In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
Three years wasn't a long time, but a lot had happened in the ninja world.
There was a local war between Sunagakure and Iwagakure. Sunagakure's hero ninja, Pakura, suddenly disappeared. The outside world speculated that she might have died in battle against Iwagakure ninjas.
The Fourth Kazekage went to the Nara Desert, captured Shukaku, and sealed it inside his own son, Gaara. However, according to those in the know, the Shukaku that the Fourth Kazekage captured seemed to be much smaller than a normal Tailed Beast. The reason is still unknown. Some experts have analyzed that this might be due to the Tailed Beast evolving and developing reproductive abilities. The Shukaku that the Fourth Kazekage captured wasn't the real One-Tailed Shukaku. It was its son.
An unknown mysterious organization appeared in the ninja world. Its members specialized in taking on high-paying bounty missions. And no matter what the mission was, they could almost always complete it 100%, which attracted the attention of many forces.
Rumors spread that a mysterious person with long black hair and pale skin appeared in many small ninja villages with powerful bloodline limits. He specialized in kidnapping talented teenagers or children. The relevant departments in each village began to organize forces to find the mysterious person.
These were some of the major events that had attracted attention in the ninja world over the past three years.
At this time, Yusuke was fighting his human form of Ryujin Jakka in the mental world.
Yusuke was now 1.85 meters tall. His body had also become tall and strong, no longer looking slightly thin like he did when he was younger.
Ryujin Jakka's human form was still exactly the same as Yusuke's. They both held a katana burning with raging flames and attacked each other. The Nine-Tailed Fox was watching their fight from a distance, trembling.
After three years of training, Yusuke's soul power had become incomparable to what it was before. He could now last nearly half an hour in the mental world, fighting Ryujin Jakka in his Shikai form.
Yusuke could now control the outward projection of his Reiatsu and use it to intimidate his opponents. If the opponent's mental power was weak, they would find it very difficult to speak under Yusuke's Reiatsu. In severe cases, they would even suffer a mental breakdown.
"Not enough. Your Reiatsu needs to be stronger!"
"Your sword lacks domineering energy. How can you unleash the true power of my Ryujin Jakka?"
Although Yusuke could now fight Ryujin Jakka back and forth, unlike three years ago when he could only defend and couldn't counterattack, Yusuke's performance still wasn't good enough to satisfy Ryujin Jakka.
Their fight was as fast as lightning. The blades flashed, and the area was filled with crimson flames.
After blocking Yusuke's slash with his sword, Ryujin Jakka used the recoil to retreat and create distance.
"We've had enough training for today. Let's try the power of Bankai!" Ryujin Jakka said to Yusuke.
Yusuke nodded. Following Ryujin Jakka's instructions for Bankai, he controlled his Reiatsu and sealed all the flames on the blade into the weapon in his hand.
The flames that had been wrapped around Yusuke's body and the surface of his weapon all quickly disappeared into the blade of the katana in his hand. The entire blade shone with a crimson light.
At this time, Yusuke was performing one of Ryujin Jakka's Bankai forms, "Great Fire Sword." This Bankai form was the Bankai ability of Ryujin Jakka that Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto used before he mastered his Bankai, "Zanka no Tachi."
The ability of "Great Fire Sword" was to seal all the flames inside the Zanpakuto. When it was swung, it would unleash intense flames, burning whatever it struck to ashes.
A flash of fire appeared in Yusuke's eyes. He swung the Great Fire Sword towards Ryujin Jakka. Ryujin Jakka, however, frowned. He thrust his sword forward, the tip accurately striking the blade of the Great Fire Sword in Yusuke's hand.
With just a tap of the tip of his sword, Ryujin Jakka caused the Reiatsu of the Great Fire Sword in Yusuke's hand to become unstable. The flames that had been sealed inside the blade instantly leaked out again, and it returned to its Shikai form.
"I failed again," Yusuke sighed, looking at the katana in his hand.
Ryujin Jakka put away his weapon. His expression was serious. "Yusuke, do you know why you still can't master Bankai?"
"It's not just a matter of controlling your Reiatsu. More importantly, you haven't mastered the 'Will of Fire'!"
Hearing the words, "Will of Fire," Yusuke's facial muscles twitched involuntarily. Although he knew that the "Will of Fire" that Ryujin Jakka was talking about wasn't the same as the one passed down through generations in Konoha, it still felt strange.
"You don't have the spirit of charging forward, and you don't have the domineering energy of being the best! How can you unleash my true power like that?"
"Think about what I've said!" Ryujin Jakka transformed into a flame and slowly disappeared, leaving Yusuke lost in thought.
After thinking for a long time, looking at Ryujin Jakka, which stood in the mental world, piercing the heavens and earth, Yusuke couldn't help but smile wryly, "The spirit of charging forward and the domineering energy of being the best? Although it sounds simple, it's not easy to truly achieve these two things."
Outside the Fourth Hokage's ward, Itachi and Izumi were waiting quietly.
