Actually, this could only be considered one option, because Orochimaru's path wasn't accessible for the time being.
Auron glanced at the time, feeling it was about right, and activated his sensory ninjutsu. He sensed Shisui approaching.
Auron walked out the door and into the courtyard, thinking to himself that Danzo really did trust the original host of this body—he had activated sensory ninjutsu many times without detecting any Root ninja watching him.
Sensing that Shisui was almost at the gate, Auron quickly formed hand seals and unleashed his chakra with full force, instantly producing a giant fireball eight meters tall. It incinerated the wooden training dummy in the yard and scorched a large section of the ground.
Just stepping into the courtyard, Shisui happened to witness this dramatic scene and was stunned by Auron's mastery of Fire Style.
Although the Great Fireball is only a C-rank Fire Style jutsu, jutsu rankings are based on difficulty, and many elite Uchiha jonin favored using the Great Fireball.
But Shisui was sure—even the jonin of his clan couldn't unleash such power with the technique. They simply couldn't convert such a large amount of chakra into flames in such a short time.
"Teacher Hane, sorry for interrupting your training," Shisui quickly apologized as he came to his senses.
"No worries, I was just finishing up." Auron exhaled deeply, smiled, and invited Shisui into the house.
"Actually, the current state of the Uchiha has a lot to do with your former clan leader, Uchiha Madara." Auron poured two cups of water, handed one to Shisui, and held the other himself as he began to explain the Uchiha's history.
"You know Madara defected, right?"
Shisui nodded. "The clan history says he left the village."
"If it were only that simple, things wouldn't have turned out this way." Auron told him that if it hadn't been for Hashirama's strength back then, the entire Leaf Village might have been destroyed by Madara.
Shisui fell silent.
But Auron explained that the situation didn't end there.
That incident caused the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju—who already distrusted the Uchiha—to grow even more wary. After becoming Hokage, he implemented numerous policies specifically targeting the Uchiha.
Those policies, in turn, provoked the hawks within the Uchiha, some of whom considered a coup. Ultimately, the Anbu discovered the plot, and those involved were imprisoned.
This chain of events gradually caused the Uchiha's once-great reputation to be overshadowed by suspicion and resentment from the rest of the village.
"So much happened…" Shisui realized he had greatly oversimplified things.
"There were Uchiha who tried to change the situation—like Uchiha Kagami. He was perhaps the most successful of them," Auron continued, steering the topic toward Kagami.
"Then, Teacher Hane, what kind of person do you think Uchiha Kagami was?" Shisui asked curiously, wondering how Auron viewed his grandfather.
He had never met his grandfather in person, but had heard much from the clan—strong, a genius ninja, and so on.
"A Uchiha who bore the Will of Fire. He became a bridge connecting the Uchiha and the Leaf, easing tensions between both sides," Auron said thoughtfully.
Though his words weren't especially flowery, Shisui felt it was the best and most fitting description he had ever heard.
"I want to become a Uchiha like my grandfather!" Shisui declared with conviction, not realizing he had just referred to Kagami as his grandfather.
"Grandfather?" Auron looked at him, a little surprised.
Only then did Shisui realize his slip. But he wasn't trying to hide anything or act out of guilt, so he admitted it directly.
"Teacher Hane, there's no need to worry about owing a debt. If you get a chance to visit my grandfather's grave, I think he'd be very happy," Shisui said.
"A debt as great as saving one's parents can't go unrepaid. How about this—Shisui, would you like to become my student?" Auron asked.
Shisui understood Auron's intent. He thought it was too generous of Auron.
But he didn't want to make things difficult for a man who was clearly upright and grateful. Besides, having a knowledgeable and powerful teacher like Auron wasn't a bad thing at all. So he finally nodded and said, "Teacher Auron."
[Would you like to establish a master-disciple relationship with Uchiha Shisui?]
The system prompt popped up instantly. Auron chose "Yes" without hesitation—this was a genius disciple he had worked hard to win over.
[Relationship successfully established. Current Trust Level: 2. New features unlocked: "Student Growth Feedback" and "Gift Return"]
Auron read the feature descriptions and was instantly thrilled. "Student Growth Feedback" meant that as his disciple grew stronger, so would he—at double the rate with Trust Level 2. If Shisui gained one point of chakra, Auron would get two!
"Gift Return" meant that if Auron gave Shisui something, the system would randomly reward him in return. The higher the trust level, the better the reward. Once per day.
Thinking it over, Auron pulled out a booklet and handed it to Shisui.
It contained his notes on training fire-style chakra nature transformation, written that afternoon. He had originally intended to use it to build goodwill with Shisui later, but now he wanted to test the Gift Return feature.
"This is a chakra nature transformation training manual I compiled for Fire Style. Take it and study it carefully. I'll be checking your progress regularly. As your teacher, I'll be strict—I won't go easy just because of past favors," Auron said seriously.
Shisui's growth meant double growth for him, so Auron felt he had to supervise Shisui properly.
"Thank you, Teacher Auron. I'll train diligently." Shisui gratefully accepted the booklet.
