"Yan Dao—"
Uchiha Aozora silently murmured the newly appeared pale golden ancient character on the Heavenly Book.
The new Daoist technique wasn't particularly powerful—it was simply a combined version of Hellish Gaze Technique and Kasumi's Shadow Binding Technique. Its strength surpassed C-rank genjutsu, but only slightly, and it didn't seem to have much potential for further development.
Even so, Aozora felt delighted.
One Daoist technique—"Yan Dao"—equaled two ninjutsu techniques, while consuming chakra equivalent to just one jutsu. Twice the power with half the effort—who wouldn't want that?
With "Yan Dao," Aozora no longer placed great importance on the Hellish Gaze Technique or Kasumi's Shadow Binding Technique.
After practicing the hand seals several times—preparing for the future when he would disguise Daoist techniques as ninjutsu—he began practicing the "Yan Dao" method.
...
In the afternoon, with the sun dipping westward,
Uchiha Tetsuka arrived at Aozora's house, which lay on the edge of the Uchiha Compound. He carried a scroll containing sealed chakra-conductive metal.
Seeing the empty and lonely courtyard, Tetsuka suddenly felt a pang of pity for Uchiha Aozora.
His parents had died early, his older brother Shisui was almost always away, and now Aozora lived alone in this vast house. How lonely and helpless he must feel.
Tetsuka stepped forward and knocked on the door, saying, "Aozora, I've brought what you asked for."
But after a long pause, there was no reply.
Frowning, Tetsuka knocked again.
Still no response.
Tetsuka pushed open the gate, and it creaked inward.
Looking inside, he saw a long-haired man holding a wooden stick staring fixedly at him.
"Tetsuka, let's spar?"
Hearing this, Uchiha Tetsuka nearly jumped, quickly exclaiming, "Bro, don't! We're at Aozora's place!"
Suddenly, Tetsuka realized something and, his expression darkening, he gritted his teeth, "Uchiha Aozora!"
He formed hand seals and cried, "Dispel!"
However, instead of vanishing, the figure of his elder brother Inabi rushed toward him swinging the stick.
Tetsuka sidestepped easily, dodging the strike, then kicked Inabi hard onto the ground.
Before even savoring the feeling of landing the kick, the fallen "Inabi" started squirming—and then split into two copies.
"Funny!"
Rather than dispelling the illusion immediately, Tetsuka kicked dozens more "Inabis" to death before finally activating his Sharingan to lift the genjutsu.
"Dispel!"
Suddenly, the scene cracked like shattered glass, then dissolved like a broken reflection upon water.
Seeing Aozora in the courtyard, Tetsuka asked, "Didn't expect your genjutsu skills to be this good. Why didn't you break free from 'Tree Bind Technique' this morning?"
Aozora replied with a smirk, "What if I told you I just learned this genjutsu today? You'd believe me, right?"
Tetsuka gave him a hard pat on the shoulder and asked with a grin, "Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Aozora hurriedly shook his head. "Of course not!"
Inside, he couldn't help but think: You kind of are, you know.
Naturally, Tetsuka had no idea about Aozora's inner musings. He reached into one of the pockets on his vest and pulled out a scroll, handing it to Aozora.
"This is the chakra-conductive metal granted by the clan head."
Aozora accepted it, gesturing for Tetsuka to follow him inside. "Let's take a look together!"
After only a few encounters, Aozora realized that despite Tetsuka's arrogance and big mouth, he was actually a good guy to have around.
Wanting to observe closely himself, Tetsuka followed him inside.
Turning on the living room light, Aozora spread the scroll across the coffee table.
"Release!"
With both hands forming hand seals, Aozora placed his palms at the center of the seal pattern on the scroll.
"Puff!"
After a wisp of smoke, a strange stone about the size of an egg appeared.
It was small but weirdly shaped, with a big hole in it that gave off soft sounds like wind whispering.
