Forest Shrouded in Cloud and Mist

Cloud Release: Flowing Cloud Flying Bird Technique.

Torikaze exhaled a stream of cloud vapor, which slowly condensed into dozens of little white cloud birds that circled above his head.

He reached out and touched one of the birds. It felt slightly cool to the touch—not bad.

Torikaze then took out an equal number of upgraded Crystal Seeds and accurately tossed them into the cloud birds' bodies.

He then controlled the cloud birds and sent them scattering in all directions.

Once each cloud bird reached a suitable location, it dove downward and stuffed the Crystal Seed into the soil. Its task complete, it immediately broke apart and dissipated.

After casting the Cloud Bird ninjutsu several times in succession, Crystal Flowers had already bloomed throughout half the forest.

To avoid being discovered, Torikaze had deliberately chosen relatively concealed locations. That way, as long as they were not destroyed, they could still be used in the future.

The flowers exhaled cloud and mist, allowing Torikaze to sense everyone within it. It was equivalent to setting up a barrier protecting the village outside its borders.

It had been an hour since Torikaze left the village. At this pace, another hour would be enough to plant seeds throughout the forests surrounding Konoha.

Fortunately, Torikaze had a habit of preparing plenty of seeds in advance. Otherwise, with all this continuous ninjutsu casting, his Chakra really would not have been enough.

Nearly another hour passed before he finally planted seeds throughout the entire forest!

Torikaze then cast a ninjutsu to stimulate the seeds' growth and used the Crystal Linkage Technique to connect all the Crystal Flowers.

Having finished all that, Torikaze could finally relax a little.

Torikaze had great confidence in his ninjutsu. Once his Chakra recovered a bit, he could cast the Cloud Mist Sensing Technique and let the cloud and mist fill the entire forest!

Even Madara Uchiha definitely would not be able to avoid the cloud mist's detection. After all, Madara's Chakra was so immense!

And with Madara Uchiha's personality, he would not choose to conceal his Chakra and launch a sneak attack. As long as they knew his location immediately, things would be easy.

Torikaze waved a hand over the nonexistent sweat on his forehead and let out a soft breath. "Without me, Konoha will be finished sooner or later."

Cloud Release: Cloud Mist Sensing Technique.

In an instant, a massive amount of Chakra in his body was drained away. His mind grew weary, and even his eyelids felt somewhat heavy.

Torikaze's breathing became a little rapid. This ninjutsu surrounding the entire outskirts of Konoha had clearly consumed too much of him.

Fortunately, it was only ordinary cloud and mist, so it had not drained Torikaze's Chakra dry in an instant.

Moreover, there was already a faint morning mist in the forest, which was why Torikaze dared to cast such a wide-ranging ninjutsu.

The so-called Cloud Mist Sensing Technique was actually just ordinary cloud and mist. Torikaze had merely given it that name to make it sound more impressive.

Thick cloud vapor began to gush from within the Crystal Flowers. The moment it encountered the morning mist, it assimilated it.

Before long, cloud and mist spread through the forest. If someone accidentally wandered in, they would likely have to put in some effort to find the way out.

Still, there was no need to worry. With Torikaze constantly sensing everything, such a situation would not happen.

Seeing the cloud and mist grow thicker and thicker, Torikaze stretched and prepared to return to the village to tell his Shishou or Lord Tobirama about it.

Otherwise, it would be bad if it were mistaken for an enemy attack.

After Torikaze returned to Konoha, the ninjas in the village had indeed already noticed the abnormal cloud and mist in the forest outside.

Every one of them was on high alert, and only after Torikaze explained did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Still, some of them did not understand why he had gone to such lengths to do this. Could someone really dare to invade Konoha?

Torikaze only smiled without saying anything. He was truly afraid of scaring them to death—and afraid they would think he was insane.

After all, who would believe that Madara Uchiha would attack Konoha today?

Even Hashirama, upon hearing that Madara Uchiha had appeared in the village, would have been happy at first rather than thinking Madara Uchiha would strike against the village.

Without chatting much with the other ninjas, Torikaze headed straight for the Hokage Office.

At this hour, even if his Shishou was still asleep, Lord Tobirama would definitely be up. It made little difference which of them he told.

After all, in the minds of the village's ninjas, the Second Hokage was undoubtedly Tobirama Senju.

Torikaze moved quickly and soon arrived outside the Hokage Office. He lightly knocked on the door a few times, and a voice from inside told him to enter.

"Shishou, Lord Tobirama, I have something to report." Torikaze bowed to the two men and explained why he had come.

"Oh? What is it so early in the morning? Let's hear it." Tobirama asked with interest.

Because Torikaze often came up with all sorts of strange ideas and could develop many ninjutsu Tobirama had never considered, Tobirama was extremely fond of him.

He felt that a genius ninja like Torikaze was wasting his talent by following Big Brother every day to learn Taijutsu, so he had always been looking for a way to snatch this disciple away from his Big Brother!

"It's like this. Early this morning, I went to the forest outside the village..."

Torikaze gave Hashirama and Tobirama a detailed report of everything he had done after entering the forest that morning, but he did not mention that it was to deal with Madara Uchiha.

He merely said it was to strengthen the village's defenses, so that if any foreign ninja appeared, Torikaze would be able to sense them immediately.

Unlike other techniques, cloud and mist did not disperse easily in the forest. Therefore, the cloud-and-mist formation Torikaze had set up could be considered a long-lasting one.

After hearing Torikaze explain the entire matter, Hashirama and Tobirama understood everything.

"Good boy. I was just telling Big Brother that the commotion outside had to be you tinkering with some new technique. Looks like I was right."

The more Tobirama looked at Torikaze, the more satisfied he became. His own disciples all had decent talent and strength, and their teamwork was highly coordinated.

But they were lacking when it came to developing ninjutsu. Among them, only Hiruzen Sarutobi had some talent for creating new techniques.

The rest were all hopeless at it, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi could not compare to Torikaze when it came to developing ninjutsu.

This kid could develop seven or eight new techniques in a year, while Hiruzen Sarutobi could only manage one or two.

Tobirama had only one feeling now: I could have endured the darkness, had I never seen the light!

Before discovering Torikaze, Tobirama often told Hiruzen, "Monkey, you are the disciple I think most highly of. Don't disappoint me!"

But now, the sentence Tobirama said most often to Hiruzen Sarutobi was, "Look at Torikaze, then look at yourself! He develops so many ninjutsu in a year! You can't squeeze out a single fart in half a year!"

In short, Tobirama found Hiruzen unsatisfactory no matter how he looked at him, while Torikaze seemed like a precious treasure. He was always thinking of luring him away from Big Brother.

"Torikaze, you did very well with this. Konoha will become even safer because of it. You must be exhausted today, right?"

Hashirama looked at his disciple with gratification. At such a young age, he could already cast such a large-scale ninjutsu. He truly was a Genius!