Sasuke's POV
As Team 7 made their sluggish way toward Tazuna's house, Sasuke kept stealing sharp, resentful glances at Shi Yan.
A volatile mixture of burning anger and sheer unwillingness swirled deep within his dark eyes. For someone whom he had dismissed as nothing more than a useless, pampered civilian noble to suddenly display a level of martial dominance far surpassing his own completely shattered his Uchiha pride.
Back in the training field, when Shi Yan had unleashed that suffocating wave of pure killing intent, Sasuke's entire body had been completely immobilized by raw terror.
His mind desperately tried to rationalize the humiliation convincing himself that it must have been a hidden, elite ninja guardian protecting the noble youth from the shadows. But deep down, within his heart of hearts, he knew that wasn't the case. The terrifying power belonged to the white-robed boy alone.
Yet, his ego refused to accept the objective truth.
'If I cannot even find a way to surpass this pampered boy-toy,' Sasuke thought, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white, 'then how am I ever supposed to kill Itachi?'
With a dark, newfound resolve forging within his spirit, he silently promised himself to grow stronger at any cost.
Shi Yan's POV
Shi Yan easily observed the subtle psychological shift occurring within the young Uchiha, but he remained completely unfazed.
'Sasuke is ultimately just a revenge-crazed idiot,' Shi Yan thought lazily, blowing a stream of smoke into the evening air. 'Even though I inadvertently fed him ironclad information demonstrating that the Uchiha Massacre was absolutely not what it appeared to be on the surface, his mind is too narrow to catch on to the clues. Not yet, at least. Although he might eventually become a powerful entity in the future, right now he is a complete failure of a shinobi. The singular reason he will ever amount to anything in this world is due to the inheritance of Indra's ancestral blessing.'
Shi Yan casually adjusted his grey robes, a brilliant, self-satisfied smirk playing on his lips.
'Not that I can complain about being heavily blessed with amazing gifts myself, of course... but at the very least, I am not horribly conceited about it.'
In Shi Yan's expert evaluation, Sasuke's primary flaw wasn't his sheer naivety, but rather his completely worthless arrogance and unfounded pride. The boy was simply unwilling to accept the glaring reality that his way of thinking was far from perfect.
Pride devoid of actual, substantial power is nothing but a lethal poison and insecure people like Sasuke will gladly sink to any despicable level just to continuously feed their fragile egos.
No matter what minor deviations occurred now, Shi Yan knew the boy would still inevitably be coaxed and manipulated by Orochimaru. Such was the tragic, destined path he was bound to walk.
It wasn't just Sasuke, either. The entirety of Team 7 kept darting highly complicated, tense looks toward Shi Yan as they walked. Naruto was particularly quiet.
As Shi Yan's closest friend, he had always been well aware that the wealthy noble practiced some form of private martial arts but to witness him effortlessly play with an elite, A-rank missing-nin who stood on par with Kakashi Hatake? That was entirely beyond his wildest imagination.
The group finally arrived at a modest, secluded house situated right on the coastline of the island. Kakashi stepped forward, delivering a soft knock against the wooden door.
Knock, knock.
"Dad!"
The door swung open to reveal a highly beautiful young woman with light-brown hair and warm eyes: Tsunami. Relief washed over her features as she looked upon her father, happily welcoming the battered group inside her home while expressing her profound gratitude to the shinobi for bringing him back alive.
While the emotional family drama was unfolding in the entryway, Shi Yan calmly strolled past them into the main dining hall. His eyes swept across the room, instantly spotting a modest, slightly worn wooden dining table surrounded by a few simple chairs.
Without a single word of warning, Shi Yan raised his leg and delivered a massive, powerful kick directly to the center of the structure.
BANG!
The entire wooden dining set exploded across the hall, splintering into pieces as it crashed violently against the far wall.
"What on earth do you think you are doing?!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs, her hands pulling at her pink hair as the team registered the sheer, uncalled-for rudeness of the assault.
Paying absolutely no heed to her screeching, Shi Yan casually raised his right hand, his golden ring flashing with a sudden surge of spatial energy.
Flash.
