“Anlan, this secret technique is far too precious. I can’t learn it.”
Uchiha Mikoto gently shook her head, her expression unusually serious and solemn.
Before Naruto entered its later “mecha era,” most battles between shinobi were battles of information.
One unexpected technique could carry you through countless fights.
One extraordinary move could decide the outcome.
When the Flying Thunder God Technique developed by Tobirama Senju first appeared on the battlefield, its unparalleled speed and unpredictability dealt a devastating blow to Uchiha Madara’s younger brother, Uchiha Izuna, who also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
It was precisely because this space-time ninjutsu had never been seen before that Izuna was caught off guard, suffering a horizontal slash before ultimately dying from his severe injuries.
Mikoto was afraid that if she learned Spatial Leap, she might accidentally reveal traces of it during some future mission.
More seriously, on a battlefield where blades showed no mercy, she might unfortunately be killed, allowing the information in her head to fall into enemy hands.
If that caused the enemy to become wary of Anlan’s trump card, or even use that knowledge to set a fatal trap…
The mere thought made her heart tighten.
The girl would rather something happen to herself than ever see a report announcing that the boy had died.
“All right. Don’t overthink it.”
After more than ten years of spending their days together, the two knew each other inside and out.
Seeing Mikoto’s resistant expression, Anlan immediately knew what she was thinking.
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan instantly appeared in his eyes, and without giving her a chance to refuse, he met her gaze.
Mikoto was caught completely off guard.
She only felt the scenery around her sway, and before she could react, she suddenly realized that she had learned the dōjutsu.
Sharingan: Spatial Leap.
This dōjutsu was essentially the same kind of ability as the Uchiha’s famous Sharingan Genjutsu—it could be activated simply by looking.
It was not a ninjutsu in the traditional sense that required hand seals and the manipulation of chakra.
Nor was it taijutsu that required vast amounts of time to train.
As long as one possessed the Sharingan, one could use it.
There was no other way to learn it.
It was like a flash of insight in mathematics: once you understood it, you understood it.
No amount of effort could force that innate spark of comprehension into existence.
“Anlan!”
Mikoto puffed out her cheeks, annoyed by his “forcing it upon her” approach.
She gently folded her arms before her chest, making her graceful curves even more apparent, and glared at Anlan with deliberately stern eyes, trying to suppress the cheerful smile that looked especially bright beneath the warm sunlight.
Yet her slightly pursed cherry lips betrayed a hint of coyness that she herself had not noticed.
After no more than a few seconds of eye contact, she was defeated by the smiling gaze of the man before her.
In the end, she could only repeat herself helplessly, her voice completely lacking in intimidation.
“You’re not allowed to do that again!”
Mikoto knew he had done it for her own good.
But she wanted Anlan to be safe even more, and was already planning to give herself some psychological conditioning later…
“Don’t use psychological conditioning.”
This woman was traditional and gentle to her very core, the kind of good woman who would willingly sacrifice herself for her family.
Anlan could tell what she was thinking just from the slightest movement of her figure.
He cut her off without hesitation.
“I was already planning to gradually pass this dōjutsu on to the clan. Before we go to war, every trustworthy clan member who has awakened the Sharingan must master it.”
“In the end, it will become a compulsory technique for every Uchiha with an awakened Sharingan, just like the Great Fireball Technique.”
Anlan’s eyes burned with conviction, his words filled with unwavering certainty.
“So, Mikoto, there’s no need to worry about information leaking. The strength of the Uchiha has never depended on hiding one or two secret techniques.”
“The foundation upon which we stand in the shinobi world is the power and pride inherited through our bloodline.”
“It was so in the past, it is so now, and it will be even more so in the future!”
Mikoto looked up at Anlan, her gaze unconsciously flickering as she listened to his spirited words.
That calm, confident figure, steadily guiding the clan toward prosperity step by step, was precisely the side of him she cherished most deeply.
‘The little brother who once followed behind me, calling me big sister, has already become a man capable of shielding the clan from wind and rain.’
Mikoto was delighted, yet a faint, indescribable sense of loss still seeped silently into her heart like cool morning dew.
So this powerful dōjutsu had not been prepared as a special surprise for her after all.
The realization caused the smile she had raised for him to fade ever so slightly.
Mikoto quickly lowered her eyelashes.
She was ultimately greedy.
She hoped her little brother would shine brilliantly, yet secretly she also yearned for a unique kind of affection, reserved for her alone.
When she raised her eyes again, only tenderness remained within them.
Every subtle ripple in her heart had been carefully hidden within those clear eyes.
“I’ll study Spatial Leap properly and combine it with my other techniques to construct an entirely new combat system.”
The fighting style of Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan was built around the Sharingan as its core.
Whether fighting one opponent or many, the opening move was always to raise their eyes and stare, using Sharingan Genjutsu to seize the initiative.
At the same time, they would throw shuriken, senbon, and other ninja tools to suppress or divide the enemy.
After that came successive barrages of Fire Release, Wind Release, and other ninjutsu.
In close combat, they relied on Uchiha-style taijutsu or swordsmanship.
This battle style, tempered through countless wars, was rigorous and efficient, leaving almost no room for error.
Now, with the addition of a space-time dōjutsu, the Uchiha clan’s performance in battle would undergo a tremendous transformation.
“The activation of Spatial Leap relies entirely on ocular power.”
Anlan explained seriously to Mikoto.
“The stronger your ocular power, the greater the range of teleportation, and the more times you can use it consecutively. For now, try to get a feel for it.”
In fact, before teaching this dōjutsu to Mikoto, the first person to master Sharingan: Spatial Leap had been the fiercely loyal Uchiha Yashiro.
After several days of repeated testing, only after completely confirming that the dōjutsu was safe did Anlan decide to teach it to Mikoto.
Of course, there was no need for Mikoto to know about that.
Hearing his words, Mikoto smiled gently, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in her eyes shimmering.
The next second, her figure vanished with a ripple in space and instantly appeared beside Anlan.
Without the slightest hesitation, Mikoto leaned closer, her soft cherry lips landing on Anlan’s cheek as her breath carried a faint fragrance.
“Little brother, come catch me~”
Before the words had even finished, the Three-Tomoe in Mikoto’s eyes rotated slightly.
Her figure dispersed like smoke, leaving behind only a faint, lingering fragrance.
She had instantly appeared two meters away on the grass.
She looked back and smiled, her hair fluttering in the morning light, a mischievous challenge at the corner of her lips.
Anlan raised a hand and lightly touched the warmth lingering on his cheek.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan locked onto that lively figure, and the corners of his mouth curled upward, giving him the expression of a “big bad wolf about to eat Little Red Riding Hood.”
“Once I catch you, you’re ‘done for.'”
“It’s spatial teleportation for both of us. You won’t be able to catch me~”
As the two figures continued flashing back and forth beneath the sunlight along the Naka River, the atmosphere inside the Hokage Building on the other side was unbearably gloomy.