Chapter 19: Sharingan Reflection, Clan Relocation, and Hatake Swordsmanship Lessons
Naraku carefully admired his Sharingan, as though it were a work of art.
Despite his rapid breathing, there was no trace of the confusion, pain, or fear that usually accompanied a first kill. Perhaps it was the Uchiha bloodline's inheritance, or perhaps it was the madness lurking deep in Naraku's nature—his lips slowly curved upward.
At first, the smile was faint, just a soft chuckle. But as time passed, the laughter grew louder, wilder, more unrestrained! Finally, Naraku burst into full-throated laughter, the sound echoing through the air as if it wanted to swallow the entire world.
After laughing for a while, Naraku reined it in. For some reason, he found himself liking the feeling. He finally understood why the Uchiha Mad Laugh Quartet loved laughing so freely!
Once calm, Naraku began reviewing the battle he had just fought. He had been far too weak in "purity." Despite possessing vast chakra reserves and advanced swordsmanship, he had barely displayed any real power. This stemmed from not fully digesting his own conditions. If the monkey mask hadn't been trying to capture him alive without excessive injury, Naraku would have died countless times.
Moreover, although the monkey mask was a special jōnin, his "specialty" likely lay outside combat—perhaps concealment or tracking abilities.
Naraku urgently needed time to better utilize his advantages. First: acquire Lightning Release chakra and train Hatake swordsmanship. Second: learn more ninjutsu. While he could theoretically "one blade breaks ten thousand techniques," he still needed various ninjutsu for support. And reaching that level of mastery in the short term was impossible.
But he had time. He decided: tomorrow, he would move in with Mikoto.
He wanted to see if Danzō still dared send people into the heart of the Uchiha compound!
At the same time, Danzō sat in the darkness of his Root office, waiting for his subordinate.
Suddenly, a rabbit-masked agent appeared before him.
"Lord Danzō, Number 32 is dead! The killer's identity is unknown!"
Danzō murmured: "So inviting you for a meeting isn't that simple after all… Uchiha Naraku!"
...
The next day, Naraku arrived at Uchiha Mikoto's house carrying his bedding.
Mikoto looked at Naraku with his rolled-up futon, her small head filled with big confusion: "Naraku, what are you doing?"
Naraku answered with a perfectly serious smile: "I'm here to be your childhood husband and live-in son-in-law, Mikoto! Our future children can take your surname. Uchiha is fine, right?"
Uchiha Min looked at Naraku and surprisingly didn't get angry. With his life experience, he sensed something deeper. He said to Mikoto: "Go help your childhood husband tidy up a room."
Mikoto pouted coquettishly: "Grandfather, what are you saying! When did I ever agree to marry Naraku?"
"It's me marrying you, not you marrying me!" Naraku corrected.
Mikoto said nothing, just glared at Naraku.
Later, watching Mikoto tidy the room, Naraku couldn't help but sigh in admiration. As expected from the canon epitome of a wise wife and good mother—he was truly blessed in the future.
Afterward, Naraku used Shadow Clone as usual and went to the academy with Mikoto.
Uchiha Min found Naraku and asked: "Did something happen?"
Naraku only said: "Root people came looking for me. I escaped using some methods."
Min didn't show excessive anger. He simply said calmly: "This is the village! The malice of the Hokage faction! Things like this never happen to the Yamanaka-Akimichi-Nara trio, never happen to the Hyūga clan—yet they happen to the Uchiha! From now on, stay here properly. I'll build you a new forging room!"
With that, Uchiha Min slowly left the room. Naraku watched the departing elder. He realized this hawk faction leader wasn't as simple as he had previously thought. Perhaps he had been too arrogant. The seemingly foolish actions of canon characters might have been seen through by some smart people— but limited by insufficient strength or lack of information, they were powerless to change anything.
On the rooftop, Tsunade and Nawaki were chatting.
Nawaki pleaded with his sister: "Nee-san! Just give me that necklace already! I know you were planning to give it to me for my 12th birthday!"
Tsunade said helplessly: "Who asks for their own present?"
Nawaki fully unleashed his crying, tantrum, and hanging tactics, begging his sister for the gift.
In the end, Tsunade couldn't withstand his persistence and gave him the necklace ahead of time.
Nawaki happily put it on with a big smile.
...
Naraku went to find Hatake Sakumo, who was resting at home.
Sakumo greeted him happily: "You're finally here, Naraku! Ready to learn swordsmanship?"
Naraku bowed respectfully: "Sakumo-sama, that's exactly why I'm here. I've always wanted to witness the Hatake clan's sword art."
In truth, Naraku mainly came to legitimize his knowledge of the style. Otherwise, mastering the entire Hatake swordsmanship after seeing it used only once would be hard to explain.
Sakumo said slowly: "Actually, Hatake swordsmanship isn't very difficult. It mainly requires talent, massive practice, and personal comprehension. The things that truly need to be memorized aren't many."
First is beginner mastery—this level doesn't require much chakra technique. It's mainly about channeling chakra into the blade and using your own footwork, then performing standard attacks.
...
To reach intermediate mastery, you must learn to use chakra to further enhance your speed. At this stage, the sword style gains new variations. These changes directly result in greater attack power and even faster drawing speed!
...
To reach advanced mastery, you must become proficient in various applications of Lightning Release chakra changes. Moreover, you need to fully activate Lightning chakra, fusing it into both body and weapon. Only then can you achieve the perfect state of Hatake swordsmanship! In this state, the practitioner can unleash lightning power to its utmost—each strike carries the force of thunder, astonishingly powerful and nearly impossible to defend against!
...
Sakumo ultimately didn't explain the realms beyond that, but Naraku understood.
Meanwhile, Sakumo watched in shock as Uchiha Naraku went from novice to intermediate mastery on his first attempt—his mouth hanging open.
If Naraku could reach advanced mastery of Hatake swordsmanship, Sakumo feared he might go completely mad. He considered himself somewhat talented, yet he had only just broken through from advanced to perfect mastery.
He even tried to persuade Naraku to fully dedicate himself to swordsmanship. Unfortunately, Naraku knew his own situation. He had mastered Hatake swordsmanship purely through his golden finger—and without Lightning Release chakra, he currently couldn't reach advanced mastery.
In the end, Naraku fled under Sakumo's reluctant gaze.
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