The clan meeting went exactly as expected—true to the Nara clan's lazy and hassle-avoiding nature.
When the elders and jonin learned that Kagetsu had awakened a kekkei genkai, they merely responded with an indifferent "Oh," asked a few questions, and hastily adjourned the meeting.
Watching the elders leave in twos and threes, hands on their hips, Kagetsu remained calm and unsurprised. This was something he had already experienced twice before.
Once, it was for the Shadow Coffin technique.
Another time, for the Shadow Puppet technique.
Both times, the meetings ended the same way.
"Come on, let's go," Nara Shikakichi said, patting Kagetsu on the shoulder. "You should focus more on combat training these days."
"Did something happen?" Kagetsu asked, instantly sensing something was off. He knew his father wouldn't mention combat training without a reason.
"It just feels like a storm is brewing," Shikakichi replied with a wry smile.
As the leader of a jonin squad responsible for handling daily affairs and intelligence reports for the Hokage, his keen instincts picked up a subtle tension in the latest information they had gathered.
"Is a war coming?" Kagetsu asked bluntly. While he didn't know exactly when the Third Great Ninja War would start, he vaguely recalled that the disappearance of the Third Kazekage from the Hidden Sand Village was the trigger for it.
"That's not something you need to worry about," Shikakichi said, placing a hand on Kagetsu's head. After a moment of thought, he added, "But lately, tensions between nations have been escalating. In particular, the actions of the Hidden Sand are becoming suspicious.
"Conflicts may soon intensify. You're already a chunin, and sooner or later, you'll be sent on missions beyond the village, where you'll have to fight against shinobi from other countries."
What Shikakichi didn't say out loud was that, after years of recovery, the major nations had regained their strength. The fragile peace that held them together was now as thin as paper, ready to tear at the slightest spark.
This growing tension was already evident in intelligence reports, with competition over missions heating up, friction increasing, and hostility rising. A single spark could be enough to break the delicate balance between the nations.
Having survived the last Great Ninja War, Shikakichi understood all too well the horrors of a large-scale conflict.
The awakening of Kagetsu's kekkei genkai at such a critical time left him feeling both worried and relieved. In the ninja world, power is the ultimate safeguard.
Whether it's ninjutsu or a kekkei genkai, strength is what truly matters.
Shikakichi's concern was that Kagetsu had become too absorbed in his research, neglecting the importance of his personal strength. However, based on previous tests, Kagetsu's proficiency in his clan's secret techniques was impressive, and his chakra reserves were unexpectedly high.
While he might lack combat experience, his demonstrated abilities already made him an exceptional chunin.
---
Training Ground.
At the training ground, Kagetsu was focused and methodical in his drills. The sight of him practicing so seriously nearly made Anko choke on her dango.
"Is that really Kagetsu?" Anko asked, turning toward Uchiha Shisui, who was standing beside her.
"Yeah, it's him," Shisui answered quietly, nodding in confirmation.
"You're sure this isn't some prank with the Transformation Jutsu?" Anko still couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"It's him," Shisui nodded again, his Sharingan now revealing two tomoe spinning in his eyes.
"Kagetsu!" Anko called out loudly, confirming her suspicion. She carefully placed the dango she was holding into a bag and secured it.
Noticing their arrival, Kagetsu paused his training and waved at the two.
"Are you really Kagetsu? You actually came to the training grounds? I can't remember the last time you trained or did missions with us!" Anko moved closer, jabbing him firmly with her finger, as if to test whether he was real or just a shadow clone.
"I'm here to train," Kagetsu answered, his gaze shifting to Shisui, who stood silently behind Anko.
Apparently displeased by Anko's poking, a dark hand extended from Kagetsu's shadow, gripping her finger tightly.
"Huh?" Anko gasped, startled by the strange sensation. The shadow felt solid, as though an actual hand had grasped her.
"Is this also some kind of shadow technique? But why didn't you need to form any hand seals?" Anko let the dark hand hold her finger as she looked up at Kagetsu, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. The grip felt too real to ignore.
Up to this point, every jutsu Anko knew required forming seals. Sure, with enough practice, a skilled ninja could perform seals faster or even simplify the sequence. But seals were always necessary—except for certain abilities like Kekkei Genkai.
"What about your chakra?"
Shisui, with his Sharingan activated, saw much more than Anko. His heightened perception allowed him to detect subtle changes in Kagetsu's chakra flow.
It wasn't the same as before—it had shifted into something strangely familiar, though Shisui couldn't quite place it.
"It's just a jutsu I completed," Kagetsu said calmly. There was no need to explain further just yet. He knew both Shisui and Anko would figure out the truth sooner or later.
"You finally finished that jutsu?"
Both Anko and Shisui knew that Kagetsu had been working on developing a new secret jutsu for quite some time. He had even sought out Minato Namikaze to learn advanced sealing techniques to complete it.
During the process, Shisui and Anko had also received a few tips from Minato, helping them in their own progress during the Chunin Exams. Inspired by Kagetsu, the two had started working on creating personal techniques of their own.
"Yeah, it's done." Kagetsu pointed down at the shadow beneath his feet.
"Huh? Is it... alive?" Anko's gaze dropped to the ground, and she gasped again.
The shadow seemed to react to her stare, curling in on itself, as if embarrassed. It bunched up into a dense black mass at Kagetsu's feet, wriggling slightly.
Shisui stared at the shadow cautiously. Upon seeing that shadow, he suddenly understood where the strange feeling he sensed earlier had come from.
It came from the living-like shadow beneath Kagetsu's feet.
"Want to have a spar?" Kagetsu said, skipping over and poking the shadow with his finger, inviting Shisui.
Shisui was taken aback for a moment but then smiled brightly and replied, "Of course! We haven't sparred yet, have we?"
Anko looked up in surprise at the two of them and asked Kagetsu, "Are you challenging Shisui?"
From Anko's perspective, Shisui, with his two Sharingan, was the strongest attacker in the group, second only to their teacher Orochimaru.
She played a role in defense while looking for opportunities, and Kagetsu mainly took on a supportive and healing role.
So, Anko had always been the one accompanying Kagetsu. She felt that today, Kagetsu seemed strangely different.
****
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