Since what had happened to him was another "one-of-a-kind" issue with no precedent, Hanyu could only guess that the cause had something to do with the supernatural.
Combining different ninjutsu seals in a sequence and reusing the seals they had in common was something no other ninja had ever tried before—and probably never would. Hanyu had only discovered he could do it by accident.
First, after a night of obsessive training, Hanyu had actually managed to use the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet before dawn. Then, in his excitement, he remembered that the Third had once used a combination technique called the Earth Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. As far as he recalled, it combined the Earth Dragon Bullet with the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. Using that as a reference, Hanyu wanted to see what would happen if he combined the Water Dragon Bullet with the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. But by the time he tried, he was already exhausted. His mind went blank while forming the Hand Seals, and his hands got sloppy. So... the techniques didn't combine. Instead, he used them both at the same time.
This was far more than a case of finding light at the end of the tunnel.
Though Hanyu hadn't been a ninja for long, his teacher had given him a solid grounding in the fundamentals. After a while, he figured out what he had done.
Then he began testing this method of forming Hand Seals with different Water Release Ninjutsu—and succeeded again.
Seals were the bridge between ninjutsu, the "result," and chakra, the "energy." In a sense, they were the physical manifestation of mental control, a kind of "signal." Hanyu's ability to process that signal on a deeper level could only be attributed to the strength of his mental energy.
In the worldview of the Shinobi World, science would call it powerful "mental energy," while the supernatural explanation would call it a powerful "soul."
After all, Hanyu had arrived in this world in an inexplicable way. Though he had taken over a new body, he hadn't suffered the kind of mental deterioration associated with Living Corpse Reincarnation. If anything, the opposite was true. If an ordinary person was born with a mental capacity of one, Hanyu might well have been born with two.
That meant his mental energy had started out twice as great as normal. And as that initial advantage multiplied with each increase from training, the gap between him and an ordinary ninja had become more pronounced—perhaps even impossible to measure.
After turning it over in his mind, Hanyu could only sigh:
"Nature truly is miraculous..."
As for how he could create and use different chakra natures at the same time without it being a Kekkei Genkai, that was harder to explain.
Hanyu silently covered one shoulder with his hand. Perhaps the one unpredictable thing that had happened to him was what had caused this. At least now he could be sure that the chakra-infiltration phenomenon he'd experienced before hadn't been caused by the Second's ninjutsu alone.
It was still unclear whether the changes happening to him would put him in danger, but their benefits were obvious. His fighting style would become unconventional and unpredictable, and his combat ability would improve dramatically.
But this fast, efficient way of using ninjutsu also meant that his chakra reserves had become the main limit on his fighting strength.
That was only natural. Every DPS had to worry about running out of mana.
He could imagine the changes this new fighting style would bring, but he wouldn't know whether it lived up to his expectations until he tested it in practice.
So when Sanshao noticed how Hanyu had changed, she knew they wouldn't figure out the reason anytime soon and immediately turned her attention to practical matters. To test Hanyu's combat abilities, she quickly arranged a group of sparring partners for him.
At that moment, the sparring partners were on their way...
"Hey, what kind of mission do you think this is?"
"Didn't you hear? We're not going on a mission. We're going to take part in live combat training."
"Live combat training? Why did they pick us for it? And we've already done plenty of training, both with our teacher and against each other. Still... combat training sounds good. It's better than patrolling the village or accompanying our teacher to inspect some important Konoha site. Those things are more like children playing house than missions. The only reason those damn mission officers give them to us is that they look down on us for being young. One day, I'll make them eat their words." The first speaker went on.
Boring missions weren't appealing to any ninja, but they still had to carry them out. However, if someone thought of such missions as playing house, then there was something wrong with their attitude.
"If our teacher hears you nitpicking like that, she'll get angry. Don't drag us down with you when she punishes you. Personally, I'm looking forward to this training... I heard our opponent played a huge role in the recent mission to Cloud Village. I doubt they're just anyone." The other person spoke again. But what they said was far beyond what a child their age should have known. Konoha's trip to Cloud Village—its members, purpose, and final outcome—should all have been highly classified information. Yet they had revealed it with ease.
"So we only have one opponent? Three against one? They must really look down on us."
One was cool and level-headed, while another grumbled incessantly. Their "conversation" finally drew a response from the third person, who had remained silent until then. "Jiraiya, you talk too much. Listen, we have to give this training everything we've got, no matter what. If you try any of your usual nonsense... Anyway, this is the one time we absolutely have to win. If you do well, I'll return all the books I confiscated from you."
"Really? You're not going to trick me, are you?" Those words instantly filled Jiraiya with enthusiasm for the live combat training... Yes, this really was Jiraiya.
This was the trio of Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.
"Of course I'm telling the truth. Why would I lie about something like that?"
The answer was, "Because she absolutely would." What else could have happened to Jiraiya's books besides being burned? Was she supposed to keep them for him?
"Then it's a deal."
"Orochimaru, the same goes for you." Tsunade turned and added the reminder for Orochimaru.
At this point, the best they could hope for was that Jiraiya wouldn't hold them back. Orochimaru, though, was different. He had real "combat strength."
Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully. He understood where Tsunade's competitive streak was coming from. It had nothing to do with their opponent and everything to do with the person who had assigned them the training.
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