Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
All throughout Konoha's main district, shapes darted across rooftops, the rush of their passing echoing in the sky. Seeing this sudden flurry of movement, both ninja and civilians alike realized something major was going down. Still, no alarms were sounding, nor were people being herded into shelters. That meant there was no immediate danger, and the villagers relaxed—it had nothing to do with them.
Izayoi sat out on his balcony, sipping juice and gazing up at the stars. He barely glanced at the shinobi zipping over his own rooftop.
He stayed out there for quite some time—until the movement above the central streets died out, the throngs below grew thinner, and the rooftops returned to calm. Finally, like someone who'd had his fill of the view, Izayoi stood and headed back inside.
Soon, the living-room lights clicked off.
Having showered and thrown on pajamas, Izayoi wore a faintly satisfied grin. He'd just scored a major new technique—the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu—and nobody had a clue.
Somewhere else, hidden behind a waterfall in a man-made cave, a few figures cloaked in Invisibility Jutsu stood merged with the cave walls. Thanks to a Byakugan range of nearly fifty miles, they'd been keeping watch on Naruto—ever since he left the Hokage's office in his orange jumpsuit. Neither the Nine-Tails inside Naruto nor Hiruzen Sarutobi's watchful Crystal Ball Jutsu noticed a thing.
When Naruto unrolled the Scroll of Seals, these invisible watchers immediately opened blank scrolls of their own, splitting up the work to write down the details of the Multi-Shadow Clone. They then hid what they'd copied, erased any trace of their presence, and dismissed themselves.
Izayoi felt the clone memories flow back but didn't bother retrieving the jutsu right away. He already knew how to do it—no rush. Curling up in bed, he found himself thinking about the upcoming team assignments.
He was sure Sarutobi had been spying on him for ages: him and Hinata training, him brawling with Sasuke... all under that Crystal Ball Jutsu. Izayoi had shown off tree-walking and water-walking, plus some basic Wind and Fire Release—well before the Academy ever taught them.
He'd even mastered the B-rank Shadow Clone Jutsu. In taijutsu and free-for-all sparring, he'd dominated both the Hyuga heiress and the last Uchiha with an awakened Sharingan. That's the level of a next-gen "civilian genius"—maybe still a step behind legends like Minato or Kakashi in their war-torn youth, but definitely enough to stand out in peacetime.
There was no way Sarutobi would just dump him in some random squad with a no-name Jonin teacher—unless, of course, the Hokage didn't want to invest in him. In that case, Izayoi would slip off the radar and have a lot more freedom.
Once he'd thought it through, he decided it didn't really matter where he got placed. Then he conked out for the night.
…
Next morning, with no sign of Hinata or Hanabi dropping by, Izayoi went off to collect the copied Multi-Shadow Clone notes.
Knowing Sarutobi's vantage was basically overhead, Izayoi literally stretched out on the floor and read the scroll that way. Even if he couldn't sense the surveillance, at least he wouldn't look shady.
The Multi-Shadow Clone's hand seals and chakra flow were different from regular Shadow Clones; ironically it had fewer signs but required a huge amount of chakra. Anyone without big reserves risked serious harm, or worse, just trying to use it—hence why it's forbidden.
"Kakashi's often used as the gold standard," Izayoi mused, "but the guy could do multi-shadow clones at five or six. After losing so much chakra for fifteen years to that Sharingan, he's still at elite-Jonin stamina. Without that handicap, he might be on par with Kisame by now."
In this entire era, only a handful of people had enough chakra to manage Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. Izayoi was definitely one of them. He was downright relieved he never wasted his "Newbie Gift Pack" on Naruto. Otherwise, he'd only have ended up with huge chakra reserves and maybe Sasuke's "Sage Eyes"—still a long slog to the Rinnegan. But his current setup—Otsutsuki Bloodline (Red) + Sage Eyes (Red) + Prince of the Byakugan (Red)—was about to pay off big time. He could practically feel the "final evolution" coming soon.
It took Izayoi less than five minutes to memorize the entire scroll. With his chakra output, all he had to do was apply the instructions, and he could spawn hundreds—maybe even thousands—of shadow clones. Not wanting Hanabi to find the scroll and try messing around, he destroyed it on the spot.
By midday, still no Hinata or Hanabi, so Izayoi guessed they weren't coming today. He headed out to buy ninja tools, remembering they'd need to face a real test before going on missions.
On the way, he glimpsed Naruto in his new headband, trailing behind Konohamaru, who was in turn being tailed by Ebisu. Apparently, Naruto had just finished retaking his profile photos. He didn't spot Izayoi, and Izayoi, for his part, didn't say hello—just kept walking toward the ninja equipment store.
Returning home, he noticed two extra pairs of shoes by the door. Downstairs, in what used to be a large room but had been converted into a small dojo, he heard the crack of repeated impacts—somewhere between clapping and the thud of body blows.
Opening the door, he saw Hinata and Hanabi in matching white training gear, Byakugan active, veins bulging at their temples. Their hands were a flurry of motion, each thrust wreathed in blue chakra flares. On closer look, Hinata was only half-trying, basically feeding Hanabi combos. If she went all-out, Hanabi would've been wiped out ages ago. Compared to Hinata and Izayoi's well-tuned Gentle Fist, Hanabi's was riddled with openings.
Izayoi figured he should teach Hanabi tree- and water-walking soon. Aside from slightly less pure eyes than Hinata, she really wasn't lagging that far behind.
"Onii-chan, take this—!"
Her shout yanked Izayoi out of his thoughts. Dashing straight at him, Hanabi's fingertips crackled with chakra, Byakugan blazing. Most kids her age would freak, but Izayoi just smirked. Without even setting down his shopping bags, he shifted into a blur, practically teleporting beside her. The top of his bare foot pressed lightly on her stomach, flipping her through the air and sending her flying toward Hinata. Hinata easily caught her sister.
"All right, both of you—come at me." Izayoi tossed his bags into a corner and beckoned with a playful grin.
The Hyuga sisters exchanged a glance, nodded gravely, and charged him from two directions.
"Onii-chan, you're so full of yourself—you're gonna regret this!" Hanabi yelled.
Hinata said nothing, but the lethal power behind her slender fingertips sliced the air like arrows. Louder cracks thundered in Izayoi's house. Occasionally there'd be a grunt or yelp. With less-than-perfect soundproofing, passersby might've gotten the wrong idea. After half an hour, the loud collisions shifted into more playful rowdiness:
"Oww-oww-ow! That hurts so bad! Aghh! Onii-chan, I hate you—I'm gonna bite you to death!"
"Aren't you the one who said I'd regret it? Where'd that swagger go? Stop biting me—hey, watch it, your sister isn't even healed up yet!"
"Nope, I'm biting! Onee-san, you take the other side. We'll make him scream!"
"Haha— This'll leave teeth marks, but they'll fade, you know? Stop licking, it tickles!"
"Hee-hee—too bad, we're licking you for payback!"
"…"
~~~
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