Mechanical Ascension

On the square stone platform, Moriyue knelt on one knee, gripping the hilt of his blade tightly with both hands to support himself and keep from collapsing.

Yugito Nii's current form was exceedingly uncanny. Two tails wreathed in blue flames appeared behind her, and claws like Wolverine's extended from her fingertips. Black-blue Flame burned around her as she stood like a demonic cat born of fire, looking down upon everything in the world.

"Kumogakure's future belongs to you." Yugito Nii released her Tailed Beast Transformation, and Moriyue could no longer hold on, collapsing to the ground.

It had to be said that Yugito Nii was deeply surprised by Moriyue's progress—so surprised that she was nearly shocked.

Although Moriyue had lost, she could clearly sense that he was completely different from who he had been a month ago. Even she had gradually been drawn into the rhythm of their battle. If she had not witnessed it herself, she would never have believed that this guy had merely been an ordinary person who had gained the power of a forbidden technique one month earlier.

"So you forced out my Tailed Beast Transformation, huh, kid..." Yugito Nii shook her head, then carried Moriyue, who had exhausted himself to the point of collapse, on her back and expertly brought him to the hospital.

The young nurse was already used to this and skillfully led them to the bed reserved specifically for Moriyue.

"You trained until you passed out again?" The young nurse spread his hands, his face full of helplessness. He knew Moriyue's condition. Was it really all right to put someone who did not have much time left through such intense training?

"He's strong, and he works hard. If he became a ninja, he would surely shine brilliantly in the ninja world. What a pity..." Yugito Nii had also been shaken by Moriyue's reckless attitude over the past few days.

Other people lived by the motto, "Train until you nearly die." But he was different—he trained with the goal of actually dying. She did not want Kumogakure to lose such a powerful fighter, so during their sparring sessions afterward, she had explicitly forbidden Moriyue from using forbidden techniques.

It was precisely because Moriyue had forced her into her Tailed Beast Transformation without using forbidden techniques that she had been so shocked by the speed of his improvement. What a pity. If this guy could learn ninjutsu, he would definitely be a genius.

"Hm? I lost again, didn't I? What a shame." Moriyue suddenly opened his eyes on the hospital bed. Since he had not used a forbidden technique, his body was not seriously harmed. He leaped out of bed and bounced around twice as if nothing had happened.

"You're saying it's a shame? Do you know who you're fighting? Lady Yugito Nii is the Two-Tails Jinchuriki! You should be proud to learn from Lady Yugito!"

The young nurse could not help but complain when he saw Moriyue's regretful expression. Enough already. She was the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, a being known as a weapon of war! Don't act ungrateful, bastard!

"Oh, right, I nearly forgot. Teacher Yugito, you mentioned forbidden techniques before. Isn't it time to go take a look?" Prompted by the nurse, Moriyue remembered something. In the original story, Yugito Nii had been captured by Hidan and Kakuzu very early on. The Immortal Duo were genuinely powerful, and Yugito Nii had died before displaying much of her strength. Now that Yugito Nii was also his teacher, he could not let that tragedy happen again.

"Teacher... Teacher Yugito? Fine, call me whatever you want..." Yugito Nii, who was usually unsmiling, actually turned her head away somewhat shyly upon hearing Moriyue's strange form of address. Why did "Teacher Yugito" sound so strange?

However, she controlled her expression well, returning to her usual cold demeanor in an instant. Seeing that Moriyue was lively and did not seem to be in any trouble, she nodded.

"All right, but don't get your hopes up. Forbidden techniques are irreversible. It is impossible to use the effects of forbidden techniques to counterbalance forbidden techniques. At least, no one I know has succeeded."

Hearing Yugito Nii agree, Moriyue nodded excitedly. After waiting a month, he finally had a chance to come into contact with new forbidden techniques. Yugito Nii had forced him not to use forbidden techniques for an entire month, and he had been itching to use them. His suicidal impulse was burning fiercely!

The definition of a forbidden technique was quite broad. Generally speaking, it referred to techniques that inflicted irreversible harm upon the user. Representative examples included the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tag. Then there were techniques that violated ethics and morality. Such techniques did not cause any side effects to the user, with the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu being the representative example.

"Huh? Why were they all techniques developed by the Second Hokage? The master of forbidden techniques truly lived up to his name." Moriyue thought it over and realized that seemingly every famous forbidden technique came from Konoha. It could not be helped. After all, the world's main stage was over in Konoha. They were the protagonists, so what could anyone do?

"You know that Kumogakure is not famous for ninjutsu. We do have forbidden techniques, but they tend more toward physical modification. What we Cloud ninja excel at most is technology and Nintaijutsu..." Yugito Nii seemed to want to say something, but Moriyue listened for a long time without understanding what she was getting at.

At this point, you aren't going to tell me not to practice forbidden techniques, are you?

Although Moriyue knew Yugito Nii was worried about him, there was really no need for that.

"Have you heard of... Mechanical Augmentation? I heard that scientists have recently been researching technology to merge flesh and machinery. After the fusion, it might reduce the side effects of forbidden techniques..."

Yugito Nii still wanted to persuade Moriyue. After all, using forbidden techniques to fight forbidden techniques was such a crazy idea that one life definitely would not be enough to squander. It was like using a nuclear bomb to counter a hydrogen bomb. Even if it succeeded, it would be no different from drinking poison to quench thirst.

"Flesh is weak; Mechanical Ascension? Not a bad idea, but I choose to look at forbidden techniques."

To be honest, Moriyue had been somewhat tempted at first, but when he remembered that he possessed the Dog Talisman and was already immortal, becoming a cyborg somehow felt like a loss.

"I treat you like a teacher, and you want to castrate me?"

It would be bad if he became a one-balled powerhouse. No cockless talk.

Seeing Moriyue refuse, Yugito Nii could only shake her head. She respected his decision.

"Yugito's here? So diligent."

"Mm. I'm taking someone to the ninjutsu storage room to choose a technique."

"All right, then register first..."

The two arrived at a stone chamber. The room looked completely ordinary, but only a select few were qualified to enter it, and Yugito was one of them. After filling out all sorts of forms, the old man guarding the entrance nodded. The sound of machinery operating came from behind the stone door, and the heavy door slowly rose.

Moriyue glanced through the gap beneath the stone door, and that single glance made his eyes widen.

Scrolls—tens of thousands of scrolls. They were neatly arranged on row after row of shelves, divided into several large sections according to their different types. The entire room was as large as half a standard soccer field, and it was filled with scrolls.