As for Auron's strictness, Shisui didn't mind—it showed that Auron truly saw him as a disciple and not just someone to repay a favor.
[You gifted your disciple the chakra transformation manual. Due to his deep gratitude, reward was critically enhanced: You received Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique (Proficient Level)]
As he claimed the reward, a flood of training memories related to the Great Dragon Fire Technique appeared in Auron's mind, as if he had practiced it thousands of times.
The Great Dragon Fire was a B-rank Fire Style jutsu. Compared to the Great Fireball, it prioritized flexibility. The user could control the fire dragons to attack freely. Once mastered, the hand seals could be simplified, and multiple dragons could be summoned simultaneously.
Since the system had granted it at the Proficient level, Auron could now release three fire dragons with a single hand seal.
The way Auron now looked at Shisui—it wasn't as a person, but as a walking goldmine, one that dropped coins daily.
Noticing that the sky outside was gradually darkening, Auron said, "It's getting late. Let me walk you home, so your family doesn't worry."
"Thank you, Teacher, but I can walk home slowly by myself. There's no one else at home right now," Shisui waved it off.
He felt he had already troubled Auron enough today and didn't want to waste more of his time.
Hearing that, Auron remembered that Shisui's parents had never appeared—probably dead shortly after his birth.
It dawned on him that between the two of them, they couldn't even muster one set of parents. Truly tragic.
"But my uncle does come by often to look after me," Shisui added, sensing Auron's concern.
Auron nodded and didn't insist. Today was only their first meeting—there would be plenty of chances to build goodwill later.
On the way home, Shisui flipped through the manual Auron had given him, and recalling the Fire Style he saw in the courtyard, became even more curious about Auron.
As a well-known prodigy of the clan, and the grandson of Kagami, Shisui had seen many Uchiha elites. His perspective was far above others his age.
He thought Auron's strength didn't match that of a mere chunin, and being a teacher at the academy seemed strange too. The academy didn't need such strong instructors—they mostly just taught the three basic jutsu.
Watching Shisui walk off into the distance, Auron began looking forward to tomorrow.
He had classes in both the morning and afternoon—what rewards might await?
And in the afternoon, it was Might Guy and Obito's class. What kind of potential did those two have?
"Bro, how's the situation?"
"Not good. My damn cousin said if I exposed his secrets, he'd tell Mei from next door that I wet the bed when I was three!" Tetsu gritted his teeth, furious.
How dare his cousin drag Mei-chan into this? It would ruin his glorious image. Despicable!
"I've got a plan," Izumo said. "Use the excuse of playing—since we're still young—and mess up your cousin's room. If he doesn't clean it up in time, he'll get scolded. Do it a few times, and he won't dare threaten you again."
Tetsu's eyes lit up. With Izumo's strategies, he'd be like the First Hokage with Tobirama at his side—invincible! If it worked, snacks were guaranteed.
Just as Auron entered the classroom, he overheard these two troublemakers scheming and couldn't help but smile.
"Class is starting!" Auron walked to the podium and began the lesson.
"Chakra is the foundation of all ninjutsu. It is formed by combining physical and spiritual energy."
Most students listened attentively—this was foundational knowledge.
As he explained, Auron occasionally released chakra for the students to feel. He also added jokes and stories to make the class more engaging and used questions to reinforce their memory.
Soon, the four-period block was almost over. Near the end of class, he glanced at Anko, who was grinning and asking questions, and decided to appraise her.
[Name: Anko Mitarashi][Potential: A]
Surprised, Auron went on to appraise all the students in the room.
[Name: Tetsu] — Potential: B-[Name: Izumo] — Potential: B-
Other than Shisui, only four students reached B or above—including Anko and those two. One other student he didn't recognize was also B-. The rest were C-level, ranging from C+ to C-, with even a few D grades.
This showed just how insanely talented Shisui was—he left everyone else in the dust.
Anko's potential also surprised Auron. He remembered her being mediocre in the original story, but here she outclassed both "gatekeepers" by several grades.
Still, Auron had no plans to take Anko as a disciple. He had only four slots, and Shisui already took one.
Even if Anko was an adorable little girl, Auron told himself, I'm handsome too—so what? Would Danzo let me out of Root for that? Obviously not.
[Lesson complete. Calculating rewards…][Evaluation: A][Reward: Multi-Shadow Clone Technique]
"A decent jutsu," Auron thought. "Too bad it's not very useful for me right now."
The Shadow Clone Jutsu was Naruto's signature move—versatile in both battle and training.
But Auron's problem was a lack of chakra, so it didn't help much for now.
After dinner, he entered the teachers' lounge, where a few colleagues were helping Ikeya Isamu prepare for a blind date.
A tall, thin teacher reminded him:
"Make sure you dress up nicely before the meeting. Don't let them think you're sloppy."
"Come on, Sugibito, I've never dated before, but that's basic common sense," Ikeya replied confidently.
"I think your biggest issue is going to be bragging during the date," Ueda Aya said, shaking her head like she could already see the outcome.
"Just you wait and see, Ueda!" Ikeya snapped back defiantly.