Uchiha En's entire body stiffened.
He slowly raised his head.
His eyes were filled with confusion. "How did you do it? You yellow-haired brat…"
Minato smiled faintly and tossed two packs of cigarettes to En.
"En-ojisan, thank you for accompanying me in training for so long!"
"Your pursuit helped me master this technique more quickly…"
Even for Minato, training in the Flying Thunder God Technique was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
Constructing and sensing the Flying Thunder God mark was not difficult for Minato with Kushina's help. It could be said to be work that became easier with practice—just train more and familiarity would come.
He himself was sufficiently gifted in this area as well.
But to further anchor space through the Flying Thunder God mark, and then complete the transfer in an instant, reaching a level that had real combat value in actual battle…
That was far from simple!
When used for close-quarters combat against an enemy, the Flying Thunder God Technique was a technique danced upon the edge of a blade.
Often, one would sell an opening, entice the enemy to act first, and then use the Flying Thunder God Technique's domineering instantaneous movement to counterkill.
But that also meant that a Flying Thunder God user could not make mistakes.
In that split second, if the transfer was not carried out in time, the feigned opening would become a real one!
Being stabbed clean through with a single strike would be considered light…
Thus, Minato used En to preliminarily temper this ability of his.
The goal he set for himself was that the moment En saw his back, he had to activate the Flying Thunder God mark to achieve the next transfer; otherwise, it would be considered a failure.
After repeated tempering, the current Minato was already able to achieve preliminary consecutive transfers.
En caught the two packs of cigarettes with one hand. The corner of his mouth curled upward, but his brows remained furrowed.
"How did you do it, brat…" En asked in a low voice.
"Don't think two packs of cigarettes can fool me… Speak! The patrol unit cannot afford any mistakes!"
"Then please get ready…" Minato scratched his head. He knew that En seemed to deeply resent Senju Tobirama.
But there was no helping it— a technique was a technique. If it was useful, it had to be trained.
"Come on, let me see!" At that moment, the two tomoe in En's eyes spun to their limit.
Suddenly, several kunai were scattered from Minato's hand, flying straight toward him.
En snorted coldly, picked up his ninja blade, and casually slashed twice, knocking away the few in front of him.
'So inaccurate? Mindless attacking…' En cursed inwardly in disappointment.
Several of the kunai had not even sealed off his position at all, leaving quite a bit of distance between them and him.
How could this kid even fail to throw kunai properly?
But En suddenly grew tense. He saw that Minato's expression was extremely serious, his eyes constantly shifting their focus as if he were watching the position and trajectory of each kunai.
A powerful sense of foreboding surged in En's heart.
Sealed-away memories seemed to be stirred awake.
En abruptly turned his head back, but he was still a step too late.
Golden light had already begun to flow; at his neck, a sharp three-pronged kunai was already being held in place.
As if forcing the words out through clenched teeth, En's expression was ugly.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique! You actually mastered that dog… the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique!"
Minato's ear twitched. He automatically filtered out some sensitive words, then smiled like a little sun. "This was the Hokage's instruction. He said I might have a lot of talent for this technique."
"I didn't expect I could really train it— it's indeed very difficult…"
The Flying Thunder God kunai was withdrawn.
En clenched one fist, and an enormous sense of powerlessness washed over him.
Over forty years ago it was this technique— and now it was this technique again…
Why was it that he simply could not get away from the Flying Thunder God Technique?
The two tomoe spun wildly, and in an instant, another one—black as ink—appeared!
Chakra surged into his body, and by some twist of fate, at his age he had actually become a three-tomoe Uchiha…
"Brat, let's—" En was overjoyed, just about to call for Minato to try again.
But he saw Minato pick up the two packs of cigarettes En had thrown on the ground during the fight, smiling as he handed them back to Uchiha En.
"En-ojisan, from now on I'll be the one buying your cigarettes…"
"You've worked hard these days. When you have time, you still have to train with me—your experience is incredible!"
En's voice cut off abruptly.
According to the script, he should have burst into manic laughter after awakening the three tomoe, then shouted a challenge at the top of his lungs.
