Flying Thunder God Technique

A few days had passed since the conclusion of the first Joint Chunin Selection Exam, which had been dubbed the "first and worst generation."

Konohagakure still retained the lingering warmth of the post-festival atmosphere.

The bustling shopping district was filled with a lively energy, and people were enthusiastically discussing topics related to the Chunin Selection Exam.

Afternoon at the Konoha Cafeteria.

Sitting at the table, Diejian slurped his steaming udon noodles while squinting his eyes, feeling both annoyed and amused as he stared at the "hair whorl" in front of him.

Juri had buried her face in her crossed arms, lying motionless on the dining table, only occasionally shaking her shoulders as if twitching, accompanied by the sound of sniffing.

Diejian swallowed the chewed-up udon.

He used his chopsticks to fish out a fresh batch of noodles from the bowl filled with steaming broth and shoved them into his wide-open mouth.

Slurp, slurp, he went, sucking up the noodles.

The sound of slurping udon overlapped with the sound of Juri sniffing; Diejian stopped his slurping, letting a few strands of noodles fall from his mouth.

He looked alternately at the noodles hanging from his lips to keep them from sliding off and at Juri's hair whorl, then quietly, without making a sound, sucked the noodles back up.

Regardless of the reason, he had lost his appetite.

He gently placed his chopsticks on the bowl.

He glanced to the side.

Sakumo was exuding an aura that was less "it has nothing to do with me" and more "I don't want to get involved," simply keeping his head down and staring at his meal.

The Konoha Cafeteria, silent as a wake, had been reserved for them thanks to the owner's kindness.

In contrast to the tightly closed shop, the outside was bright and noisy.

The clamor that drifted in like wind through a crack seemed to revolve primarily around the previous exam topics.

Every time they heard people excitedly discussing Diejian or Sakumo, Juri's shoulders would give a violent jerk.

So awkward...

His throat felt inexplicably dry, and Diejian gulped down some warm tea to moisten it.

The sound of two teacups being placed on the table overlapped with a dull, inorganic thud.

Both Sakumo and Diejian remained silent, avoiding eye contact.

Neither of them wanted to draw attention to themselves in front of Juri, who was radiating such a strange atmosphere.

The sound of the wind chime echoing in the silence sounded particularly foolish.

Diejian could only silently endure this period of time.

After spending a while in this space where the passage of time had become ambiguous—whether it had been a minute or ten—a helping hand finally reached out to Diejian.

It was Juri's older brother, who radiated a gloomy aura and was also Diejian and the others' teacher, Kagami Uchiha; he pulled open the door of the eatery.

The light from the outside world, shining in through the opened door, illuminated Kagami like a halo.

His own sister was lying motionless on the dining table, while his students were shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, focused only on their meals.

For Kagami, as their teacher, the cause was easy to guess, but this abnormal scene still made him recoil slightly for a moment.

The memory of Yamanaka Ina quietly showing off her skills during the final Chunin Selection Exam, the Super Dimensional Ninja Kemari, was still fresh.

Although the evaluation of the general audience didn't amount to much, the high-ranking officials of Konoha unanimously approved her promotion to Chunin.

Despite the disgraceful ending of being eliminated halfway through, Senju Diejian was also approved for promotion to Chunin.

The commander-level talent he displayed in leading the other ninja was one of the factors taken into account.

Incidentally, his command style—treating even himself as a pawn to take down an enemy elite—was written about at great length.

Of course, Diejian himself had no such intention. His mood was complicated.

Because of his defeat, Sakumo had assumed his promotion to Chunin had gone down the drain.

However, the previous exam had not required team victory or defeat.

The examiners were screening for shining individual talent during the competition.

After Juri was sealed by Ina, his ability to immediately reorganize and command, along with his rare, outstanding talent that exceeded the scope of a Genin, was recognized, and Sakumo was approved for promotion to Chunin.

Yamanaka Ina, Senju Diejian, and Hatake Sakumo—these three were the entire list of Konoha Genin recognized for promotion to Chunin in this exam.

