Ding ding.
The morning theory class ended with the sound of the bell.
One by one, the students noisily left the classroom.
Shinji declined Haku's invitation and took his lunchbox, heading alone into a secluded area of the Ninja Academy's small forest.
Learning from yesterday's experience, he decided not to use ninjutsu lightly within the academy. Instead, he focused on practicing the Water Breathing technique.
The training for Water Breathing was very discreet.
Unless someone with the Byakugan was constantly monitoring him, it would be impossible to detect.
So, as he ate his lunch, he reviewed the memory fragments of the swordsmen who had practiced Water Breathing.
At that moment, someone suddenly walked into the forest.
"Who's there?"
Shinji looked over.
The figure stood in the shadows of the trees: "Your vigilance is commendable."
Seeing the person's appearance, Shinji's expression didn't change, but his heart was secretly startled.
Because the person standing before him was none other than Shimura Danzo, the one who had orchestrated the Uchiha massacre!
Danzo observed Shinji, his gaze openly predatory: "Your talent is impressive, but talent alone won't be enough to avenge your clan!"
"Who are you?"
Shinji appropriately displayed some hostility.
Danzo took a step forward, revealing his sinister face in the sunlight: "I am an advisor elder of the village. Becoming my subordinate is your only chance to seek revenge!"
Hah, he thinks he can lure me into Root by offering revenge against Itachi?
Shinji found the thought ridiculous.
Danzo was truly shameless—he was the one who pushed for the Uchiha massacre, yet he had the gall to come and deceive a survivor into serving him.
First, he used Itachi to wipe out the Uchiha Clan, and now he wanted to use Uchiha Shinji to deal with Itachi.
Dream on!
Suppressing his disgust for Danzo, Shinji replied: "I don't need anyone's help. I'll kill him with my own hands!"
"Those who refuse me don't meet good ends."
Danzo scoffed coldly, then turned and walked away.
Watching Danzo leave with a blank expression, Shinji thought to himself: Being targeted by someone like him is truly disgusting! But for now, he probably won't dare to do anything to me openly.
Shinji knew that the relationship between Danzo and the Third Hokage was quite delicate.
In a way, Danzo was a part of the Third Hokage's power structure and an important factor in his control over Hidden Leaf Village.
So, it wasn't just Shinji—even powerful Uchiha like Shisui and Itachi, or those with both strength and status like Orochimaru and Sakumo Hatake, couldn't openly oppose Danzo in the village.
Pulling his thoughts back, Shinji continued eating his lunch.
While Danzo might not be able to act against him openly, he could still do so in secret, so Shinji knew he needed to quickly increase his strength.
After finishing his lunch, he calmed his thoughts and began practicing Water Breathing.
The Breathing Techniques were a way to develop the body's potential.
Water Breathing was one of the five fundamental Breathing Techniques. Although not as powerful as Sun Breathing or Moon Breathing, it still provided significant physical enhancement.
In Demon Slayer, the swordsmen, who were mere mortals, relied on these basic Breathing Techniques to fight against demons that could regenerate indefinitely.
And because he possessed the memory fragments of over a dozen swordsmen who had trained in Water Breathing, Shinji felt a natural affinity for it.
After a few simple attempts to match the breathing rhythms in those memory fragments, he began to get a feel for it.
Huff...
Feeling the rhythm of the airflow as he exhaled, he noticed that his heart and lungs seemed to resonate with a certain rhythm.
But this was different from regular breathing.
After just a few moments, he felt his lungs start to tighten, his heartbeat and breathing quickened, and the rhythm was instantly disrupted.
Stopping his practice of Water Breathing, Shinji couldn't help but feel pleased.
According to the swordsmen's memories, it usually took about a month of intense training to barely sense the rhythm of the Breathing Technique.
Even the most talented among them, such as Sabito, took several days to grasp the rhythm.
And yet, Shinji had entered the rhythm after just one attempt!
Of course.
This was mainly because he had received the training insights of over a dozen swordsmen, so it was as if he had simulated the initial stage of Water Breathing in his mind multiple times.
But mastering the rhythm was only the first step.
The key to Breathing Techniques was the deep development of the body's functions. Techniques could only reduce the difficulty of entry—they couldn't replace the training process.
If his heart and lungs couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the Breathing Technique, as he had just experienced, he would quickly feel overwhelmed and unable to continue.
It looks like mastering the basics of Total Concentration Breathing will require consistent practice, allowing my body's organs to adapt to the rhythm of the Breathing Technique.
Shinji had found his goal.
Time flew by, and two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, the strange invasions hadn't occurred again, giving Shinji some relief.
However, he didn't let his guard down and continued to focus on strengthening himself.
After rejecting Danzo's recruitment last time, he weighed his options and ultimately decided to accept Haku's offer to spar.
Because taijutsu requires a good sparring partner to make real progress!
Haku was not only his classmate but also his neighbor, so sparring with Haku wouldn't raise any suspicions.
Of course, this meant he had to avoid causing another incident like the one that almost set the academy on fire!
With Haku's help, Shinji quickly improved his taijutsu, which had been a weak point. After just two weeks of intense training, he had reached the average level of his peers.
At the very least, no one would notice anything unusual.
And Haku, being thoughtful and understanding, didn't pry into why Shinji's taijutsu foundation was so weak. Instead, Haku even helped Shinji by creating various training plans to improve his taijutsu.
In taijutsu, the foundation is the most important part.
The stronger the foundation, the higher the potential ceiling. So Shinji was humble in this regard, working diligently to build up his weak fundamentals.
Meanwhile.
After more than twenty days in a coma, Sasuke finally woke up in the hospital.
At first, he refused to believe the reality of the Uchiha Clan's massacre, stumbling into the empty Uchiha district all by himself.
Then, in the pouring rain, he walked out in a daze.
"Why..."
He walked like a puppet, his expression blank, his steps aimless.
In just one night, his world had collapsed.
In that short night, he had gone from being the son of the leader of Hidden Leaf's most powerful clan to a lonely orphan with no one to rely on.
What made it even harder to accept was that the person responsible for it all was his own brother, the one he had been closest to.
Such a reality was something he simply couldn't accept.
And so, the once lively and cheerful Sasuke had become sullen and withdrawn, with a lifeless look on his face.
Shinji kept a close eye on Sasuke.
But when he realized that the village hadn't placed Sasuke in the same apartment building as him, but instead in one near the ANBU headquarters, he became even more discreet in his observations.
It was obvious.
Sasuke was still under the village's surveillance.
And that was understandable.
Before defecting, Itachi had warned the Third Hokage and Danzo directly that if anything happened to Sasuke in the village, he would leak Hidden Leaf's classified information to the other ninja villages.
Given that Itachi had single-handedly wiped out the Uchiha Clan, no one in the village, not even the Third Hokage, dared to take this lightly.
So, whether to appease or control Itachi, the village had to increase its surveillance and protection of Sasuke.
Knowing this, Shinji not only avoided getting close to Sasuke but also made sure to act like he disliked Sasuke, keeping his distance to avoid drawing any attention.