The Spread of Basic Inner Cultivation

Hokage's Office.

Jiraiya deliberated for a long time.

"Sensei, Uchiha Jin has a great talent for ninjutsu."

After all, Uchiha Jin had not asked for it to be kept secret.

And Jiraiya did not think something like this needed to be hidden.

Though he had grown somewhat dissatisfied with what Hiruzen Sarutobi was doing, he had not yet considered parting ways with him.

So he told him the truth.

After all, a talented ninja and an untalented one were not the same thing.

"Hm?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes. "So he had been hiding his talent for ninjutsu throughout his time at the Ninja Academy?"

He had known to conceal things from the village from the moment he enrolled.

This child was truly terrifying—and an Uchiha, at that. It seemed he could not be allowed to remain.

Otherwise, he would cause unimaginable damage to the village.

Jiraiya had no idea what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking and merely scratched his head.

"Not exactly."

"Hm?!" Jiraiya's explanation left Hiruzen Sarutobi confused.

"What exactly do you mean? Is it or isn't it?"

First he said the boy was highly talented in ninjutsu, and now he was contradicting himself. Was there something wrong with the boy, or was there something wrong with Jiraiya?

"He's a genius, perhaps even a genius comparable to the Second Hokage."

Jiraiya took out the small booklet Jin had given him.

He had looked through it several times while washing dishes at the barbecue restaurant, and it had left him utterly astonished.

He could barely believe it.

Could this really have been created by someone who was still a Ninja Academy Student?

This ability to develop ninjutsu—

Even Orochimaru could not compare, could he? Only the Second Hokage could rival it.

"The reason for everything is in here."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Jiraiya.

He really knew how to pique people's curiosity. No wonder he had recently wanted to write novels.

He casually flipped through two pages.

"Fūinjutsu?"

The contents further aroused his interest. Creating ordinary ninjutsu was difficult enough, while Fūinjutsu was even harder.

He turned a few more pages.

The Fūinjutsu created within made him frown deeply.

"This is simply a haphazard patchwork."

He recognized all the Fūinjutsu within, but they had been crudely stitched together, without a single thing that was truly new.

To him, this kind of Fūinjutsu was utterly useless.

Not only was it slow to activate, but because it combined multiple Fūinjutsu, the hand signs numbered more than a hundred.

And in the end, its effect was merely to prevent the enemy from using ninjutsu.

"A completely useless Fūinjutsu."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave his assessment, making Jiraiya scratch his head. If one only read the first few pages, they really would reach the same conclusion as Hiruzen Sarutobi.

But it was different afterward.

"Sensei, you'd better keep reading."

The real content began on the second layer.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned. Out of trust in his disciple, he continued flipping through it.

Using Fūinjutsu to circulate Chakra, accumulating Chakra in the process. The increased Chakra even strengthened the power of the Fūinjutsu, feeding back into the body and enhancing it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had not expected such an effect.

"What an ingenious idea."

He could not help but marvel.

Though it was somewhat crude, this line of thought for constructing ninjutsu was truly unprecedented.

"So that's why he can't use ninjutsu."

If the first layer of Fūinjutsu's effect was applied to oneself, would that not make one unable to cast ninjutsu?

That made him feel that this Uchiha Jin was rather troublesome to handle.

He could not be killed, but... he could not simply be left unchecked either.

"Jiraiya." Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his head and looked deeply into Jiraiya's eyes.

"If I asked you to remove Uchiha Jin from Team 7, would you do it?"

Jiraiya's smile froze on his face, and his expression became extremely serious. He pressed both hands against the pillar to support himself.

"Old man, Uchiha Jin is my student."

He made his stance clear.

No.

Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his brow. This made things troublesome. What he had hoped to give Jiraiya was an untalented Uchiha, not a genius.

What he wanted was to build a bridge with the Uchiha, not let them rise to power.

The good news was that Uchiha Jin was not well-liked within the Uchiha clan.

He should be able to win him over.

As for this Fūinjutsu—

"Put the first two layers of this Fūinjutsu among the ninjutsu rewards available for distribution. Put the final layer into the Forbidden Scroll, and tell Uchiha Jin not to spread it freely."

This was a ninjutsu capable of strengthening the village's foundations.

"Yes."

Ninjutsu Exchange Office.

A massive scroll lay spread open. Once someone selected a ninjutsu, they could spend merit points to exchange for it at the entrance.

Dan Katō's gaze was drawn to the Basic Inner Cultivation that had suddenly appeared.

"Fūinjutsu. Basic Inner Cultivation: strengthens the entire body, with the risk of being unable to use ninjutsu for a short period of time."

Part of the ninjutsu's activation process was written below as well.

"Tsunade!" Dan Katō suddenly called out.

A somewhat downcast Tsunade walked over.

"Dan, what is it?"

"Look at this. It seems a lot like your Yin Seal."

Dan Katō pointed at the Basic Inner Cultivation available for exchange.

Tsunade merely took two glances before knitting her brows.

"Although they look similar, they follow two different lines of thought."

"My Yin Seal focuses on storage, while this technique focuses on Fūinjutsu."

Given her mastery of Fūinjutsu, she could see the direction and principles behind this technique's development.

