Winged Suit Flight

All around the Iwagakure camp, rocks with abnormal Chakra reactions were scattered.

Hidden and overt sentries were densely posted beside the rocks. Hyuga Ao's Wind Cloak could only suppress her presence, not make her invisible, and the entry and exit routes clearly had Sensory Ninjas conducting checks. Hyuga Ao had no means of blocking perception yet.

It seemed there was no way to proceed on the ground, unless she forced her way through.

Underground was no good either; Hyuga Ao's Earth Release wasn't at that level.

Water Release? That wasn't enough either.

What other options were there?

Hyuga Ao looked around and spotted a mountain range behind the Iwagakure camp, its highest peak estimated at 4,000 meters.

She stared at the summit, her eyes hazy, something stirring in her mind that she just couldn't grasp.

Suddenly, a flock of bats flew past her side, returning from foraging. Watching their wings, a flash of inspiration struck her, and she recalled a news report about Winged Suit flying she'd seen before her transmigration.

A Winged Suit, also known as a flying squirrel suit, was a special outfit designed to mimic bat flight, allowing a person to glide through the air.

Hyuga Ao hadn't studied Winged Suit flying in depth before her transmigration, but knowing the principle was enough for her.

Taking advantage of the night, she circled around to the mountain behind the Iwagakure camp and began figuring out how to make her own Winged Suit.

"Poof." Hyuga Ao split off a Shadow Clone and had it put on the simple Winged Suit she'd hastily crafted.

In her past life, Winged Suits were made of high-density nylon. Hyuga Ao certainly couldn't find the same material now, but you have technology, and I have Chakra.

She slightly modified the clothes she was carrying, shaping them into the Winged Suit she remembered, then pulled out the Chakra metal threads woven into her garments to support the suit.

Hyuga Ao's reasoning was simple: I don't have high-density nylon, but I do have high-density Chakra.

She planned to attach the Wind Cloak to her makeshift Winged Suit, using it to compensate for the suit's density and toughness. As for the flying problem, she'd just test it bit by bit with her clones.

If it didn't work once, try twice; if twice failed, try three times. After enough flights, Hyuga Ao would naturally know how to improve the suit and how to fly in the air.

With Shadow Clones, you really can do whatever you want! Hyuga Ao couldn't help but marvel.

Two days later, at night.

Hyuga Ao, with faint dark circles under her eyes, continued modifying the clothes in front of her, no longer the arrogant "do whatever you want with clones" person she'd been before.

The first time her clone jumped off, it was cocky and fearless, shouting "Ollie give!" as it dove.

But because the Winged Suit was crude, even with Hyuga Ao using the Wind Cloak to maintain it as best she could, it wobbled and spun, ending in a spiraling crash that killed it on the spot.

The memory transmitted back to Hyuga Ao startled her. The sensation of falling from that height, the fear, and that final splat—it clung to her heart, nearly giving her a psychological trauma against Winged Suit flying.

So she learned her lesson. After retrieving the previous suit's materials and the crucial Chakra metal threads inside, she made slight adjustments and sent another clone to test it. Before the clone jumped, she specifically instructed it to dispel itself before dying.

But soon enough, another splat, and the memory flooded back into her mind.

After processing this death memory, Hyuga Ao started figuring out why the clone hadn't dispelled itself.

She found that this clone, upon realizing the Winged Suit worked, got so excited that its mind drifted to all sorts of aerial combat stories from her past life. At the very end, its thought was: "As long as there's altitude, I can't give up!"

Hyuga Ao couldn't help but snark: Were you a pilot clone from somewhere?

The subsequent clones, despite all her warnings, still had issues cropping up, and the biggest problem was the Winged Suit itself.

Working alone behind closed doors, no matter how she tweaked it, something was off. After wasting a lot of time, Hyuga Ao obediently went to squat outside a bat cave, observing how bats flew.

Then she modified the Winged Suit based on bat flight.

That finally brought a huge improvement.

After two days of overtime, she finally tested out a relatively complete Winged Suit. Now Hyuga Ao was making the final adjustments.

"Hmph, good thing my sewing skills aren't bad, or I'd have no idea how to handle this."

Hyuga Ao packed up the Winged Suit in front of her and put it on.

The girl stood atop the mountain peak, gazing at the scattered lights in the distant Iwagakure camp, her spirits high:

"The clones have had their fun so many times—it's my turn to enjoy it!"

"Iwagakure, here I come!"

With that, facing the biting cold wind, she leaped down.

Someone might ask why she didn't use a clone instead of going herself.

It was because the distance was too great. The ideal speed of Winged Suit flight could reach a ratio of one to three—descending one meter while advancing three.

The mountain Hyuga Ao was on was only about 4,000 meters high. Even if she hit the ideal speed right after diving, she'd only cover around 12,000 meters. The Iwagakure camp was far beyond that.

So she had to rely on the Wind Cloak to provide extra propulsion to reach the camp and cross the Iwagakure defense perimeter.

These maneuvers were far beyond what a clone could handle.

Hyuga Ao fine-tuned her flying posture. The ideal outcome for this trip to the Iwagakure camp was to glide directly over the Iwagakure ninja, sweep them with the Byakugan, and leave.

But that wasn't realistic. The next best was to land inside the camp, hide for a while, figure things out, and then escape.

The worst-case scenario was not making it, or being discovered upon landing, but Hyuga Ao would do her best to avoid that.

The cold night wind struck Hyuga Ao's Anbu mask, but she felt nothing—it was all blocked by the Wind Cloak, converted into part of the propulsion.

"The wind direction's pretty good today."

It seemed the heavens were finally cooperating tonight—Hyuga Ao was flying with the wind, greatly reducing her estimated chakra consumption.

Earlier, when her clone had drifted out, it had been completely at the wind's mercy. It looked like the heavens had gotten bored after two nights of toying with her and decided to let her be tonight.

Pushing aside the scattered thoughts, Hyuga Ao had already reached her maximum speed. From here on, she'd have to accelerate on her own.

In truth, if you're fast enough, air and water aren't all that different.

Just like surfing—you can ride waves in the sea, but you can also ride the air.

Hyuga Ao pressed her legs together, swaying them like a fish's tail. Using the Wind Cloak to wrap her legs into the shape of a fish tail, she began swimming through the air.

At the same time, she started converting a massive amount of Wind-nature Chakra. With Wind-nature Chakra as fuel and the Wind Cloak as the engine, Hyuga Ao's personal jet fighter took flight through the sky.

A certain Bear once said: with enough thrust, even a brick can fly.

Hyuga Ao didn't yet have the power to launch herself straight up from a standstill, but she had the aerodynamic advantage.

And so, crossing mountains and rivers, she finally arrived above the Iwagakure camp.

She pulled the hidden clasp she'd prepared earlier, and the Winged Suit instantly transformed into a parachute shape, reinforced further by the Wind Cloak.

Thus, under the cover of night, Hyuga Ao silently descended into the Iwagakure camp.