Methods of Improving Personal Strength

Besides currying favor with the Daimyo, the most important thing for him now was to work hard at improving his own strength.

After all, the world of Hokage was one with extraordinary powers. Individual strength was always an indispensable factor. Hozuki Shingetsu might be making huge waves in the Shinobi World right now, but if his strength remained stagnant, then even if Ren fell from power, he would have no chance of taking her place.

Personal strength was the ticket into the circle. Only after reaching a certain threshold and entering that circle could one discuss anything else.

Moreover, the ages of twelve to sixteen were the golden period for a ninja's growth in strength. In the original story, the several years between the end of the Chunin Exams and the beginning of Shippuden had also been the period when the Konoha 12 improved the fastest.

Thus, after initially achieving his goals of throwing the Shinobi World into chaos to buy time for Kirigakure while establishing his prestige within the village, Hozuki Shingetsu began making further plans for improving his strength.

At present, Hozuki Shingetsu possessed Wind, Water, and Lightning Chakra natures. He was proficient in every Water Release secret technique of the Hozuki Clan apart from Steaming Danger Tyranny, and had mastered the Destructo Disc as well as a half-finished Water Release Chakra Mode. In every respect, he had already met the standards of a Jonin.

Hozuki Shingetsu was also very clear on his own fighting style: he was an artillery-type ninja who primarily relied on ninjutsu ambushes. Of course, in order to compensate for his lack of close-combat ability, he had created Water Release Chakra Mode to deal with the possibility of someone getting close.

Since Jonin was essentially the limit that an ordinary person could reach, breaking through that level required practicing some unconventional ninjutsu.

Based on that, there were three branches through which he could currently improve.

The first was practicing Steaming Danger Tyranny. As the signature technique of the Second Mizukage, the combination of Steaming Danger Tyranny and Mirage was a "trash mob crusher" in every sense of the term. Even experts could suffer a crushing defeat if they were careless. The Second Tsuchikage, Mu, had been wrapped head to toe in bandages because this technique had blown his skin into rot, forcing him to appear before others covered in bandages.

However, the drawbacks of practicing this technique were equally obvious. Leaving aside the complexity of the ninjutsu itself, it was a composite technique of oil and water that used steam to create explosions. Just hearing that was enough to sense the immense danger hidden within it. This was precisely why, in the more than ten years since Hozuki Gengetsu's death, no one in the Hozuki Clan had successfully mastered it.

The second was continuing to refine Water Release Chakra Mode. Although Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the technique that the Yotsuki Clan of Kumogakure relied upon for its fame, was only a B-rank ninjutsu in itself, the Yotsuki Clan had developed it to the utmost limit. Kumogakure's Nintaijutsu was unrivaled in the Shinobi World, and there had been no shortage of Yotsuki Clan members throughout the generations who possessed Kage-level strength through this technique. The upper limit of the Water Release Chakra Mode modeled after it was evident enough.

Yet its drawback was equally obvious: how exactly was he supposed to complete Water Release Chakra Mode? Kumogakure had spent decades, even centuries, refining Lightning Release Chakra Mode before developing its current series of Nintaijutsu based on it. Unless an expert who practiced Lightning Release Chakra Mode taught him hand in hand, there was no telling how long it would take to complete it.

As for the third option, it was Sage Mode.

As the best method in the original story for ordinary people to catch up to those bloodline-wielding monsters, Sage Mode's power needed no explanation. But likewise, its danger and difficulty ranked first among the three methods.

Naruto, the child favored by fate in the Shinobi World, had been born with a pure heart. Even so, he had turned into a toad time and again while absorbing Natural Energy. Its danger was self-evident.

Hozuki Shingetsu wrote and drew on a sheet of paper, constantly weighing the pros and cons of the three methods.

After much consideration, he finally drew a circle around the character "sage." Then he placed a question mark beside the character "water," and finally crossed out the character "steam."

After thinking it over for a long time, Hozuki Shingetsu ultimately decided to focus on Sage Mode, make Water Release Chakra Mode his secondary training goal, and leave Steaming Danger Tyranny to fate.

After all, practicing Steaming Danger Tyranny was about as dangerous as Sage Mode, yet it was not as powerful. Naturally, he would choose Sage Mode. As for Water Release Chakra Mode, it was the final puzzle piece Hozuki Shingetsu needed to make up for his shortcomings in close-range combat.

