Konoha: You're letting me build up my bonds, but you're offending the entire ninja world.

Hongdou was so engrossed in listening that she looked at Shimura Gengetsu in surprise.

"Kid, you're pretty good, aren't you? How about a fight?"

Shimura Gengetsu, who was eating dumplings, rolled his eyes, put the dumplings down, and summoned the Kusanagi sword from his storage scroll, slamming it onto the table with a bang.

"Call me 'brat' again, and I'll kick you out of the village and give you a wanted poster for a rogue ninja."

Mitarashi Anko's cheerful expression changed. "Kusanagi Sword, why do you have Kusanagi Sword?"

"Of course, it was given to me by your master Orochimaru." Shimura Gengetsu said without looking up. "Envious? That's right, he didn't even take you with him when he defected from the village. It seems that you don't hold much of a place in his heart as his disciple."

"What did you say?!"

Hongdou was furious and jumped up, startling the shop owner who was making meatballs in the kitchen.

[The host has established an adversarial bond with Anko, and is rewarded with Fire Release Chakra (Excellent)]

Kurenai quickly restrained Anko, who was about to explode, "Anko, Gengetsu is just a child, don't take it to heart... children speak without thinking, and children's faces are innocent."

"If Elder Danzo finds out you bullied his grandson, that would be troublesome. Do you want to go back to the investigation department to calm down for a few days?"

It has to be said that Danzo's intimidation power was still very strong. Whether it was ninjas from other villages or ninjas from within the village, their attitude towards him was the same—don't touch me.

Hongdou calmed down and realized that arguing with a spoiled child was really petty.

He glared fiercely at Xuan Yue, and deliberately stuck out his tongue to scare her.

She's so childish, she's like a little kid herself.

"Hong, ignore this little...little guy, let's drink together tonight..."

"......"

The party ended abruptly. Kurenai was dragged away by Anko to go shopping, while Yugao went home to practice her swordsmanship.

As Shimura Gengetsu walked home, he called Aburame Kiyoshi to his side.

"Go talk to the owner of the dango shop and tell her that from now on, you can wrap up the base of Mitarashi Anko's dango. She can eat as many as she wants, no matter what excuse she uses, like a discount for loyal customers or winning a big prize. As long as you can guarantee that Mitarashi Anko can eat several servings of dango every time she comes, I will arrange a Jonin as her tutor for her little fat boy."

Konoha only has so many Jonin, and they can't all be busy taking care of children, so many civilian ninjas are led by Chunin after graduation.

Although Kiyoshi Aburame didn't understand Shimura Gengetsu's purpose in doing this, he didn't dare to ask too many questions and silently disappeared into the crowd to make arrangements at the dango shop.

Shimura Xuanyue sneered.

Red bean, huh? How dare you call me a brat? I'll turn you into a sweet potato decades ahead of time!

Chapter 41 Reunion with Uchiha Itachi, Shisui Visits

"Xuan Yue, you're back!"

After school at the ninja academy, Uchiha Izumi's eyes lit up when she saw a familiar figure standing at the school gate. She rushed to Gengetsu's side like lightning, even using her chakra.

Seeing the bright smile on the face of the long-haired black-haired loli, Shimura Gengetsu opened his arms and hugged Izumi who rushed towards him, habitually placing his hand on Izumi's soft hair to stroke it.

My mood improved as a result.

"Yes, our instructor, a Jonin, got a severe beating from his older brother and won't be able to lead us on missions for a while."

"Huh? How old are you Jonin? You still get scolded by your older brothers."

"There was nothing I could do. He went out to play without me, so I complained."

"Oh, that's a really bad old man."

Uchiha Izumi nodded as if she understood, but quickly put her doubts aside and took Shimura Gengetsu's hand to go home together, talking about the trivial things that had happened at school these past few days.

Without Itachi Uchiha and Gengetsu Shimura, Izumi's talent was revealed and she caught the attention of her teacher.

If it were any other Uchiha who had risen to prominence, they would probably have been targeted by Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi by now. But because this was someone that Gengetsu Shimura specifically wanted to protect, Danzo couldn't do anything about him, and Hiruzen Sarutobi could only keep a close eye on him without taking any further action.

Therefore, there is no need to worry about the safety of the spring.

...

After having dinner at Izumi's house and practicing Fire Release ninjutsu with her for a while, Shimura Gengetsu took his leave.

However, he did not leave the Uchiha clan's territory; instead, he headed towards the forest behind it.

According to Izumi Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha trained even harder after being defeated by him. Apart from carrying out missions, he spent the rest of his time training in the forest behind the clan's territory.

Sometimes Quan would go to the forest to cultivate, and they occasionally bumped into each other, but they would only nod and greet each other without any other interaction.