Therefore, this meal at the Konoha Cafeteria was originally intended as a celebration for Diejian and Sakumo's promotion.

Kagami was late due to some miscellaneous tasks, and he had sent word for them to eat first.

Diejian and Sakumo exchanged a look, then looked up at the approaching Kagami.

The look clearly said, "She's your sister, do something about it."

But Kagami was not a clever man.

What he said to his sister, who was still lying down, was a perfunctory comfort like, "There will be another chance next time."

Juri suddenly sat up straight and cast a sharp gaze toward Diejian.

What caught Diejian's attention most was not Juri's red, swollen eyes, but the "mark" left on her forehead from having been pressed against the table for so long.

The faint, crisscrossing marks of bandages were clearly imprinted on her flushed forehead, lending her an inexplicably cute appearance.

Juri suddenly let out a wild cry and lunged, while Diejian's mouth twitched as he thought, It's me, for heaven's sake.

Finding the situation a bit troublesome, Kagami quietly allowed his eyes to shift into the Sharingan.

Juri, who had been called out by Kagami, was just about to bite him as well, but in the next second, she slammed her face onto the dining table with a loud thud.

It was the hypnotic genjutsu of the Sharingan.

Kagami smiled faintly and turned his gaze toward Diejian and Sakumo.

"Don't tell Juri about this."

"Understood, so please stop pointing that Sharingan at me."

Facing Kagami, who was still smiling with his Sharingan active, Sakumo returned a stiff smile.

Kagami said "pardon me" and deactivated his Sharingan, while Diejian clutched his head as if to say, Is this really okay? trying to suppress a headache.

"I have a Sharingan too, so why..."

This time, Juri suddenly started sobbing, and Kagami wore a look of surprise.

Kagami muttered under his breath, "I didn't expect it to be broken."

"Well, she didn't really get a chance to show off her skills before Ina sealed her... losing to Ina, there's no way to judge that."

"Ah...?"

This was a very reasonable opinion from Sakumo.

However, upon hearing the words "losing to Ina," two tomoe appeared in Juri's eyes, and a murderous voice vibrated in her throat.

A flustered Sakumo nudged Diejian's flank with his elbow, signaling him to do something, and Diejian sighed internally, thinking, Why me?

"Juri, that was just a bad matchup."

Ina's new technique—the Mind Sealing Body Technique—was a method that used sealing jutsu to directly bind an unguarded spirit.

As long as it landed, it was an exceptional technique capable of overturning the gap in strength.

The sealing arts of the Uzumaki were techniques that possessed exactly that kind of performance.

The Uzumaki were a clan distantly related to Diejian and his kin, the Senju.

In contrast to the Senju clan, who had inherited the Sage Body and the Kekkei Genkai of Wood Release since the era of the Sage of Six Paths, the Uzumaki clan had inherited a wide variety of sealing techniques.

It is said that the sealing arts passed down within the Uzumaki clan could even seal a Tailed Beast, and according to some accounts, they could even command the Death God.

If one's spirit were directly bound by such a monstrous technique, it is unlikely that anyone below the level of the Five Kage could break free.

This was incomparable to the original Mind Body Switch Technique, which took over the body while leaving the spirit to its own devices.

That was why it wasn't that Juri was incompetent; Diejian told her in an earnest tone, "Juri, you are already very strong."

He then pleaded, "So please stop glaring at me with your Sharingan."

Although Juri pouted to emphasize her displeasure, she seemed quite happy to be praised by Diejian.

Reluctantly, she deactivated her Sharingan.

Diejian fumbled around the hem of his clothes.

Today, he was dressed in a simple, Japanese-style outfit, with small pouches sewn onto his wide sleeves for carrying small items.

He pulled a drawstring bag from his hem, and Juri looked on with interest, wondering what was inside.

"Here, it's candy. Want some?"

"You jerk! Don't treat me like a child!"

The opened bag was stuffed with a wide variety of hard candies.

Diejian took one out and held it toward Juri.

