After an impure night, Masashi's new day still began with embrag the first rays of m sunlight. His eyes snapped open, a slight throb behind them reminding him of st night's indulgences.

  Sake, women, and te nights. The unholy three of a good time... and a rough m, he stretched out the kinks in his muscles. He drank too much, and his head was still a little dizzy. But that didn't stop him from waking up on time.

  Money could be earned, drinks could be had, and girls could be charmed any day. Training, though? That was the real prize. The path to power didn't pave itself. And today, there were no missions, o clo at the department, which was great.

  He dragged himself out of bed, spshed cold water on his face, and grabbed a gss from the tap. As he left his house like usual, intending to use the equipment at the training grounds, somethi off. The usual m bustle was different, with members heading towards the entranstead of their daily routines.

  Strange, but he wasn't really ied in the otion. The training grounds were calling, and he wasn't about to let some gossip distract him from his goals.

  To his surprise and delight, the grounds were empty. No waiting, no sharing—just him and the equipment.

  Perfect. He smiled as he surveyed his private training paradise.

  Masashi began with basis, his movements still refined despite the lingering effects of alcohol. As he warmed up, his mind cleared, fog solely oask at hand. The repetitive motions were meditative, each pund kick driving away the fog of st night's excesses.

  Time to kick it up a notch, he decided, f the hand signs for the Shadow e Jutsu. With a puff of smoke, a replica appeared.

  "Alright, me," he smirked at his e. "Let's see what we do."

  He started with simple dodging exercises, the e throwing slow, telegraphed punches. But that was just the warm-up. Masashi had something more... iing in mind.

  He took a deep breath, eyes locked on his e. He broke into a sprint, dashing towards the e while his hand dipped into his pouch. In a move that defied ventional tactics, he suddenly uhree shuriken behind him as he ran.

  The e watched, fused by the seemingly off-target throws. To an observer, it would seem Masashi had simply thrown his ons away. But he wasn't dohis was where things got iing.

  The three shurikehrough the air, each released at a slightly different speed and ahe third struck the sed, altering its trajectory. The sed then hit the fist, causing it to curve sharply.

  Almost there. Just a bit more spin ohird one...

  Each impact ged the course of the others. The first shuriken, now far behind the e, curved sharply as it whistled through the air towards the back of the e's head.

  The e, reag on instinct, ducked just as the shuriken whizzed overhead. It dispelled in a puff of smoke, more from surprise than actual tact.

  "Tch," he clicked his tongue. "Still not quite right." He wiped the sweat from his brow, analyzing what went wrong. The timing was off by a fra of a sed, the angle of the third throw just a degree too wide.

  But he was close.

  So close.

  He was about to reset for atempt when the sound of approag footsteps broke his tration. Not just one person, but a rge crowd.

  Masashi stopped his training and looked toward the entrance of the training grounds, curiosity overriding his annoya the interruption. What he saw made him blink in surprise, his usually impassive face betraying a moment of genuine shock.

  The leader skipping work?

  There, at the entrance of the training grounds, stood Fugaku. And he wasn't alone. Behind him was a sea of faces, both familiar and strange. But oood out—a spiky-haired blond man whose presence seemed to light up the area.

  The Yellow Fsh, this deep in Uchiha territory? Aren't you guys worried he'd leave some marks? But he's already the Hokage, so it seems there's no real way to refuse...

  Fugaku was now showg a talent beyond being a ninja—being a tuide. "Hokage-sama, this is our 's training grounds. Usually, everyorains here... Hmm? Masashi?"

  Fugaku looked quite surprised to see the young man standing by the target range. He remembered this person's name because of his impressive performance during the battle against the Mist Ninja.

  A notice had bee out, inf everyohat the new Hokage would be visiting the Uchiha today. Sihe Hokage chose the Uchiha for his first official visit, the Uchiha had to put on a good show.

  Clearly, Masashi had missed some important memo.

  Hadn't Fugaku himself been waiting at the 's entrance before dawn to greet the Hokage?

  But here this guy was, still at the training grounds. Does the Hokage not deserve your attention?

  Even if that was what everyone was secretly thinking, it shouldn't be so obvious!

  Masashi could practically feel the leader's disapproval radiating off him in waves. Before Fugaku could speak, the Hokage took the initiative.

  The blond man stepped forward, his smile was warm and disarming. But Masashi knew better than to let his guard down. This was the man who could single-handedly decide the oute of a war.

  "Fugaku-san, o get upset," he said with a friendly smile, though his tone made it clear he was in charge. "Having such a hardw young man in the family is something to be admired, isn't it?"

  The Hokage turo Masashi, his smile widening. "Your name is Masashi, right? I'm Minato. o meet you. I've heard about your battlefield exploits. An Uchiha skilled in multiple ninjutsu is quite rare."

  Masashi didn't respond immediately, not out of disrespect or shock, but because something else came to mind.

  Grilled eel or spicy miso ramen? His stomach quietly reminded him that breakfast had been sacrificed for training. The dango shop might have those seasonal sakura-fvored ooday...

