Chapter 5

[Translator Note: I'll be uploading more chapter in a couple of days to stock a few, but it will be uploaded daily in P@treon, for free readers I'm sorry but had to wait a few days]

"Yōichi, I apologize for burdening you. If there's anything about ninjutsu you don't understand, feel free to come to me. My chakra nature happens to be lightning," reassured Kanbayashi as they left the Fugaku household.

Although the clan compensated Yōichi with ninjutsu training and money, the former held little use for him, while the latter was rightfully his due. Both of Yōichi's parents were ninjas, and their home undoubtedly contained numerous scrolls of ninjutsu. Yōichi was familiar with most of the basic fire release techniques.

Regarding the money, it was rightfully his due. Upgrading from a C-rank to an A-rank mission, and considering the importance of the obtained intelligence, giving him five hundred thousand ryo was not excessive.

This time, Yōichi had to make concessions for the clan. Not only did he not fight for the recognition he deserved, but he also couldn't clear his name when suspicions arose about his failure to save a teammate.

It wasn't surprising that Yōichi felt frustrated. He was unfairly labeled despite doing nothing wrong, and the clan didn't support him either.

Now that the village didn't assign Yōichi to a team, it tacitly endorsed the rumors circulating about him—things like being a "teammate jinx" or "intentionally not rescuing."

Furthermore, he couldn't take on B-rank missions. Although chūnin could undertake B-rank missions, Yōichi couldn't form a team, so he didn't qualify. He would only be able to take on solo C-rank or D-rank missions in the future.

"I don't need anything recently, Senior Kanbayashi. If there's nothing else, I'll head back," Yōichi said, wanting to return immediately. He was disappointed with the Uchiha clan, but more so, he was worried about the unintended activation of that damned power.

Gawking at men's naked bodies was sure to cause problems.

"Then go ahead, Yōichi. If you need help, you can find me at the vigilance team," Kanbayashi said before parting ways with Yōichi.

Meanwhile, after preparing lunch, Mikoto entered the quiet room. "Fugaku, lunch is ready."

Shortly after, the door opened, and Fugaku stepped out, saying, "Mikoto, if you're tired, you can rest first. No need to rush."

Mikoto hastily replied, "Fugaku, I'm fine. Just a momentary lapse."

Seeing her insistence, Fugaku stopped persuading her. As they entered the dining room together, they began to enjoy their lunch.

During the meal, Mikoto couldn't help but ask, "Fugaku, why did Yōichi come to our house earlier?"

"Because of some illogical rumors, Yōichi had to make a concession. But it's also for the benefit of the Uchiha clan to progress further in the village. However, this does indeed overlook his contributions, so I was planning to compensate him," Fugaku explained, still believing in the Third Hokage. He believed that under the leadership of the Third Hokage, the Uchiha clan might overcome its past embarrassments and integrate better into Konoha.

"I see. Fugaku, a question, does the Sharingan have the ability of clairvoyance?" Mikoto asked tentatively, wondering if her eyes had malfunctioned. It was strange that she could see Yōichi's naked body, but others couldn't. It must have been her own problem.

"Clairvoyance? The Sharingan can only perceive chakra and, by observing chakra, see the shadows of objects behind them. However, it only goes this far. In terms of clairvoyance, the Byakugan is indeed superior to the Sharingan. But overall, the Sharingan is more powerful," Fugaku explained to Mikoto, emphasizing the strength of the Sharingan.

"Then is it possible for the Sharingan to have the abilities of the Byakugan?" Mikoto began to ask, but Fugaku interrupted her, saying, "Don't believe in such illogical rumors. There were indeed rumors before that claimed the Sharingan originated from the Byakugan, but those were made up by those who admired the Byakugan. The Sharingan surpasses the Byakugan in many aspects."

"I see. I understand, Fugaku," Mikoto nodded, then lowered her head to eat. However, she still couldn't understand why she could see Yōichi's naked body. Why was it only her?

...

"Activating the lightning release cellular activation is almost achieved. The next step is to increase the flow of lightning attribute chakra to achieve the effect of lightning armor. But this will require meticulous practice," Yōichi thought to himself satisfactorily.

With the help of a transformer, he spent a week mastering the nature transformation of lightning and then spent over a week enabling himself to use the lightning release armor while activating cellular activation.

Next is to control the lightning release chakra to continuously strengthen the body, allowing the meridians, cells, muscles, and bones to withstand higher levels of lightning release chakra. This way, his body would continuously become stronger, and his speed and reflexes would also increase.

The Fourth Raikage's speed was almost unmatched in the ninja world, only slightly slower than the cheating teleportation jutsu. It relied on continuously enhancing the body's limits with lightning release chakra.

To practice this ninjutsu and to avoid activating his "clairvoyance" ability, Yōichi hardly left the clan territory during this period.

"After cellular activation, my speed has doubled. If I can enhance the flow of lightning release chakra to the extreme, my speed could triple. The focus in the future can be on taijutsu," Yōichi thought. His ninjutsu was average; his hand seals were not fast enough. At best, he could perform three hand seals per second. He had the upper hand against ordinary chūnin, but he was insufficient against jōnin, especially those specializing in ninjutsu.

In particular, those upper-tier jōnin who specialized in ninjutsu could perform five hand seals per second, which was normal.

Powerful taijutsu posed a significant threat to ninjutsu-type ninjas. The Hyūga clan became famous in the ninja world through the Byakugan and gentle fist taijutsu.

Moreover, Uchiha Yōichi vaguely remembered a renegade from the Hyūga clan who defeated the Raikage's body flicker technique with powerful taijutsu. This was enough to show the advantages of taijutsu in combat.

"With increased strength, the next step is to familiarize and control. Ninjas always increase their strength through combat," Yōichi thought, feeling like taking on missions again. He also suspected that the village elders didn't want him to form a team because they didn't want him to take on B-rank or higher missions.

Logically, the village elders had no reason to focus on him, a mere middle-ranked ninja. Moreover, the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the village wasn't so bad as to warrant such actions.

But merely based on rumors, they advised against him forming a mission team further, claiming there was no subjective bias, which Yōichi didn't believe.

"I can take on a long-term out-of-village mission and then visit the underground exchange to see. Of course, it's limited to within the borders of the Land of Fire," he thought. His strength was not weak to begin with. Now that he had learned the lightning release chakra mode cellular activation, his overall strength was considered elite among middle-ranked ninjas.

If he could develop the lightning release chakra mode into a lightning armor wrap and combine it with the Sharingan, he would be able to compete with special jōnin in taijutsu alone.

If he could unleash some abnormal abilities and encounter elite jōnin, Yōichi was confident he could kill them.

(End of chapter)