Konoha. Taiichi's house.
After bathing and eating, the three kids stood neatly in the training yard.
Taiichi looked them over. Their little faces were serious, eyes locked on him. He nodded, satisfied.
Itachi didn't need much guidance. He was naturally gifted and disciplined. Jiang Tai and Yamei, on the other hand, knew when to cut loose and when to focus.
"Today we're not learning anything new. I'm teaching you a basic taijutsu set for building a foundation. From now on, you practice it at least one hour every day."
"Yes, Teacher Taiichi!"
The three answered together, voices loud and full of energy.
What Taiichi taught them was a simplified version of foundational taijutsu. Compared to the one he'd given Yohei and Saori back then, this version was easier for five- and six-year-olds, but more complete. It covered nurturing the body, training it, and fighting with it.
Taiichi went first, demonstrating the full set so they could see the movements and get a feel for them.
His motions were smooth and deliberate. Each pose stretched muscles and joints. When he moved fast, it was sharp and fierce, like a sudden storm. When he slowed down, it was steady and controlled, like a calm breeze.
When he finished, he turned to face them.
"How much did you catch?" he asked with a smile.
All three shook their heads at the same time, faces full of admiration and confusion.
Taiichi wasn't bothered. He had them practice alongside him this time.
Once. Twice.
The three kids went from awkward and stumbling to keeping up with his pace in about an hour.
Then came the real core of the set — the breathing method.
Only by syncing the breathing with the movements and engaging every muscle could they get the full nurturing and training effect.
This was where talent showed.
Itachi, though the youngest, learned fastest. He had it all down in three hours.
Jiang Tai and Yamei took longer. They didn't fully get it until evening.
Even so, Taiichi was pleased.
None of them complained about being tired. They kept going until he called for a break.
When the day's lesson ended, they agreed on tomorrow's time and headed home.
Taiichi watched them disappear down the road and smiled.
Reviewing the old to learn the new. That saying was right.
Teaching and training yourself were two completely different things.
He glanced at his panel.
[You conducted taijutsu instruction. Related comprehension increased!]
[Advanced Taijutsu gained +50 experience]
Those fifty points were worth several days of hard solo training.
Teaching while improving himself — a solid win.
At the same time, back at his own house, Itachi stood respectfully in front of his parents, recounting his day at Taiichi's.
Even though he tried to stay composed, his parents could tell from small movements that he was in an especially good mood.
Fugaku, both father and clan head, felt a mix of worry and relief at the change in his son.
Mikoto, as a mother, was simply happy as long as her son was happy.
After Itachi finished, Fugaku's expression stayed calm. Looking at his son's hopeful eyes, he finally smiled.
"Alright. You've had a long day. Go rest early. Don't be late tomorrow."
"Yes, Father. Good night, Mother."
Watching Itachi's figure disappear, Mikoto couldn't hold back her worry and asked right away.
"Husband, what do you think of Taiichi's teaching?"
"What do you think, wife?" Fugaku asked back.
"I think it's wonderful. I've never seen Itachi this happy!"
Mikoto wiped the tears that had slipped down her cheeks.
Seeing her son slowly become like his father — serious and weighed down all the time — she had started to wonder if he even remembered how to smile.
Now that he was smiling again, nothing made her happier.
Men thought differently from women. A father's perspective was different from a mother's.
Fugaku was a good husband, though. He didn't argue with her.
"The time is still short. We'll keep watching. We did promise Taiichi we wouldn't interfere with his teaching."
One night passed quickly.
The next morning, Fugaku came to Itachi's small courtyard and stood at the entrance, watching his son practice the taijutsu.
Fugaku was a jonin. He had good eyes. He could tell from Itachi's movements that this set was sophisticated.
The human body had 206 bones and roughly 639 muscles.
Just from watching, Fugaku saw that the movements engaged about 80% of the muscle groups.
That was already impressive. Most daily exercise only used two to three hundred muscles.
This showed how comprehensive the training was. Still, if that was all it did, it would only count as a solid body-conditioning method. At least for now, he didn't see anything else remarkable about it.
Fugaku watched a little longer. Seeing nothing new, he left quietly without disturbing Itachi.
At that moment, Itachi was working hard to recall the key points Taiichi had taught yesterday, adjusting his breathing so every movement matched the rhythm.
Only then could he achieve the most important nurturing effect of the set. And that part couldn't be seen just by watching.
Taiichi had his own teaching plan.
Day one: morning free time, afternoon basic taijutsu.
Day two: morning review plus free time, afternoon basic meditation.
Day three: morning review plus free time, afternoon practice plus basic ninjutsu theory.
Every day after that repeated the same cycle.
The kids were still young. Even Jiang Tai and Yamei had only just turned six. Taiichi wasn't going to rush them into refining chakra this early.
For now, he was just laying down a solid foundation. Like a tree — the deeper the roots, the stronger it could grow later.
This kind of teaching, aside from real professionals, only someone like Taiichi had the time and patience for.
Compared to researching ninjutsu or training with a blade, teaching kids basics barely took any mental effort. He could even split off another shadow clone for it without slowing down his own training.
Asama Mountain. Volcanic lava lake.
A flame that was shifting toward platinum pulsed in the lava.
Calling it a flame didn't feel right anymore. It only kept the shape, but now it stood as tall as a person.
And that wasn't all. The flame expanded and contracted in a steady rhythm, like breathing.
If someone who understood Sage Art had been there, they would have seen that every contraction pulled in a huge amount of natural energy.
With every expansion, the flame grew closer to pure platinum.
That meant higher temperature. Denser flame.
At one moment, as if breaking through some limit, the bright white flame suddenly contracted hard, shrinking from person-height down to half that size, then exploded outward.