One is the son of the clan leader, and the other is a marginal figure in the Uchiha clan. The only time they crossed paths was during the Nine-Tails Night, which was ruined by Shimura Gengetsu. Izumi and Uchiha Itachi are now only nodding acquaintances as classmates.

Upon entering the forest, Gengetsu Shimura discovered one of his weaknesses.

Without powerful sensory ninjutsu, finding someone is very difficult.

He originally hoped to get the Byakugan bloodline from Hizashi, but the rewards for both stages are related to the body. He probably has to grind to the maximum level to get the Byakugan he wants.

Looks like I need to find a sensory ninjutsu that suits me.

As Shimura Gengetsu wandered through the forest, he pondered his future study plans.

Suddenly, a flame lit up deep in the forest, standing out starkly against the dark night.

Without hesitation, Shimura Gengetsu headed there.

He made no attempt to reveal his location. Uchiha Itachi, who was training, noticed the movement as he approached, and cautiously held a kunai, looking in the direction of the sound.

"Your old classmate comes right at me with a kunai. Does Itachi want to spar with me again?"

Shimura Gengetsu's fleeting voice came, and in a flash, Itachi was already standing in front of him.

"Shimura Genzuki."

Uchiha Itachi responded calmly, but did not put down the kunai in his hand. "Few people come here. I thought it was a wild beast or a spy from another village who had infiltrated, so I made the first move."

"Let's skip the friendly sparring. If we happen to meet during the Chunin Exams, we can have another match."

Although he has made great progress under the tutelage of Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Fugaku recently, Uchiha Itachi knows that there is still a gap between him and Shimura Gengetsu. At least... he will only be qualified to compete after Shimura Gengetsu evolves his Sharingan once.

"I'm available anytime," Shimura Gengetsu shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

If Itachi Uchiha had obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan, he would still be wary, but if it's just ordinary tomoe, one tomoe and three tomoe make no difference to him.

"I came here specifically to see you today."

"Looking for me?" Itachi Uchiha asked, somewhat puzzled.

Shimura Gengetsu smiled and said, "I noticed that Shisui-senpai isn't home. It's been a while since I've asked him for advice, and I'm itching to do so. So, could you please tell Shisui-senpai that I'll be home all day tomorrow and he can come to me anytime?"

Itachi Uchiha nodded slightly. "I will pass on the message. Is there anything else, Shimura-kun?"

"That's all. Continue your cultivation and try to last longer next time."

Shimura Gengetsu waved his hand, activated the Body Flicker Technique again, and disappeared in front of Uchiha Itachi.

Watching the direction he left in, Itachi Uchiha remained silent for a moment before immersing himself in his Fire Release training again.

But this time, small flames burned in his eyes, and the temperature of his fire jutsu became increasingly intense.

If we can hold out a little longer... underestimating the Uchiha will come at a price!

.......

On the other side, after returning home, Shimura Gengetsu began rummaging through drawers and cabinets, finding all the ninjutsu scrolls in the villa and scattering them all over the floor.

Then I started searching through them one by one.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique... I already learned that. Water Barrier... I can also do that. Vacuum Ball... I can keep that for now. Why are all of them elemental ninjutsu?"

As he flipped through the pages, Shimura Gengetsu began to frown. There wasn't a single sensory ninjutsu in the house; most of the techniques were elemental ninjutsu and the sword scrolls Danzo had given him before.

"Looks like I'll have to go borrow the Book of Sealing from the old man." Putting down the last scroll of the Plain Burning Technique, Shimura Gengetsu gave up.

He remembered that Minato Namikaze had mastered a ninjutsu that allowed him to sense enemies by touching the ground with his fingers, which was most likely recorded in the Book of Seals.

However, when Shimura Gengetsu opened the system and looked at his current panel, he was unsure whether he possessed the talent of perception.

However, he felt that it was highly likely that sensory ninjutsu did not require specific talents, otherwise he would have been practicing for more than a year and still not be able to learn even the most basic one.

"I don't want to think about it anymore, I'm going to sleep."

After stuffing all the scrolls back into a bookcase, Shimura Gengetsu took a bath and went back to his bedroom to rest.

The next day, around ten o'clock, Uchiha Shisui appeared at Shimura's house carrying a sword.

"Senior Shisui".

"Xuan Yue-jun, it's been a while since we last met." Uchiha Shisui smiled gently.

Gengetsu Shimura nodded. "It has been a while. I've arranged to meet Shisui-senpai at the training ground to spar and see how I've improved recently."

When Shisui Uchiha got home last night, he saw a note left by Itachi Uchiha, which didn't surprise him.

The two left the Shimura clan's territory and headed towards the training ground.

Chapter 42 A Slight Victory, Shimura Gengetsu's Request

Although he had other purposes for seeking out Uchiha Shisui, Shimura Gengetsu did indeed want to get some exercise.

Therefore, I take the competition very seriously.