Juri's eyes narrowed in anger at Diejian's blatant attempt to treat her like a kid.

"Don't want it?"

"I didn't say I didn't want it, you idiot!"

Juri, who had always loved snacks, especially sweets, wasn't the type of girl to stay silent when she saw Diejian about to put the candy away.

The remaining three shared the same thought (She's just a child, after all), but no one dared to say it aloud and invite trouble.

"Idiot, let go."

"Hmph, you're noisy."

Juri leaned forward toward the candy Diejian was offering, taking both his finger and the candy into her mouth.

The warmth of her saliva and the soft texture of her small tongue and lips enveloped Diejian's finger.

At this childish display of affection, Diejian smiled inwardly.

But they couldn't keep this up forever, so Diejian used the fingers of his other hand to form a circle, bringing it close to the forehead of Juri, who was still nibbling and refusing to let go of his finger.

A flick to the forehead.

Juri, understanding the implication, used only her tongue to snatch the candy ball away, then sat back down as if nothing had happened.

"You're acting just like Nawaki."

Wiping Juri's saliva away with a handkerchief, Diejian glared at her with a helpless expression.

Nawaki—that was the name of Diejian's younger brother.

He was at that age where he wanted to put everything into his mouth.

Diejian's toes had even been held in his mouth before.

"Speaking of which, is Nawaki-kun doing well?"

"Yeah. Mom says he drinks his milk very well and is quite happy. Tsunade also keeps sticking to Nawaki, refusing to leave his side."

"Maybe she's just lonely because you won't play with her."

"Perhaps. But, he is my little brother, after all. He's very cute."

"Is that so? I'm an only child, so I'm a bit envious."

"You should come over and play with him sometime. He's still just an infant who doesn't know anything. If you get on his good side, he might even call you 'Big Brother Sakumo'."

Diejian said this with a lighthearted laugh, noting that was exactly how he had started calling his grandfather's disciples "big brother."

Juri, who was rolling the candy ball around with her tongue, seemed to want to join the conversation, but the candy appeared to be getting in the way, preventing her from opening her mouth.

"By the way, I heard Ina's older sister had a baby too."

"So that girl has finally leveled up to an 'aunt'."

Juri, having seemingly swallowed the candy, emphasized the word "aunt" and let out a huff.

"I wonder what kind of gift I should send..." She let this slip out inadvertently; it seemed her relationship with Ina had stabilized into that of close friends who enjoyed trading barbs.

"It's not Ina's child anyway, so you don't need to send anything too expensive, right? Unless you're very close with her sister."

"That's true."

The conversation came to a lull just as Kagami's meal was brought over.

Kagami offered words of praise to the two who had achieved their promotion to Chunin and led a toast.

Diejian and Hatake Sakumo returned the gesture, and Juri started crying again.

A figure paid a visit to Tobirama, who was busy handling the aftermath of the Chunin Exams.

"Is this really alright, Second Hokage?"

"Ah, the elder from the Uzumaki."

"It's hardly proper to stand and talk." The elder gestured toward a nearby chair with his palm, urging him to sit.

This elderly man with deep wrinkles was one of the influential leaders who held immense sway in the Village of the Whirlpool, where the Uzumaki clan resided.

He was a relative of Hashirama's wife, Mito, and to Diejian, he was a distant relative as well.

Therefore, his influence could not be ignored, even in Konoha, which was a village outside his own.

"During the final exam, that boy didn't use Earth Release, did he? That was..."

"Like my older brother, it was Wood Release."

"So it is as I feared..."

To Tobirama, who answered decisively without any attempt at concealment, the elder let out a low, "Hmm."

"Is it not too early to promote him to Chunin?"

Promoting him to Chunin meant that the future of "inheriting the Senju" had taken on a concrete form; from now on, the situations where Diejian's life would be targeted would likely increase.

Furthermore, Diejian had used Wood Release during the final exam.