  "Indeed," Fugaku's voice was a bit low. "Masashi's is are slightly different from the rest of the . He's very into ninjutsu."

  His voice served as a remio Masashi.

  Realizing he was expected to say something, he bowed slightly. "Hokage-sama," he began, his voice carefully ral despite his irritation. "I apologize for my ignorance of your visit. Had I known, I would have prepared a proper wele."

  As he spoke, part of his mind was still debating lunch options. Maybe I swing by the ramen shop after this circus is over. Their chashu is perfectly tender...

  "No harm done. After all, I don't know much yet," Minato waved off the apology, his eyes sing the training ground with obvious i.

  At this point, his reputation had spread throughout the ninja world, and he didn't really care about such minor things anymore.

  In fact, he was more intrigued by the fact that an Uchiha was training in Yang Release. Minato was no longer a naive newer. He was well-versed in the history of the ninja world and the darker side of the vilge.

  He had many is, and many awkward situations to navigate. Just yesterday, after his inauguratioried to front the Root division, but lost the argument to Danzō. And without support from the Third Hokage, he couldn't ge anything. Realizing his inexperience was a hard pill to swallow.

  But as a new leader with limited influence he found it hard to make immediate ges at the higher levels.

  So he decided to approach things from a different angle.

  As the Hokage it was reasonable for him to visit the various s after taking office.

  Visiting the Uchiha first, a group historically marginalized by Konoha's core power structure, was not only reaso also well-justified.

  The retly cluded Third Great Ninja War had proven that the Uchiha was loyal to the vilge.

  Holy, Minato had always found it odd that, despite the Uchiha's stiff demeanor, strange personalities, sarcastic speech, and dark history, they held no signifit voi the vilge's leadership, despite being one of the most important supp forces among Konoha's Jonin.

  During the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha produced two shining stars. He was one, and the other was Uchiha Shisui.

  Shisui's record and his young age made many questioher their own ninja careers were even worthwhile.

  At just 13, he cut down enemies like grass otlefield, and during the war, vilges would have their ninjas retreat upon seeing him, treating him much like Minato.

  This went beyond the cept of a genius. A genius was someoo fully develop. Shisui had already bee something far greater.

  Yet, despite his prowess, everyourally regarded him as a kied individual.

  bined with the already fallen Obito, Minato had high hopes for the younger geion of the Uchiha.

  In fact, he believed he had discovered a pattern—that the more unventional Uchiha were within their , the more they embraced the Will of Fire.

  Masashi seemed to fit this pattern. After all, which Uchiha spent their days training in Yang Release?

  So now, Minato was looking at Masashi with eager anticipation. But as the person being stared at, Masashi was starting to feel uneasy.

  Although he didn't sense any malice from Minato, being uhe gaze of someone so powerful, someone who could defeat entire armies alone, made him unfortable.

  "Hokage-sama, you ftter me," he responded, somewhat half-heartedly. "It's just a personal i of mine."

  Minato didn't seem to notice Masashi's disfort. He acted like they were old friends, tinuing to ask curiously, "It's not often we see Uchiha brang out beyond their traditional teiques. Oh, and I heard something iing. Did you really copy a Kekkei Genkai from a Mist ninja?"

  Masashi nodded slowly. The achievement was signifit, but drawing too much attention could be dangerous. "By ce, yes. It was an... ued oute."

  "Would you mind showing me?" Minato asked, his curiosity evident. "I'm just intrigued by the possibilities. The implications for ninjutsu theory alone are... well, remarkable."

  Masashi hesitated for a moment, then plied. He drew his short sword, eling his chakra. Visible to the naked eye, a cold aura spread across the bde, a thin yer of iing before it quickly dissipated.

  "The Ice Release of the Yuki ... remarkable. The formation and dissipation are almost instantaneous. How did you mao replicate it?" As the ice crystals disappeared into the air, Minato was fasated, silently making a note about the Yuki he had never met.

  It was well-known that the Sharingan couldn't copy bloodline limits, so for Masashi to have succeeded, most in Konoha, even the Uchiha, assumed the Yuki 's teique was some form of bined ninjutsu. Their dismissal of it as a subpar ability only showed their ignorance.

  But Masashi knew better. His years of training in Yang Release had finally started to bear fruit. The bination of Uchiha blood and Senju-style Yang Release... it ath to power he'd only dreamed of. This path that could take him to the peak had finally bee clear.

  As Minato tio ask questions, Masashi answered politely but guardedly. He could see the wheels turning in the Hokage's mind, no doubt sidering the possibilities of an Uchiha with suique abilities.

  "It's a plex process," he said, choosing his words carefully. "I'm still expl."

  Minato's brow furrowed in thought. "I imagihe potential applications are... well, they're quite something."

  As the versation wound down and Minato moved on to greet other members, Masashi's mind was already somwhere else.

  [A/N]: Dialogues are not real facts. They assume Masashi copy.