By the time his students would be arriving at Ramen Ichiraku, Kenji released the Mind Clone Switch Technique. His consciousness snapped back to his real body.
He placed the Magnet Release puppet on its stand, positioning it next to his Swift Release puppet and the newly reconstructed Transparent Release model. After reactivating the sealing barrier around his workshop, he locked the door and headed toward the ramen shop.
When he arrived, his three students were already waiting.
"Sensei, you're so slow!" Haruto complained immediately.
"Yeah! You're late, so I'm eating an extra bowl to make up for it!" Kaede added with a grin.
Kenji smiled and pulled out a chair, sitting down at their table. "Don't worry about it. Eat as much as you want today."
He raised his hand and called out to the man working behind the counter. "Teuchi! Four bowls to start! I'll have seafood ramen with double chashu!"
Then he turned to his students. "What do you want?"
"Spicy ramen! Make it as hot as possible!" Haruto's hand shot up immediately.
"Pork ramen. Extra green onions," Kaede said seriously, like he was placing an order for a military operation.
"I'll have miso ramen, thank you," Aoi said softly.
"Coming right up! Four bowls, won't take long," Teuchi responded smoothly, already moving toward his prep station.
The familiar sounds of the ramen shop surrounded them. It was peaceful in a way that felt earned after long months of war.
They didn't have to wait long for their ramen; soon enough, steaming bowls were set down in front of them.
Settling in, they were eating and talking, enjoying the food and the comfortable atmosphere, when the shop door opened. Two people wearing Uchiha clan attire walked in. A young man who looked about sixteen or seventeen, and a girl with twin ponytails.
Kenji glanced up and immediately recognized the young man. Enma, the guy he'd saved on the battlefield months ago. Enma's face lit up when he spotted Kenji, and he quickly made his way over to their table.
"Kenji! I can't believe I'd run into you here!"
"Enma-san, long time no see," Kenji said, setting down his chopsticks with a smile.
"Just call me Enma, no need for formality." The Uchiha scratched the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed. "You saved my life on the battlefield. I never got a chance to properly thank you for that."
"We're all Konoha ninjas. Helping each other is what we're supposed to do. No need to make it a big deal."
"Still, I owe you." Enma stepped aside slightly, revealing the young girl who'd been standing partially behind him. He gently ruffled her hair. "This is my sister, Hazuki. Hazuki, this is Kenji, the one I told you about. When I got poisoned by that Suna puppeteer, he's the one who saved me."
The girl immediately bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you, Kenji-san. Thank you so much for saving my brother!"
Uchiha Hazuki.
His mind immediately made the connection. she would eventually have a daughter named Izumi. And Izumi would become Itachi's girlfriend before the massacre. This girl, standing in front of him, was going to have her entire family slaughtered in just a few years when Itachi wiped out the clan.
He kept his expression neutral, not letting any of his thoughts show. "No need to thank me."
Looking at the girl more carefully now that he knew who she was, he could see the resemblance. She had the same general features as the Izumi he remembered from the anime. Hazuki was about eleven now, which would make Izumi's birth a couple years away still. Timeline wise, it checked out.
"These are my students," Kenji said, gesturing to the three sitting around the table. "Haruto, Kaede, and Aoi. They just made chunin recently."
His students immediately set down their chopsticks and bowed politely to the Uchiha siblings. The group chatted for a while, conversation flowing naturally from battlefield stories to the new alliance with Suna, and from training experiences to village gossip. The atmosphere was warm and friendly.
Eventually, Enma and Hazuki excused themselves. Kenji watched them go. He pushed his thoughts aside for now and returned his attention to his students.
They finished their ramen, Haruto making good on his threat to eat multiple bowls. Kenji paid the bill, leaving a generous tip for Teuchi, and they all filed out of the shop into the evening air.
He was about to dismiss them and head home when Aoi suddenly tugged on his sleeve.
"Sensei, do you have some time?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"Can we... can we take a team photo together? I heard from some Academy classmates that when teams are formed, they usually take a photo together as a keepsake..."
Oh. Right.
Konoha did have that tradition. Kenji still had the old photo of his first team displayed in his room, sitting on the cabinet next to his parents' picture. He smiled and nodded. "That's a good idea. We really should have one. Come on, let's go to the photo studio."
They made a detour to the most famous photography shop in the village. The owner greeted them warmly and led them to a simple backdrop.
"Standard team photo?" the photographer asked.
"Yes," Kenji said.
They arranged themselves according to tradition. Kenji stood in the center back, his hands resting on his hips in the casual pose most jonin instructors favored. Aoi crouched in the front center, looking up at the camera with a smile. Haruto and Kaede flanked them on either side, standing straight with proud expressions.
"Everyone ready? Say 'shinobi!'" the photographer called out.