Although it had been hidden behind the active performance of Hatake Sakumo, who had displayed talent far exceeding that of a Genin, or perhaps dismissed as Earth Release, there were certainly those who had noticed the truth.

It was precisely this that the elder was worried about.

Wouldn't it have been better to keep him under the protection of a Jonin?

"That boy is already a ninja capable of standing on his own."

Tobirama had once pushed Diejian to his absolute limit.

It was a series of relentless, brutal, and arguably excessive mock battles in the form of real combat.

Diejian had lost consciousness due to exhaustion, only to have his chakra erupt for the sole purpose of killing the hateful Tobirama before him.

Tobirama knew the nature of that chakra overflowing from Diejian's body; it was by no means something that could be taken lightly.

Since then, Tobirama had also viewed Diejian as a dangerous variable, maintaining a certain level of vigilance.

After the exam, Tobirama had asked Diejian: "Why did you disobey orders and open the Eight Gates?"

Diejian, who had been sent back to the hospital, replied: "To carry out my own ninja way."

And then, he had articulated his own ninja way.

"Become a Senju who protects the village—who protects their comrades."

Transcending the barriers of the clan to protect the fellow villagers.

Diejian, who once spoke of protecting the village that his brother Hashirama loved, had, at some point, begun to walk his own unwavering path.

With these words as a sign, Tobirama truly accepted Diejian as his disciple in the truest sense.

In other words, he intended to instill in Diejian all the techniques he had previously held back from teaching.

Tobirama stated that Diejian had reached "that period," possessing "that qualification" and "that capacity."

"Then..."

"Yes. Including the Flying Thunder God and the Impure World Reincarnation, I shall teach him everything I know."

Even the old patriarch could not bring himself to say, "Maybe we should skip the Impure World Reincarnation."

"I'm dying! I'm dying!! I'm dying!!!"

"Before you ascend to heaven, I will drag your soul back with my forbidden jutsu. Die with peace of mind."

"You might as well just kill me."

"You still seem quite energetic," Tobirama said, increasing the pressure weighing down on Diejian.

For the first time in a while, Diejian had been dragged away by Tobirama to a training ground passed down through the Senju clan, far from Konohagakure.

Even after becoming a chunin, there was no way he could defeat Tobirama; his desperate resistance was suppressed within seconds.

To conduct such training without even explaining the reason was nothing short of demonic.

Diejian's arms were bound, and his entire body was strapped with weights.

The weight was set to the level where Diejian could barely stand while keeping the Eight Inner Gates open to his current maximum limit.

At the tip of a rod fixed to his head, a kunai and a Military Ration Pill dangled, swaying right before his eyes.

Being treated like a horse or a pig lured along by a dangling carrot made Diejian feel incredibly unpleasant.

"You can go down, or you can go up. Suit yourself."

"You're, you're joking, right?"

"I am not joking. Listen, Diejian. Focus your consciousness. And then, fly."

The place where he had been thrown was the middle of a sheer, precipitous canyon.

Desperate not to fall to his death, Diejian focused chakra into the soles of his feet, clinging tightly to the cliff face.

He did not understand the intent behind Tobirama's parting words and begged him to "wait," but Tobirama had returned using the Flying Thunder God technique as usual.

Although he managed to cling on by using climbing techniques, he had reached his limit and could not move freely.

Yet, at a height where the slightest lapse in concentration meant death, he had no choice but to endure this asceticism in silence.

While climbing down seemed easier, the bottomless abyss had no end in sight.

Since that was the case, it was better to climb toward the top where he could see the summit—but hours after he began his ascent, he had only advanced a short distance.

He didn't even have the luxury of pondering how he had ended up in such a predicament.

This was a level of harshness incomparable to anything he had faced before; it was training adjacent to death, yet its purpose remained entirely unclear.

Perhaps it was to advance his training for the Eight Inner Gates, but the next gate Diejian was to open was the third, the Gate of Life, and this training was far too severe for that goal alone.

He could not stop the sweat pouring out like a waterfall, and his stamina was visibly being exhausted.

He was no longer in a position to be picky.

