"Well, this is a pleasant surprise."
After all, a B-rank jutsu is already considered an advanced technique—usually only jōnin are capable of using it.
"With the Shadow Clone, I don't have to stay here anymore. I can find a more spacious place to train freely."
Uchiha Raizen's mind stirred with excitement. Without hesitation, he left a Shadow Clone behind at the Konoha Police Force headquarters and slipped away himself.
He was practically invisible in the Police Force, only doing the most basic routine tasks. He was confident no one would bother checking whether it was the real him or a clone.
As he made his way off the street where the Police Force building stood, he headed toward the forested hills behind Konoha, looking for a quiet place with no people around.
Along the way, he happened to pass by the courtyard where Uchiha Yashiro and the others were cornering Uchiha Itachi.
The voices of Yashiro, Tetsuhi, and Inaho grew louder and more aggressive, pressing Itachi harder with every word.
Suddenly, with a cold expression still frozen on his face, Uchiha Itachi clenched his fists—and in the blink of an eye, knocked all three jōnin to the ground!
That level of strength… it was terrifying.
Even with his two-tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Raizen couldn't see how Itachi had moved at all.
"Always going on about the clan, the clan… Obsessed with the organization, obsessed with bloodlines, obsessed with fame and power… Trapped in such petty things, you can't even see the bigger picture. My will has no place in such a narrow-minded clan—I'm utterly disappointed in this foolish clan!"
Last night, Uchiha Itachi watched with his own eyes as his close friend Shisui died protecting the village and their clan right before him.
Today, he was questioned harshly by the three leaders of the Police Force, all in the name of the clan.
The anger that Uchiha Itachi had held inside for so long finally broke free.
Foolish Uchiha, trying a coup only for the clan's interests.
Why can't you see things from the village's point of view?
Why can't you, like Shisui, inherit the Will of Fire and sacrifice your own self for the greater good?
Why can't you understand the importance of peace?
From the bottom of his heart, Uchiha Itachi despised the clan.
Shisui's death even made him doubt if the clan still had any reason to exist.
Just as Itachi was about to lose control, his father, Fugaku, the current head of the Uchiha clan, arrived.
From a distance, Uchiha Raizen grew tired of watching and quickly left.
He felt nothing but frustration and speechlessness about what Itachi had just said.
What does it mean to have true tolerance?
Tolerance is not sacrificing ordinary people to protect the elites.
Tolerance is not killing your own parents and clansmen to keep a fake peace!
If it's about sacrificing family for justice, fine.
But what about the many civilians in the Uchiha clan—so many elders, women, and children? What did they do wrong?
Blindly believing your own tolerance surpasses others and the clan is nothing but arrogance!
Uchiha Raizen shook his head at Itachi's arrogance and quickened his pace toward the back mountain of Konoha.
There were still two years left before the night of the clan's destruction.
He had to master the power of the Azure Dragon Curse Seal as soon as possible to reach his peak strength.
Besides that, he also needed to find a way to make money to buy other Devil Fruits from the system's shop.
That way, his sister and Inori could also have Devil Fruit Curse Seals suited to them.
"This will do," Uchiha Raizen stopped in a hidden mountain valley.
He took off his upper clothes and folded them to the side.
Then, he fully activated the Azure Dragon Curse Seal.
The dragon-shaped mark on his chest soon began to heat up.
Strong energy flowed through his limbs and body.
Azure Dragon scales covered the skin of both his hands, spreading to his arms and shoulders.
Uchiha Raizen took out a kunai and stabbed it at the dragon scales.
Clang!
The kunai broke, but the dragon scales showed no damage at all.
This was a perfect defense, even better than the Byakugan's Rotation or Gaara's sand.
He wondered how it compared to the ultimate Susanoo, the peak ninjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Time passed quickly as Uchiha Raizen immersed himself in training to develop the Azure Dragon Curse Seal.
Unknowingly, the moon hung high in the sky. It was already late at night.
He put on his clothes, ready to go home, a trace of excitement on his face.
The results of today's training were greater than all of his progress in the past five years.
The Azure Dragon Curse Mark gave him almost endless stamina, greatly increasing his strength and speed.
Combined with the Sharingan's detailed insight, his Taijutsu skills had improved a lot.
Also, Uchiha Raizen could cover his entire body with dragon scales, deepening his beast transformation.
But compared to Kaido's Human-Beast Form, there was still a big difference.
"The Zoan Devil Fruits can transform into beast form and Human-Beast Form. Strictly speaking, my beast transformation isn't a full Human-Beast Form. For example, I haven't grown dragon horns or a dragon tail."
As he walked toward home, he thought about what he gained from today's training.
Uchiha Raizen figured his beast transformation was somewhere between human form and Human-Beast Form, with plenty of room for improvement.
"But what puzzles me the most is why I can't transform into a dragon. Normally, transforming into beast form should be easier than Human-Beast Form."
He tried many times today but still couldn't become an Azure Dragon.
This didn't make sense. Even that kid Momoshiki could transform into a dragon. There was no way he was worse than Momoshiki.
In the end, Uchiha Raizen could only blame the influence of the cursed seal technique.
Cursed seals were not easy for the human body to adapt to.
For example, Orochimaru's Earth cursed seal, developed using Jugo as a model, was only compatible with one in a hundred people.
The Heaven Cursed Seal was even rarer — only Mitarashi Anko and Uchiha Sasuke had managed to endure it.
Raizen believed the Devil Fruit cursed seal he developed was even more powerful than Orochimaru's Heaven Cursed Seal.
**********
Support me on my patreon and read upto 30 early chapters.
patreon.com/PirateKing24