The massive pangolin thrashed for several minutes before finally going still, flames consuming its body until only a huge armored shell remained.
Up in the trees, Uchiha Feiyu had gained something far more valuable than a corpse—the creature's soul.
Compared to Hatake Sakumo, the pangolin's soul was insignificant, but it carried a refined Earth-traveling ability. It would be useful for training Earth-nature chakra in the future—and, more importantly, for escaping.
Most animals that accidentally awakened chakra developed only a neutral, attribute-less form. Those who gained elemental affinity were one in ten. Those with pure affinity and innate jutsu were one in a thousand.
And most innate jutsu were trivial—spurting water, blowing gusts of wind, simple tricks.
But Earth-burrowing techniques?
Those were extremely rare—and extremely useful to Feiyu.
This time, they had simply gotten lucky. Opportunities like this couldn't be forced.
Over the next month, the team completed more than ten missions, all remarkably uneventful. Feiyu collected a few more chakra beast souls, but nothing remarkable.
However, during that month, his own strength leapt forward again.
Although he had obtained Sakumo's spirit and learned the White Fang sword style, he still lacked mastery in chakra nature transformation and muscle memory refinement.
After all, he had only possessed Sakumo's soul for a few days at the beginning—no matter how fast he learned through possession, fully digesting that legacy required time.
Now, after a month of practice, the White Fang swordsmanship that had once been crude and imitated was becoming instinctive. His movements flowed more freely, his transitions sharper and cleaner.
His Lightning Release transformation improved significantly as well—his chakra blade grew more lethal, and the lightning stimulation made him faster than ever.
Even his chakra reserves had grown. It wasn't only Sakumo's influence—the awakening of his double-tomoe Sharingan strengthened his Uchiha bloodline, feeding back into his body and enhancing his talent.
The clearest sign was in his sparring with Hyūga Hizashi. As time passed, Hizashi found it harder and harder to hold back. Eventually, he simply stated outright that he could no longer fight Feiyu seriously without injuring him.
According to Hizashi:
Feiyu's pure combat ability had already reached jōnin level.
His terrifying growth rate lit a fire under his two teammates. Asuma and Kurenai trained desperately, but compared to Feiyu's cheat-like progress, their improvements crawled like snails.
After more than a month, they had only gained some real combat experience and gotten used to bloodshed. Their fundamental strength remained largely unchanged.
That day, after completing another mission, Feiyu headed to the Forest of Death to train. As soon as he stepped into the clearing he and Kakashi had carved out, he froze.
The training ground was nothing but a rough open space where they had cut down trees—not official, but sufficient.
Yet now, in the center of the clearing, stood Kakashi.
Silver-haired, head bowed respectfully before a short elderly man.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Why is the Hokage here? You're not here to make us pay for damaging the Forest of Death, right? I'm broke!"
Feiyu put on a nervous expression. Kakashi, who already knew his true personality, silently rolled his eyes. The Hokage's expression also stiffened slightly before he sighed and shook his head.
"I'm not here about the forest… though you should refrain from doing that in the future."
He stroked his beard and smiled kindly.
Not that he truly cared. Almost every powerful shinobi created secret bases or training grounds. The underground of Konoha was probably hollow from decades of digging.
Kakashi and Feiyu's little clearing would never draw the Hokage's attention.
And in truth, Feiyu already knew the moment he saw Hiruzen why he had come—he wasn't here to reprimand anyone.
He was here to recruit them.
Feiyu's performance in Team One would not have been hidden from the Hokage. A fourteen-year-old with jōnin-level combat power, and Kakashi, eight or nine years old, who had defeated a special jōnin—both were future Kage-level candidates.
Of course Hiruzen would try to pull them into his camp. That was how his faction operated.
"As long as I don't have to pay, it's fine. I'm really poor right now—my savings aren't even a hundred thousand ryō."
Feiyu patted his chest in relief. Hiruzen visibly choked.
"…It seems your situation is quite difficult. That is our failure. We will increase support for orphaned academy students in the future."
Feiyu understood Hiruzen's intentions perfectly, but he had no desire to get close to him.
First, he was an Uchiha—even if the clan ignored him, the upper leadership might not.
Second, the Third Shinobi War was about to erupt.
Joining a faction now meant being sent to dangerous missions and frontline battles.
Not to mention becoming a target of schemes. Kakashi was proof—first dragged through the most dangerous battlefield under Minato, then targeted by Danzō afterward, surviving only by luck.
"Subsidies don't matter. It's not like they'll end up in my hands anyway. So, Hokage-sama, if you're not here to punish us… what brings you here today?"
Feiyu asked lazily.
Hiruzen smiled warmly, looking at both boys.
"I am truly sorry about White Fang. But he left behind two outstanding successors. You are the greatest young talents in Konoha. If you ever have troubles, you may come to me."
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