation of a new Ninjutsu at a young age wasn't unprecedented, taking for example Kakashi, who developed an A-Rank Jutsu at the tender age of 12.
Furthermore, unlike Kakashi, who employed his new Jutsu during wartime, Sasuke had no intention of flaunting this technique before everyone's eyes. While he wasn't exactly inclined to keep it an absolute secret, he chose to maintain an air of mystery, leaving most people blissfully unaware of its actual difficulty and nature.
Finding solace on the familiar training ground, Sasuke assumed a contemplative stance, closing his eyes to focus. Summoning a shadow clone, he directed it to stretch out its hands to the sides, palms facing outwards, and carefully channel chakra. Drawing from past experiences, Sasuke stepped back, observing how the clone slowly generated flames from its palms.
The flames twirled around the clone at a leisurely pace, showing no signs of intensifying. Sasuke furrowed his brow in thought, wondering if it was merely a first attempt hiccup or if he was overlooking a crucial detail.
A sudden epiphany struck him, and he mentally berated himself for the oversight. Adjusting his clone's instructions, the clone began to rapidly rotate on his spot and caused the flames around him to quickly spin upwards.
A fiery vortex soon manifested, swirling rapidly around the clone at the centre. Yet, the impressive display proved short-lived as the movement vanished along with Sasuke's clone. Though due to the unique nature of Sasuke's flames, some of them did linger on the ground.
"For now, there's much work to be done on its stability. Casting it now might pose more danger inside the Jutsu than outside of it," Sasuke reflected, acknowledging the need to hone the technique's stability.
Summoning five clones, he ordered them to train the new Jutsu, while he focused on refining his Fuinjutsu skills by the side.
Over the course of the next week, the training ground witnessed the daily routine of Sasuke and his clones tirelessly working on the technique. Their efforts bore fruit when, one day, Sasuke smiled with satisfaction as five towering pillars of flames materialised without a hint of instability.
The flames were a resplendent shade of golden yellow, adorned with mesmerising blue spots that gleamed like intricately embroidered diamonds. Each flicker and dance of the flames painted a picture of surreal beauty against the canvas that was the training ground.
The seamless rotation reminded him of the Beyblades Ren had in his younger days, a nostalgic touch to the success they achieved through their, well, Sasuke's, laborious endeavours.
However, Sasuke's day was far from over, for throughout the week, a cascade of new ideas had flooded his mind—ideas for a revolutionary fighting style that maximised his control over flames without the constraints of hand seals.
Inspired by an older animated series from his memories, Sasuke decided to incorporate his ability to generate fire from his limbs to into his Taijutsu. Though he could also follow Tsunade's example of utilising chakra to strengthen physical attacks, which was achieved by storing chakra in her hands and releasing it all at specific moment- inflicting immense damage onto the target.
However, that would require an inordinate amount of medical knowledge in order to ensure his chakra pathway doesn't get pulverised. Moreover, it clashed with his preferred combat approach—constant movement intertwined with potent, agile strikes.
Sasuke summoned 6 shadow clones, something he can now due to his chakra reserves that have been increasing steadily over time and directed them to fight one another in three sets of 1v1's. Then he ordered them to use Fire Style techniques in the fight, though they could only use it in close combat.
As Sasuke observed the utilisation of shadow clones to enhance his combat experience, he couldn't help but begrudgingly acknowledge the practical advantages. Typically, he'd steer clear of such methods, as he tended to avoid facing off against the somewhat distasteful and ruthless facets of his own fighting style, as was evident in his prior encounter with that bear. Additionally, there lingered a concern that engaging opponents who vanished after a single strike might foster detrimental habits in his own fighting technique.
As evening arrived, Sasuke released the Shadow Clone Jutsu and began to head home in order to have an adequate rest.
Over the next, three days his shadow clones began to practice with each other in the training grounds and embryo of a new fighting style began to form under the eyes of Sasuke. A fighting style that would set him apart in this unpredictable ninja world.
Acknowledging the limitations of relying solely on shadow clones for his training, Sasuke made a resolute decision—it was time to return to the 'Forest of Death.' However, this time, the choice was entirely his own. With newfound thirst for self-improvement, Sasuke ventured back into the familiar yet ominous forest, eager to face the challenges that awaited him there...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile in the Hokage office.
"DANZO!" Hiruzen's voice thundered through the Hokage's office. The figure seated opposite him maintained an air of stoicism, draped in a high-collared robe, gripping a wooden cane in his left hand. He had a messy black hair along with bandages wrapped around his forehead and eyes, in addition with the X-shaped scar on his chin. The features bestowing the man with a chilling yet daunting countenance.
"Speak properly, Hiruzen. Your behaviour isn't very fitting of a Hokage," Danzo remarked, his voice holding a tone of authority and condescension.
"Why would you send your men to infiltrate the Hyuga Clan?! First, it was the Uchiha. And now, the Hyuga? Are you planning to weaken this village further?" Hiruzen spoke with palpable fury, veins bulging from his temples as he clenched his fists tightly.
"What?" Danzo, however, was confused by this sudden accusation. He understand that he may have done many things behind Hiruzen's back, but this wasn't one of them.
"Playing dumb?" Hiruzen spoke wearily.
"If this wasn't your directive, tell me why Root shinobi traces were found around the Hyuga Clan land. Not only did you attack a Hyuga branch member, but you also thought it would be fine to target Hiashi's daughter?" Hiruzen continued, his voice laced with a stern authority as he stood up, slamming his palms onto his desk.
He massaged his forehead as he remembered the notice from Hiashi stating that his daughter was frightened by a 'ghost' within the family training grounds who dressed in all black with a haunting white mask. This 'ghost' disappeared after standing by the Hyuga Clan's training ground for an unknown amount of time.
Combined with the traces of Root identified by the nearby individuals, who witnessed several black shadows disappear with the branch member if the Hyuga clan down an alleyway. Hiruzen has all but confirmed Danzo is about to start something again.
*Sigh*
"Danzo, I think you should stay at home for the next few months. Your status as a village elder will be removed temporarily. I'll decide when to reinstate you later," Hiruzen stated with unwavering authority.
"Hiruzen?!" Danzo expressed disbelief, not comprehending the situation until Hiruzen laid out the consequences.
"Did you frame me, Hiruzen? Of course it has to be you, only you would do something like this. Hiruzen, you will regret this!" Danzo stood up from his seat and strode out of the room before slamming the door behind him.
Hiruzen, still seated, closed his eyes as sat behind the Hokage desk. His anger and rage suddenly vanishing from his face.
"Frame you? Danzo, how naive are you?" Hiruzen muttered with a hint of disappointment, shaking his head gently.
"But that doesn't mean I won't use this as an excuse to restrain you for now. Your greed for Sasuke has to be quelled. I can't let another Itachi be created," he continued to mutter to himself.
"Though, I do wonder who orchestrated this incident?" Hiruzen looked out of the window as he contemplated. He didn't for a second believe Danzo would be dumb enough to leave evidence behind in something like this, but left a question lingering in the air...
Who did it?