A loud boom shook the air.
The lava lake was blasted into a huge crater.
The powerful shockwave broke the lake's stability. The once-calm volcanic crater began to churn violently.
A platinum orb of light with a long fiery tail shot up from the crater. Just as it neared its peak, it vanished without a trace.
Right after, the long-silent volcano seemed to sneeze. Massive amounts of lava erupted, venting the pressure that had built up inside.
The eruption lasted a full hour before the volcano's interior rebalanced and calmed again.
Taiichi, at that moment, had already appeared on the eastern coast, by the sea.
After nearly a month of training at the volcano, his Fire Release nature transformation had finally reached Level 14.
He closed his eyes, carefully feeling the sensation. That feeling of being the flame itself was intoxicating.
The gap between Level 14 super-kage and the peak of Level 13 kage was only one level on paper, but standing inside it made the difference real.
Single-attribute mastery wasn't weak. No one had ever pushed one attribute far enough to prove it.
Having super-kage level strength didn't automatically mean the nature transformation was also super-kage level. Physical growth often came easier than elemental mastery.
Uchiha Madara had relied on his Mangekyo. Senju Hashirama had used his Sage Body and Wood Release.
Not to mention the Indra and Asura chakra essences inside them — nearly Six Paths level. That artificially raised their ceiling.
Taiichi raised one hand and waved it. A platinum-colored fireball flew out.
The scorching heat warped the air around it, making the flame look unstable.
The fireball hovered more than a meter above the sea. Even so, as it flew, the water beneath it turned to thick steam.
When it finally hit the ocean, it didn't go out like normal fire.
The extreme heat created a high-temperature air field that kept the seawater from touching it directly.
Outside that field, the water exploded outward in violent splashes.
Only when the chakra fueling the flame ran out did the fireball release its final burst of power.
A loud boom sent up a shockwave as strong as several exploding tags going off at once. Waves several meters high crashed outward.
That was just one casual fireball — basically on the level of a Phoenix Sage Fire. What would happen with a Great Fireball? A Fire Dragon Flame Bullet? Or Great Fire Annihilation?
The power would be far beyond what ordinary jonin could block with regular Water Release.
The goal of training at Asama Mountain had been reached. It had taken a little longer than planned, but Taiichi was satisfied.
His next destination was already set: the island nation of the Land of Water, isolated across the sea.
Of the Five Great Nations, it was the only one he hadn't visited yet.
While Taiichi was still deep in his volcano training, Kirigakure was filled with celebration.
The losses they had taken against Konoha earlier had been more than made up for by their gains against Sunagakure.
Because of strategic needs, Sunagakure had thrown everything they had into a final clash with Konoha. They had achieved their goal — forcing Konoha to sign a peace treaty.
But that same move had given Kirigakure the time and opening they needed.
The long coastline, everything within a hundred kilometers of the shore, became fair game for Kirigakure raids.
Sunagakure, short on manpower, could only hold the line and keep Kirigakure from pushing deeper into the Land of Wind.
Even so, Kirigakure walked away with massive profits.
The huge war gains only made Kirigakure more determined to keep pressing Sunagakure. But that went completely against the wishes of one man who was already on the verge of death.
The Third Mizukage had been riding high lately. Personally overseeing the successful operations against Sunagakure had washed away the sting of earlier setbacks against Konoha.
Unfortunately, the elite unit he had carefully built — the Seven Ninja Swordsmen — now only had two survivors left: the wielder of Samehada and the wielder of the twin swords.
Thinking about that still pained him. Those blades and their wielders had been his most loyal tools, meant to keep the great clans in check.
At least the three great clans had also taken heavy losses. In the end, his side hadn't come out too far behind.
He held a scroll waiting for approval, but his mind was on the current balance of power in the village.
Overall, because of the victories against Sunagakure, he had the three great clans firmly under control.
The corner of his mouth lifted into a clear smile. The Third Mizukage was in an excellent mood.
"What's got you so happy? Share it so I can enjoy it too."
A sudden voice spoke inside the room.
The Third Mizukage jerked in surprise.
The scroll in his hands tore cleanly in half with a sharp sound.
He dropped the pieces and immediately focused on the left corner of the office.
A figure was slowly becoming visible, as if squeezing out of the air itself. It was an extremely high-level stealth technique.
The Third Mizukage stayed calm at first. Even if his ANBU guards were already dead, this was still Kirigakure. Any loud noise would bring reinforcements within seconds. No one could kill him that fast.
"Who are you? Breaking into my office like this is rude."
The Third Mizukage asked directly. There wouldn't be time for questions once fighting started.
"Who I am? Just look and you'll see."
A light laugh answered. The figure finally took solid form.
Dark red armor hung on the man's body. That signature wild black hair. Those arrogant, glowing red eyes that looked down on everything.
The sight dragged the Third Mizukage's memory straight back to his youth — the era when the ninja world had been ruled by the Shinobi Asura.
"U-Uchiha… Madara!"
The words came out one at a time, the shock so strong that even the Mizukage lost his composure for a moment.
In that split second, Madara's eyes flashed. A massive surge of ocular power flooded straight into the Mizukage's mind through their locked gaze.
There was no real resistance. The genjutsu took hold instantly. The Third Mizukage froze in place, eyes blank.
"Lord Madara's power is still as sharp as ever. A village Kage taken down in one glance," Black Zetsu's voice came from Madara's left hand. He had been clinging there the whole time.
"This is nothing. Compared to the First Hokage, he's pathetic," Madara said with open contempt.
He casually picked up the torn scroll the Mizukage had been holding. It was the latest battle report from the front lines.
Sunagakure's counterattack was fierce. Casualties on the front were rising.