A Ruthless Person Indeed

Nuclear Release!

This was the name Genitsu had given to the unique power he alone possessed.

To wield the power of the atom with a body of flesh and blood—it was unprecedented, utterly insane.

Using chakra as a medium and a driver, with a powerful spirit and a robust physique to harness atomic-level collisions, the terrifying force that erupted from it.

That was Nuclear Release.

This was the most special Kekkei Genkai, a unique bloodline belonging solely to Genitsu.

But the Nuclear Release Kekkei Genkai was not perfect. The problems Genitsu faced were equally severe.

"Nuclear Release... even just the most basic use of it drains an astonishing amount of energy and stamina..."

Genitsu sat cross-legged on his bed, feeling the nuclear power that had gathered slightly within him, silent and contemplative.

The most fundamental element of nuclear power involved atomic-level changes. Pushing that step with human strength—the difficulty and pressure were unimaginable.

If it weren't for Godzilla, whose presence had subtly transformed his body through a symbiotic evolution, Genitsu would have been done for long ago, let alone attempting to train in Nuclear Release.

"Godzilla is born able to control nuclear fission or fusion. It even has a specialized organ inside its body. Some Godzilla can sustain infinite nuclear fusion just by eating air and water as fuel..."

Genitsu couldn't help rubbing his brow.

That organ was called the "Atomic Furnace."

Truly, living on thin air alone could make you stronger.

Genitsu didn't have such an organ, but thanks to Godzilla, he had survived the harshest adaptation period and was now brushing against the threshold of "controlled nuclear power."

"I think I finally understand the awkwardness Yamato felt in the original story when he first used Wood Release. He exhausted himself just to create a dry wooden stump, leaving Danzo speechless."

Genitsu sighed, looked up at the window, and saw nothing but pitch-black darkness.

Difficulty was only one side of it.

Danger was the other.

A year ago, after gradually stabilizing his ability to control internal nuclear radiation, Genitsu had tried to further develop the power of Nuclear Release. The result? He nearly killed himself!

That time, with just a preliminary attempt, terrifying burns instantly spread across his arms, and a surge of nuclear radiation wildly corroded his body.

Fortunately, thanks to his astonishing regenerative ability and the fact that he always wore bandages, he didn't attract anyone's attention, avoiding even more troublesome consequences.

The technique he had envisioned back then couldn't even be used at all. Forcing it would only have ended with him blown to pieces.

And that technique was also one of Godzilla's signature abilities, the trump card Genitsu had envisioned for his early stage.

"Back then, I couldn't even use that technique, let alone others. Every single technique in Nuclear Release could practically be called a forbidden technique..."

Genitsu mused.

Forbidden techniques weren't so much about difficulty of training as they were about excessive danger, easily causing self-harm.

Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and Wind Release: Rasenshuriken were both classified as forbidden techniques.

As for Genitsu's techniques, even setting aside their destructive power, just the spread of nuclear radiation alone would be enough to give enemies a hard time.

It was a good thing he now had the ability to control nuclear radiation.

"Now, it should be possible. Even if it costs something, I should be able to successfully use Nuclear Release... probably..."

Genitsu kept refining his chakra, continuously adapting to the Nuclear Release Kekkei Genkai.

Dawn broke.

Some lingering problems could now be cleaned up.

Genitsu hadn't slept all night, but his mental state had recovered, and his physical condition was surprisingly excellent. He got up an hour earlier than usual and entered the woods near the village.

In the time before school, Genitsu had always made a habit of studying and reading diligently, especially sneaking into the woods.

Holding several books personally written by the Third Hokage, such as The Will of Fire Theory and The Will of the First Hokage, Genitsu loved reading this kind of material.

He would flip through them dozens of times, earnestly filling them with annotations.

He paid the most attention to the book Quotations of the Third Hokage, covering it with dense scribbles until, by the end, even Genitsu himself didn't know what nonsense he was writing.

Anyway, writing random crap was the right move—he wasn't writing it for himself to read.

"Every time I open these, I feel like this village-founding theory is just a pile of pretty but useless rhetoric, supported only by a mountain of hollow theory and crude, straightforward examples."

Genitsu scratched his head.

For example, the chapter "Loving One Another as One Village" used a certain member of the Senju Clan as an example. He willingly gave up empty fame, joined the Ninja Academy to shine and contribute, was always ready to help others, and often visited the widow next door who had lost her husband in the war.

In the end, the two shamelessly lived happily ever after.

Genitsu later verified this. That Senju clansman, soon after becoming a stepfather, died on the battlefield in the Second Great Ninja War.

Of course, that latter part wasn't recorded in the book.

