Yosuke could feel that the entire atmosphere of Konoha had grown unbearably tense.
Where one might normally still catch sight of a few jōnin returning from missions on the streets, now not a single one could be seen.
After Asuma returned to the village from his mission, he met Yosuke only briefly before heading out again—and there had been no word from him since.
And now, Konoha had grown extremely strict: aside from its own residents, people were only allowed to leave, not enter.
In the past month alone, Yosuke had been questioned several times, and only thanks to the documents he held was he allowed to remain in Konoha without incident.
Even so, that feeling of being watched had returned once more.
When he arrived at the mountain again, Uchiha Itachi was already waiting for him.
"Yōsuke-dono," Itachi greeted with a bow.
Although Yosuke had told him many times that such formalities were unnecessary, Itachi remained stubbornly insistent.
After a month of training, Itachi now scaled the mountain with ease. Even though Yosuke had set up numerous obstacles—and even traps—to increase the difficulty, Itachi could still make his way up flawlessly.
Once again, Yosuke was reminded of what a true prodigy looked like.
Another genius Yosuke admired was Tokito Muichiro—the man who became a Hashira in only two months.
At this point, Itachi's training no longer consisted solely of climbing the mountain; it now included swordsmanship as well.
And in swordsmanship, too, Itachi's talent left Yosuke deeply impressed.
Every time Yosuke pointed out a weakness, Itachi corrected it—and even went a step further, turning his weaknesses into strengths.
On one occasion, when Itachi was injured and Yosuke checked his condition, he even discovered that Itachi possessed the potential to learn the Sun Breathing.
Today's training proceeded as usual.
But just as Itachi followed the regular regimen, an unexpected guest suddenly arrived.
A man wearing simple shinobi clothing and a mask appeared in the training ground, faint killing intent emanating from him.
The ninja pulled out several shuriken from his pouch and hurled them directly at the training Itachi.
Itachi's heart jolted—he hurriedly used his blade to deflect them.
Just as he prepared to close in, the ninja leapt into the air, quickly forming hand seals and pointing them at Yousuke.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Like touch-sensitive balsam seeds bursting open, flaming projectiles scattered in all directions from the ninja's mouth, flying toward Yosuke.
"Yosuke-dono!" Itachi shouted in alarm.
However, Itachi's worry was unnecessary.
Yosuke swung his sword at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, instantly cutting down every flame that came at him.
He rushed the ninja and drew the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, instinctively aiming a slash at the ninja's neck.
The ninja wore no headband. In this world, a headband served as a shinobi's identification. If someone attacked without one, they were automatically regarded as an intruder—one who could be killed on the spot without question.
And since the ninja had attacked Itachi first, Yosuke naturally assumed he was an invader from another village attempting to kidnap Itachi.
The ninja avoided the blow with a series of agile backflips, quickly weaving hand seals and creating several tangible shadow clones that charged toward Yousuke.
Yosuke sheathed his sword, bending slightly forward into an iaijutsu stance.
"Itachi, this is the sword technique I plan to teach you. This is a good chance to show you its power."
Yosuke exhaled a mass of flame-like energy so dense it seemed almost physical.
"Breath of the Sun – Second Form: Dance!"
He swung forward, sending out a fiery arc-shaped slash.
With a single strike, he wiped out all the shadow clones.
The intensity and visual impact of the attack made the ninja's pupils shrink beneath the mask, and for safety, he immediately widened the distance again.
Witnessing the power, not only the ninja—but also Itachi—was stunned.
"Fire Style: Crimson Flower Claw!"
The ninja launched another enhanced version of the Phoenix Flower Jutsu, hiding shuriken within the flames.
"Breath of the Sun – Seventh Form: Setting Sun Transformation!"
Yosuke flashed into the air, narrowly evading the flames, then struck downward in an inverted stance.
Facing the slash, the ninja quickly formed hand seals and slammed his palms into the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
A wall of earth shot upward, attempting to block the attack.
It did stop Yousuke—if only for the brief moment it took him to slice through it—and that moment allowed the ninja to escape the range of the strike.
Watching from the side, Itachi frowned deeply.
This intruder felt oddly familiar.
And the fire jutsu the man used were unmistakably from the Uchiha clan.
The ninja's true identity surfaced in Itachi's mind: Uchiha Fugaku—his father.
Originally, Fugaku believed Itachi refused to talk about his injuries because he could handle his own problems.
But seeing his son return home battered day after day, Fugaku decided to follow him secretly—only to discover that Itachi had been training with an unknown outsider.
And worse: training in swordsmanship, something Fugaku considered laughable for a member of the Uchiha.
Infuriated, Fugaku intended to defeat Yosuke while disguised, to show Itachi that such frivolous techniques would never make him strong.
But he never expected Yosuke to be this powerful.
Now, defeating him? Even withstanding his attacks felt nearly impossible.
That speed, that power—shattered Fugaku's old, rigid view of the samurai.
Unconsciously, Fugaku activated his Sharingan, the scarlet three tomoe spinning as he stared straight at Yousuke.
"Hmph. So what if your swordsmanship is exceptional? Before my Sharingan, all techniques are meaningless.
Watch closely, Itachi—this is the true power of an Uchiha!"
With that thought, Fugaku launched a new attack.
"Genjutsu: Unquenchable Fire!"
The three tomoe whirled violently as Fugaku cast his illusion.
Yosuke felt a burning pain spreading through his body—yet when he looked down, he saw no actual injuries.
"So this is genjutsu?"
He had experienced ninjutsu and taijutsu before, but this was his first encounter with illusions.
But if all it caused was pain, then he could simply ignore it.
"Breath of the Sun – First Form, Modified: Dance Flash!"
Yosuke stepped forward, the ground bursting beneath him with a thunderous crack as he shot toward Fugaku at blinding speed.
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