Uchiha Mikoto glanced at Nara Kazuki — she remembered him.
A child of the Nara Clan, a Genin, known for having mediocre talent, strange behavior, and suspected mental issues. However, since Kazuki was friends with Kakashi and was even seen dining with him at the Fourth Hokage's home, Mikoto wasn't too concerned about him being a bad influence on her son.
Though the Uchiha Clan was increasingly disliked within Konoha, as long as the Hokage's will did not directly threaten them, the clan could still live relatively peacefully.
Still, the internal debates within the Uchiha were growing louder. Mikoto never involved herself,but every time she saw Fugaku's tired, grim face,she knew things were only getting worse.
Mikoto politely exchanged a few meaningless pleasantries with Kazuki —the classic "Nice weather today" and "The dango tastes great". Afterward, she prepared to leave.
"Itachi, say goodbye to Kazuki-nii," she said gently, holding her son's hand.
Little Itachi obediently waved goodbye, and Kazuki waved back with a grin.
Watching them go, Kazuki couldn't help but feel a little wistful. He casually blew a Great Fireball Jutsu into the night sky,a massive bloom of flame blossoming like fireworks over Konoha.
Back at home, Kazuki resumed his grinding. His Shadow Clone relentlessly practiced the Great Fireball, as every successful cast counted toward his skill leveling.
"If only I had Naruto's chakra reserves...with Multiple Shadow Clones..."Kazuki drooled a little just imagining it.
He could already picture it:one Great Fireball so massive it would smash Obito into doubting his entire existence.
"Alright, sleep time. Dreams have everything anyway," Kazuki chuckled, nearly draining his chakra reserves before crawling into bed.
Kushina's belly wasn't very big yet,meaning her due date was still a few months away.Kazuki's current mission:train like hell, grind nonstop.
His clone would practice Great Fireball Jutsu.
He himself would practice Great Fireball in the morning, Shadow Imitation Jutsu in the afternoon.
When out of chakra, he would train his body while recovering.
An endlessly busy, hyper-competitive schedule.
"When will I get a Devil Fruit that multiplies effort by 200x? I want to be a Pirate King too..." Kazuki mumbled as he fell asleep.
In his dreams, Kazuki's Great Fireball was as huge as Chibaku Tensei (Planetary Devastation). And his Shadow Imitation Jutsu controlled Madara Uchiha, forcing him to dance Elysium Waltz in front of the entire Allied Shinobi Forces.
"Your Great Fireball Jutsu..." Kakashi muttered as he watched Kazuki practicing yet again.
Kazuki threw him a strange look, and Kakashi wisely shut up.
No point questioning Kazuki's obsession.
At least his hand seals were impressively fast.
"Huff!" Kazuki exhaled after casting another massive Fireball into the sky.
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
It had been six days.
Six whole days of grinding, and finally—the Great Fireball Jutsu skill bar was maxed out at 1500 points!
Plus, during these past few days,Kazuki had noticed:his Fireballs were growing larger and shifting toward a deeper blue hue.
If this continued,soon his Great Fireball might genuinely rival a meteor strike.
"Deep Blue, allocate points!" Kazuki shouted excitedly in his heart.
Bigger and Longer Lasting: Great Fireball Jutsu's size increases; after hitting, a burning area remains for 5 seconds. Core temperature rises by 30%.
Crawling Shadowflame: While flying, the Great Fireball emits whispering effects that disturb enemies' minds. Double effect on those with soul-related or mental instability issues. Whisper effect lingers for 5 seconds upon hit.
Multiple Casting: You can stockpile Great Fireball charges up to 99 based on your chakra, and freely choose when to unleash them.
Kazuki's eyes shined.
This second upgrade really delivered—every choice was crazy good.
The first option was simple and effective, but weaker compared to the others.
He immediately ruled it out.
The third option was very tempting. Imagine stacking a hundred Great Fireballs... He could invent a new jutsu on the spot: "Fire Style: Hundredfold Great Fireball Barrage."
But ultimately, Kazuki chose the second option.
Because that whisper mechanic... It intrigued him immensely.
"Crawling" and "whispering" immediately reminded himof something darker, more cosmic—perhaps even tied to the strange upgrades linked to his Shadow Imitation Jutsu like Dance of the Ritual Sacrifice.
He couldn't shake the feelingthat all these upgrades were connecting to some ancient, slithering deity...maybe even Nyarlathotep.
"Kakashi," Kazuki said cheerfully, "I've gained some new insights into the Great Fireball. Wanna spar?"
Kakashi blinked but nodded.
He'd been meaning to talk to Kazuki about diversifying his training anyway.
Too much Fireball wasn't exactly efficient.
"Be careful, Kakashi," Kazuki warned with a smile.
He even created a Shadow Clone to stand nearby in case anything went wrong.
Kakashi shrugged dismissively.
Was Kazuki really that strong ?
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" Kazuki shouted.
An enormous mass of blue flame hurtled toward Kakashi.
The lazy look in Kakashi's eyes instantly vanished.
His entire body stiffened at the unnatural aura radiating from the fireball—
it wasn't just flame anymore. It was something whispering, something crawling... something wrong.