A dozen children, no older than five or six, were already waiting for him at the entrance.
"Good morning, Lord Hihiko," they all shouted in unison.
"Mm," Hihiko said, stroking his beard and nodding. "Today, we will begin teaching you how to control the Sage Chakra your bodies absorb."
A young boy raised his hand. "Lord Hihiko, I thought we weren't going to participate in the war. Why do we need to learn this?"
Hihiko's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the boy, his tone suddenly growing cold. "Our clan is born with a unique constitution that naturally absorbs natural energy. If you don't learn to control it... go home and ask your parents what the consequences are."
The elder commanded great respect in the village. Hearing the harshness in his voice, even the fidgeting children fell silent and began to listen as Hihiko explained how to control Sage Chakra.
About an hour later, Hihiko's eyes focused. "Alright, that's enough practice for today. We'll gather here again at two this afternoon to continue."
Hihiko was one of the oldest villagers and was responsible for teaching the children whose constitutions had just awakened how to control their natural energy. This was to prevent them from being consumed by it, which could cause them to go berserk and become bloodthirsty.
Although it was strange for the morning lesson to end after only an hour, children at that age were always eager to play.
The moment they heard they were dismissed, they scattered in excitement.
"You've been listening for a long time. Why don't you come out and talk?" Hihiko said coldly once all the children had gone.
His only answer was silence, as if he were the only person there.
"You think I'm bluffing?" Hihiko sneered. He spun around and threw a punch toward his back-right.
*BOOM!*
A corner of the mountain wall was instantly shattered by the force of his punch, which seemed to strike from a distance.
Dust and rock fragments filled the air. Before the dust could settle, a massive dragon head made of fire erupted from the cloud, its gaping maw threatening to swallow Hihiko whole.
*Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!*
"Fire Release?" Hihiko raised an eyebrow. He couldn't guess his opponent's identity from this one move.
After all, too many ninja clans in the Warring States period used Fire Release. The most prominent were the Uchiha and Sarutobi, but others like the Senju, Shimura, and Chiba were also proficient.
Comma-like, dark red marks crawled up Hihiko's arm at incredible speed. In less than two seconds, his ordinary human arm transformed into a dark red limb covered in barbs, exuding a grotesque, biological aura.
"Barrage Cannon Strike!"
Hihiko's straight punch connected with the fire dragon's snout. He was countering ninjutsu with his bare flesh—an act that would be considered suicidal by any normal ninja.
*FWOOSH!*
But the flames simply burst into sparks, scattering in all directions and igniting small fires in the dry grass.
*Swish!*
Before Hihiko could get a clear look at his opponent, the figure became a black shadow and darted toward the mountains behind the temple.
"Trying to run!?"
Hihiko's arm returned to normal in under two seconds. Seeing the intruder flee, he didn't hesitate and gave chase.
The island hadn't seen an invader in decades. Any threat had to be eliminated immediately.
***
The villagers noticed the commotion at the old temple in the back mountains. The two locations weren't far apart; one could just make out the temple gate by looking up toward the mountains.
Moreover, everyone in this village had sensory abilities superior to that of ordinary ninja.
The clash had naturally not gone unnoticed.
"What happened?"
"It sounds like someone's fighting up in the back mountains."
"Should we go check it out?"
As the villagers debated what to do, the blond man suddenly ran up from behind them. "There's an intruder! Lord Hihiko is fighting them! Let's go provide backup!"
If this were a Warring States ninja clan, they would never send everyone as reinforcements.
But aside from Hihiko's generation, no one in this village had ever experienced war. They hadn't even had basic ninja training. Hearing the call, anyone who could use ninjutsu rushed toward the back mountains without a second thought.
The blond man shouting was, of course, Izuna in disguise.
After watching them all run off, Izuna scoffed inwardly. He was about to use another shadow clone to conduct a full search of the small village.
But just then, a surprised voice called out from the village entrance. "Who are you!?"
Izuna turned to see that the three men who had been trading with the boatman on the coast had returned, pulling a cart.
When the blond man who had almost sensed the Flying Thunder God kunai saw someone who looked exactly like him, he was stunned.
In the next instant, all three of them dropped the cart's handles and drew weapons from their waists.
It was obvious: the person in front of them was using the Transformation Technique!
"Qizhi, your senses were spot on. There really is an intruder," said the ninja to the blond man's left.
"Be careful. He evaded my senses, which means he's either faster than anyone we've ever seen, or he has some strange ninjutsu," the blond man named Qizhi replied. He stared coldly at Izuna. "Isn't it about time you showed your true face? You don't need to keep wearing someone else's."
Izuna pursed his lips as he looked at the three newcomers. He had just managed to get rid of everyone else, and now these three had to show up. *Is the Uchiha clan's luck really this bad?*
"I was planning to come and go quietly, but I guess that's not an option anymore," Izuna muttered to himself. He reached into the pouch on his thigh and pulled out six three-pronged Flying Thunder God kunai.
"What are those?" Qizhi and his companions were startled by the unfamiliar custom kunai.
"Use your Sage Art. This is your only warning."
Izuna didn't drop his transformation, but his eyes morphed into the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. His tone was cold, and he made no move to use the Flying Thunder God Technique yet.
Izuna had considered imitating the future Orochimaru by capturing a few members of this clan for experiments.
But he dismissed the idea as soon as it formed.
First, as a slacker in his past life, Izuna knew he didn't have Orochimaru's patience or talent for research. A man who applied science to the supernatural world of Naruto wasn't someone you could just copy.
Second, he had no desire to gain sage power through a Cursed Seal. Not only was it ugly, but it also made you less than human.
If it hadn't been for Uchiha Itachi and his Totsuka Blade, who knew what kind of state Sasuke would have ended up in.
That left him with only one path to obtain their Sage Art.
One, steal their secret scrolls.
Two, observe how they channel sage energy.
A Sharingan user couldn't copy a Kekkai Genkai, but memorizing how an opponent circulates their chakra was more than simple enough.
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