Born with an adult soul, tempered by years of strict and disciplined training, supported by solid physical talent, guided by the selfless teaching of his parents, and aided by a "small" advantage in Natural Energy—these factors combined to forge Shin's current formidable strength, leaving his classmates far behind in the dust.
In terms of raw power alone, he might already have surpassed his father, Higashino Jiro.
However, he lacked true battlefield experience. If the two were to fight without restraint, the outcome would be impossible to predict.
After all, a Ninja battle is never a simple comparison of numbers.
During ordinary school sparring matches, Shin was extremely restrained.
He had no desire to become an invincible genius looming over his classmates' heads. Instead, he fought gently—seriously for a time, then decisively, but without crushing them outright.
Fighting classmates was like being in a relationship: you couldn't think only of your own feelings.
You had to give the other person a sense of participation, letting them feel that with just a bit more effort, they might win next time.
Only then would they return to training with renewed determination. And even a small improvement might one day save their life on the battlefield.
The only exception was when he fought Uchiha Shisui.
That boy's talent was truly exceptional. His reaction speed alone was already top-tier—and that was without having awakened the Sharingan.
Kuroiwa-sensei seemed to have noticed this as well. In later sparring sessions, he frequently paired the two together so the rest of the class could observe and learn from the sidelines.
Even then, Shin couldn't go all out. The current Shisui was still not his match.
Though Shin stood out among the freshmen, everything still remained within acceptable limits.
If he revealed his true strength, Inoue Kuroiwa might recommend him for early graduation.
Shin had promised his mother that he would remain in Ninja Academy for a few more years.
Moreover, he needed time—time to grow. He was currently at a critical stage in training nature transformation, and graduating now would disrupt his carefully laid plans.
Compared to children who dreamed of graduating early, becoming a full-fledged Ninja, and contributing to the Village as soon as possible, Shin preferred investing time in himself.
He had come to experience the exciting and wondrous life of the Ninja World—not to become a model worker.
Time passed swiftly. In the blink of an eye, nearly twenty days went by.
One afternoon, it was once again time for the two of them to spar. While other students were still fighting on the field, Shisui quietly approached Shin and whispered, "Shin, be careful with your strikes later."
Shin froze for a moment, then immediately understood. "Don't tell me—you're a Shadow Clone?"
Uchiha Shisui nodded. "Yes. The senpais in the clan think spending time at the Ninja Academy is unnecessary and want me to focus on improving my strength under family guidance.
But I think school is important for building bonds with everyone. So I still need to come. That's why I learned the Shadow Clone Technique recently."
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Shin… you figured it out so quickly. Don't tell me you also—"
"What do you think?"
The two exchanged a knowing smile, a silent understanding forming between them.
Soon, when it was their turn to spar, they fought brilliantly. Yet every time a fist or a kick landed, both subconsciously held back their strength.
The surrounding classmates watched in fascination, trying to learn from the exchange, imagining how they might respond if they were in the ring themselves.
No one noticed anything unusual.
Even Inoue-sensei failed to detect it.
This put the two schemers completely at ease. From that day on, they began their daily routine of "responsible slacking."
The training ground near the Higashino residence was unusually quiet.
It was wartime, and the number of Ninja in the Village had dropped sharply. Since it wasn't a school holiday, no students came here to train.
Only a few three- or four-year-old children who hadn't enrolled yet occasionally wandered in to play—and even they came and went quickly.
Deep in the woods, three Shins were silently cultivating Chakra nature transformation.
The original body sat atop a tree branch, while the two Shadow Clones trained nearby.
Shin only created three Shadow Clones at a time: one attended school, while the original body and the remaining two buried themselves in research and cultivation here.
Three was the limit.
This was a conclusion reached after repeated experimentation. Any more, and the instant the Clones dispersed, the overwhelming flood of memories and experiences would slam into his mind with dangerous intensity.
Shin's Chakra reserves were impressive. Nourished by Natural Energy, at six years old, he already possessed roughly the amount of Chakra of a standard Jōnin.
However, he lacked the monstrous recovery of the Uzumaki physique—and he certainly didn't have anything to help absorb the backlash.
