Naruto: The Tale of Neo

"Relax. Sit down."

Setsuna Uchiha spoke calmly and then took a shuriken from his ninja pouch and tossed it to Neo Uchiha.

Neo caught it easily and inspected it, finding nothing unusual.

If there was anything notable, it was that the elder's shuriken was top-tier, made of high-quality material—sturdier and more durable than the kunai Neo usually used for blocking.

"Elder, what is this for?" Neo asked, confused.

"Who taught you shuriken techniques?" Setsuna asked, half-closing his eyes.

Neo's heart skipped a beat. He had only made a simple move against Seichiro earlier, not even using the advanced wire-manipulation shuriken technique, yet Setsuna had already noticed something off in his shuriken technique.

Neo didn't know how to answer this question.

After all, the technique had originally come from Setsuna himself! He couldn't exactly say:

"I've admired you for a long time and learned by watching you practice for a year."

In the Uchiha clan, Neo wasn't even close to the higher-ups like Shisui Uchiha, let alone able to learn such advanced shuriken-throwing techniques directly.

After struggling internally for a while, Neo finally responded earnestly:

"Elder, I'm just a genin. Apart from the clan's basic ninja training, I don't have access to special lessons. I can only practice simple things like this."

"Oh?"

Under his lowered eyelids, Setsuna's eyes suddenly gleamed.

So, this kid's a hidden genius?

No wonder even that arrogant brat Shisui seemed to get along well with him.

"I see."

Setsuna pondered for a moment before nodding. Then he pulled out another shuriken from his pouch.

He held the shuriken in one hand and formed a tiger seal with the other.

A miraculous scene unfolded.

The shuriken in Setsuna's hand was enveloped in flames, floating in midair, spinning rapidly.

"Phoenix Fire and Flower Claw Scarlet come from the same lineage of jutsu. The hand seals haven't changed much."

"The technique is simple: envelop the ninja tool with chakra, form the tiger seal to change the chakra's nature, and then throw it."

Setsuna spoke nonchalantly.

Neo froze for a moment, his expression growing strange.

Was the elder… teaching him?

Flower Claw Scarlet was an advanced version of Phoenix Flower Jutsu, classified as a B-rank technique. Unlike ordinary fireballs, it involved flaming, spinning shuriken.

The spinning motion increased the cutting power, and the added wind effect further enhanced the fire's destructive force.

"You try." Setsuna retracted his chakra and casually let the flaming shuriken drop to the ground with a clatter.

Neo, who had been watching intently, couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

He thought Setsuna might catch the scorching hot shuriken bare-handed for dramatic effect.

Turns out, even someone as powerful as Setsuna was still human after all.

Obeying the elder's instructions, Neo placed the shuriken in front of him, his expression serious, and formed the tiger seal with both hands.

He infused the shuriken with chakra that had undergone a nature transformation.

The shuriken on the ground sparked with a faint flame, twitched twice, and then toppled over, motionless.

Neo's face flushed with embarrassment.

Watching this, Setsuna narrowed his eyes slightly, nodded subtly, and said calmly:

"That's the essence of Fire Release's basic shape transformation. Remember this principle."

"You can extend it to multiple uses of Fire Release. For example—"

Setsuna pulled out another shuriken and threw it into a nearby tree trunk.

This time, the shuriken had a steel wire attached to it.

Then, with what seemed like an almost casual motion, Setsuna formed four hand seals with one hand. Neo immediately recognized the sequence—it was for the Dragon Flame Jutsu.

Snake → Dragon → Hare → Tiger!

A line of fire traveled rapidly along the steel wire.

"This is the Dragon Flame Jutsu. Practice with this jutsu first. Once you've mastered it, use it to practice Flower Claw Scarlet. When you reach that level, come find me."

Setsuna gave the instructions indifferently and pulled out another shuriken with a steel wire attached.

This time, he only formed a single tiger seal.

The flames roared to life again.

He had simplified the entire hand-seal process to a single seal.

Neo was stunned—he hadn't realized anyone in the Uchiha clan could pull off something like this.

One seal for a Fire Release jutsu?

This was just shy of Hashirama Senju's legendary ability to clap his hands and summon whatever he wanted!

"When you've practiced enough, you'll have mastered Fire Release's nature transformation. After that…"

Setsuna furrowed his brow, raised his head slightly, and stared into Neo's eyes. Then he shook his head and said coldly:

"Forget it. Just focus on staying alive for now."

In just two minutes, Setsuna—a veteran of the Warring States period—had passed down both the shape and nature transformation of Fire Release to Neo.

He was truly daring.

A normal ninja would have a hard time comprehending Setsuna's teaching style.

However, Neo had already mastered Setsuna's near-godlike Uchiha-style wire-manipulation shuriken technique and was proficient in Phoenix Flower Jutsu at Seichiro's level.

The knowledge in his mind began to click together from a higher perspective—

In essence, Phoenix Flower, Flower Claw Scarlet, and Dragon Flame Jutsu were all just specialized applications of basic principles. With his current level of control, Neo ran a mental simulation—

And to his astonishment, he actually understood it!

[You have learned Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu (Beginner, C-rank).]

[You have learned Fire Release: Flower Claw Scarlet (Beginner, B-rank).]

The notifications popped up in front of his eyes. Neo stared at them blankly.

Then he shot a resentful look at Setsuna.

Enough with the lessons! My brain feels itchy—like it's about to sprout new wrinkles!

At this rate, I'll max out my level before even stepping onto the battlefield!

Just then, Seichiro Uchiha returned from setting traps and patrols, his face serious.

"Elder, there's a group of Yugakure ninja searching the area nearby. I think we should pull back for now."

However—

When Seichiro saw Setsuna teaching Neo, he froze for a moment. Then his eyes turned red with anger.

I knew it!

No wonder Setsuna chose this slippery kid to join the mission!

So Neo was one of the hawkish faction's favorites!

And he had even fooled Shisui, making him think Neo was aligned with the pacifists!

Unbelievable!

"What did you say?" Setsuna frowned and asked again.

Seichiro suppressed his displeasure and reported:

"There's a squad of Yugakure ninja ahead, patrolling the area with clear intent."

Then he suggested:

"The ninja code says not to get sidetracked during a mission. Elder, given the chaos in the Land of Hot Water, we should avoid direct contact with them."

Neo furrowed his brows slightly. He had heard Obito mention this point last night.

It was advice passed down from Namikaze Minato to his students. Simply put, the Land of Hot Water was a mess right now, and they should avoid unnecessary encounters—especially with local ninja factions.

At this time, some Yugakure ninja no longer served their village but acted for private interests.

Still, Neo wasn't afraid.

In fact, he was eager to face off against rogue ninja.

But unlike his earlier proposal to cross the border at night, he had no valid excuse to push the team into unnecessary danger now.

However—

Upon hearing the report, Setsuna's half-closed eyes snapped open, revealing his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning slowly.

He kicked over the campfire, drew his long blade from his back, and commanded coldly:

"Prepare for battle."

"Seichiro, you lead the way. We'll take out that Yugakure squad first."

"Then, we'll march overnight and cross the Land of Hot Water's border!"