"So, you wanted to talk to me? Let me guess—did that young master go crying to you about what I told him? Heh, I should've known. That guy's not just a fool, he's a big-mouthed fool."
Tahara Rokuro's face was full of disdain as he waved dismissively at Shisui Uchiha.
"I've got nothing to say to you—and even less interest in hearing anything you've got to say. Move aside. My mom's waiting for me for dinner. Kei, you're coming too, right? She's making braised beltfish tonight."
Uchiha Kei's soft pink tongue darted out as she licked her lips, visibly tempted but hesitant.
"Really? But… I've been coming over so often lately. Wouldn't your mom be tired of me by now?"
"Relax," Rokuro grinned. "She already treats you like her daughter-in-law. The more you come over, the happier she gets. Let's go."
The two of them walked past Shisui as if he were made of air.
Though Shisui wanted to stop them, hesitation flickered in his eyes. Deep down, indecision was his greatest flaw, and when faced with someone as blunt and forceful as Rokuro, he had no idea how to deal with it.
He opened his mouth several times, but the words wouldn't come. Finally, he sighed.
"Rokuro, I'll be staying in the village for a while. If you run into any trouble with your training, you can come find me."
"Thanks," Rokuro said flatly, "but I don't take advice from dwarfs."
Shisui blinked, momentarily confused. He looked down at his own height—average, by all accounts—and couldn't make sense of the jab.
Meanwhile, Rokuro and Kei had already turned down the street toward his home, Shisui's presence fading behind them.
Only when they were well out of sight did Kei dare to speak again.
"Rokuro… why do you hate Shisui so much? He's the strongest jōnin in the clan right now. I even heard not even the clan head can beat him. And what was that about calling him a dwarf? He's not even short!"
Rokuro chuckled coldly.
"What good is a tall body when the soul behind it kneels? Even if he stood two meters tall, he's still a dwarf in my eyes. Between Itachi, that brainwashed puppet, and Shisui, that spineless lapdog, I hate Shisui more. A spiritual dwarf, that's what he is. Enough talk about him—I'm losing my appetite."
He pushed open the door, and immediately the rich aroma of peppercorns and soy filled the air.
"Mom, I'm home! I brought Kei with me."
"Good! You two go wash your hands. Dinner's ready in a minute," Uchiha Ashikaga called from the kitchen.
Rokuro turned to Kei with a smirk.
"See? Told you—she already sees you as family."
"Oh, stop it, you—!" Kei's cheeks flushed red as she fled into the kitchen to help.
Rokuro washed his hands, then flopped down at the table like a lord awaiting his feast.
"Ugh, I lost my temper earlier. Shouldn't have told that young master so much. Now I've got that spiritual dwarf sniffing around too. He probably won't tattle—he's too soft for that—but give it a few years, and who knows? I'd better speed up my training. I can't just wait for the Nine-Tails Night to happen. I need to master the Lightning Release Chakra Mode first… but will I have enough money for the materials?"
Ever since Uchiha Fugaku took over as clan head, things had been going downhill for the Uchiha. Most of them refused to take missions for the village and instead worked in the Konoha Military Police, earning only fixed salaries—a fraction of what active-duty shinobi made through mission pay.
The only reason Rokuro had been able to afford two rounds of chakra metal purchases—ten million ryō each—was because of the death benefit from his father, Uchiha Taidachi.
Now, most of that money was gone. And with nearly all his specialized tools requiring chakra metal, the cost of materials was becoming a real problem.
"If I want to stay under the radar but still make money… maybe it's time I learn a few things from Kakuzu."
After nearly half a year of effort, Rokuro had finally reconstructed the Lightning Release Chakra Mode through seal scripts and then spent the last of his savings on a new piece of chakra metal, forging a matching ninja tool to house it.
By now, it was June of Konoha Year 51. Under the leadership of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, both the village and the entire Land of Fire were at peace. Occasional skirmishes broke out with other villages, but nothing major—everything seemed stable.
By this time, several members of the future "Konoha Twelve" had already been born: Aburame Shino, Haruno Sakura, and Akimichi Chōji this year, and Hyūga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten the year before. In other words, half of that fated generation already existed.
"I remember the Nine-Tails Night happened on Naruto Uzumaki's birthday—October 10th. That means there are less than five months before that lunatic Obito makes his move. When that happens, Hiruzen Sarutobi will snatch back the Hokage seat, and Konoha will become a windmill that can't spin anymore."
He smirked.
"No wonder Orochimaru later launched the Konoha Crush. With how petty and insecure Hiruzen gets with age, it's a miracle the village hasn't collapsed already."
He paused, eyes narrowing in thought.
"Speaking of Orochimaru—he'll defect next year, won't he? Maybe I can take advantage of that. His experiments are cruel, sure, but his research data is priceless. It'd be a damn shame if all that went up in flames."
Deep in the Forest of Death, in a clearing rarely visited by others, Rokuro's training site awaited him.
Standing in the center, he inhaled deeply, chakra surging through his body before flooding into the protective charm over his chest.
In the next instant, lightning erupted outward, wrapping his body in crackling arcs. First his muscles and bones strengthened, then his nerves and senses sharpened—especially his eyes and ears—allowing him to react instantly even at blinding speeds.
During the later Five Kage Summit, the Fourth Raikage had been fast enough to dodge Amaterasu itself. His raw speed even surpassed Kakashi's when using Chidori.
Before he obtained Obito's Sharingan, Kakashi's Chidori was limited to straight-line thrusts; he simply couldn't react fast enough to alter course mid-attack. That was the weakness of a shinobi without sufficient dynamic vision.
Yet the Fourth Raikage, despite lacking a Sharingan, could still fight fluidly at those speeds. That alone spoke volumes about the physical enhancements from the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Rokuro's heart-guard was a ninja tool infused with that very technique. Once activated, his body became a streak of lightning. In the blink of an eye, he darted ten meters forward, stopped just short of a tree, kicked off the trunk, and shot toward a rock formation.
Lightning flared again—then he launched himself ten meters into the air and dove straight down.
Boom!
His fist struck the ground, shattering earth and stone. When the dust cleared, a crater five meters wide and two meters deep yawned before him.
As the lightning around him faded, Rokuro exhaled heavily.
"With this speed and strength… I'm about as strong as a standard jōnin now. If I time it right, I could take out someone like Asuma in one hit—maybe even kill him instantly."
He shook his head.
"But my chakra reserves can only sustain this mode for about two minutes. In a drawn-out fight, even a skilled chūnin could stall me long enough to burn out my chakra and finish me off."
"Still… for now, this is enough. The Lightning Release Chakra Mode enhances my body and expands my potential. But to truly gain the chakra I need to control my tools freely…" His lips curved into a sly grin.
"I'll need the Nine-Tails' chakra for that. Heh. Nine-Tails Night—I'm starting to look forward to it."