Flying Thunder God

After that money-grubbing vice principal left, the sky turned dark.

Byakuya donned his black trench coat, strapped on the Shuten-doji mask, slung his Ninja Sword across his back, and hurried toward the forest outside Konoha.

He took a detour, passing by the Uchiha Clan compound, which lay in peaceful silence.

Outside the compound, several Uchiha watched him with wary eyes.

As the two founding partners of the Hidden Leaf Village, the fact that their respective clans had faded into obscurity in such different ways was truly ironic.

If one looked at the fate of the Uchiha Clan, the Senju Clan's decision was undoubtedly brilliant; they avoided the risk of being the tallest tree in the forest, traded it for a peaceful life for their people, and ensured the continuation of the Senju bloodline.

"Daddy, look at the mask that person is wearing..."

"Izumi, that mask is called Shuten-doji, a legendary demon king."

"A demon king? Is he strong?"

"Not as strong as us Uchiha."

The father held the little girl and watched Byakuya.

Izumi?

Byakuya paused, staring at the curious little girl. Could she be Uchiha Izumi? A truly tragic soul.

"What is your purpose for coming near our Uchiha compound?"

Just as the patrolling Uchiha ninja stepped forward to question him, Byakuya, wearing the Shuten-doji mask, vanished from their sight in an instant.

"Hey, where did he go?"

"Could he have used the Shadow Clone Technique? Did he dispel the jutsu after we spotted him?"

"Looks like it."

Byakuya reappeared on the outskirts of the forest.

He left a Flying Thunder God mark on an unremarkable little tree.

Having obtained both Senju Tobirama's Water Release: Water Severing Wave and the Flying Thunder God, he had originally assumed the space-time ninjutsu, Flying Thunder God, would be the more difficult of the two.

Yet, when Byakuya began to study both, he found that the difficulty of Water Release: Water Severing Wave far exceeded that of the Flying Thunder God!

Not just a little, but by a vast, vast margin.

It required precise chakra control to condense water to a molecular density, granting the stream a hardness and cutting power far beyond ordinary Water Release.

Successfully compressing it was only the first step; the second was directional projection and form locking.

By guiding the water flow to maintain a state that was thin, flat, and straight, and combining it with the dual effects of kinetic energy and density, it achieved an unstoppable cutting effect.

After studying this S-rank ninjutsu, Byakuya even suspected that Senju Tobirama was a transmigrator himself.

This wasn't just Water Release; it was clearly a man-made, enhanced industrial water jet.

Deep in the forest, he failed yet again to practice Water Release: Water Severing Wave.

Sitting under the moonlight, Byakuya sighed, "Senju Tobirama was excessively genius. Compared to him, every other genius in the ninja world seems dull-witted."

"With my current chakra control, trying to condense water and then compress it to molecular density is nothing but a pipe dream. Furthermore, it has almost harsh requirements for chakra volume. Compared to this S-rank jutsu, Tobirama's version of Water Release: Water Formation Wall is like a toy."

The Flying Thunder God, however, was not so difficult for him.

Byakuya had received a Fate Grid reward that boosted his ninjutsu talent. Although he hadn't mastered it yet, he could perform one Flying Thunder God jump every day.

That's right, he could only perform one space jump per day.

It consumed a massive amount of chakra and left his mind exceptionally exhausted, but as a trump card for survival, it was sufficient.

The most important aspects of practicing the Flying Thunder God are the spatial coordinate mark (the formula) and the chakra guidance for the space jump.

One uses their own chakra to leave a Flying Thunder God mark on a target object.

This mark acts as a medium binding one's own chakra to the spatial coordinate, effectively installing a GPS tracker.

The cheat-like part is that the Flying Thunder God mark can persist indefinitely.

By sensing the connection between his own chakra and the mark, he could accurately lock onto the spatial coordinate of the mark, then convert chakra into "spatial energy" to break through the barrier between the current space and the target space, instantly teleporting himself to the location of the mark.

Beyond the ninjutsu talent boosted by his Fate Grid, the "spatial energy" involved in the Flying Thunder God actually belonged to a type of natural energy.

His Fate Grid had also slightly improved Byakuya's sage art talent and affinity.

This allowed him to quickly grasp the nature of spatial energy during his practice, subsequently converting chakra into spatial energy to break through spatial barriers and teleport to the location where he had left the mark.

Byakuya couldn't help but marvel again: "Senju Tobirama really was a genius. No wonder that out of so many ninjas in Konoha, only Namikaze Minato learned the Flying Thunder God. Perhaps the sage arts of Mount Myoboku played a part as well."

Namikaze Minato knew sage arts, likely taught to him by his teacher, Jiraiya, at Mount Myoboku.

"With my current abilities, I am helpless against Water Release: Water Severing Wave, and I have only just stepped over the threshold of the Flying Thunder God. To go further, or to reach the level of ease Namikaze Minato possessed, I must significantly increase my chakra volume, chakra control, physical strength, mental energy, and other stats... perhaps then it will be possible."

If anyone else were in this situation, they would surely be filled with despair.

But Byakuya was different.

He had a cheat.

As long as he kept his head down, continuously completed the limited-time tasks issued by the Fate Grid, and reaped the rewards, he would sooner or later be able to use Water Release: Water Severing Wave and the Flying Thunder God as effortlessly as Senju Tobirama did during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

He calmed his surging emotions.

He pulled up the panel.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence, Perseverance Leads to Success

Time Limit 2 Days: Throw Shuriken (57/100)

Reward: Minor increase in Ninja Tool Talent]

Over the past four days, the Fate Grid had only issued one time-limited task, the reward for which was merely a minor increase in Taijutsu.

Byakuya still hoped the Fate Grid would provide more straightforward, brute-force rewards like "Chakra Volume Increase," "Chakra Control Increase," or "Stamina Increase."

Yet, it seemed the Fate Grid had its own rhythm—unhurried, steady, and calm.

Sometimes he couldn't tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Regardless, he had to keep his head down and survive!

Next, it was time to complete the Fate Grid's task.

For him now, hitting the bullseye with a shuriken was no longer difficult.

He packed his ninja tools, strapped on his Ninja Sword, and wove through the forest, traveling under the stars to return to Konoha.

Halfway there, he suddenly sensed someone nearby.

He perceived the aura of Chakra.

Like a cat, the figure landed silently on a tree trunk.

That spot was a clearing.

Hatake Kakashi gripped the White Fang short blade, practicing his swordsmanship with total focus. The moonlight shone on his silver-white hair, as if coating it in a soft radiance.

Byakuya pondered, I recall the Hatake family specializes in sword techniques, don't they?

That short blade was the weapon of Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo; after Hatake Sakumo committed suicide, Kakashi inherited it.

As expected of the future Sixth Hokage, Kakashi suddenly threw two Kunai toward Byakuya.

Byakuya drew his Ninja Sword and knocked the Kunai away with ease.

"Peeking at others' training is very impolite." Hatake Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the Shuten-doji mask on Byakuya's face. "It's you. I want to spar with you again."

Byakuya let out a deliberately raspy laugh: "No problem. I also want to see what Namikaze Minato has taught you and whether your strength has grown..."

"Please!"

"Please!"

The battle erupted in an instant.