Flying Thunder God

After the greedy vice principal left, dusk settled.

Byakuya put on his Black Trench Coat and Shuten-dōji Mask, slung his Ninja Sword over his back, and headed for the forest outside Konoha.

He took a detour, passing by the Uchiha Clan Compound. Everything was peaceful.

Several Uchiha kept a wary eye on him from outside the compound.

As the two clans that had founded the Hidden Leaf Village, they had each faded into obscurity in different ways. What a bitter irony.

Judging by the Uchiha Clan's fate, the Senju Clan's decision had undoubtedly been wise. They had avoided the risks of standing out from the crowd, trading it for a peaceful life for their clansmen and the continuation of the Senju bloodline.

"Dad, look at that man's mask..."

"Izumi, that mask is called the Shuten-dōji Mask. It belongs to a legendary demon king."

"A demon king? Is he strong?"

"Not as strong as our Uchiha."

The father held the little girl in his arms and looked toward Byakuya.

Izumi?

Byakuya stopped and stared at the curious little girl. Could she be Uchiha Izumi? What a tragic person.

"What are you doing near the Uchiha Clan Compound?"

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

"Hey, where'd he go? Where did he run off to?"

"Did he use the Shadow Clone Technique? Maybe he dispelled it when we spotted him?"

"Looks that way."

Byakuya reappeared at the edge of the forest.

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

He had received Senju Tobirama's Water Release: Water Severing Wave and Flying Thunder God Technique. At first, he had assumed the Space-Time Ninjutsu would be harder to master.

But once he began studying both techniques, Water Release: Water Severing Wave proved far more difficult than the Flying Thunder God Technique!

Not just a little harder. Much, much harder.

It required precise chakra control to highly concentrate and compress water to molecular density, giving it far greater hardness and cutting power than ordinary Water Release.

Successfully compressing the water was only the first step. The second was directional projection and shape stabilization.

Guided by chakra, the water had to maintain a fine, thin, flat, straight shape. Combined with its momentum and density, this allowed it to cut through anything.

After seeing this S-Rank Ninjutsu, Byakuya even wondered if Senju Tobirama had been a transmigrator, too.

This wasn't Water Release. It was an industrial waterjet, upgraded into a ninjutsu through human ingenuity.

Deep in the forest, Byakuya tried and failed once again to practice Water Release: Water Severing Wave.

Sitting beneath the moonlight, he said, "Senju Tobirama was absurdly talented. Compared to him, every other genius in the Shinobi World seems stupid."

"With my current chakra control, highly concentrating water and then compressing it to molecular density is just a pipe dream. It also demands a nearly absurd amount of chakra. Tobirama's version of Water Release: Water Formation Wall looks like a toy next to this S-Rank Ninjutsu."

The Flying Thunder God Technique, however, wasn't as difficult for him.

Byakuya had received a Fate Grid reward that improved his Ninjutsu talent. Though he hadn't mastered the technique yet, he could now perform one Flying Thunder God jump a day.

That was right. He could only perform one space-time jump per day.

It consumed a great deal of chakra and left him especially mentally exhausted, but it was enough as a life-saving trump card.

The most important parts of mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique were the space-coordinate mark, or formula, and the chakra that guided the space-time jump.

He used his own chakra to leave a Flying Thunder God Mark on the target.

The mark served as a medium linking his chakra to the spatial coordinates, essentially like installing a GPS tracker.

The tricky part was that a Flying Thunder God Mark could remain indefinitely.

Next, he sensed the connection between his chakra and the mark, accurately locked onto the mark's spatial coordinates, and converted his chakra into "spatial energy." Then he broke through the barriers between his current location and the target space, instantly transporting himself to the mark.

Besides the improvement to his Ninjutsu talent from his Fate Grid, the "spatial energy" involved in the Flying Thunder God Technique turned out to be a form of Natural Energy.

His Fate Grid had also slightly improved his Sage Art Talent and Sage Art Affinity.

During his practice, this let him quickly understand the nature of spatial energy. He could then convert chakra into spatial energy, break through the barriers of space, and transport himself to the location marked with the Flying Thunder God Mark.

Byakuya couldn't help but marvel again. "Senju Tobirama really was a genius. No wonder, out of all the ninjas in Konoha, only Namikaze Minato learned the Flying Thunder God Technique. Maybe his Sage Art training at Mount Myoboku had something to do with it, too."

Namikaze Minato knew Sage Art. His teacher, Jiraiya, had probably taken him to Mount Myoboku to learn it.

"With my abilities right now, I can't do a thing with Water Release: Water Severing Wave, and I've only just crossed the threshold of the Flying Thunder God Technique. To make further progress—or reach the point where I can use it as freely as Namikaze Minato—I'll need major improvements to my chakra reserves, chakra control, stamina, spiritual energy, and everything else... Maybe then."

If anyone else faced a situation like this, they'd be utterly despairing.

But Byakuya was different.

He had a cheat.

As long as he kept lying low and completing the time-limited tasks issued by his Fate Grid, he'd keep earning rewards. Sooner or later, he'd be able to use Water Release: Water Severing Wave and the Flying Thunder God Technique as effortlessly as Senju Tobirama had during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

After calming his excitement, he brought up the panel.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence, Perseverance Leads to Success

Time limit: 2 days: Throw shuriken (57/100)

Reward: Slight improvement to ninja tool talent]

In the first four days, his Fate Grid had issued just one time-limited task, and its reward had only slightly improved his Taijutsu.

Byakuya still hoped the Fate Grid would give him more straightforward rewards, like "increased chakra reserves," "improved chakra control," and "increased stamina."

But now it seemed the Fate Grid had its own pace. It never rushed, and never dragged its feet.

Sometimes he couldn't tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Either way, he had to stay alive and keep lying low!!

Next, he'd complete his Fate Grid task.

For him now, hitting the bull's-eye with a thrown shuriken was no longer difficult.

After packing up his ninja tools and slinging his Ninja Sword over his back, he made his way through the forest, returning to Konoha beneath the stars.

Halfway there, he suddenly sensed someone nearby.

He picked up the presence of chakra.

Like a cat, someone had landed soundlessly on a tree branch.

There was a clearing nearby.

Hatake Kakashi gripped the White Fang short sword and practiced his swordsmanship with complete focus. The moonlight shone on his silvery-white hair, as if laying a soft glow over it.

Byakuya wondered, Wasn't the Hatake Clan known for its swordsmanship?

That short sword had belonged to Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo. Kakashi had inherited it after Hatake Sakumo took his own life.

As expected of the future Sixth, Kakashi suddenly threw two kunai at Byakuya.

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

"Spying on someone while they're training is rude." Hatake Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the Shuten-dōji Mask on Byakuya's face. "So it's you. I want to spar with you again."

Byakuya deliberately gave a hoarse laugh. "Sure. I want to see what Namikaze Minato has taught you, and whether you've gotten any stronger..."

"Please!"

"Please!"

The battle erupted in an instant.