Uсhihа Маdаrа felt a littlе аwkwаrd undеr thе little brat's starе. Нe handеd the Chаkrа Sееd in his hаnd tо Gion.
"Just eаt it. Thеn go bасk and rеst. Onсе yоu've reсovеrеd and аrе in gоod соnditiоn, I'll teaсh уou hоw tо ехtrаct Chаkrа."
Thе littlе brat took the Chаkrа Seеd. Shе rесallеd whаt Zеphуr hаd tоld her befоrе.
'Мr. Маdara's legacy is а рowеr thаt can forge lеgends. If wоrd оf it gоt out on thе sеаs, it wоuld surеlу drive сountless реоplе into а frеnzу.'
She swаllowеd hard and аsked, "Mаster... this shiny seеd, it's vеry vаluablе, isn't it?"
Uсhihа Mаdara put on an impatient look, as if one more word with the little brat might be the death of him.
"That's not for you to worry about. It's just that I happened to have one on hand. Eat it and leave. Don't bother me here."
Hearing this, Gion popped the Chakra Seed into her mouth and gave Madara a huge smile, which was enough to make even him stare blankly for a moment.
She turned and skipped away. Madara secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If the little brat had put on a big, dramatic show about the profound grace of a master, he really wouldn't have been able to handle it.
He turned to look for some paper, preparing to select some Ninjutsu for Gion. Suddenly, a fragrant breeze wafted up from behind him as the little brat took a great leap and latched onto his back, grinning from ear to ear.
"Roar, roar, roar~! Master is the bestest master in the whole wide world~!"
Madara froze again. Why? Don't I hate it when people are behind me? The tiny figure clinging to his back didn't disgust him in the slightest. Instead, it brought him a sliver of warmth.
A warm smile, one that even he himself couldn't be sure of, appeared at the corners of Madara's lips. Heh, what a silly little brat.
Madara didn't say anything more, but even he didn't notice the trace of gentleness in his own voice as he turned and ruffled the little brat's hair.
"Alright, hurry back and rest. Don't forget about your training tomorrow."
As he watched the little brat skip out of the room, Madara found himself staring blankly at her departing figure.
'Bonds... is this it? Is this what it feels like to have someone at your back, Hashirama?'
Early the next morning, on the deck of the warship, Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, and Madara stood in a circle around Gion.
Gazing up at the men who stood like pillars blocking out the sun, Gion felt the pressure mounting. The oppressive presence of four of the world's top masters was quite intense.
Madara looked helplessly at the other three men beside him. She was his disciple—no, wait—he was the one teaching the little brat to extract Chakra. What were these three old geezers doing here, trying to get in on the action?
And Zephyr, especially. What was he doing with a pen and paper? That old fossil Sengoku was even worse; he'd brought two official Marine recorders with him.
Uchiha Madara suddenly regretted telling them they could come and watch this morning. A quick look was one thing, but what was with this "eager to learn" attitude? He'd already told them they couldn't learn it without a Chakra Seed. Did they not have a shred of trust in him?
"Chakra is the product of mixing one's own spiritual and physical energies in equal measure."
"The combination of the physical energy produced by the one hundred and thirty trillion cells in your body and your spiritual energy is called 'Stamina.' Stamina is the foundation for using Taijutsu. You will convert this stamina within your body into Chakra."
"After extracting Chakra, a ninja can use 'Jutsu' through 'Hand Seals.'"
"Under normal circumstances, it's a rather time-consuming process for an ordinary person to extract Chakra."
"But for you, who has directly consumed a Chakra Seed, it's actually not that troublesome."
"What you need to do is feel a massive amount of Chakra, let your body become familiar with it, and, spurred on by this external Chakra, begin to produce your own."
"So, I came up with the simplest and fastest method."
Gion had been listening intently to Uchiha Madara's explanation of Chakra's principles, but the more she listened, the more something felt off. Why did this sound a bit like... training Armament Haki?
Gion looked at Uchiha Madara, a strained smile pulling at her lips.
"Um... Master, I think I can learn the slower method. After all, haste makes waste."
Uchiha Madara ignored her words. As he raised a finger, a massive amount of pale purple Chakra cascaded down toward Gion like a waterfall.
Caught completely unprepared, Gion was slammed to the ground by the Chakra waterfall. With no time to think, she scrambled to her feet, steadied herself, and silently began to feel the Chakra.
Under the nervous gazes of Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr, Gion's breathing began to stabilize after just a few minutes, and her body was no longer trembling as it had been at the start.
A moment later, a faint blue Chakra began to appear on her body, trying to resist the waterfall of Chakra pouring down from above.
Madara was stunned at first. He quickly enhanced his perception, and then his heart filled with joy.
'Fire and Lightning?'
The quintessential Uchiha affinities.
Although it was only a minuscule amount of Chakra, just a thin layer clinging to her body, it greatly alleviated Gion's current predicament.
Seeing this, Madara withdrew his Chakra. All he wanted was for the little brat to be able to sense Chakra; there was no need to push her to the absolute limit. For a beginner who had just grasped it, massive Chakra consumption was a serious issue.
After all, the ninja world was full of people who had died from Chakra exhaustion.
He took out the prepared Ninjutsu Scroll and handed it to Gion, simultaneously warning Garp and the other two.
"I don't care about the Chakra extraction, but Jutsu are a ninja's bottom line. If you dare to peek, then you'd better be prepared to be killed by me."
To be honest, he didn't want to have to spell out something so obvious, but the shamelessness of these three old fossils today had genuinely startled him.
Among the Ninjutsu Madara had chosen for Gion, besides the hand seal methods and the Three Basic Jutsu: Body Replacement Technique, Clone Jutsu, Transformation Jutsu and there was also the Uchiha Family's exclusive Fire Release: Great Fireball.
As the number one Fire Release family in the ninja world, the Uchiha's fire Ninjutsu were naturally a cut above those of other clans.
The C-rank Fire Release: Great Fireball, when compared to the Hokage lineage's Fire Release: Flame Bullet, used the same five hand seals, but its Chakra pathways were more stable, its range was moderate, it was simple and easy to master, and its power was more considerable. It was enough to temporarily fill the gap in the little brat's mid-range capabilities.
He had already prepared a fairly complete system for the little brat's future, a combat style that used Ninjutsu to supplement her swordsmanship. All that was needed now was to proceed step by step.
Madara didn't immediately teach the little brat a host of powerful Ninjutsu. Since she was just starting out, her energy should be focused more on the basics of hand seals. Overly complex Ninjutsu would do her more harm than good.
He'd heard from Garp and the others that they were about to reach Marine Headquarters. Establishing Konoha would require a large amount of funding, and he was about to get busy. He planned to use the time he had now to map out the path of the little brat's future training.
The basics of a ninja, the speed and accuracy of hand seals, were extremely important. Before surpassing the Kage Level, even the man known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had to diligently perform his hand seals.
As for the matter of establishing Konoha within the Marines, Madara was actually clueless. When Konoha was first founded, he and Hashirama had thrown all the work at Tobirama. He had no idea what procedures or steps were needed to establish a village.
Back then, his and Hashirama's role was simply to be a deterrent, to beat down anyone who didn't fall in line. It was the same within the Uchiha Family; he rarely participated in political matters. Suddenly being asked to be a village leader, he had no idea what to do. But he couldn't just do nothing.
In that case, if he couldn't handle the small details, he'd just handle the big picture. Something like the Akatsuki back then: few in number but elite, with a high degree of freedom but highly centralized funding, only taking on big jobs.
He, Uchiha Madara, had come to the Marines to do three things: get people, get money, and spread the Will of Fire!
To be continued...