It was the weekend.
Nagi, Hinata, and Naruko arrived at Naruko's secret base.
Before fishing, the three of them began with some sparring practice.
However…
Nagi soon found himself somewhat confused during the training.
He noticed that when he trained with Naruko, the improvement in his cultivation speed was roughly the same as when he trained with Satsuki.
But when he trained with Hinata, the results were noticeably better than when training with either of them individually—or even when all three trained together.
He wasn't the only one who noticed something strange.
Naruko tilted her head, puzzled.
"Is it just my imagination, or does it feel like today's training is way more effective than usual?"
Hinata rested her hand against her chin and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
After thinking for a moment, she looked at Nagi.
"Nagi, our training speed is clearly faster than usual. Do you know what's going on?"
Nagi nodded—then shook his head.
"All I know is that when we train together, our progress becomes much faster than usual."
"But there seems to be a time limit."
"Time limit?" Naruko asked.
"Yes."
"If we train together for more than twelve hours in a single day, the effect disappears."
"And once we reach twelve hours, we have to wait an entire day before the effect works again."
Naruko nodded.
"Ohhh, so there's a time restriction."
Hinata, however, looked at Nagi carefully.
"How do you know there's a time limit?"
Nagi replied honestly,
"I figured it out while training with Satsuki."
"Satsuki?!" ×2
Naruko and Hinata were both startled.
Wait…
Satsuki?!
Naruko's mind immediately started racing.
"Wait a second… Nagi."
"You didn't spend the entire vacation training with Satsuki, did you?"
Nagi shook his head.
"Not exactly."
"Phew—"
Naruko let out a sigh of relief.
"We only started after we accidentally ran into each other partway through the vacation."
"…."
So he didn't come looking for me because he was spending time with Satsuki.
And they trained together for almost the whole vacation.
Of all people… Satsuki…
Naruko's mood instantly plummeted.
The resentment in the air was so strong that even Nagi and Hinata could vaguely sense it.
But very quickly, Naruko forced a smile.
"In that case, from now on the four of us can train together!"
Neither Hinata nor Nagi objected.
The Next Day
Nagi went to the Naka River and told Satsuki about the plan.
Satsuki was briefly stunned.
She hadn't expected that Nagi could accelerate his training speed with other people as well.
Still, when it came to training together with Naruko and Hinata—
She agreed.
Then she suddenly asked Nagi,
"Do you know the Shadow Clone Technique?"
Nagi nodded.
Several months earlier, Genma had already taught it to him.
Satsuki revealed a faint smile.
"The Ninja Academy's classes are mostly pointless for people like us, except for some important theoretical subjects."
"So I suggest we selectively use the Shadow Clone Technique during class."
"For important lessons or practical training sessions, the original body attends."
"For boring classes, we send a shadow clone instead."
"After all, when the clone disperses, its memories return to the original."
Nagi thought for a moment and agreed.
Naruko and Hinata quickly noticed something strange on the very first day.
After interrogating Nagi's shadow clone, they discovered the entire plan.
And so it evolved into a situation where all four of them used shadow clones to attend class, while their real bodies either trained or attended lessons depending on the situation.
One Year Later
The four of them trained together for an entire year.
During that time, Minato eventually noticed that his daughter was frequently using Shadow Clones to skip class and train with the others.
However, he chose to turn a blind eye.
After all, they were training—not playing around.
Meanwhile, Satsuki and Nagi continued to train regularly by the Naka River.
What they didn't realize was—
On a large tree not far away—
A black-and-white face had already set its sights on them.
Madara Uchiha:
"Black Zetsu! Why are you everywhere, you bastard?!"
Minato Namikaze:
"This is bad. Black Zetsu has already targeted Nagi and Satsuki."
Jiraiya:
"He'll probably pass their information directly to Obito."
Kakashi Hatake:
"This is bad. Once Obito learns about them, he'll definitely make a move. And more importantly, Nagi doesn't currently have the Second Hokage inside him."
Tsunade:
"Then it depends on whether someone from the Uchiha Clan—or anyone nearby—can notice Obito."
Shisui Uchiha:
"If I remember correctly, in our world Itachi had already discovered Obito around this time."
Itachi Uchiha:
"It's different, Shisui. I discovered him by accident while carrying out a mission to monitor the Uchiha Clan. But the version of me on the screen doesn't have that assignment."
Hiruzen Sarutobi:
"This is troublesome."
The Screen Continued
One evening, around 8 PM, Satsuki and Nagi finished their training.
Just as they were about to leave—
A strange voice suddenly sounded behind them.
"Now that training is over, don't rush off just yet."
"How about staying and chatting with me for a bit?"
Nagi and Satsuki immediately created distance between themselves.
Standing before them was a masked man with long hair reaching his waist.
Sensing danger, both of them immediately assumed combat stances.
Obito raised his hands casually.
"Relax. I came with sincere intentions this time."
Nagi asked calmly,
"Are you a shinobi from another village?"
"Or a missing-nin?"
The masked man chuckled.
"Sharp kid."
"That's right. I'm actually Konoha's very first missing-nin."
The two were momentarily stunned.
If they remembered correctly—
Konoha's first missing-nin was…
Seeing their expressions, the masked man smiled.
"Looks like you've figured it out."
"That's right."
"I am Uchiha Madara—the legendary ninja."
Nagi replied calmly,
"Where's your proof?"
The masked man smiled faintly.
"Proof?"
"You'll see soon enough."
"But before that…"
Suddenly—
He vanished.
Before the two could react, his figure appeared behind them.
He reached out and grabbed toward them.
But the moment his hands touched them—
Both Nagi and Satsuki turned into puffs of smoke.
"…Shadow Clones?"
Meanwhile, the real Nagi and Satsuki were already sprinting toward the Uchiha Clan district.
Just then—
Massive wooden vines erupted from the ground, blocking their path.
The two quickly retreated.
"…Wood Release?!"
"The legendary Wood Release of the First Hokage?!"
A figure with a black-and-white face appeared in front of them.
"Sorry. This road is closed."
"Please turn back."
At the same moment—
Obito caught up with them.
Realizing they could no longer escape, Nagi and Satsuki both drew their kunai and prepared to fight.
Jiraiya:
"This is bad. Nagi and the others have been caught."
Minato Namikaze:
"And this time it's not just Obito—Black Zetsu is here as well."
Fugaku Uchiha:
"We can only hope someone from the Uchiha Clan—or someone nearby—discovers them soon."
Mikoto Uchiha:
"…Satsuki…"
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