With the invincible perception of the three-tomoe, he would catch every single landing point of the kunai.
Then he would seize the yellow-haired brat under his blade, and thereby complete his revenge on a Flying Thunder God user!
But who could have expected that Minato simply stopped fighting entirely—calling him "ojisan" every other sentence, and speaking so pleasantly…
En forcibly swallowed the laughter back down, to the point that his lungs hurt a little from holding it in.
"Hmph…"
"Since you say it like that, then we'll let it go this time! I won't bully you, brat…"
Minato nodded and said with a smile, "Yeah, I ran out of chakra… Thanks for yielding to me, En-ojisan!"
En raised an eyebrow. "You really ran out?"
"Mhm, really, really…" Minato said.
And at this moment—
Hizashi actually appeared in the distance, his face cold as he shouted, "What are you doing? Did a conflict break out?!"
En silently cursed his bad luck.
Hyūga Hizashi—these days, he could be said to be one of Konoha's rule-creepypasta figures.
It seemed that whenever anything happened in the village, this person would always appear out of nowhere.
Naturally, it did not happen every single time. But as more and more people began saying so, it gradually grew more and more uncanny.
It was as if he were a tireless machine, using those Byakugan to help Hiruzen scan the entire village.
Most people could not understand that, for Hizashi, wandering around the village counted as a vacation—it was work and relaxation combined into one.
And constantly keeping the Byakugan activated was also a form of endurance training for himself.
"Hizashi-niisan, you're wearing new clothes?"
Minato greeted him warmly as always. "The Hokage-sama told me to train a new technique, so I thought I'd ask En-ojisan to help me test it!"
Hizashi slowly walked over.
Strangely enough, upon hearing the word "Hokage," the icy, corpse-like expression on his face suddenly melted.
A trace of a smile appeared as well. "So it was the Hokage-sama's instruction? You're working very hard, Minato!"
En, as if turning into a member of the Hyūga Clan, rolled his eyes in irritation.
Although Hiruzen could be considered a good person, wasn't this display of loyalty a bit excessive?
No one else was even watching!
"This was issued by the village. I've been selected as a 'Konoha Committee Member.'" Hizashi pointed to the half-sleeve bearing the pattern of the ceremonial robe and said calmly.
In truth, he harbored thoughts similar to Hiruko…
After all, he was born into the branch family, yet now he had entered the village's core leadership. How could he not wish to display his distinction before others?
He simply was not as impatient as Hiruko; Hizashi intended to show it in a low-key and refined manner…
Upon hearing that title, Ten and Shikyō immediately greeted him. "Greetings, Committee Member Hizashi!"
"Greetings to you as well." Hizashi smiled faintly.
'A three-tomoe Sharingan?' After noticing Uchiha En's eyes, a thought stirred in Hyūga Hizashi's mind.
He could somewhat understand why Danzō had been subtly promoting the theory of the Uchiha threat within the Anbu…
And this was only within the patrol unit, not even a frontline combat force.
If they were truly on the battlefield and a few Mangekyō Uchiha appeared, intent on rebellion…
Or simply wanting to cut people down.
That would indeed be troublesome…
When the Uchiha's strength rose with fortune on their side, it was simply unreasonable!
As a Hyūga, Hizashi had heard a few strange tales about the Uchiha since childhood; not all of them had come from Danzō.
Hizashi made a mental note of it.
"Uchiha En, correct?" Hizashi asked coldly.
"Yes, what about it…" En replied, narrowing his eyes.
"According to the policies formulated by the Hokage-sama, you should be eligible to receive three payments."
"First, a subsidy for the patrol unit. Second, a supplementary pension payment. Third, support for elderly individuals without children…"
"Although someone like you is hard to classify as elderly, the Hokage-sama insisted it be issued."
"As a one-time payment, you can receive approximately one million ryō. The pension of one million ryō will be distributed over five years. In addition, there will be an annual subsidy of five hundred thousand ryō for the childless and solitary."
En was instantly dumbfounded.
