Naruto: Shadow Master of Nara Clan

"Koshino? He's only four?"

"Is he from the Nara family?"

Shikaku immediately revealed Koshino's identity, making Chōza exclaim in shock.

Four years old. Just four years old!

Thinking back, when he was four, he had only just begun refining chakra, yet he was already considered a genius within his clan. But compared to Koshino before him, Chōza suddenly felt embarrassingly weak.

At the same age, Koshino had already completed tree-climbing training and had just mastered water-walking in ten minutes, right before their eyes. Such monstrous talent was simply unbelievable!

What Chōza didn't realize was that Shikaku was just as shaken to his core.

Not long ago, Shikaku had heard of a genius emerging from the Uchiha clan—a boy named Itachi Uchiha. At just four years old, he had already mastered basic Fire Release ninjutsu and was regarded as the pride and future of his clan.

At the time, Shikaku had sighed inwardly, convinced that his own clan's younger generation would forever live under the shadow of such prodigies.

But now, Koshino's appearance shattered that belief.

Comparing the two, Shikaku even felt that Koshino's talent was superior.

Because unlike Itachi, Koshino had only started training three months ago!

With such progress in just three months, surpassing the Uchiha genius was only a matter of time!

After recovering from his initial shock, Shikaku tugged at Chōza's sleeve and asked tentatively,

"Chōza, between my Koshino and the Uchiha brat, who do you think is more talented?"

"Of course, it's that Uchiha kid!"

"However…"

At first, Shikaku felt a bit disappointed with Chōza's answer.

But then Chōza paused, and what he said next made Shikaku smile.

"However, your Koshino hasn't been training for long, right? If you channel your clan's training resources into him, he might not be any weaker than the Uchiha kid!"

"Hmm… I see. Let's observe his training a little longer."

With a slight nod, Shikaku calmed himself and focused entirely on watching Koshino train. His gaze was filled with anticipation—as if he were looking at the future of the Nara clan.

But what truly shocked Shikaku and Chōza even more was that, as time passed, Koshino's water-walking became flawless.

Even as experienced jōnin, they had to admit—Koshino's talent had already surpassed Itachi Uchiha's.

He was very likely to replace Itachi as the brightest star of the new generation!

"Huh? The time limit's up?"

"Oh well, at least the 60-minute limit was enough for me to master water-walking perfectly. The training cards in the app are really useful… Too bad I don't have more of them!"

After completing his water-walking training flawlessly, Koshino estimated that his Shadow Imitation Technique usage limit had increased to at least five times—a significant breakthrough.

Unfortunately, his training speed was bound to slow down from here.

His lack of chakra reserves had become the biggest obstacle to his progress. Unless his physical endurance drastically improved, or he obtained his parents' scrolls from Shikaku to accelerate his study of Nara clan's secret techniques, he would soon hit a bottleneck.

At minimum, he would need to develop chūnin-level chakra reserves before he could make another breakthrough.

But Koshino wasn't particularly bothered by this.

Even if his chakra accumulated slowly, even if he couldn't fully master the Nara clan's jutsu, he could still train in shurikenjutsu and taijutsu!

After all, his goal was never to be like his uncle, Shikaku—relying solely on Nara clan techniques and being a one-trick ninja.

His true ambition was to become a well-rounded ninja, like Itachi Uchiha or Madara Uchiha in the original story!

After resting and recovering from his training fatigue, Koshino adjusted his clothes and prepared to reward himself with a good meal.

But just as he was about to leave, he suddenly noticed Shikaku and Chōza stepping out from their hiding spot.

"Uncle Shikaku, Uncle Chōza… What are you doing here?"

Since he had snuck away from the funeral, Koshino felt a little awkward seeing them.

But Shikaku and Chōza didn't seem to care about that at all.

The moment Shikaku appeared, he closed his eyes and silently began sensing Koshino's chakra.

Koshino's heart pounded nervously.

'Is he going to scold me…?'

Chōza was the more approachable one. Holding an extra-large bag of chips, he walked up and patted Koshino on the shoulder with a smile.

"Koshino! Shikaku and I saw you training just now, so we didn't want to disturb you. Now that you're done, we just wanted to check on your progress. Are you facing any difficulties with your training?"

"Yeah, I did run into a bit of a problem."

Chōza's words reassured Koshino.

Not to mention, Shikaku forgot to hide the slight smile creeping onto his lips. Koshino immediately realized—this was the perfect chance to ask for a jutsu scroll!

Gathering his courage, he said,

"Uncle Chōza, my training itself isn't the issue. You know how our Nara clan mainly trains in secret techniques, right? I recently mastered Shadow Imitation Jutsu, but now I don't have any advanced techniques to practice next."

"What?! You've already mastered Shadow Imitation Jutsu?!"

The moment Koshino finished speaking, not only did Chōza freeze in shock, but even Shikaku's face twisted in disbelief, staring at Koshino like he was some kind of freak of nature.

Silence.

Finally, it was Shikaku who shrugged lightly, regaining his composure.

After exchanging a glance with Chōza, he ruffled Koshino's hair and chuckled.

"Not bad, kid. You even mastered Shadow Imitation. I was six years old when I first learned it!"

"Alright, let me see your progress!"

Shikaku's smile widened, and he curled his finger, motioning for Koshino to come at him.

Chōza also looked on with interest, even speeding up his chip-eating, secretly excited to see Koshino in action.

But the most thrilled person here was Koshino himself!

After all, how often does one get the chance to spar with a jōnin?!

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

So the moment he heard Shikaku offer to personally guide him, Koshino quickly formed the Nara clan's signature hand seal, grinning.

"Uncle Shikaku, then I won't hold back!"

"Haha, just don't get yourself hurt!"

"What, brat? You think I'm weak? I'm still a jōnin, you know!"

Hearing Koshino's confidence, Shikaku smirked, but then his expression turned serious.

"Didn't you just say you needed our clan's jutsu scrolls to continue training?"

"Fine. If you can land a hit on me, I'll let you have the scrolls your father left behind!"

"Deal!"

With a real wager on the line, Koshino's heart pounded with excitement. His eyes sharpened, becoming even more focused.

And with just a single glance at Chōza's position from the corner of his eye—

A perfect ambush plan formed in his mind.

"Uncle Shikaku… Underestimating me will cost you!"

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