This training task had originally been requested by Uchiha Obito.
So when he firmly demanded to end it—
That meant the task was over.
Rin and Shinichi had benefited greatly from the training and were quite dissatisfied with Obito's decision.
But they had only tagged along to "borrow" the training opportunity.
They had no standing to object.
Thus, Team Obito ended the session early.
Uchiha Yoru, meanwhile, received his mission payment from the Clan Head ahead of schedule.
He was very satisfied.
However—
Uchiha Shisui chose to continue training under Uchiha Yoru.
He even went a step further—
And started freeloading meals at Yoru's house.
A man full of secrets like Uchiha Yoru didn't object.
Even Miwa Masayo, who usually disliked outsiders, didn't object either.
It couldn't be helped.
Shisui was the "white glove" Yoru had chosen.
The more time he could spend shaping this child's values—
The better.
And besides—
Uchiha Shisui paid far too well.
One meal from him—
Earned Yoru enough for three meals.
Shisui was polite.
Respectful to both Miwa Masayo and Yoru.
Completely unaware that he was the biggest financial backer in the room.
Instead, he actively helped with chores.
If he saw something broken—
He replaced it immediately.
If the furniture or house showed signs of wear—
He would hire craftsmen to repair it without hesitation.
After a few times—
Miwa Masayo silently allowed him unrestricted access to her "territory."
Money—
Truly terrifying.
Uchiha Yoru liked Shisui.
This was a naturally kind child.
Talented—
Yet gentle and reserved.
He cared about both the Uchiha clan and the village.
He even possessed a spirit of self-sacrifice.
Most importantly—
He pursued ideals and light—
But could still accept imperfect outcomes.
No extremist tendencies.
And—
His mouth was sealed tight.
After Yoru told him to keep things confidential, Shisui truly didn't mention his continued training to Fugaku, Setsuna, or anyone else.
This—
Was the perfect student.
To encounter such talent and nurture it—
Was one of life's great joys.
But teaching a genius had its downsides.
For example—
He learned too fast.
Took up too much of Yoru's time.
Delaying his cultivation progress.
Considering the Third Shinobi War was imminent—
And he could be summoned to the battlefield at any moment—
Uchiha Yoru made a decision.
He brought Shisui to the archive.
Took out the twenty-four large scrolls he had compiled—
And successfully redirected the attention of this four-year-old genius.
A true genius should develop self-learning ability.
Not be force-fed knowledge.
…It definitely wasn't because Yoru was lazy.
Absolutely not.
With that—
Uchiha Yoru's life returned to normal.
Every morning—
Weighted runs to train the body.
After returning—
Standing meditation to refine the mind.
Afternoon—
Answer Shisui's questions.
Check his progress.
Then cook enough food to feed two people and one cat to their fill.
Miwa Masayo's senjutsu training was progressing rapidly.
According to her, she had already grasped a rough form of senjutsu and was secretly refining it further.
Her secrecy was excellent.
Even Yoru didn't know the specifics.
But he was certain of one thing—
It was fire-aligned.
After all—
She had become a Cat Sage under his influence.
And at that time—
The environment had contained only fire-aspected natural energy.
This was a good thing.
The toads of Mount Myōboku leaned toward water.
The snakes of Ryūchi Cave leaned toward earth.
The slugs of Shikkotsu Forest—
Clearly held dominion over wood.
By choosing fire—
Miwa Masayo avoided direct conflict in fundamental attributes.
In the future—
The Cat Castle wouldn't clash irreconcilably with the three great sage lands.
Whenever Yoru thought of the slug sage—
He couldn't help but feel curious.
In the shinobi world—
There was no ready-made wood-release chakra.
Nor even wood-aspected natural energy.
So how had that sage mastered wood-based senjutsu?
Yoru's own path began with fire—
Matching his chakra affinity.
After completing his hundred-day foundation—
He naturally absorbed earth-aspected natural energy.
Even giving birth to earth-release chakra.
Perfectly aligning with the Five Elements theory—
Fire generates earth.
Following that logic—
Next should be earth generating metal.
Meaning—
His next step should involve metal-aspected natural energy.
But—
There was no such thing in this world.
No metal-aspected natural energy.
Not even metal-release chakra.
The closest thing—
Was the extremely rare Steel Release bloodline.
But that was merely a mutation of earth release.
Yoru had no idea how to proceed.
He had even considered—
Starting from chakra.
Mastering Steel Release first—
Then reverse-engineering metal-aspected natural energy.
The problem was—
Steel Release was rarer than the Sharingan.
He didn't even know who possessed it.
Only that the Hidden Stone Village in the Land of Earth had its inheritance.
Such vague information—
Was useless.
Yoru's real concern, however—
Was that his cultivation had begun to change.
The primary pathways of natural energy circulation—
Were expanding.
Natural energy didn't flow at a constant rate.
It rose and fell.
Fast and slow.
With a strong rhythm.
Recently—
At its fastest and most pressured moments—
He could vaguely feel the restraints of his meridians loosening.
He suspected—
This was a sign that the first stage of his foundation was nearing completion.
And with that—
Would come the next question:
Would he absorb a new attribute of natural energy?
According to Five Elements theory—
Metal should come next.
But metal didn't exist.
Water wouldn't make sense.
Then—
Could it be lightning?
Not impossible.
In Daoist theory—
Ice, wind, and lightning were derived elements.
Ice from water.
Wind from wood.
Lightning from metal.
If that were the case—
Lightning could replace metal.
Completing the cycle of mutual generation and restriction.
…But something felt off.
Lightning replacing metal—
Could it restrain wind, which replaced wood?
No.
That didn't make sense.
In the shinobi world—
Wind release clearly countered lightning release.
It couldn't suddenly reverse when it came to natural energy.
Impossible.
For the next stage—
Which was no longer far away—
Yoru had no reference.
No precedent.
He could only wait.
Passively.
Let the breakthrough come—
Then decide what to do based on the result.
He knew this was gambling with his life.
But he had no other choice.
So he forcefully suppressed his worries.
And yet—
Recently—
He had been increasingly troubled.
[Wait… why am I this irritated?]
[And earlier, with Obito… why did I expect more from him, and then throw him into the river when disappointed?]
[That's not my personality.]
[Has my heart-monkey grown again without me noticing?]
A chill ran down his spine.
He immediately sank into his inner world—
To observe his heart-monkey.
It had grown slightly.
But still—
It remained a gentle golden monkey.
Sitting quietly at the heart node.
Completely well-behaved.
No signs of disturbance.
Just as he was about to relax—
Another massive presence appeared in his inner vision.
That beast—
Dang Kang.
No—
It could no longer be called that.
It had become—
A bloated domestic pig.
Greedy.
Timid.
Yet easily angered.
[So… it's not just the heart-monkey that drives the mind-horse. The spleen-pig can do the same.]
[Under the monkey, I become restless, irritable, easily angered.]
[Under the pig, I become greedy, conservative, intolerant of opposition.]
[No wonder I got so angry at Obito. His earlier performance raised my expectations too high. When he disappointed me, I punished him excessively and cut him off without hesitation.]
[Interesting… the next mental form should belong to the lungs. What kind of animal will it be?]
[More importantly…]
[Now that the spleen-pig is out of control…]
[How do I suppress it?]
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