If he went on like this, he would die—he had to truly imitate the behavior of a beast.

In other words, he had to get the swaying Military Ration Pill into his mouth, no matter what.

Swallowing hard, Diejian began to sway his body.

On the other hand, the two who had received word from Tsunade that Diejian had been taken away by Tobirama—Ina and Sakumo, who had intended to hang out together for the first time in a while—said "it can't be helped" and happily continued their lunch.

"It was quite a while ago, but that guy Diejian seems to have misunderstood something."

"Misunderstood what?"

Ina, who was eating dessert, looked up with interest.

"He thought you were pregnant, Ina."

"Ha? What on earth happened for him to think that?"

Women were truly clever creatures; though she thought to herself, "I'm at the age where I could have a child if I wanted to," she did not let a single trace of it show on her face in front of Sakumo.

"He mistook Sister Ina's child for your child."

Sakumo laughed and added that his own explanation had been flawed, and Ina clutched her head, thinking, "You'd think he'd be able to figure it out."

"Speaking of Inoichi, Juri gave my sister a huge gift."

Ina said "That really gave me a start" half in surprise, her heart seemingly grateful for this close friend's concern.

Sakumo replied "I did offer my advice," seemingly having anticipated this outcome, and did not show much of a reaction.

"But still. It's such a rare day off, yet Diejian is quite busy."

"Rather than saying Diejian is busy, it's more that the Second Hokage is just too demanding, isn't it?"

"You're right."

Ina laughed lightly, tossing the last bite of food into her mouth, seemingly rolling it on her tongue to savor the sweetness.

"Well, since he's not here, it can't be helped... Sakumo, you take these."

With a thud, she placed a slightly large paper bag on the table, inside of which were several boxes of sweets.

Sakumo asked "What is this," and Ina replied that they were birth gifts.

The Yamanaka Clan is a prestigious family in Konoha, and the main house having a boy is enough to cause quite a stir.

Led by the Sarutobi Clan, gifts from various allied clans had piled up into a mountain.

In contrast, Nawaki, being a male of the Senju line, had a relatively quiet time of it as a noble family member because he had an older brother named Diejian.

"Is this... really okay? But since you're offering, I won't stand on ceremony. Thank you."

"It's fine. I couldn't finish them all anyway."

"By the way," Ina said, as if remembering something, and shot a wink at Sakumo.

Sakumo glanced suspiciously at Ina, who was radiating a subtle atmosphere, and Ina gestured behind her with a movement of her head.

Sakumo turned around slowly and saw Juri standing all alone in the corner across the street.

"That girl has been standing there for a while now. Sakumo, do you know anything about it?"

"No, I don't know anything."

Ina echoed "Hmm—" as her gaze met Juri's.

A smile that showed no trace of their previous friction appeared on Ina's face, and she waved her hand lightly, but Juri just "hmphed" and turned her head away.

Perhaps she was just passing by and felt curious after seeing a familiar face, but lacked the courage to initiate a conversation.

"That girl is actually quite cute. She looks hard to get along with, but she's actually very easy to understand."

"Well, she's better than you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ina tapped Sakumo on the head with a light hand-chop, unable to help but laugh.

Juri seemed very concerned about the giggling Ina and Sakumo.

"How about we call her over?"

"I thought you didn't like Juri very much."

Hearing Sakumo's unexpected words, Ina shrugged and said "How could that be."

For Ina, who had spent a long time unraveling Diejian's stubbornness and bravado and took pride in it, Juri's thoughts were simply transparent.

Even if she said that she and Diejian were very similar, Sakumo probably wouldn't believe it, but this was purely a woman's intuition; there was no helping it.

As for Juri, as long as a man who matched her caliber appeared, she would likely stop hesitating to show her true self.

Ina only held the sentiment toward Juri of "as long as it isn't 'that guy'."

"But seriously, that girl is a real beauty. I'm so jealous."

"I thought you considered yourself a beauty."

"Hey. Don't make me sound like a narcissist."

