Changes in Talent

After leaving the academy, Gojo Yoru did not go home. Instead, he used the Body Flicker Technique to reach the Naka River.

At this time, the Uchiha Clan had not yet been forced to relocate near the Naka River, so the area was sparsely populated.

Above the Naka River lay cliffs and forests.

In the forest, a black afterimage leaped across the treetops, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Unlike other ninjas using the Body Flicker Technique, which sometimes produced slightly grating sounds—and, with poor Chakra control, could even send leaves flying beneath their feet and leave permanent footprints on the branches—this afterimage was different.

As it passed over the treetops, it made no sound at all and left behind no trace.

Though its speed was not especially fast, this level of Chakra control was beyond the reach of even versatile jonin who had mastered at least two Nature Transformations.

Without a doubt, this was an expert in Body Flicker.

Bang—

After leaping through the forest for a long time, the afterimage suddenly crashed into a massive tree that would take several people to encircle. A heavy, dull thud rang out as the figure stuck flat against the trunk like a painting, then slowly slid down.

"Hiss... That hurts, that hurts!"

After landing, Gojo Yoru covered his reddened face with both hands, repeatedly gasping in pain.

If his classmates saw this, Gojo Yoru's image would collapse instantly.

Touching his nose, which had not been knocked crooked, Gojo Yoru stared at the tree before him. Phasing through walls during movement is still too difficult.

That was right. Gojo Yoru had just tried to use his Space-Time Ninjutsu to pass through the tree, but he had failed.

This was also Gojo Yoru's first attempt.

His astonishing growth over this period had inevitably made him a little overconfident.

Gojo Yoru had initially thought that evolution had merely allowed some of his cells to extract Space-Time energy.

Now, however, it seemed that it had been a complete, all-around ascension.

Seven months had passed since he awakened his Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Over those seven months, Gojo Yoru's body had undergone tremendous changes.

First was his height. Though he was only seven years old this year, he had already grown to 1.43 meters.

In the Land of Lightning and Kumogakure, where black- and white-skinned people were everywhere, that height was actually quite ordinary.

But in Konoha and the other ninja villages, he stood head and shoulders above children his age.

After all, even when Uzumaki Naruto graduated at twelve, he was only 1.47 meters tall.

Just as his classmates said, anyone who did not know better would think Gojo Yoru was a Fifth or sixth grade student.

His prematurely developed body had also caused his Chakra reserves to surge. They had already exceeded those of an ordinary Genin, and now they had likely surpassed those of an ordinary chunin.

Though he could not compare to Hatake Kakashi, who could use the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu in his first year, Gojo Yoru was fully qualified to train in the Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan.

However, as his Chakra reserves surged, the proportion of Space-Time Chakra in his total Chakra had dropped from one-third to only one-fifth.

Second, whether due to his talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu or because this evolution had also affected his brain and nerves, something else had changed.

Over the past half year, Gojo Yoru had clearly noticed that his talent had improved tremendously. His progress was almost frightening.

The Ninja Academy's students and teachers all considered Gojo Yoru a genius.

But only Gojo Yoru knew that he could not truly be called one.

More precisely, he was simply incomparable to those geniuses who appeared only once every ten years, or even once every few decades.

Going to bed early, rising early, and receiving ample nutrition had given him Chakra reserves far beyond those of his peers.

But before the five-year-old Hatake Kakashi, he was not even worthy of carrying his shoes.

After extracting Chakra, Gojo Yoru began practicing tree climbing and water walking to improve his Chakra control. He had long mastered the Three Body Techniques, and his strength crushed those of his age. Even sixth grade upperclassmen were no match for him.

Yet Namikaze Minato, relying solely on his terrifying reaction speed, had nearly turned the tables and killed him after just one semester.

As for Orochimaru, there was no need to mention him. Even Tsunade, the Hokage's granddaughter with the Senju Bloodline, could not overshadow his brilliance.

If he could not compare to those bloodline-less monsters, then there was even less need to mention bloodline geniuses.

If he had not awakened the Space-Time Bloodline, then once his intelligence advantage was gone, it would have been inevitable for Namikaze Minato to leave Gojo Yoru far behind.

That was the gap in talent. It could not be made up through hard work; only cheats could contend with it and surpass it!

But now, Gojo Yoru was fully qualified to bear the title of "genius."

Because Gojo Yoru had discovered that his thoughts had become quicker and his reaction speed had grown stronger as well.

When watching Namikaze Minato fight, or when he was matched against him again, Gojo Yoru no longer felt so strained. At last, he understood the advantages brought by swift reactions.

The feeling of the other person's movements seeming to play out in slow motion while he himself moved in fast-forward was simply wonderful.

No wonder the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan had obsessed Orochimaru and Shimura Danzō so deeply.

With these changes, even Gojo Yoru's training in ninjutsu and Chakra control became twice as effective with half the effort.

That was why he had become overconfident!

Over this short half year, Gojo Yoru's Body Flicker had improved to a terrifying degree.

It was like how a half-finished Rasenshuriken could immediately be thrown once Sage Chakra was added to it.

Gojo Yoru still could not fuse ordinary Chakra and Space-Time Chakra to perform Five Element Ninjutsu, but he could fuse them to use the Body Flicker Technique.

The Body Flicker Technique combined with Space-Time Chakra not only increased his speed dramatically, but also made him like a silent ghost.

Once Gojo Yoru could cover his entire body with Space-Time Chakra even in mobile combat, he would merge into space itself. His Body Flicker would no longer encounter resistance, and he would be able to pass through every obstacle. It would surely become even more ghostly.

If he extended that further, perhaps it would no longer be Body Flicker, but true teleportation.

That was also the direction Gojo Yoru was working toward!

After easing the pain, Gojo Yoru continued leaping through the forest with the Body Flicker Technique.

Only when the sun had set and the rosy light could no longer filter through the leaves did Gojo Yoru use Body Flicker to return home.

After dinner, Gojo Yoru entered the basement carved with incantations, which was perhaps meant to block sensory abilities and x-ray vision. But he was not there to revise and supplement the "Game Guide." Instead, he formed hand seals with both hands and mobilized the Space-Time Chakra within his body.

The next second, Gojo Yoru's figure slowly sank into the ground, silently leaving Konoha.

Gojo Yoru did not know whether Sarutobi Hiruzen had already mastered the Crystal Viewing Technique, or whether he might happen to scan this area.

Nor did he know whether, as a civilian genius and an orphan whose parents had both died, he had already drawn Shimura Danzō's attention.

Just in case, Gojo Yoru never practiced the Body Flicker Technique or high-level ninjutsu beyond C-rank Five Element Ninjutsu at home or within the village.

It was not because he feared being watched by them, but because he worried they might take a liking to his talent and force him to graduate early.

After all, Uchiha Itachi had used the Shadow Clone Jutsu in his first year, and the academy teachers had then believed they had nothing left to teach him, helping him apply for early graduation.

Perhaps that was also one reason the Uchiha Clan had been destroyed.

A six-year-old child who had learned no cultural knowledge, yet graduated early because he was too strong—wasn't that just an illiterate with tremendous power?

No wonder he had no brains!