Chapter 38 The Inuzuka Clan's Choice
Uchiha Touhuan led Sasuke to the backyard where they usually practiced archery and turned on the corridor light.
"What ninjutsu do you know?" Uchiha Touhuan asked.
"My brother taught me the Three Body Technique before, and then I just learned Lightning Release: Lightning Ball a few days ago." Mentioning ninjutsu, Sasuke perked up.
"Lightning Ball, let me see." Uchiha Touhuan said.
"Yes!" Sasuke replied, his little hands quickly forming hand seals. In a short while, a golden lightning ball, over a meter in diameter, appeared out of thin air before them. It flew forward seven or eight meters before exploding, a dazzling white light flashing across the dim backyard.
After doing all this, little Sasuke looked at Uchiha Touhuan with expectant eyes, wanting praise from his teacher.
However, Uchiha Touhuan instead slapped Sasuke hard on the back of the head, leaving the boy completely bewildered.
"What are you doing, kid? I told you to use a ninjutsu and you blew up my lawn!"
"Sorry..." Sasuke said weakly.
"Watch closely, this is how you use the lightning ball." After Uchiha Touhuan finished speaking, he snapped his fingers, and a dark blue lightning ball, no more than ten centimeters in diameter, appeared out of thin air.
Although this lightning ball was much smaller than the one he had created earlier, Sasuke could clearly feel that the energy contained within it was much more concentrated.
Then, Uchiha Touhuan twirled his fingers, and the lightning ball began to circle around the two of them as he guided it. For a moment, Sasuke was stunned.
After the lightning ball circled around the two of them a few times, Uchiha Touhuan snapped his fingers again, and the dark blue lightning ball suddenly flew into the sky and exploded into a burst of fireworks.
"Amazing." Uchiha Sasuke exclaimed.
"See? Go back and practice like this. When you can do that, I'll teach you something else." Uchiha Touhuan said.
"Yes!" Sasuke replied confidently.
Seeing Sasuke's confident smile, Uchiha Touhuan also smiled. This kid probably wouldn't be bothering him to learn new ninjutsu for a long time. You know, what he just did required precise control of chakra at the smallest details. Even many Chunin who are good at Lightning Release might not be able to do that. If Sasuke, a beginner, wants to do that, he'll probably have to suffer a bit.
However, with this process of honing his fundamentals, once Sasuke can achieve this, learning other ninjutsu in the future will be much easier.
Furthermore, practicing this refined chakra control will also help temper the boy's character. The impulsive, hot-tempered Sasuke of the original timeline, who would go out and get beaten up on a whim, is something Uchiha Touhuan couldn't tolerate.
After Sasuke left, Uchiha Touhuan changed his clothes and prepared to go to the training grounds for his daily training.
Before leaving, Uchiha Touhuan instructed,
"Keiko-nee, please send a visiting card to the Inuzuka and Aburame families for me later."
"Now?" Uchiha Keiko asked, "It's so late."
"It's alright, I don't think they'll mind," Uchiha Touhuan said.
"Then, under what name?" Uchiha Keiko pressed.
"Use the Security Department's name for the Inuzuka family, and my personal name for the Aburame family," Uchiha Touhuan said.
"Understood," Uchiha Keiko nodded in response.
...
That night, the two clans that received Uchiha Touhuan's invitation were far from peaceful.
The Inuzuka clan, upon receiving the invitation, immediately convened a clan meeting.
Unlike the usual Uchiha clan meetings, which would erupt into endless bickering and arguments within five minutes, sometimes even escalating into physical fights, the Inuzuka clan meeting was remarkably efficient.
In a relatively small room within the clan shrine, the three Jonin, including the clan head, and the clan's elder sat around a table, at the center of which lay the invitation recently delivered by Uchiha Keiko. The
current clan head, Inuzuka Jaw, glanced at the attendees and asked, "What do you think of this invitation?" "
Is this a gesture of goodwill from the Uchiha clan? That's quite rare," said Inuzuka Hone, the 75-year-old elder of the Inuzuka clan.
"This new Uchiha clan leader seems quite different from their previous leaders," Inuzuka Jacques said. "Fū, you worked on a mission with this new Uchiha clan leader. Could you tell us your impression of him?" The
youngest of the four, Inuzuka Fū, stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then said, "This new Uchiha clan leader… well, I can't see through him at all."
Inuzuka Fū's words caused everyone to frown.
"However, cooperating with him shouldn't be a bad thing," Inuzuka Fū said, then briefly recounted what had happened at Orochimaru's base that day to the other three.
"I see. This generation's Uchiha clan leader is quite something," Inuzuka Kotetsu remarked.
"So, should we cooperate fully with the Uchiha?" The last Jonin present, Inuzuka Retsu, asked.
"It's not quite that bad." Inuzuka Jaw reached for the visiting card on the table. "This clan chief, Touhuan, sent the card in the name of the Security Department, giving our clan a choice. Retsu, select twenty of the most capable of the newest batch of adult ninja dogs from the clan and send them to the Security Department as a gift from the Inuzuka clan."
"That's not enough." At this moment, Inuzuka Kotsu suddenly spoke up. "Besides these, select a few dog trainers and talented ninja dog users from within the clan and have them join the Security Department. If possible, request a few more Security Department positions from the Uchiha clan each year."
Hearing Inuzuka Kotsu's words, Inuzuka Jaw was somewhat surprised: "Elder, if we do this, in their eyes, our Inuzuka clan will be completely siding with the Uchiha."
"Since this clan chief, Touhuan, is so sincere, we might as well show our Inuzuka clan's sincerity in return," Inuzuka Kotsu said.
"This... Elder, isn't this a bit too hasty?" Inuzuka Jax hesitated. He didn't know why the elder, who usually reminded him to be cautious, would make such a radical suggestion today.
"Jax, do you know why I've repeatedly reminded you, as the clan head, to be cautious with every choice?" Inuzuka Hone looked at Inuzuka Jax. "Although our Inuzuka clan has a family tradition dating back to the Warring States period, we are ultimately just a small clan that has mastered the secret technique of training ninja dogs. We can't compare to those bloodline clans that are born with powerful combat abilities. Only by being careful and cautious can we accumulate a family fortune, so that the clan has the capital to gamble when facing opportunities."
"381 years ago, when faced with the invitation from the Senju clan, our ancestors moved their entire family to join us, which led to the Inuzuka clan we have today. Now, a new opportunity is presented to us," Inuzuka Hone said.
"You think so highly of this new Uchiha clan head?" Inuzuka Retsu asked.
"Just consider this my intuition as an old man who lived through the Warring States period," Inuzuka Kotetsu chuckled, then looked at Inuzuka Fuu: "Fuu, what's your opinion?"
"Following this Chief Touhuan? It's not such a bad thing," Inuzuka Fuu laughed. "Our clan has been on the fringes of the village long enough. We're all clans of secret arts. If the Ino-Shika-Cho trio has achieved its current position, we might as well compete with them."
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(End of Chapter)