Just moments ago, he had been talking with Shikyō and Ten about the ninja killing threshold…
How had the village suddenly slapped him in the face like this?
"Is it only for me?" En asked a foolish question.
"Only you?" Hizashi let out a mocking smile.
"Every ninja who has fought for Konoha is entitled to this treatment…"
"However, there is one special point in your case…"
"Committee Member Tsunade has obtained a batch of materials specially supplied by the Hokage-sama. It is said they may help with limb regeneration, and volunteers are currently being recruited."
"If you're interested, go sign up as soon as possible. The relevant documents will be publicly posted."
En rubbed his temples. He felt as though he were dreaming…
Had he been caught in a genjutsu?
Such a brilliant move—he, a three-tomoe Uchiha, had not detected it at all…
Was this still the shinobi world? Was this still Konoha?
"I'm telling you this to let you know that you now have money."
"Don't always let a young man buy your cigarettes. Training is expensive…" After saying this, Hizashi did not wait for En's rebuttal and drifted away like a ghost.
"Hey, he bought them for me himself!" En shouted at Hizashi in irritation.
"Still, what he said makes sense…"
With a sour expression, En pulled a thick stack of banknotes from his wallet and stuffed them into Minato's pocket. "Take it. Consider it a red envelope from this old man!"
"Awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan deserves celebration!"
Minato paused slightly, then chuckled and tucked it into his pocket. "Alright. In the future, I'll tell others that my Flying Thunder God Technique was trained with En-ojisan's help!"
"After being defeated by En-ojisan again and again, I barely managed to get started…"
"If the other Uchiha heard that, wouldn't they scold me?"
En smiled in satisfaction.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique is very sensitive… but it's also the truth!"
"Sensitive? Perhaps it won't be in the future. Actually, I feel the Uchiha Clan is quite suited to training in this technique…" Minato comforted En.
"The Sharingan's powerful dynamic vision is a rigid requirement for a Flying Thunder God user."
En gave a noncommittal smile.
He naturally knew that Minato could not violate the prohibition and teach a forbidden technique to others.
So did that mean the Hokage would allow an Uchiha to train in the Flying Thunder God Technique?
Leaving aside whether the technique was difficult or not, just that possibility alone…
Even though En felt somewhat shaken by the current state of Konoha, he still thought it highly unlikely.
If that day ever truly came, it would be like seeing a ghost…
Just imagining such a scene made En laugh. He could not picture what expression the Uchiha would wear when facing that moment…
Ecstatic joy—or something else?
"En-ojisan, I'll head off first. I need to prepare for my next mission."
En's gaze sharpened, and he said in a deep voice, "You're going on a mission right after mastering it? It must be at least an A-rank mission as a baseline. You must pay attention to safety—don't grow arrogant just because you have the Flying Thunder God Technique!"
A trace of warmth rose in Minato's heart. "En-ojisan, don't worry…"
"This mission doesn't need to be kept secret. The Hokage-sama said he wants me to go to the Ninja Academy to exchange with the outstanding students…"
"I'm afraid of losing, so I kept putting it off until I mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique before planning to go."
"What if there's a genius? If I lost, wouldn't that be very embarrassing…" Minato said earnestly.
It turned out he was not exactly cautious by nature—only relatively humble.
But after witnessing the chakra that the eternal genin Might Duy unleashed, Minato understood.
In this shinobi world, there was always someone stronger!
A streak of golden light flashed, leaving behind a stunned En.
He mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique just to go exchange with the brats at the Ninja Academy?
Was there something about the Hokage's faction? Why did they always produce such extraordinary people!
"Forget it. You two come with me as well. Today this old man is treating…" En shook his head and laughed, waving at Shikyō and Ten.
"We'll go to that barbecue restaurant opened by the Akimichi Clan. Eat as much as you like!"
Ten could not help but cheer, and even Shikyō swallowed unconsciously.
The place was delicious, but it was truly expensive…
"En-ojisan is the best!" Ten shouted exuberantly.
En fell silent for a moment. After a pause, he slowly said, "It has nothing to do with me…"
"If you want to thank someone, thank this village!"
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