"Without a solid pyramidal framework, without specific guiding principles, relying entirely on the Third Hokage's leaf theory as the general outline..."

Genitsu looked disgusted. He truly had to force himself to endure the nausea of reading this childish nonsense.

Shush, shush, shush!

At that moment, a member of the village's Anbu on a secret patrol appeared here.

He swept a glance at Genitsu, who was frowning deeply over his books, and couldn't help but nod inwardly.

"Tch, it's this kid again..."

The expression beneath his fox-masked face was full of peculiarity.

(*￣︶￣)

So this was the legendary child who'd broken the village's record in theoretical exams? The Hokage himself had praised him, saying he was as diligent as ever.

What a pity he was putting his effort in the wrong direction—he'd be better off spending this time training his ninjutsu.

Soon, the Anbu vanished without a trace, the whole process silent and seamless.

Two full hours passed.

Genitsu snapped his book shut with a slap.

Then he stood up from the rock and stretched hard toward the rising sun.

"Another beautiful day. But why didn't I see Mr. Duy this morning... If he didn't train here all the time, I wouldn't have picked this spot."

Not seeing Might Duy, the eternal genin, for hours made Genitsu feel deeply insecure.

As if an enemy spy might appear beside him at any moment and slit his throat like he was just some innocent kid.

Might Duy was a recognized eternal genin, dragging his son Might Guy along every day for masochistic training, enduring scorn and mockery from everyone.

But Genitsu wasn't about to mock them.

He actually wished everyone would keep humiliating Duy and Guy—it gave him the perfect opening to worm his way in.

At this point, Duy, unable to use any ninjutsu or genjutsu and only knowing taijutsu, was deemed useless. Even as cannon fodder, he was considered surplus, so he occasionally went to the battlefield as a logistics worker but mostly hung around the village.

With the war growing more severe and mission numbers plummeting, the solo missions Duy could take had dwindled to almost nothing. Even garbage tasks like weeding or finding cats were out of reach.

And no one wanted to team up with a "failure" like Duy for higher-ranked missions.

In the original story, when Guy, Genma, and Ebisu's three-man squad ran into the infiltrating Mist Seven Swordsmen in the Land of Fire, it was Might Duy who charged in alone to save them.

That alone showed how tough things were for Duy and his son in Konoha at this time.

On top of that, their training regimen demanded high-quality food in large quantities.

When their lives hit rock bottom, Genitsu stepped in decisively.

Back then, Genitsu didn't hesitate to pull from his family's meager savings, specifically posting garbage missions like chopping wood, doing housework, and cleaning rooftops for Duy and Guy to take—making his own already strained household even poorer.

Over two years, Genitsu went from comfortably well-off to flat broke, spending everything he had to support Duy and Guy.

Even so, the villagers praised him, saying his resolve was off the charts, that he spared no effort to help his comrades, and that he was a perfect seedling carrying on the Will of Fire.

Even if he had to do it all over again, Genitsu would still make the same choice.

What was money anyway?

Wasn't it worth it to gain one Kage-level and one super-Kage-level ally?

"With Mr. Duy as my loyal guard, I feel safe. But where is he right now?"

Genitsu yawned. It was about time to head to school.

He walked straight out of the training grove, taking his usual route around the forest on the outskirts of Konoha.

But today was different.

"Hm? Someone's in that place?" Genitsu's expression shifted slightly as he glanced out of the corner of his eye at an inconspicuous patch of woods.

That was where, a year ago, he'd secretly trained to develop that extremely dangerous technique.

The failed development had left the area filled with a certain level of radioactive haze, which Genitsu had always treated as forbidden ground. Anyone else who went in would suffer the effects of nuclear radiation.

Today, he'd planned to come and clean up that radiation.

"So early in the morning, and someone just happens to show up here of all places..."

Genitsu fell silent, finding it troublesome. He pondered for a moment, but eventually decided to cautiously approach. Through a gap in the trees, he caught a glimpse of...

Uchiha Kazue, the older sister of Uchiha Izumi, who would later become Itachi's lover.

This woman was drenched in sweat, training hard, breathing heavily—clearly she'd been at it for a while. After finishing her practice, she even pulled out a boxed lunch and ate it right there.

At first glance, nothing seemed wrong.

But when Genitsu saw her take a handful of dirt with her grimy hands, seemingly casually but actually deliberately, sprinkle it into her lunch, and wolf it down, he realized—

This was a ruthless one.

The nuclear radiation lingering in the air had mostly dissipated over the past year anyway; the real bulk was buried deep in the soil.

"Who's there?!"

Kazue spun around, yanked out a kunai, and hurled it fiercely.