However, Ina was also at the age where a girl begins to learn makeup and pay attention to her appearance.

She was confident in the fair skin, light blonde hair, and green eyes unique to the Yamanaka Clan, and she was not without confidence in her well-toned physique.

She liked dressing a bit provocatively because of this, and she didn't think she had anything to be ashamed of.

But even so, the Uchiha Clan was something else entirely.

Long, double-lidded eyes, jet-black hair that looked so lustrous it could draw a person in, skin so delicate one would want to press against it, and especially those long legs.

Ina was confident in her own figure and possessed assets that ordinary women couldn't compare to, but every time she saw Juri, Ina felt that the Uchiha Clan's side of things was simply cheating.

If Ina was a woman who hid a bewitching temperament within a lively impression, then what Juri radiated was a kind of cheating, unbalanced sexiness—a glimpse of pure innocence hidden within a cold, aloof beauty that kept people at a distance.

As for that innocent part, the main reason was probably the twin tails.

Although the types were different, the grass is always greener on the other side.

Although Sakumo was used to her beauty from being together so often, he would occasionally still marvel at it.

However, Sakumo was a man who valued the inner self over the outer, so it stopped there.

Frankly speaking, if they weren't in the same class, he wouldn't want to have any interaction with her at all.

"But if that were the case, it seems like she would be pestered by strange guys."

"Well, I am often with Juri, I won't deny that."

Uchiha Shuri, who was approached by others wherever she went, had finally attracted the attention of ninjas from other villages during the recent Chunin Selection Exams.

Although their work was primarily civil engineering, they were not without other types of missions.

Being hit on by men at mission sites was a common occurrence.

On top of that, her femininity had been becoming increasingly refined lately.

As they were speaking, just as expected, Shuri was cornered by a few strange men.

They likely hadn't noticed the Uchiha clan crest on her back.

Had they known, they would surely have been too intimidated to approach her.

Even though Shuri could have simply revealed it, she seemed only to frown in displeasure, at a loss for what to do.

Diejian usually intervened in such matters, and Shuri lacked the experience to handle them on her own.

"I'll be right back."

As if unable to watch the commotion that was about to escalate, Ina stood up.

Sakumo nodded, watching Ina's retreating back, then called the waiter to add to their order.

Just as the clerk disappeared into the back of the shop, the noise outside grew even louder.

In his heart, he pressed his palms together in silent prayer for those men whose names he didn't even know.

"Sorry to keep you waiting—"

"Sakumo, why didn't you come?"

Ina returned to her seat as if nothing had happened, and Shuri, who had followed her, sat down gently beside her.

"Are you even a man? Are you even a friend?" The way Shuri pouted was, as expected, quite at odds with her appearance.

Sakumo had always felt that Shuri was overly concerned with gender roles, or perhaps concepts like masculinity and femininity.

Contradicting her words and actions, the accessories she wore and her subtle gestures favored things that emphasized femininity, and she possessed enough conviction to demand that others act "that way" as well.

What Sakumo thought about wasn't whether this was good or bad, but rather the sense of dissonance in that atmosphere.

She seemed to be the type who hated drawing lines between men and women, yet to put it simply, she also radiated an air of "dreamy maiden thoughts"; Shuri always gave off an impression of inconsistency.

Sakumo's harsh critique continued.

Furthermore, ever since the Chunin Exams, she had become particularly emphatic about words like "friend" and "partner."

Although this was contrary to her usual overbearing behavior, Sakumo, who knew that Shuri was essentially a "woman who values her companions and is deeply loyal," didn't think much of it—but recalling how Team Six was when it first formed, he occasionally wondered if this was truly the same person.

Compared to that time, when she would constantly insist that "the Senju are bad, the Senju are bad," and even directed her hostility toward Sakumo by association, it was like night and day.

From that point on, in training exercises with Kagami, it was always Shuri who was defeated first, and it was always Diejian who ran to support her.

When they failed during missions, Diejian also seemed to be the first to rush to Shuri's aid.

