A few days later, in Fenghuo's backyard.
"Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai!"
Fenghuo recited each hand seal while performing them. Though he stumbled occasionally, he was able to complete all twelve standard signs with surprising smoothness.
By nightfall, he was sealing fire, climbing trees, and walking on water. After several days of slipping and nearly drowning, he finally managed to stand steadily on the surface. The chakra beneath his feet felt natural, as if it were part of his body. He could sense the give and tension of the water. Walking, then running, he gradually grasped the subtle balance. Eventually, it became instinct—chakra automatically coating the soles of his feet the moment he touched water. No more falling in.
Through this intense training, Fenghuo also discovered he had what transmigrators called a "golden finger": no matter how grueling the day's training, he would always recover to peak condition after a night's rest—though it didn't help with actual injuries.
Fwoosh!
His chakra control was fine, and the hand seals were clean. Fenghuo's eyes lit up as he rapidly formed the hand signs again.
"Henge no Jutsu!" (Transformation Technique!)
Poof!
A puff of smoke burst out, revealing a little boy with goggles. Uchiha Obito—no, himself, transformed into Obito.
Fenghuo pulled out a small mirror. He had nailed the transformation—right down to Obito's awkward smile and subtle expressions. He nodded in satisfaction.
"Release!"
Afterward, he practiced the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique) and Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique). Both succeeded on his first try.
"Well, I am mentally an adult. The Three Basic Jutsu are too easy."
His eyes gleamed. Unable to hold back any longer, he pulled out the Fire Release scroll and began practicing the Katon jutsu within it.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!)
Si–Wei–Shen–Hai–Wu–Yin!
He executed the seals, and chakra surged. As it moved with the seals, it gathered as burning heat in his throat.
His eyes widened. For a moment, he felt as if his throat had become a furnace—intense heat seared from within. Alarmed, he broke the seal posture.
The heat instantly dissipated.
"Haa… haa…"
Fenghuo panted, his heart pounding. That was dangerously close to self-immolation.
"One… two… three…" He gently touched his throat. "Good, no damage to the vocal cords."
He muttered, "The Gōkakyū no Jutsu really is the signature jutsu of the Uchiha clan."
He recalled Sasuke practicing this very technique by the lake in the original manga, around the time Team 7 first formed. As the protagonist, even he needed time to master it—so of course it wouldn't be easy.
Fenghuo relaxed, refocused, and resumed practice.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
"Urgh—!!"
A blast of air shot up from his stomach, surging toward his throat. He quickly broke the seal again and doubled over, gagging.
"Damn it—did I mess up the seals?!"
After several failures, frustration began to set in.
"No. It's just the Gōkakyū—if I can't master this, how will I ever learn more advanced jutsu?"
"Keep going!"
He forced himself to stay calm and kept training, repeating the Fireball technique. As night deepened, a thick cloud veiled the moon, and the world faded into darkness.
Fwoosh!
A flicker of sparks danced from his mouth, vanishing instantly. Like a mirage.
"Was that… success?"
In the dark, he felt as though he had touched something real—but when he reached deeper, he realized his chakra reserves were spent.
"Not quite there yet."
Shaking his head with a tired smile, he trudged back into the house and collapsed into bed.
Maybe because he'd been training Fire Release all day, his dreams picked up where he left off. In the timeless space of the dream, he was still practicing when—
Thunk!
A shuriken pierced his chest, straight through the heart.
He looked up, stunned.
A figure in the distance stared at him with a blood-red Sharingan—three tomoe swirling in a single eye behind a spiral-patterned mask.
"Uchiha… Obito?! What the hell—?"
Startled, Fenghuo jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat.
"Haa… haa…"
It was still dark. The courtyard outside was silent except for a few chirping insects.
He couldn't fall back asleep.
Throwing on a jacket, Fenghuo stepped outside. Next door was Uchiha Obito's home.
"Great… the future final boss of the ninja world lives next door. No pressure."
Right now, Obito was a good person. Even when Fenghuo pulled pranks or teased him, Obito would just laugh it off and forgive him. But for how long?
After losing Rin, Obito in the manga went so far as to kill his own teacher's wife, Uzumaki Kushina—Naruto's mother—and joined Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan.
"Hard to feel secure with that kind of neighbor…"
"Wait a second… he hasn't awakened his Sharingan yet. But I have!"
Fenghuo focused inward.
In a flash, chakra gathered behind his eyes. His pupils turned blood-red, and a single tomoe slowly rotated in each eye—a one-tomoe Sharingan!
Under the moonlight, the world came into sharp focus. In the grass ten meters away, he could see a tiny bug gnawing on a torn leaf. Even the fragment inside its mouth was visible.
A breeze swept past. A few leaves fluttered through the air.
Almost by instinct, Fenghuo reached out—and caught them.
"Incredible."
His heart pounded. He felt powerful. An irrational thought crept in—I'm invincible.
The Sharingan pulsed with dark chakra, whispering to him: Destroy. Conquer. Rule.
Fenghuo shivered. He steadied his breath and deactivated the Sharingan.
"These eyes are dangerous… Without strong will, I could be devoured by their power."
"But I was given this second chance—and this Sharingan. I'll make sure I stay in control. I'll stand on top of this world!"
Will.
In the manga, the Third Hokage always spoke of the Will of Fire—the desire to protect the village, friends, family, and the next generation.
It didn't make you stronger per se, but it gave you unshakable resolve in battle. That unyielding courage to die for what mattered.
But Fenghuo had only just arrived in this world. He barely knew a single jutsu. How could he truly believe in something like that?
"Gorky said in my past life: 'Even a little self-restraint can make a person stronger.'"
"Maybe I can build my will the same way I train my chakra."
"…Wait, why does that sound weirdly familiar?"
Suddenly, two grinning men in tight green jumpsuits appeared in his mind's eye—thick eyebrows, gleaming teeth, both giving enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Fenghuo's eye twitched.
"Don't tell me… am I turning into one of them?"
In the manga, Might Guy and Rock Lee trained like maniacs—"If I can't jump rope 100 times, I'll do 200 kicks! If I can't finish that, I'll run laps around Konoha!" They gained incredible strength, but more importantly, unbreakable willpower.
Unshakable. Radiant. Ridiculous.
"…Dear god. Please don't let me become them."