"Shinobi!" they chorused together.
The flash bulb popped. The moment was captured. When the photograph was developed and handed to them a few minutes later, Kenji looked at it for a long moment.
Four people. He'd do everything in his power to make sure this photo didn't become a memorial like his last one had.
Later that day, he placed the new photo on his shelf right next to the old team picture. It became the warmest decoration in his room.
---
"This is your temporary access pass for the Forbidden Jutsu Room," the ANBU operative said. "Remember the rules. You may only examine scrolls without sealing barriers. You're not allowed to remove anything or make copies. Once you've selected which jutsu to study, you must register it with the administration office. Understood?"
"Understood," Kenji confirmed with a nod.
That morning, he'd received a summons to report to the Hokage's office. When he'd arrived, Hiruzen had informed him that due to his significant contributions in the recent battle, specifically the capture of both the One-Tail's jinchūriki and the Third Kazekage, the village was granting him special permission to enter Konoha's Forbidden Jutsu Room to study high-level and forbidden techniques.
It was a great honor and privilege. Most ninjas never got access to this place their entire careers.
The ANBU opened the heavy door, and Kenji stepped inside.
The Forbidden Jutsu Room was larger than he'd expected. Rows upon rows of bookshelves filled the space, each one packed with scrolls of varying sizes and ages. Some looked ancient, the paper yellowed and fragile. Others were newer, probably recent additions to Konoha's collection.
But the most prominent feature was the massive scroll resting on a stone pedestal in the center of the room. The Scroll of Seals. The legendary compilation of forbidden techniques created by Tobirama and expanded by subsequent Hokages.
In the original timeline, Naruto would steal this exact scroll to prove himself and end up learning the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique from it. But that was years away still. Right now, it sat here under heavy guard, accessible only to those the Hokage personally approved.
He walked slowly along the shelves, examining the available scrolls. Most were sealed shut with barrier jutsu, glowing faintly with chakra that would trigger if anyone tried to forcibly open them. The few that could be freely read contained techniques he either couldn't use due to lacking the right chakra nature, or forbidden jutsu with costs so severe they weren't worth learning.
He made a complete circuit of the room, mentally cataloging what was available and what was locked away. Finally, he returned to the stone pedestal and lifted the Scroll of Seals.
He slowly unrolled the scroll across the pedestal.
Most of the techniques recorded inside were obscured by sealing scripts, requiring special permission or keys to access. But a few remained visible, their names and basic descriptions readable.
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. The famous jutsu that could create hundreds or thousands of corporeal clones, but at the cost of dividing your chakra among all of them. Forbidden because it could easily kill someone with insufficient reserves.
Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags. A technique that created an infinite chain reaction of explosive tags, each one spawning more tags in an exponential cycle. Forbidden because the caster had almost no control once it started, and the destruction could easily consume allies and enemies alike.
Dead Demon Consuming Seal. The ultimate sealing technique that summoned the Shinigami itself to seal a target's soul. Forbidden because it required the caster to sacrifice their own soul as payment, condemning them to be devoured by the death god for all eternity.
All techniques where the price was paid by the user. None of the ones that sacrificed others for the caster's benefit.
Kenji scanned through the visible portions carefully, committing everything to memory. But he didn't find what he was really looking for.
Edo Tensei.
Tobirama's infamous technique for summoning the dead back as immortal warriors. It was the perfect solution for his puppet energy problem. If he could understand how Edo Tensei created a perpetual chakra source through the reanimated bodies, he might be able to apply similar principles to his puppets. But there was no mention of it anywhere in the visible sections. It was either sealed behind one of the many barrier scripts, or more likely, kept somewhere else entirely. A technique that dangerous wouldn't be left accessible even to authorized viewers.
Guess I'll have to find another way to get that information later.
He continued examining the scroll, and then a name caught his eye. His heart rate picked up slightly.
Flying Thunder God Technique. It might be cliché to choose this… yeah. But let's be real, what transmigrator wouldn't pick it if given the chance, especially if Edo Tensei wasn't available?
The S-rank space-time ninjutsu created by Tobirama. By placing a special formula seal on a target, the user could teleport instantly to that mark from any distance. The learning difficulty was extremely high. After Tobirama, only Minato had managed to completely master it. A few others, like Genma and his team, had figured out how to use a weaker coordinated version called the Flying Thunder Formation Technique, but that was a pale imitation of the real thing.
He also wanted to find Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique, the jutsu that allowed the user to leave their body and possess others. But after checking thoroughly, that scroll wasn't present in the room either.
Hiruzen had given him three hours of access time with no limit on how many techniques he could study. How much he could learn depended entirely on his memory and comprehension.
Kenji settled in and began reading the Flying Thunder God section carefully, committing every detail to memory.
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40 Advance Chapters!