The Cloud rogue flickered with speed, body-sparking lightning armor wrapping him. With a flash, he appeared behind Hizashi, kunai stabbing straight for the Hyuga Jonin's spine.
"Go to hell!" the Kumogakure traitor snarled.
Thunk!
The blade stabbed—not into flesh, but wood.
"What? A substitution technique?!" The Cloud rogue's eyes widened in disbelief.
His shock lasted only a second—long enough.
"Compound Ninjutsu!" Shigure's voice rang out behind him, his shadow weaving furiously. "Wind, Fire, and Earth Dragon Bullets!"
Three elemental dragons howled as one, intertwining midair before crashing forward with unstoppable might. The rebel jonin had no time to dodge, only enough to roar in denial—
"Impossible!!!"
The triple-element blaze engulfed him. Fire swirled with cutting wind, earth erupted like stone spears from beneath. The sheer power tore through the street, collapsing buildings in a fiery cascade.
When the smoke settled, the Kumogakure rogue was nothing more than a burned ruin.
"…So strong." Kusuo and Hongdie stood frozen, their eyes wide in awe.
Shigure released his seals, chest heaving. He glanced at their destroyed surroundings, ashamed. "Hizashi-sensei… forgive me. I killed him before we could take information…"
"You did right," Hizashi said without hesitation. "Even if you kept him alive, he would never speak. The important task now—find Noguchi."
"Byakugan!" Hizashi's veins bulged, sight piercing the wilderness. "I see him—imprisoned in a cave, northwest!"
The Truth in Chains
The team rushed to the cave, cutting through the ropes binding Noguchi.
"I'm fine," Noguchi gasped, eyes full of guilt. "I'm sorry—dragging you into this… The rebels took the research! Those who did it weren't their own men—they were outsiders. Not tied to any single village."
"Outsiders?" Hizashi frowned deeply.
"Rebel ninja don't ally without cause," Shigure murmured. "Unless… they're paid by someone powerful, or disguised on purpose."
Heads turned grim.
"Exactly," Shigure said. "The great villages fear being marked the aggressor. None want to spark open conflict. So they buy or bribe rogue ninja, sending them instead."
Kusuo rifled through the Cloud ninja's corpse. A scrap of sealed parchment slipped free. His eyes widened as he read.
"'Don't worry. The Konoha pests will be handled. We'll meet at the Land of Hot Springs. Signed, White Rose.'"
"The Land of Hot Springs?!" Hizashi's eyes narrowed. "That peaceful country? …No. That's just a façade."
The mission's true depth revealed itself—this was no C-rank at all.
"From here, there is no backing out," Hizashi said gravely. "If you walk forward, you accept greater danger."
"Danger is growth," Shigure answered firmly. "I'll continue."
Kusuo nodded sharply. "We're a team."
Hongdie's fists tightened. "Together."
"Very well." Hizashi's expression softened, though a weight pressed in his voice. "Then our destination—Hot Springs."
The Birth of Rasengan
The road ahead was quiet, but Shigure's training never ceased. The Otsutsuki blood within him surged stronger each day. His skin grew paler, his horns lengthened. His chakra levels now touched the pinnacle of Kage-class. His control had reached perfection—no wasted energy, no overdraft.
In endless battles, he had copied and mastered countless techniques: Mist, Body Flicker, Lightning Armor. His arsenal was unstoppable.
But one path remained his own.
Shigure began practicing something different, something no one else had shown him. His Sharingan could copy hand seals, but this move required none. Absolute control shaped raw chakra, compressing power without form.
The Rasengan.
He had remembered whispers—an Uzumaki boy's "cheat ability," and beyond, the legacy of Namikaze Minato. A spiraling orb of destruction, endlessly evolvable.
With quiet resolve, Shigure purchased water balloons and rubber balls in each village they passed.
He placed a balloon in his palm, swirling chakra with pinpoint focus.
Pop! Water burst instantly, splashing over his fingers. "Too easy," he muttered, unsatisfied.
He tried with the rubber ball. Chakra spun fiercely in his palm, whirring and scraping the surface. The ball dented… but never broke. Too resilient, too stable.
Hours passed in concentration, his palm aching from the stress. Every time his control faltered near breakthrough, the ball would bounce, mocking him.
But Shigure only smirked. If I learned this instantly, would it truly be worth it?
The Rasengan was not the art of a copycat—it was the art of mastery.
And Uchiha Shigure would master it.
P.S. In this chapter, Shigure defeats the Cloud jonin with overwhelming compound ninjutsu, unveils the truth about Noguchi's mission, and begins his own independent training of the Rasengan—a technique outside both Sharingan and Byakugan, born from persistence alone.
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