The translucent Trait panel displayed itself before Kiyoshi.
"Have you been here so long, are there any ninjutsu you wish to learn?" Fugaku asked.
"I've just entered the academy, I probably don't qualify to learn ninjutsu yet," Kiyoshi replied, looking hesitant.
"You can learn it later. The right to choose ninjutsu is a privilege every Uchiha receives," Fugaku said, his gaze fixed on Kiyoshi.
His severe, square-shaped face commanded respect without him having to show anger.
Every Uchiha ninja has this right.
The ninjutsu inventory is built up by the mutual contributions of clan members throughout the generations.
"Then... I really thank you, Lord Fugaku," Kiyoshi said, feigning deep gratitude.
Fugaku nodded, satisfied with Kiyoshi's attitude.
Exchanging a few ninjutsu for Kiyoshi's acknowledgment of the Uchiha clan was a profitable transaction.
He had heard from the Chūnin instructors at the Ninja Academy that Kiyoshi's talent seemed very good.
This made it increasingly necessary to have Kiyoshi establish bonds within the clan.
If bonds couldn't be established, he would have to be marginalized.
The Uchiha clan required loyal Uchiha.
"Is there any kind of nature release you wish to practice?" Fugaku asked.
There are five basic nature transformations circulating in the ninja world:
Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, and Earth.
Anything beyond these is categorized as a secret technique or a Bloodline.
"Lightning Release, perhaps. I used chakra paper before and I have the 'Lightning' affinity." Kiyoshi pretended to ponder for a moment before stating the ninjutsu he wanted.
Lightning Release.
The Yotsuki clan's adaptability to Lightning Release Taijutsu ninjutsu was excellent.
Receiving it would be like giving wings to a tiger for Kiyoshi.
Among the five basic nature release attributes, any one of them offered vast potential for development.
It was just that the ninja world was too traditional and overly reliant on chakra, it was both made and limited by chakra.
Many technologies simply incorporated a layer of chakra as their core, ignoring other physical laws.
For instance, Lightning Release could be used to generate "magnetism," or electric fields generating magnetism, allowing control over magnetic forces.
It could even be used to warp gravity using this magnetic force, or control electron orbits using electric fields.
There were simply too many directions to choose from.
This was the unique perspective Kiyoshi possessed as a transmigrator.
Simply using Lightning Release to strengthen the body or utilizing natural lightning was too crude.
Even Fire Release could be highly specialized.
The essence of Fire Release ninjutsu development lies in two areas:
Plasma generation and temperature control.
It could be geared towards molecular motion control or energy flow control—accelerating molecular motion is heating, and the reverse is cooling. At the same time, things like high-frequency waves could be developed.
In terms of technological advancement, it was the Hidden Cloud, seemingly the most barbaric, that had ironically advanced the furthest.
Orochimaru merely specialized in biological sciences and genetic engineering.
In Naruto Shippūden: The Last Movie, only a few years after the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Hidden Cloud developed the Chakra Cannon.
Its power was great enough to destroy the moon in a single shot, making it the most powerful weapon in the ninja world.
"That's fine," Fugaku nodded.
There were quite a few Lightning Release ninjutsu scrolls in the Uchiha clan's inventory.
"I will have someone take you to select the scroll you prefer later. Remember not to be overly ambitious, one D-rank is sufficient."
"Yes, thank you, Lord Fugaku." Kiyoshi feigned gratitude.
"Alright, alright, let's eat." Mikoto looked at the dishes and said,
"They'll get cold if we don't eat now."
"Mmm."
Kiyoshi filled his bowl with a generous amount of rice.
Sufficient nutrition was essential for growing his body.
Next, Fugaku brought up other topics, chatting occasionally with Mikoto.
Occasionally, the stern Fugaku would even share an anecdote or two that made Mikoto happy.
Kiyoshi ate silently.
***
After about half an hour, Mikoto and Kiyoshi left Fugaku's house.
They walked back along the same path they came.
"Sister Mikoto, what is the usual retirement age for a ninja?" Kiyoshi asked.
There didn't seem to be a legally mandated retirement age for ninjas.
And he hadn't heard of any pensions after retirement.
"Retirement? Hmm..." Mikoto pondered briefly.
"Most ninjas don't live to retirement age. But if you want to retire, you can apply, and once approved, you will retire and leave the ninja profession."
Mikoto hadn't seen many elderly ninjas living to eighty or ninety, but she had seen quite a few Genin who graduated from the Academy.
They chose to retire because they couldn't endure the cruel ninja world.
"I see." Kiyoshi nodded.
That made sense.
In Itachi Shinden (The True Story of Itachi), one of the female ninjas in Itachi's "Team Two," named Shinko, felt despair over the cruel ninja world and gave up her ninja status.
She later worked at a tea shop in the village.
Ninjas are tools.
When using a tool, do you consider the tool's wear and tear?
It must be remembered that this was a world where even children went to the battlefield.
Wielding a kunai meant killing people on the battlefield.
There was no psychological counseling for these ninjas either.
Looking at it this way, it made sense that the ninja world was full of extremists and mentally ill people.
They had been quietly twisted under the ninja system.
"But for me, I might be retiring soon." Mikoto's voice was noticeably softer when she said this.
"Then congratulations, Sister Mikoto."
Kiyoshi offered his congratulations, forcing a smile, but his heart was chilling.
Was Itachi about to be born?
This made Kiyoshi feel very heavy.
"Kiyoshi, you can also retire when you don't want to be a ninja anymore." Mikoto smiled faintly.
Kiyoshi continued to walk, one in front of the other, with Mikoto.
He looked up at the woman walking ahead of him.
Was there any way to block Itachi's birth, preventing his arrival?
The Sharingan in Kiyoshi's left eye subtly flashed with a hint of red.
Dōjutsu power was rippling.
Kiyoshi closed his eye, and when he opened it again, it returned to its original black.
As for Fugaku, Kiyoshi only saw him as a weak hypocrite.
It was truly a pity for Mikoto to be with him, only to end up dying.
Fugaku giving him ninjutsu was also an attempt to gain Kiyoshi's loyalty to the Uchiha clan, fundamentally the same as the Hidden Cloud's recruitment effort.
In the future, Kiyoshi would naturally be expected to work for and contribute to the Uchiha clan.
It was essentially a transaction.
If that was all it was, Kiyoshi would accept it.
However... Fugaku never truly regarded any Uchiha outside his immediate family as clan members.
Fugaku Uchiha could not escape responsibility for the clan's demise.
When Itachi betrayed the Uchiha, he massacred a large number of innocent clan members.
And he killed all the way back to his house. Could Fugaku, the clan head, have been completely unaware?
In the anime, he even had the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Yet, he never brought up the issue of Itachi killing the clan members.
Instead, he expressed satisfaction, encouragement, and praise for Itachi's resolve to carry out his mission.
In Itachi Shinden, he told Itachi: "Even if your thoughts are different, you are still our pride..."
He willingly allowed himself and Mikoto to die at Itachi's hands.
The only one he mentioned was his other son, Sasuke.
Outside the gates lay countless clan members whose bodies were still cooling...
The majority of the Uchiha clan were ordinary people.
Not everyone qualified to be a ninja, just as only a minority awakened the Sharingan.
It was a pity that the clan head selected by the Uchiha clan chose to betray them.
Kiyoshi did not want to be buried with this twisted ideology.