In terms of taijutsu alone, Hozuki Shingetsu was not weak at all. He was at the normal level of a Jonin. But compared with Jonin who specialized in taijutsu, he was still far inferior. Lightning countered Water in particular, and Hozuki Shingetsu's strength was built around Water Release. Kumogakure just happened to produce taijutsu experts, so if he did not guard against them, he might really get caught off guard someday.

After deciding to prioritize Sage Mode and make developing Water Release Chakra Mode secondary, Hozuki Shingetsu considered things in his mind for a long while before finally settling on his next training plan.

And speaking of this, one had to mention Hozuki Shingetsu's Golden Finger: an innate ability, similar to that of the Sage of Six Paths, that allowed him to use Chakra to connect with other people's hearts.

The Sage of Six Paths had used it to spread the beauty between people and establish Ninshu, fully proving that Chakra could serve as a medium for conveying emotions. It was also through this ability that Hozuki Shingetsu had earned Giant Clam's recognition. After all, goodwill conveyed on the level of Chakra was beyond question.

At the same time, Hozuki Shingetsu had discovered through experiments on Ao that the more times this ability was used on a person, the more that person would trust him.

When Hozuki Shingetsu discovered this trait, amid his delight, his mind somehow instinctively drifted to those ancient webnovel plots where the male and female leads met too late in life, only to remain devoted to each other until death.

Hiss... That actually sounds kind of exciting!

Ahem, putting that aside. It was precisely because Hozuki Shingetsu had discovered this trait of his that he set his sights on Sage Mode.

As the technique Naruto first used to transform in the original story, Hozuki Shingetsu naturally knew the principles behind Sage Mode. Absorb Natural Energy, then maintain a 1:1:1 balance with physical energy and spiritual energy, and one could naturally refine Sage Chakra and enter Sage Mode.

The first difficulty was sensing Natural Energy. The second was maintaining the balance of several kinds of energy within one's body while remaining completely still.

Normally, without the help of the Three Great Sage Regions, it was difficult for ordinary people to sense the existence of Natural Energy. Hozuki Shingetsu was no exception; he could not sense Natural Energy either.

However, because he knew the original plot well, he knew that the Forbidden Jutsu of the Tsuchigumo Clan, Dofatsu-ten no Jutsu, operated by absorbing Natural Energy. Its destructive power varied according to the amount of Natural Energy absorbed into the body, with its maximum capable of destroying an area spanning hundreds of kilometers in radius.

Of course, the price was equally brutal: the caster would be reduced to nothing, leaving not even bones behind.

As ninjutsu that both used Natural Energy, Dofatsu-ten no Jutsu and Sage Mode also had similarities. Before activation, one had to remain motionless and absorb Natural Energy.

However, Dofatsu-ten no Jutsu forcibly stored Natural Energy within the body before releasing it all in one burst. It was immensely powerful but uncontrollable. Sage Mode, on the other hand, steadily combined a portion of Natural Energy with physical and spiritual energy, transforming it into Sage Chakra that one could use. It enhanced one's strength, but its duration was short.

The two shared the same starting point but used it differently. Still, different paths led to the same destination. Theoretically, if Hozuki Shingetsu cast Dofatsu-ten no Jutsu several more times, he would surely be able to learn Sage Mode.

But that was naturally impossible. After all, there was no Rinnegan around now that could continuously cast Rinne Tensei on him.

However, Hozuki Shingetsu did not need to learn this Forbidden Jutsu. He only needed to use his Golden Finger to connect his Chakra to the heart of a Tsuchigumo Clan member while they cast Dofatsu-ten no Jutsu, sense their state of mind at that moment, and experience what it felt like to absorb Natural Energy. Then he would naturally know how to absorb Natural Energy himself.

Nor was it limited to this. Whenever anyone cast a ninjutsu, as long as he used his Golden Finger to connect his Chakra to their heart, he could understand what realization they had while casting it. With that realization to guide him, as long as he had the aptitude to learn a particular ninjutsu, he could master it in the shortest possible time.

To thank those ninja who cast techniques for him and helped him secretly learn them, Hozuki Shingetsu even gave this use a special name.

"Nintai."