Uchiha Akira desperately wanted to know the answer.
Uchiha Itachi was the perfect benchmark.
Only by becoming stronger than Itachi would Akira have any hope of changing the Uchiha clan’s fate through his own power.
Fugaku remained silent for a moment.
“In terms of current strength, Itachi is undoubtedly stronger than you.”
“After all, he has been training as a shinobi far longer than you have.”
“But in terms of natural talent, Itachi was inferior to you when he first began his training.
Whether it was extracting chakra or learning ninjutsu, you mastered everything faster than he did.”
“Furthermore, Itachi cannot perform ninjutsu without hand seals.”
“He can form seals extremely quickly, but he still needs to form them.”
Akira nodded.
Fugaku’s answer gave him some confidence.
He was a genius even more impressive than Uchiha Itachi.
As long as he trained hard, surpassing Itachi wouldn’t be impossible.
The only things separating them were time and the Sharingan.
But talent existed precisely to make up for lost time.
As for the Sharingan, now that Akira knew he was a genius, his limit shouldn’t be merely the three-tomoe Sharingan.
He should also be capable of awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
There was no reason Itachi, whose talent was inferior to his, could awaken it while Akira couldn’t.
“However, you mustn’t become arrogant or complacent.”
“Talent is only one part of becoming strong.
The effort you put in afterward is equally important.”
“And Akira, remember what I told you.
You must never reveal your ability to perform ninjutsu without hand seals in front of outsiders.”
Fugaku paused before continuing.
“Since you’ve already mastered every technique I taught you yesterday, I’ll teach you another one today.”
“It’s also extremely useful.”
“It is called the Shadow Clone Technique!”
The ordinary Clone Technique merely created an illusion without any actual combat ability.
Only higher-level clone techniques—such as Earth Clones, Water Clones, and Shadow Clones—possessed genuine combat capabilities.
After explaining, Fugaku formed the hand seals.
Poof!
A shadow clone appeared beside him.
“Akira, give it a try.”
Akira nodded.
He then brought his hands together.
Poof!
A shadow clone appeared.
Fugaku’s eyes filled with envy.
Akira mastering the Shadow Clone Technique after seeing it only once was undoubtedly impressive.
However, Fugaku had already witnessed Itachi accomplish similar feats.
What Fugaku truly envied was Akira’s ability to perform ninjutsu without hand seals.
It offered an enormous advantage.
No matter how quickly someone formed hand seals, it still required time.
Moreover, an opponent could determine what ninjutsu someone was preparing by observing their hand seals.
That shinobi named Kakashi often did exactly that.
No one knew where he had picked up the strange habit, but he frequently copied his opponents’ ninjutsu during battle.
By relying on the Sharingan’s dynamic visual perception, he could observe and replicate their hand seals.
That was how he had earned the title of Copy Ninja.
Akira, however, didn’t need to form hand seals at all.
When facing an opponent, he could simply bring his hands together and unleash whatever technique he wanted.
Not only was it fast, but his opponent would have no way of predicting what ninjutsu he was about to use.
“Not bad.”
Fugaku nodded.
“That will be all for today, Akira.
Once we return home, I’ll create a training plan for you.
Starting tomorrow, you’ll follow that plan.”
“You’ll continue until the Ninja Academy begins.”
“All right.”
After returning home, Fugaku could no longer conceal his overwhelming excitement.
“What happened this time?”
Seeing his expression, Mikoto couldn’t help asking.
“It’s still about Akira.”
Fugaku glanced around before lowering his voice.
“Mikoto, you can’t possibly imagine just how extraordinary Akira’s talent truly is.”
“Didn’t you tell me yesterday that Akira was slightly more talented than Itachi?”
“It’s far more than a slight difference.”
Fugaku lowered his voice even further.
“Besides learning ninjutsu faster than Itachi, Akira possesses a special ability unique to him.”
“He can perform any ninjutsu without forming hand seals.”
“Without forming hand seals?”
Mikoto’s eyes widened.
As a shinobi herself, she understood perfectly well what that meant.
“That’s right.”
Fugaku nodded emphatically.
“I’ve never seen another shinobi capable of something like this.
The only person rumored to possess such an ability was the legendary First Hokage, the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama.”
“Akira is far more talented than I realized yesterday.”
“The Uchiha clan is destined to become the strongest shinobi clan in the entire shinobi world.”
Fugaku’s eyes filled with anticipation.
Mikoto was equally delighted for Akira.
But once her excitement faded, worry crept into her heart.
“Fugaku, we can’t allow anyone else to learn that Akira can perform ninjutsu without hand seals.”
“I know.”
Fugaku nodded.
“I’ve already warned Akira not to reveal it to any outsiders.”
“That’s good.”
“If possible, I don’t even want Akira to attend the Ninja Academy,” Fugaku said.
“I would rather teach him personally.
Given his talent, it wouldn’t require much of my time.”
“In truth, attending the Academy was meaningless for Itachi as well.”
“He applied for early graduation after only one year.”