Moreover, with too many Clones, the Chakra divided among them became insufficient, causing them to dissipate before sustaining meaningful training.
The original body focused on Wind nature transformation—his chosen offensive attribute.
The two Clones trained Water and Earth nature transformations, respectively, which he planned to use primarily for defense.
The original pressed his palms together, then spread them apart. The leaf held between his fingers split cleanly in two, revealing the sharp, cutting nature of Wind.
He casually plucked another leaf and repeated the process, over and over again.
The goal was to engrave this transformation into instinct, allowing him to switch natures at will, even without hand seals—completing nature transformation with nothing more than a thought.
In the future, Naruto would achieve this in mere days using hundreds or thousands of Shadow Clones.
That method was monstrous. Shin didn't dare attempt it.
Even so, it had taken him nearly a year to essentially complete this stage—proof that his talent was still quite good, though Natural Energy deserved much of the credit.
The longer his body was tempered by Natural Energy, the faster his progress in Chakra control and nature training became.
It truly was a worthy cheat—a universal power amplifier.
"It seems my mastery of the cutting aspect has reached a respectable level," Shin thought. "Next, I should move on to waterfall training."
The method was naturally borrowed from the future Naruto.
With his direction decided, Shin lightly hopped down from the tree, landing on the ground as softly as a drifting feather.
This, too, was a trait of Wind Chakra—light and flowing.
This was the Ninja World, a place where people could soar through the air like birds. How could Shin not yearn for flight?
A Ninja who could fly was, at the very least, three or four levels higher in sheer coolness.
Mū and Ōnoki of Iwagakure achieved flight by pushing the gravity nature of Earth Chakra to the extreme—Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Jutsu.
Its counterpart, the Added-Weight Rock Jutsu, increased mass. The Ultra-Light-Weight version could even halt Madara's Tengai Shinsei meteor, which was nothing short of absurd.
Pain's flight, on the other hand, relied on the Rinnegan's repulsive force—Shinra Tensei.
Shin was still searching for direction in Earth's gravitational nature and lacked the Rinnegan. If he wanted to fly, Wind was his only option.
Fortunately, it seemed feasible.
Though he couldn't fly yet, by refining Wind's lightness and flow, he could partially merge with it.
In midair, he could already perform limited maneuvers, and his movement speed had increased dramatically.
He walked over to one Clone and observed it holding a lump of soil formed with Earth Chakra.
The Clone continuously infused Chakra into it, increasing its density and hardness until it became solid rock.
This was training the heavy, hardened nature of Earth.
Many techniques relied on this property—such as Kakuzu's Earth Spear Jutsu, which hardened the body for both offense and defense.
The deeper the mastery, the stronger the Earth Wall became, and the harder it was to break.
At the same time, Shin hoped that by refining heaviness and hardness, he might uncover a path toward gravity manipulation.
The other Clone focused on the flexible nature of Water Chakra—enhancing techniques like Water Formation Wall, or shaping water into binding tools like the Water Whip Jutsu.
These three innate attributes—Wind, Earth, and Water—formed the core of his current training.
Any Chakra nature, when pushed to the extreme, could provide both offense and defense. But Shin didn't have the luxury of pursuing everything at once. He had to be selective.
His remaining focuses were the second stage of Chakra control and Medical Ninjutsu.
As for Natural Energy, that was reserved for after he fell asleep each night.
If he could continue cultivating even while unconscious, how could his strength not grow terrifying?
Wasting talent was shameful—and fate always punished such waste. That lesson had been deeply engraved in him during his previous life.
Suddenly, a stream of memories flowed into his mind—the Clone attending school had completed its task.
Shin absorbed the memories, waited a short while, then dismissed the remaining two Clones one after another.
The flood of accumulated training experiences made his head feel swollen, but he quickly adapted.
If all three Clones returned simultaneously with a full day's worth of memories, it would cause brief dizziness.
This meant he could technically handle more Clones. But Shin had no intention of pushing it.
The body was the foundation of everything. Sacrificing long-term stability for short-term gain was foolish—and hidden dangers were never worth it.