Out of thin air, a custom-designed, incredibly luxurious circular table crafted from premium mahogany materialized into the center of the room.
With another quick movement, a glistening, pristine white silk cloth settled flawlessly over the wood. He then summoned an incredibly plush, comfortable leather sofa, leaning back into the cushions with absolute grace. Finally, he arranged an elegant porcelain tea set alongside a freshly opened package of cigarettes on the table.
'There is absolutely nothing in this world that complements a premium cup of hot tea better than a burning cigarette,' he thought, completely relaxed.
"Oh, my," Shi Yan spoke up, his voice dripping with an innocent, mocking confusion as he looked at the furious faces surrounding him. "Why are you all acting so incredibly angry? I was simply feeling a little thirsty and exhausted from all the walking during our long journey, and I merely desired a proper place to rest. I truly cannot fathom how my actions could have possibly offended you."
Fuming at his blatantly shameless answer, the entire room stared at him with venomous glares.
Even Tazuna's young grandson, Inari, had stomped down the stairs after hearing the loud commotion, his small face twisted in pure rage.
"I simply wanted to enjoy a cup of high-quality tea," Shi Yan explained smoothly, pouring the steaming liquid, "so I prepared a proper, civilized setting befitting my presence."
"If you wanted to drink tea, you could have just politely asked us for some!" Inari shouted at the top of his lungs, his small fists shaking at the noble's tyrannical demeanor.
Shi Yan let out a low, aristocratic snort, swirling his teacup. "I have absolutely zero desire to drink your low-quality, horse-piss substitute for tea, boy. I only consume beverages that are strictly befitting my high status as a nobleman."
"If you want to drink great tea so badly, then go back to your own massive house and drink it there!" Inari fiercely retorted, tears of frustration gathering in his eyes.
"Hahaha..." Shi Yan let out a low, melodic laugh that sent a cold shiver through the room. He leaned forward, his golden eyes locking directly onto the trembling child. "I will do absolutely whatever I want, wherever I want, and none of you can do a single damn thing to stop me. Why? Because I am overwhelmingly strong."
He casually gestured toward the genin.
"I can fully understand why these sheltered little children are so angry... but as for you people?" Shi Yan's finger snapped over, pointing directly at Tazuna, Tsunami, and the trembling Inari.
"Why are you looking so righteously infuriated? In reality, I am doing absolutely nothing different from what Gato is currently doing to your entire country. He stepped right into your pathetic little town, took exactly what he wanted, and commits whatever atrocities he desires and you helpless commoners could do absolutely nothing to stop him."
The room went entirely silent as his words cut through their defenses like steel.
"You will all sit in the dark and cry that he is far too dangerous, far too powerful... but at the end of the day, you are all just pathetic cowards who are utterly unwilling to face your own problems. Even if these Hidden Leaf ninja manage to successfully get rid of Gato for you, what happens next? Someone else will eventually come along to take his place. That is simply the unyielding, predatory nature of the world. If you choose to bow your heads like submissive bitches, people will inevitably sneak up behind you, grab you by your hair, and fuck you like one. Don't waste your breath blaming the tyrants for their cruelty—your own spineless weakness is just as much to blame as their greed."
The brutal, unredacted lecture left the entire household completely paralyzed. The three Genin stood thoroughly shocked, their minds reeling.
Throughout their entire lives, they had resided within a highly sheltered, sanitized environment. Sure, Naruto and Sasuke had faced their own respective tragedies, but the Hokage's shadow forces had always quietly protected them from the true, unfiltered malice of the world.
Now, out in the real world, their naive, idiotic viewpoints were being systematically crushed into dust. They were getting a taste of the pure cruelty driven by humanity's unending greed.
Off to the side, Kakashi Hatake observed Shi Yan with a deep look of quiet praise in his single eye. 'He is intentionally acting like a villain to force these people to find their own will to fight,' the Jonin analyzed, thoroughly misinterpreting the noble's actions as a masterclass in psychological motivation.
If only he knew the real reason behind Shi Yan's sudden outburst.
