The Uchiha clan compound wasn't exactly close to the Konoha Ninja Academy, but with the brothers' swift pace, it didn't take long for them to return to their family estate.
Their father, Uchiha Kagami, had once been a Jōnin of the village and a member of the Second Hokage's elite guard. While he didn't leave behind great wealth, the inheritance wasn't insignificant either. Though their elders had squandered much of it, one thing remained—a large family estate, now shared by the two brothers.
As they stepped through the gate, Shisui suddenly remembered what day it was and quickly said, "Let's eat out tonight. Anything you want, it's my treat."
Aozora shot him a glance. "You're saying this now? We're already home."
With that, he headed straight for the kitchen.
Their parents had died on a mission not long after Aozora was born. It was Shisui who had raised him. But after Aozora entered the academy, Shisui's missions had grown more frequent. Sometimes he wouldn't return for days at a time. Since then, Aozora had taken care of everything himself. Cooking and cleaning were second nature to him now.
Shisui followed him into the kitchen. "Need any help?"
Aozora thought for a moment. "There's frozen beef in the fridge. Just slice it thin."
After giving those instructions, he began washing vegetables and preparing the side dishes.
Shisui placed the frozen beef on the cutting board, frowning at it like it was a hostile target.
Moments later, he clapped his hands, sending the beef into the air. In a flash, he unsheathed the sword on his back and unleashed a flurry of strikes—swish swish swish—slicing with deadly precision.
Thin slices of beef, delicate as cicada wings, floated down neatly onto the cutting board.
Shisui looked over. "Is this good enough?"
"…Sure," Aozora said, a bit speechless.
Well, thinner wasn't a bad thing. Just dip them for less time in the pot.
With a "top-tier blade technician" joining the kitchen, the ingredients for hot pot were soon prepared.
Once the broth-filled iron pot was placed on the small stove and brought to a gentle boil, Aozora announced, "Dinner is served."
Steam soon began rising from the pot. The savory aroma of the broth filled the air and stirred Shisui's appetite.
"It's ready. Start with the meat, then the veggies. Two seconds in the broth—any longer and it gets tough."
He dropped a paper-thin slice of beef into the boiling broth. Two seconds later, he fished it out, dipped it into his homemade sauce, and popped it into his mouth.
The rich flavor of the sauce and the tender texture of the beef melted together—he nodded in approval.
Holding up a thumb, Aozora said with a mouthful, "Your slicing's not bad."
"Oh yeah? Let me try!"
Shisui beamed at the praise and grabbed his chopsticks with renewed excitement.
"This is delicious!"
"Since when did you get so good at cooking, Aozora? The broth is amazing."
"Ha! Your beef slices really are tender. Nicely done."
"I'll take another one!"
The meat quickly disappeared. The vegetables vanished soon after. Once even the ginger at the bottom of the pot was eaten—by none other than Shisui—the feast was finally over.
Letting the stove burn itself out, the brothers lay comfortably on the floor, hands on their stomachs.
"Aozora," Shisui suddenly asked, "what's your dream?"
Aozora thought for a moment. "To master every jutsu in the shinobi world."
He wanted to uncover the connection between the world's ninjutsu and the Heavenly Scripture. What would happen if he learned every jutsu that existed? Would the Scripture change?
"…What?"
Shisui sat up, stunned. He had expected Aozora to aim for Jōnin, maybe even Hokage—but this?
Only one other person had ever said something like that. But that person had possessed legendary talent in ninjutsu, once in a hundred years. His brother… wasn't that person.
Aozora expected the reaction and said calmly, "That's my dream. I'm not joking."
Seeing the sincerity in Aozora's eyes, Shisui swallowed his doubts. After a long pause, he said solemnly, "Then I believe in you."
He got up and walked toward his room.
Aozora lay there for a while, then frowned.
One look at the messy table confirmed his suspicions—his dear brother had no intention of cleaning up.
"Whew…"
He let out a long breath of frustration and dragged himself up to clean.
By the time he finished the dishes, Shisui reappeared.
Aozora gave him a cold glare—clearly unimpressed.
Looking confused, Shisui set down the wooden box in his arms.
"Aozora, this chest contains the ninjutsu scrolls Father left behind. I've also added a few I've collected over the years."
"You didn't have chakra before, so I held on to them. But now that you've graduated, it's time you started learning."
He opened the chest. Inside were more than ten scrolls.
Noticing Aozora's eager gaze, Shisui didn't hand it over just yet. "Aozora, I support your dream," he said seriously. "But remember—biting off more than you can chew will get you nowhere."
"I want you to control your ambition and choose wisely."
"I'll be checking your progress regularly. If I find that you're learning ninjutsu at the expense of your fundamentals, I'll take the scrolls back."
With that, he pushed the chest toward Aozora.
Aozora immediately scooped it up in his arms and started heading to his room. Halfway there, he remembered something and turned around.
"Thanks, big brother! And just so you know, you won't get the chance to take them back!"
With that, he dashed upstairs, chest in hand.
Seeing the genuine smile on his brother's face, Shisui returned to his own room, deeply satisfied.
Meanwhile, Aozora entered his room, placed the chest on the bed, kicked off his shoes, and climbed on top with excitement.
It felt like receiving a pillow just as you were about to sleep—wish granted.
His hand slowly reached for the treasure chest.
Let's open it!
"Fire Style – Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."
Next!
"Fire Style – Great Fireball Technique."
Again!
"Fire Style – Fire Dragon Flame Bullet."
After pulling three low-rank fire jutsu in a row, Aozora's excitement settled. He quickly skimmed through the entire contents.
There were 23 scrolls in total. Each one recorded one or two jutsu along with detailed training notes—33 techniques altogether.
Of those 33 jutsu, 18 were ninjutsu, 9 were genjutsu, 3 were kenjutsu, and 3 were techniques for weapon control.
Though the number was decent, most were D-rank or C-rank. Only three were B-rank. There wasn't a single A-rank jutsu.
"Man, big bro… for someone called 'Shunshin no Shisui,' you really didn't collect much," Aozora muttered.
Despite the complaints, he was overjoyed.
He knew Shisui must have held back stronger techniques, and that was fine. These were already more than enough to keep him busy for a long time.
After some thought, he picked out three scrolls.
The first recorded two fundamental Uchiha fire-style jutsu: Great Fireball Technique and Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
The second held two basic genjutsu: Naraku's Illusion and Mist Veil Illusion.
The third scroll covered shuriken techniques: the Art of Manipulating Shuriken.
Rather than reach for high-level techniques, Aozora had deliberately chosen foundational jutsu. He understood that even the tallest tower must be built from the ground up.
With his initial selection made, he no longer lingered on the rest of the scrolls.
He sealed the chest and hid it securely, then opened one of the scrolls and began to read.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!