[Now that we've covered one-handed seals, the second special type is "borrowed-hand seals."]
[Borrowed-hand seals are used when your own hands are busy and you haven't learned one-handed seals, so you borrow someone else's hands to form the seals for you. Of course, there are also those who can already do one-handed seals but just use borrowed-hand seals to show off.]
Upon hearing that, many people in the Shinobi World wore strange expressions.
Borrow someone else's hands to make seals?
That actually works?
In the ever-changing chaos of shinobi battles, who would even lend you their hands?
[The most classic examples come from two battles: Naruto and Sasuke, as well as Obito and Kakashi. In those fights, Sasuke and Obito respectively borrowed Naruto's and Kakashi's hands to perform the Great Fireball Jutsu—quite the cool move.]
[At the same time, one could say this is also a kind of inherited legacy of Konoha's bonds.]
The Sky Screen's tone carried both teasing and a hint of emotion.
--
[Konoha, Year 60. Tazuna's house]
Kakashi leaned against the window, arms crossed, his expression suddenly becoming somewhat dim.
Borrowed-hand seals… Obito borrowing his hand to use the Great Fireball Jutsu. This had never happened between them before—so it must be a scene from their future confrontation?
Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The wind from outside the window blew in, causing his silver hair to sway slightly.
Meanwhile, on a certain cliff in the Shinobi World.
Obito sat on the high ledge, legs stretched out against the rock wall, his posture lazy.
His mask hid his expression, but his visible eye stared at the screen, somewhat absentmindedly.
"Tsk, whatever."
---
Back at Tazuna's house, Naruto and Sasuke were doing just fine.
The screen had already revealed their multiple future battles, as well as the outcome of their second fight at the Valley of the End.
So neither was surprised—in fact, they seemed excited at the prospect of seeing some of those battle scenes on screen.
"Sasuke! You can actually use my hands to form seals in the future?!" Naruto's eyes lit up as he waved his arms.
"That sounds so cool."
Sasuke hadn't reacted yet, but Sakura was already shaking her head, looking at Naruto with a mixture of exasperation and amusement.
"Naruto, you idiot—Sasuke probably formed seals with your hand when you're in the middle of fighting him. In other words, he used your hands to form the seals so he can hit you."
"Huh?!!" Naruto finally caught on, whipping his head toward Sasuke in fury. "Sasuke, you bastard! You actually used my hands to hit me!"
Sasuke still kept his hands in his pockets. "That's the future. In the present, I haven't hit you."
"And with your current level, you're not even worth my time."
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
---
[In another timeline, a dense forest]
Leaves swayed gently in the breeze. Sunlight filtering through the canopy, casting dappled shadows across four figures walking along the path.
A young boy's voice suddenly broke the silence.
"Kakashi, who do you think was stronger back then? Obviously it was me, right?"
The speaker was a young boy wearing goggles, a bright smile on his face.
"Idiot."
"Just don't get yourself tricked." Another boy with silver hair and a mask spoke with a resigned, slightly exasperated tone.
Not far away, a blond man wearing the standard Konoha flak jacket and a short-haired girl with face paint smiled as they watched the two.
The only noticeable change was that beneath the goggles of the boy who had first spoken, his eyes were now a pair of Sharingan.
In Konoha, Year 45—before everything had happened—the sunlight was radiant.
Everything still seemed salvageable.
---
Just then, the screen suddenly split in two.
On the left was a dim space that the people of the Shinobi World had never seen before, filled with numerous stone pillars, utterly silent.
On the right was the familiar Valley of the End, where the towering stone statues of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara stood facing each other, the only sound the roar of the waterfall crashing against the water below.
Suddenly, the dim space focused on two men.
They stood opposite each other—one with half his face twisted, his sleeve torn, revealing an arm marked with pale white patterns.
Opposite him stood Kakashi, his Sharingan already revealed.
Clearly, these two were Kakashi and Obito in the Kamui dimension, locked in combat.
On the screen, Obito's left hand gripped Kakashi's right fist, while his right hand held a kunai pressed against the kunai in Kakashi's left hand.
With both straining against each other, their expressions grew more ferocious.
"I'll borrow this!"
Obito suddenly grinned, using his left hand to manipulate the hand he was gripping—Kakashi's right hand—to change its shape.
Snake – Ram – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger!
Caught off guard, Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected Obito to form seals this way—let alone that his own hand would be used as a tool.
But Obito didn't care about Kakashi's surprise. He drove his right foot into Kakashi's chin, his knee bending, then snapping out like a spring, the top of his foot slamming hard into Kakashi's jaw.
Kakashi staggered from the blow, his head snapping back, stumbling a few steps and nearly falling.
Obito then leaped backward, his body floating like a falling leaf as he created distance.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito drew in a huge breath, his chest swelling, as a fireball shot toward Kakashi.
---
[Akatsuki Hideout]
The Akatsuki members could care less about the borrowed-hand seals being used in the fight between Obito and Kakashi.
But they were all stunned by Obito's appearance.
It took a long moment before someone finally swallowed.
Hidan pointed at the man with the distorted half-face on the screen, his voice changing pitch: "Th-that's the Rinnegan, right?"
Still in disbelief, he looked around, hoping to get confirmation from the others.
Deidara was equally stunned: "It looks like it…"
Eventually, everyone's gaze fell on Pain, scrutinizing his eyes for comparison.
Pain's expression shifted unpredictably. That Obito guy always wore a mask—could the other eye beneath it be a Rinnegan?
Or… had he taken the Rinnegan after his (Nagato's) death in the future?
Or perhaps, after failing to capture the Nine-Tails, he had been ambushed and had his Rinnegan stolen by Obito?
Countless possibilities swirled in Nagato's mind, leaving him momentarily unsettled. But he couldn't afford to show weakness in front of the Akatsuki members.
"Enough! I'll verify the details with Uchiha Obito myself."
"Just keep watching the screen."
Konan was also deeply worried. Paper fragments drifted gently around her, as if showing her unease.
'Nagato…'
---
[In another timeline, somewhere underground]
The aged Madara leaned back in his stone chair, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
Good. His plan was intact.
Even if Nagato died, as long as Obito obtained the Rinnegan, Madara could still be revived with the Rinne Tensei.
Nagato, Obito, the Akatsuki, the Tailed Beasts—all were just his pawns.
He was the one moving the pieces.
---
Compared to the shock caused by the left side of the screen, the battle on the right between Naruto and Sasuke was relatively less jarring.
The only thing that truly stunned the Shinobi World was the sheer size of Sasuke's Great Fireball Jutsu.
The fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth and grew larger and larger, eventually taking up nearly half the screen.
Honestly, that didn't look like a C-rank Jutsu at all.
They had never seen such an exaggerated Ninjutsu before—even most S-rank Jutsu would struggle to match it.
---
[Konoha, Year 60. Tazuna's house]
Naruto's eyes went wide. "Sasuke! Your Fire Release is that huge?!"
Sasuke was stunned too. He stared at the massive fireball on the screen and swallowed hard. Was this really his Great Fireball Jutsu?
No—that was his future self's.
Sakura covered her mouth. "So amazing…"
---
[Konoha, Year 52. Uchiha Clan Grounds]
Fugaku looked at young Sasuke, his expression flickering between doubt and disbelief.
Was this kid just messing with him?
He was clearly very skilled at Fire Release in the future! Even he, Fugaku, couldn't match the scale of that fireball.
Why did Sasuke learn so slowly when he taught him?
Could his teaching method really be that flawed?
For a moment, Fugaku couldn't help but question himself.
*****
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