Chapter 57

Chapter 57

"You've grown a lot these past few years, Haneda. You've predicted all my moves perfectly."

"Should I say it's thanks to your Three-Tomoe Sharingan?"

At this, Sakumo gave a soft laugh and continued:

"I remember telling you five years ago about the second form of consciousness—controlling your awareness and focusing it on your blade."

"What do you mean, Uncle Sakumo?"

Haneda's figure emerged from the vortex and stood before Sakumo, curious about how Sakumo would escape the illusion cast by his Sharingan. After all, this world was Haneda's mental realm.

To break out of someone else's world, either an external disturbance or an incredibly strong willpower was required.

Haneda's eyes narrowed as he seemed to grasp a possibility.

At that moment, Sakumo spoke again:

"For a skilled swordsman, everything is a blade, whether it's a twig on the ground or a finely forged sword."

"The same applies to the illusionary world and the mental realm."

A silver short sword appeared before Sakumo, cutting through both Haneda and the crimson world behind him in an instant.

Suddenly, light returned to his vision, and he was back in the small training forest.

Haneda crouched down, covering his eyes in pain as a stream of blood-tears flowed down his cheek.

"This is why some samurai are immune to genjutsu."

"Their will is so strong that they can consciously or unconsciously control it."

"And against such people, normal illusions are ineffective. You must ensure they don't realize they've fallen under a genjutsu."

Sakumo's voice came from ahead. By now, Haneda had recovered, his basic Sage Body granting him extraordinary healing abilities and even nourishing his Sharingan.

Reflecting on Sakumo's words, Haneda instinctively thought of Hanzō the Salamander, who was able to break free from the Edo Tensei due to his strong will.

Hanzō, though a shinobi, was also half a samurai. To break even the strengthened Edo Tensei with sheer will, ordinary genjutsu was no match for him.

Sakumo's situation was similar to Hanzō's: both were a combination of ninja and samurai, making it reasonable for him to resist illusions.

In this world of shinobi, beyond ninjutsu, there existed other unique systems of power.

Sakumo extended his hand to help Haneda up.

"Sorry I ended up hurting you earlier."

"It's nothing, Uncle Sakumo. Getting hurt during training is normal," Haneda replied with a smile. "In fact, it's you who should guide me more, haha."

Sakumo chuckled as well, then said after a moment:

"Actually, I don't have much more to teach you. Over these five years, I've already taught you everything."

"What's left is your lack of battle experience."

"From the earlier test, I can see you've already developed your own strategy."

"You mainly use dust or smoke to obscure the enemy's vision, relying on the Sharingan to get in close quickly."

"Then, you combine your swordsmanship with Lightning Style and Wind Style, seizing the right moment to end with genjutsu."

"Most jōnin—not just regular ones but even elite jōnin—would struggle against you."

Hearing Sakumo praise him, Haneda felt a bit embarrassed.

Just then, Asuma pulled Kurenai along and ran up to them.

"Sakumo-sensei, what about me and Kurenai?"

Sakumo smiled. "Asuma, you and Kurenai are doing well. You're qualified genin."

"But compared to Haneda, you're still far behind. You need to keep working hard."

Hearing this praise, Asuma grinned.

"Heh heh, Sakumo-sensei, who can compare to Haneda-nii? He's practically a monster. He can go toe-to-toe with you now!"

Asuma turned to Kurenai. "Right, Kurenai?"

Kurenai nodded quickly. She specialized in genjutsu, but Sakumo's aura had overwhelmed her earlier, reducing her to tears.

It was embarrassing to admit, but Haneda really was a genius beyond Kakashi. He now faced Sakumo's terrifying aura without fear, even earning Sakumo's acknowledgment of his jōnin-level abilities.

Looking at Haneda's back, Kurenai blushed. Having such a reliable teammate in front of her felt comforting.

Especially since Haneda was also incredibly handsome…

After a brief rest, Sakumo's smile faded, and he turned to the three of them.

"There's about an hour before nightfall. Let's begin training."

"Asuma, Kurenai, practice the tree-climbing technique I taught you."

"Haneda, come spar with me one-on-one."

...

Over the next week, Team Nine trained while taking on D-rank missions to build experience.

Tasks like finding lost cats and dogs or chasing away wild boars might seem trivial, but they provided subtle training in teamwork and reconnaissance.

Still, the missions were tedious.

Even Haneda felt that at this rate, the training wasn't helping much.

He had already learned almost everything he needed to.

From the Uchiha clan's ninjutsu to the forbidden techniques he had obtained five years ago, he had mastered much through the use of multiple shadow clones.

By having clones practice Chidori's shape manipulation, Haneda had developed most of the Lightning Style techniques Sasuke would later use.

He had even attempted Flying Thunder God, but like Kakashi, he lacked the talent for it. Kakashi, though more gifted than Haneda, could only barely touch the surface of the technique.

As for other techniques like Earth, Water, or Wood Style, Haneda had learned only the basics.

Now, to further improve his strength, there were only two options.

The first was to kill someone dear to him and awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

The second was to engage in life-and-death battles to accumulate enough combat experience.

Haneda couldn't bring himself to pursue the first option, so he'd have to take on dangerous missions to grow faster.

His urgency to grow stronger stemmed from his dreams.

He wanted to change the fates of Obito, Kakashi, and the others.

In less than three years, following the original storyline, Obito would fake his death in the Kannabi Bridge incident.

Guy's father, Dai, and Rin would die in the Battle of Kikyo Pass.

Dai would open the Eighth Gate to save Guy, and Rin would die by Kakashi's Chidori to protect the village.

At that point, Obito, one of his closest childhood friends, would descend into darkness.

These were outcomes Haneda couldn't bear to witness.

His future enemies would be the masterminds behind the shinobi world—Madara and Black Zetsu!

...

One week later, early in the morning, at the Konoha mission assignment office.

Asuma, unable to contain himself any longer, spoke up as Sakumo prepared to take another D-rank mission.

"Sakumo-sensei! We've taken on twelve D-rank missions in a week! Isn't it time for something more advanced?"

Haneda chimed in as well.

"Uncle Sakumo, I've been fighting you for days now, but I haven't been able to go all out. It's not helping my training. How about we take on a more dangerous mission?"

***

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