Itachi and Izumi were both ten years old now. But in the world of Naruto, many teenagers this age could already work. Even many ninjas who were carrying out missions outside were this age.
Izumi had passed the Chunin Exams a year ago and was promoted to Chunin. Now, they were both wearing Konoha Chunin uniforms. But instead of the red swirl symbol on the back of the uniforms, it was the Uchiha clan crest.
After three years of growth, they had both changed a lot.
First, their appearance had changed. Not only had they both grown taller, but the childishness on their faces had also diminished. Itachi's face even had deep stress lines, giving him a strange sense of age.
They both now had a single ponytail hairstyle, but Itachi's ponytail was lower, with his hair close to his back. Izumi's ponytail was higher, making her look heroic and dashing.
At this time, the door to the Fourth Hokage's ward slowly opened. Kabuto and Kakashi walked out.
Kakashi was the same age as Yusuke. He now looked almost the same as he did when he first appeared in the original story. But he was still carrying a short sword on his back. He hadn't given up on the swordsmanship of the Hatake clan.
Kabuto was still wearing the black round-rimmed glasses that Yahiko gave him. He was also wearing the Konoha Chunin uniform. His face now had a more mature look, and he didn't have the cunning that he displayed in the original story.
"How was the treatment today?" Izumi asked.
She and Itachi had come with Kabuto. Since Kabuto had returned to Konoha more than a year ago, he had been treating the Fourth Hokage regularly every day, slowly stimulating the Fourth Hokage's brain nerves with gentle chakra.
Kabuto shook his head, "It will still be a while before the Fourth Hokage-sama wakes up. The Fourth Hokage-sama's brain nerves have gradually regained their vitality, but he probably won't wake up anytime soon."
"And even if the Fourth Hokage-sama regains consciousness, his body hasn't moved for so long. He'll need a long recovery period before he can regain his original strength."
Kakashi said gratefully, "It doesn't matter if it takes a long time. As long as Sensei recovers, that's enough. I'll need you to continue working hard in the future."
Kabuto hurriedly said, "Kakashi-senpai, you're too kind. This is something I should be doing."
Itachi, Izumi, and Kabuto said goodbye to Kakashi at the hospital and then went to the Hokage Tower to pick up a mission.
Since they had all become Chunin, they had formed a three-person team and carried out missions in Konoha Village. The three of them were exceptionally skilled and performed very well in many missions. They had also gained a lot of fame in Konoha.
After the three of them picked up their mission and left the Hokage's office, they happened to run into Danzō, who was going to the Hokage's office. The atmosphere immediately became tense.
Since the Uchiha clan had moved to the outermost area of Konoha Village three years ago, their relationship with the various forces within the village had become increasingly tense. Their relationship with Danzō could be described as hostile.
Under the instructions of Konoha's high-ranking officials, Danzō had been constantly uniting various clans to suppress the Uchiha clan. But most of the Uchiha clan members were unwilling to be bullied. They resisted from various angles, causing many serious incidents within the village.
Most of these incidents ended with the Uchiha clan losing. And with Danzō secretly stirring up trouble, the Uchiha clan's reputation within the village had also been greatly affected.
As the situation became increasingly severe, the radicals within the Uchiha clan had many dangerous ideas. And the clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku, who was a moderate, could no longer suppress the radicals within the clan.
Since witnessing the duel between Yusuke and Shisui three years ago, many Uchiha clan members believed that Shisui was already an expert comparable to the Sannin. Yusuke, who had defeated Shisui, was naturally even better. Besides Shisui and Yusuke, plus the unassuming clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku, the Uchiha clan's high-level combat power was already formidable.
And now, among Konoha's high-ranking officials, the Third Hokage and Danzō were both old and decrepit. The Fourth Hokage was still in a coma. The Sannin, who had top-level combat power, had all left the village.
With the Uchiha clan's high-level combat power exceeding that of Konoha's high-ranking officials, the radicals within the Uchiha clan naturally felt that their clan's power had surpassed that of Konoha's high-ranking officials. But their clan's power didn't match their rights and influence in the village. This caused many Uchiha clan members to be dissatisfied with the current clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku.
Glancing at Itachi and the others with his sinister eyes, Danzō recognized these up-and-coming stars who had recently become famous in Konoha Village. But these three were all disciples of Uchiha Yusuke. Therefore, for him, they were just enemies who needed to be eliminated.
Out of courtesy between superiors and subordinates, Itachi and the others bowed to Danzō. But Danzō didn't respond.
Watching Danzō slowly enter the Third Hokage's office, Itachi unconsciously frowned. He vaguely felt that something big was about to happen.
"Itachi, what are you thinking about? We should go," Izumi said, pulling on Itachi's clothes when she saw that he was standing there motionless.
Itachi came back to his senses and said slightly, "Sorry. I was just spacing out. Before we leave the village, I want to go see Sasuke at the kindergarten."
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