"Combining the human body with Fūinjutsu... the person who created this technique is simply a genius."

Even Tsunade had to admire its creator. What was especially rare was that it was not particularly difficult to learn.

She looked at the signature at the bottom.

"Uchiha Jin!"

Tsunade was not the only one who noticed the Basic Inner Cultivation.

There was also a white-haired man.

Hiruko looked at the Basic Inner Cultivation he had exchanged for.

His eyes rapidly scanned its contents.

"This ninjutsu should be able to increase my strength by quite a bit."

"Is this what one should expect from an Uchiha?"

The Uchiha were said to produce geniuses in abundance, especially those with powerful Sharingan.

"How enviable."

His gaze swept over Tsunade and Dan Katō, who had already completed their exchange and left.

The veins bulged on the hand gripping the scroll.

"You ignored me again, Tsunade."

At the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.

Sakumo Hatake looked at the red dots marked on the map.

They were all locations where they had encountered Sand ninja.

"These Sand ninja are scouting routes."

The other side's intentions had been well concealed, but he had still discovered them.

The Sand ninja were gradually feeling their way toward Konoha.

"A decapitation strategy?"

If they truly found a concealed route that could bring them close to Konoha, then once war broke out, they could raid the rear.

If it succeeded, it would undoubtedly cause Konoha immense losses.

But the moment Sakumo Hatake discovered them, their objective had already completely failed.

A puff of white smoke suddenly rose beside him, and a ninja wearing a green vest appeared.

He took out a scroll half as tall as his body from behind his back.

"Sir, these are new supplies, along with updated ninjutsu exchanges."

He pulled two ninjutsu scrolls from his sleeve.

To conveniently improve the strength of frontline ninja, ordinary exchangeable scrolls would be delivered to their commanders.

"You've worked hard."

Sakumo Hatake accepted the two items.

Curiously, he opened the newly arrived ninjutsu scroll.

Konoha's ninjutsu had not been updated for a long time. The ninjutsu in the Forbidden Scroll could not be exchanged without great merit, while he was already very familiar with the rest.

He looked at its contents.

"Basic Inner Cultivation?"

"Uchiha Jin."

Though Kagami was advanced in years, his body remained vigorous.

Standing atop the roof, he could see much of the village's scenery.

"This was built by Clan Head Madara."

Yet there was no place for the Uchiha within it.

Back then, they had never imagined that the Second Hokage had always hated them.

The older one became, the more clearly one could see. At their core, the Second Hokage's series of measures had treated them as potential enemies.

Unfortunately, the clan had been blinded by the authority of the Military Police Force.

The upper ranks also suppressed the Uchiha.

Even if he could guide the Uchiha's course for a time, he could not completely disregard everyone else's thoughts.

"If we had chosen to leave with Clan Head Madara back then, what would things have been like?"

Unfortunately, they had chosen betrayal for the sake of a stable life.

Poof! A cloud of smoke suddenly erupted.

Fugaku Uchiha appeared beside Kagami.

"Fugaku, you're here."

Kagami reined in his emotions.

"Great Elder, please take a look at this."

Fugaku Uchiha handed over the scroll in his hand with a complicated expression.

"Has the village assigned the Uchiha some mission?"

Kagami was puzzled as he slowly opened the scroll.

There was only one ninjutsu inside.

"This kind of ninjutsu is rather uncommon."

But he still did not understand what Fugaku wanted to say.

Until he saw the signature at the end.

"Uchiha Jin!!!"

Kagami's eyes widened in shock.

"How is that possible?!"

In the cold, damp underground.

Orochimaru entered the laboratory and looked at Uchiha Jin, whose Shadow Clone was busily at work.

"Jin-kun, you've become quite famous lately."

Jin, who was observing the Hashirama Cells, raised his head to look at Orochimaru.

"Have I?"

Jin looked puzzled.

During this period, he had followed Jiraiya on D-rank missions during the day, then came here at night to learn ninjutsu and help Orochimaru with his research.

He really hadn't noticed anything that had made him famous.

"Your ninjutsu has already begun spreading through the village, and the Third Layer has made it into the Forbidden Scroll."

Hearing this, Jin nodded to show that he understood.

"You don't seem surprised at all." Orochimaru licked his lips with a snake-like tongue, watching Jin with great interest.

"Didn't you already say it, Teacher Orochimaru? My ninjutsu represents change. I can understand whatever shock it causes."

"I'm sure Teacher Orochimaru will protect me."

Jin smiled at Orochimaru. Ever since people had begun cultivating Basic Inner Cultivation, he had already known this would happen, so he was naturally not surprised.

Orochimaru laughed.

"Of course."

After all, he wanted to see just how far Uchiha Jin could go.

"That's good."

Jin nodded and immersed himself in the experiment again.

He had no mind to spare for the impact Basic Inner Cultivation would cause.

He was now fully devoted to developing a new technique.

It was inspiration brought by the Hashirama Cells.

He silently entered the theories in his mind and the actual effects into the Golden Finger's input box.

Deduction successful

Eight deductions have been completed. The novice period has expired.

Please check the detailed contents promptly.

Jin: "???"