Tetsuka said, "Wind-Chanting Stone!"
"Huh?"
Aozora turned his head toward Tetsuka.
Tetsuka explained, "This chakra-conductive metal is called Wind-Chanting Stone. It was something our clan leader obtained during a mission in the Land of Wind. My older brother Inabi was there too, so I know a bit about it."
"This Wind-Chanting Stone may look like a rock, but it's harder than gold or iron. It's named Wind-Chanting because air blows through its holes, producing a soft sound like wind chanting."
Hearing that, Aozora picked up the Wind-Chanting Stone.
It looked like an ordinary stone, yet it felt metallic to the touch.
Putting it against his ear, he indeed heard the gentle wind chanting.
He infused chakra into the stone, and a thin wind blade burst out of the hole.
Quickly dodging sideways, Aozora barely avoided it as the wind blade flew past his ear, cutting off a few strands of hair.
"Aozora," said Tetsuka, "your residence is sizable, but the compensation wouldn't even come close to the value of this Wind-Chanting Stone."
Understanding, Aozora nodded solemnly and replied, "I appreciate your kindness. I won't forget this favor."
"Great!" Tetsuka exclaimed. "You've seen it already. I should be going now—come visit my house sometime."
Without trying to persuade him otherwise, Aozora escorted him to the door before returning inside.
Back in the house, Aozora weighed the Wind-Chanting Stone in his hands, thinking about what kind of artifact to forge.
Originally, he'd intended to make a flying sword, but judging by the stone's size, Aozora guessed he could only make a smaller short sword or dagger.
No way he'd make a dagger—daggers are no good for long-range combat.
"How about throwing knives?"
"Even if they won't turn into legendary Flying Daggers capable of slaying immortals, they should at least live up to Master Li Xunhuan's artistry!"
Deciding on the design, Aozora took the Wind-Chanting Stone and headed toward Uchiha Fukayama's home.
The Uchiha were known for their proficiency in ninja tool throwing and remained one of the largest consumers of such tools within the village. Because of this, those among the clan with slightly lower talent or less inclination toward active duty often became weapon artisans.
Among these artisan shinobi, Uchiha Fukayama was the only one who had forged divine weapons using chakra-conductive metals. The longsword he crafted was incredibly sharp and had become Uchiha Hachidai, the Police Force Commander's, most cherished possession—one he refused to part with even momentarily.
Of course, there were other master artisans in Konoha, but transacting within the clan ensured no deceit or theft of precious materials.
Who would dare betray their own kin? Before the Police Force could even act, the culprit would likely be hunted down and obliterated by his own clan members!
Weaving through the alleys, Aozora soon arrived at a towering mansion.
Upon entering, he stepped into a spacious hall.
On either wall hung an assortment of blades and swords—displaying various ninja tools.
There weren't many customers in the hall, not surprising since this store catered exclusively to clan members. Fuku's shop dealt in high-end ninja tools, which naturally meant only a few elite customers ever came in.
Aozora casually browsed around, then joined the line at the front desk.
Aozora was next in line after the current customer finished buying his ninja tools.
"Welcome! How may I assist you today?"
The receptionist was a gentle young lady with large eyes and a soft voice.
Aozora often wondered how people from the same clan could be so different—the men acted as if they were too good for anyone, practically looking down their noses at everyone, while the women were always sweet and graceful.
Shaking off that thought, Aozora asked, "Is Fukayama around? I'd like to commission some custom-made ninja tools."
"Oh?"
The young lady gave him a look and warned, "Fukayama's forging fee is really high, you know!"
Aozora nodded again.
She continued, "Did you bring your own materials? If you did, it'll cost ten thousand silver coins. It'll be even more if we have to provide them."
"I brought materials," Aozora replied.
Upon hearing that, the girl realized he wasn't just some clueless boy. She smiled politely and said, "Alright then. Please go upstairs and wait a moment. Fukayama will be here shortly."
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