The Shimura Actually Has Ice Release

Compared to the gloomy underground base of the Root, Konoha at this moment was basking in the morning sun, shining brightly in all its liveliness.

With his hands stuffed in his pockets, Kakashi walked ahead, followed by Takeshi, who was still filled with curiosity about everything.

Unlike Sakumo, who answered every question patiently, Kakashi's tone was indifferent and curt—but he still responded, albeit briefly.

The scene at the time went like this:

Takeshi (pointing at a building ahead):

"Kakashi, what's that?"

Kakashi:

"A public restroom."

Takeshi (nodding with understanding):

Takeshi (pointing to another building):

"Kakashi, what's that?"

Kakashi:

"Ninja Academy."

Takeshi (pointing at a strange green-skinned guy doing a handstand not far away):

"Kakashi, what about that?"

Kakashi:

"A pervert."

Takeshi:

"Oh, hmm? A green-skinned handstand freak..."

Suddenly struck by a realization, Takeshi slapped his forehead and thought to himself,

"Goodness, isn't that Might Duy?!"

"And his son is even more insane—Konoha's Blue Beast! The man who almost kicked the story to an early finale!"

Unfortunately, in this world built on bloodline supremacy, the Hokage's son becomes Hokage, the Anbu's son becomes Anbu, and the scapegoat's son becomes a scapegoat.

Even if he shone brilliantly by opening the Eighth Gate and burning his life away, he still wasn't the protagonist.

Come to think of it... If that logic applies, then since my cheap old man is the "Shadow," doesn't that make me the "Little Shadow"?

Takeshi started to doubt whether coming to Konoha was really a good idea.

The ominous look in Danzō's eyes back in the Hokage Office had left a lasting psychological shadow.

It wasn't that Takeshi was afraid Danzō would do something bizarre to him—it was more about Sasuke.

If the Uchiha Massacre played out as expected and Sasuke became obsessed with revenge, would he sacrifice Takeshi to the gods after killing Danzō?

So if he wanted to live comfortably in this world, he had to make sure Danzō didn't interfere with Uchiha affairs—especially to prevent the Night of the Massacre from happening.

Damn it... Why do I not have Uchiha blood but still have to worry like I transmigrated into one?

This isn't fair!

Lost in his thoughts, Takeshi didn't notice that Kakashi had already led him away from the bustling main streets and into a forested trail.

When Kakashi suddenly stopped, Takeshi looked around and heard his cold voice:

"We're here."

"Uh... where is 'here'?" Takeshi blinked his big innocent eyes.

"My training ground. You coming?" Kakashi started stretching and warming up.

"Uh, training..." Takeshi looked up at the steep cliff in front of him, and soon broke into a cold sweat.

Right, this was part of the story—Kakashi had trained at rock climbing using only one hand since childhood.

Seeing that Takeshi didn't respond, Kakashi didn't seem to care. After finishing his stretches, he leapt up, grabbed a rocky protrusion with one hand, and started scaling the cliff little by little, right in front of Takeshi.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'll sit this one out." Takeshi raised his hands in surrender, sat cross-legged on a clean patch of ground, and quietly watched Kakashi showing off—no, training.

Though Kakashi was called a genius, the effort he put in wasn't any less than anyone else's.

Watching Kakashi slowly climb higher, Takeshi took the chance to sort through the information he'd gathered so far.

For a ninja, intel was extremely important.

Thanks to Kirigakure's crap-tier secrecy policies, Takeshi had spent four years in the village without knowing what point of the story he was even in.

In Kirigakure, you couldn't even find out your own Mizukage's name or generation.

All Takeshi could deduce, based on the fact that the "Blood Mist" policy was still in place, was that he was probably before the Fourth Great Ninja War.

It wasn't until he arrived in Konoha and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi without any white hair—and a young Kakashi—that he could finally pinpoint the timeline.

It seemed he had reincarnated just before the outbreak of the Third Great Ninja War, during Konoha's golden age.

White Fang was still alive.

The Uchiha clan was still around.

And a certain blond star was just about to rise.

The entire village was bursting with energy and potential.

Unfortunately, this illusion of prosperity wouldn't last.

Soon, White Fang would be driven to death by rumors.

Then the Third Great Ninja War would erupt.

Then Obito would get targeted by Uchiha Madara and become the mysterious masked man.

And then Minato and Kushina would die...

That's roughly how the plot should unfold.

Maybe it was because he had died once already, but Takeshi didn't fully trust his memory.

You can't rely on anyone but yourself.

Glancing once more at Kakashi, who had climbed even higher, Takeshi also decided it was time to start training.

He extended his right hand, channeling the not-so-abundant chakra within him.

As the chakra circulated through his body, a cold aura enveloped him.

With steady focus, a ball of ice began to form in his palm.

Under Takeshi's control, it slowly took on facial features.

Making ice sculptures—this was a training method Takeshi had developed based on a scroll his mother left behind.

It was a way to finely manipulate chakra and improve control, much like walking up trees or standing on water by concentrating chakra in the soles of one's feet.

Soon, a fist-sized ice sculpture took shape in his hand, clearly resembling Kakashi from its outline.

"Just a pair of dead fish eyes? That's easy enough."

Looking at the Kakashi statue that only required him to sculpt the eyes and not worry about the rest of the facial features, Takeshi chuckled softly, tossed it aside, and began working on the next ice sculpture.

Hmm, maybe it's time to raise the difficulty a little. How about sculpting Danzō?

After all, that guy also has one eye less than a normal person.

As more and more Danzō ice sculptures were completed, Takeshi's craftsmanship improved from something utterly hideous to the point where he could clearly carve out facial features.

"Hey, who are you?"

Just as he was getting into the flow of things, Kakashi's voice suddenly rang out.

He looked up and saw that at some point, a ninja dressed in ANBU attire had appeared in front of him.

The man was staring intently at the ice sculpture in Takeshi's hands. Because of the mask, it was impossible to tell what kind of expression he was wearing.

Kakashi, who had already climbed back up and returned to the ground, watched the ANBU with vigilance, completely ignoring the dull ache pulsing through his muscles.

The ANBU didn't speak. Instead, he pulled out a syringe from his robes and looked at Takeshi.

"Uh, you..."

Setting down the ice sculpture, Takeshi pointed at himself.

"You want to draw my blood?"

"That's right."

The ANBU finally spoke. Then he strode forward, grabbed Takeshi's arm, and moved to jab the syringe in.

"Hey, wait, did you disinfect that?"

Seeing the needle completely exposed to open air, Takeshi was about to give him a lecture on the importance of sterilization, but the man clearly wasn't in the mood for discussion. The needle went in without hesitation.

"You bastard—"

Seeing how his warning was ignored, Kakashi stepped forward, but two more ANBU suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path.