'Ahhh... the mere thought of that little brat Inari crying to everyone about how they are all going to die, followed by Naruto preaching his standard, loud-mouthed speech about his dreams, was making me thoroughly nauseous,' Shi Yan thought, taking a calm sip of his tea. 'It was much faster to just shut them up beforehand.'
The speech worked flawlessly. Sasuke stepped forward, his eyes burning with a terrifying, raw intensity as he looked at his instructor. "Sensei... I want to train. Right now."
Both Sakura and Naruto stepped up beside him, their expressions mirroring the exact same burning desire.
Kakashi offered his classic, closed-eye smile. "I was actually planning on launching your next phase of instruction today." He then turned his gaze toward the luxury sofa. "Would you care to join us for the session, Shi Yan?"
"A prime opportunity to watch three incompetent Genin continuously fail, stumble, and fall face-first into the dirt over and over again?" Shi Yan smirked coldly, a malicious glint in his eyes. "Sure. Count me in."
The three students simultaneously shuddered, knowing with absolute certainty that a horrific, relentless wave of absolute trolling was heading their way.
The Next Morning
The morning dew still clung to the grass of the nearby forest as Kakashi demonstrated the fundamentals of the Tree Walking Practice to refine their raw chakra control. Within minutes, both Naruto and Sasuke were sprinting up the bark, only to repeatedly lose their footing and crash violently back down to the earth.
After securing his fair share of absolute amusement and laughing thoroughly at their expense, Shi Yan casually excused himself from the clearing to conduct his own private training deep within the woods.
Finding a completely secluded clearing, Shi Yan sat cross-legged on the grass, resting the runic steel of Samatage Rarenai horizontally across his lap as he entered a deep state of meditation.
'Although my subconscious mind contains hundreds of highly profound martial arts from the immortal realms,' he analyzed internally, 'the vast majority of them are fundamentally incompatible with the unique elemental blueprint of the Four Auspicious Beasts Technique. To truly weaponize my energy, I must systematically forge my own custom techniques utilizing my deep insights into the Dao.'
Leveraging the advanced scientific laws of his past life on Earth alongside the conceptual frameworks of the ancient cultivation manuals, Shi Yan had successfully synthesized Four Primordial Profound Arts:
Death Ray Water (Black Tortoise) Achieved by aggressively compressing and spinning water elements at an astronomical pressure before releasing the concentrated stream in a straight line. The resulting beam manifests as a brilliant, snowy white light capable of effortlessly piercing solid mountains.
Heaven Flames Fire (Vermilion Bird) Involves manipulating thermal energy to its absolute highest limit, manifesting as a pale-blue, primordial flame of extreme heat. When seamlessly channelled through his sword play, it acts as his premier, high-density destructive strike.
Seismic Guard Earth (White Tiger) Generates a dense, light-yellow energetic barrier across the surface of his skin. The shield is capable of smoothly distributing the kinetic force of incoming physical impacts, drastically reducing the offensive output of his enemies.
Swift Step Wind (Azure Dragon) An elite movement technique that manipulates atmospheric pressure to allow instantaneous evasion. The operational velocity and travel range are strictly limited only by his current physical conditioning.
Within the context of the shinobi world's standard ranking system, these four custom techniques could easily be classified as elite, top-tier A-Rank Jutsu, while his simpler, minor elemental manipulations comfortably occupied the B and C-rank categories.
During his brief, intense clash against Zabuza's water clone, Shi Yan's combat instincts had triggered a highly advanced insight: the theoretical possibility of seamlessly mixing two distinct elemental branches together to forge a completely new, fused Profound Art—the exact spiritual equivalent of a shinobi Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit).
'Executing a fusion of that magnitude is exceptionally difficult at my current developmental stage,' Shi Yan mused, his golden eyes slowly opening as he ran a finger along the sheath of his sword. 'I fully comprehend the underlying spiritual mechanics, but the practical application will be incredibly taxing on my current Nirvana-realm reserves. Still... it will serve as a magnificent, game-changing trump card.'
Standing up smoothly, his white robes billowing around his tall frame, he stared down the path leading toward the ocean. He was now looking forward to the inevitable final showdown in two weeks with immense, bloodthirsty anticipation.