"Naruto, what kind of Jutsu are you researching this time? Maybe I can help."
Seeing Naruto sitting amidst a pile of scrolls, flipping through one, Minato couldn't help but feel curious and moved closer.
He was always looking for ways to bond with Naruto.
"It's a technique similar to a Sealing Technique, but I doubt you can help much."
Naruto replied casually. He had grown used to Minato's presence over the past year, and Minato had indeed helped him a lot. Now, Minato wouldn't object to what he was going to do. At most, he would give Naruto a few words of advice before letting things be.
"Is that so?"
Minato grew even more curious and leaned in to take a look. He considered himself quite talented in Sealing Techniques, having even managed to suppress the Caged Bird.
"That is the Transcription Seal, a unique Dojutsu of the Sharingan, usable only by the Uchiha."
Shisui, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up. Both Naruto and Minato were surprised when they heard this. Over the past year, Shisui had been observing the Uchiha Clan's situation through Naruto's perspective, growing increasingly withdrawn.
It had been a month or two since he last spoke, and they had almost forgotten about him.
As for Nono, Naruto had already sent her out to handle some tasks. He had placed a Flying Thunder God's mark on her, both to protect her and to prevent her from doing anything rash.
"If you want to learn this, I can help. It'll save you a lot of time."
Shisui walked up to the two and looked at Naruto with complicated gaze.
Although Naruto had kept him imprisoned here, without Naruto, he might not have survived the blow he had suffered.
'Nothing comes for free.'
Naruto looked at Shisui with interest and asked, "What do you want?"
Shisui gritted his teeth and said, "I hope... you can help the Uchiha a little more..."
Naruto fell silent for a moment, then spoke just as Shisui couldn't wait any longer, he spoke, "I can't save that many people. The Uchiha civilians are of no use to me."
"I..." Shisui's expression turned bitter, but Naruto's next words gave him hope.
"However, I can give you a chance. When the time comes, you'll be the one to save them. The number of people you can bring to the Flying Thunder Formation Technique is the number you can save."
"R-really?" A glimmer of hope appeared in Shisui's eyes.
Naruto also took out a scroll and said, "This scroll contains a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan. You can transplant them."
A pair of ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan posed no threat to Naruto now.
"Th-thank you."
For several days, Naruto focused on studying the Transcription Seal, even canceling his training sessions with Sasuke, Hinata, and Neji.
This left Sasuke and Hinata feeling deeply disappointed, while Neji suspected Naruto was preparing for something.
Mastering the Transcription Seal wasn't difficult, but Naruto had other matters to attend to.
---
Night fell, and the world grew silent under the bright moon.
Naruto stood on a rooftop, his eyes closed as he waited. The night breeze brushed against his clothes, bringing a slight chill.
'It is a good night.'
The surroundings were peaceful, with everyone lost in sweet dreams. When the last light in the neatly arranged buildings ahead went out, Naruto slowly opened his eyes.
The area before him was the Sarutobi Clan's compound. Apart from Hiruzen, who was always at the Hokage Tower, and a few Ninjas on missions, most of the Sarutobi Clan's members lived here.
'They were all talented individuals! What a shame.'
"Naruto, are you really going to do this?"
Minato was unusually talkative today, mainly because what Naruto planned to do was quite ruthless.
"Yondaime, the Sarutobi Clan has been leeching off the broken tree of Konoha for long enough. It's time they paid a price."
Naruto's body flickered, disappearing like the Yellow Flash back then.
The Sarutobi Clan's compound had a barrier that would detect any intruders, but Naruto's Flying Thunder God combined with his Dojutsu, Michikaeshi no Mikoto, was practically a divine technique.
He could place Flying Thunder God's marks from a distance, effectively teleporting within the range of his Sharingan's perception.
Naruto flickered through the Sarutobi Clan's compound, quickly locating the building that housed the clan's main treasures.
Standing on the roof, Naruto observed and confirmed that only three Sarutobi Clan's Jonin were guarding the front.
"That old bastard is really confident that he only sent such a small number of people to guard this place."
"That's because your abilities are special, Naruto. For others, just the detection barrier outside would be a challenge. Any unfamiliar Chakra passing through it would be sensed, not to mention the defensive barrier here."
Seeing that he couldn't dissuade Naruto, Minato gave up.
"Is that so? The Sarutobi Clan is really impressive. Setting up a barrier over such a large area must be quite a feat."
"They probably used the resources of the Barrier Team..."
Listening to Naruto's sarcastic words, Minato felt a bit speechless.
"Forget it, time to get to work."
Naruto jumped down from the roof directly, and the sound he made directly attracted the attention of the three Sarutobi Clan's Jonin.
"Who's there?"
"Good evening, gentlemen. The moonlight is beautiful tonight, isn't it?"
From the shadows, Naruto stepped into the light and greeted the three people with a smile. But when the Sarutobi Clan's Jonin saw his appearance, their expressions immediately changed.
"It's the masked man! Sound the alarm!"
The three Ninjas all reached for their Ninja Pouches, intending to pull out signal flares.
"How boring."
Naruto sighed, and his crimson vertical pupils appeared. The three Ninjas froze in place, unable to move.
"Now, I can do whatever I want. Hehehe!"
A small black sphere slowly formed in Naruto's hand. This was the Great Spiralling Ring, created using his Dojutsu. Since it required slowly fusing Yin and Yang Chakra, the process was time-consuming. The Transcription Seal could only store the user's Dojutsu in another person's eye, with a set activation condition.
So, Naruto used his Dojutsu to create this Great Spiralling Ring and sealed it into one of the Ninja's eyes. He then created two more and sealed them into the other two Ninjas' eyes.
"As for the activation condition…"
Naruto looked at these people's pouches and had an idea. "Let's set it to trigger when they see a distress signal."
He was eagerly anticipating the moment Hiruzen saw the Uchiha's distress signal, only for the Sarutobi Clan's compound to explode.
"You three, do you know how to open this barrier?"
Naruto asked these three people directly.
"At the main gate, the barrier can open a small entrance."
"Then open it for me."
"We don't know the hand seals to open it."
"So troublesome. Who does know?"
"Only the elders and Hokage know."
"Where are the elders?"
---
At the same time, Itachi walked alone through the Forest of Death, the dappled shadows of the trees distorting his cold expression.
"Hehehe, Uchiha Itachi, were you waiting for me?"