That might not have been without the intention of currying favor with Shuri, an Uchiha—but fundamentally, for the meddlesome Diejian, there was likely no such thing as being two-faced.

Back in the Ninja Academy days, he was often disliked or avoided for being overly enthusiastic, but it is quite difficult to maintain hostility toward someone who continuously shows you kindness.

Shuri, who originally had no reason to dislike Diejian other than "he is a Senju," simply grew dependent on Diejian while spending those days together.

If she could become honest just like that, then she wouldn't be "Uchiha Shuri" anymore, and Sakumo thought as much.

However, seeing the interaction between Shuri, who had clearly begun to radiate an atmosphere of wanting attention, and Diejian, who in turn—perhaps because he was tired—began to treat her with the same "real" attitude he used with Tsunade, was frustrating to watch, so Sakumo stopped intervening.

Let them be.

Just as Sakumo let out a dry "haha," their order arrived.

Shuri's gaze was pinned tightly to the Kashiwa Mochi she loved; hearing that Sakumo was treating her, the displeasure she felt because he hadn't gone to help seemed to vanish instantly.

This was one of the methods for dealing with Shuri that he had learned from Diejian.

Sakumo cast a glance at Ina, as if hoping she would understand that he "did not look down on her" in any sense, but Ina, whether she truly understood or was just pretending, asked with a smile: "What about mine?"

Sakumo slumped his head and ordered another portion.

They gathered in the trendy teahouse, eating sweets, chattering, and laughing, singing the praises of their youth.

On the other hand, a man was hanging alone on a sheer cliff.

Drenched in sweat, Diejian was in a dangerous state due to excessive chakra usage, struggling desperately to get his teeth on a Military Ration Pill.

---Just a little more.

Huff, puff, even his breathing had become irregular, and his eyes were beginning to lose focus.

His reason had long since vanished; he was merely fixated on the Military Ration Pill hanging before him.

---Just a little bit more.

Even when he stuck out his tongue to touch it, it was just out of reach to be pulled in.

The trace amounts of energy he obtained from the pill his tongue touched sustained Diejian's life, prolonging this extreme hell.

---Reach it.

His mouth tasted salty.

He could not tell if it was sweat or tears.

He knew no one was coming to save him.

Tobirama was likely waiting for some kind of change in Diejian, but Diejian did not understand what that was.

His arms were bound, and his jutsu were sealed.

Even the Water Release: Heavenly Weeping, the only technique he could activate without hand seals, could not cut the string holding the Military Ration Pill.

The second of the Eight Inner Gates, the Gate of Healing, was already open. It was not that opening the third, the Gate of Life, would be dangerous, but rather that Diejian simply could not open it in his current state.

He was helpless. No matter how he struggled, he could not reach it.

---Fly.

His consciousness drifted away.

★

Tobirama watched silently as the weights followed gravity and vanished into the darkness of the ravine.

He would have to retrieve them later.

In Tobirama's arms, Diejian, who had been taking deep, ragged breaths, was now fast asleep.

The weights that had been attached to his entire body were gone, leaving only clothes soaked through with sweat.

"How is he?"

"It took some time, but it was a success."

After using the Flying Thunder God technique to teleport instantly to Mito, who had been waiting in full preparation, Tobirama laid Diejian flat on the prepared bed.

Mito rushed over and immediately activated her medical ninjutsu, channeling her own chakra into Diejian's body.

While watching Mito channel chakra into Diejian out of the corner of his eye, Tobirama held a container filled with medicinal liquid to the sleeping Diejian's lips and tilted it slowly.

Diejian's throat made a gurgling sound as the liquid in the container gradually decreased.

This was a special medicine designed to accelerate chakra recovery.

He would be fine for the time being.

What Tobirama wanted to do was to help Diejian master the "knack" of a certain ninjutsu.

That technique was the Flying Thunder God, one of the pinnacles of space-time ninjutsu.

This technique required a massive amount of chakra and an aptitude for space-time ninjutsu; if one failed, there was no telling where they might be teleported, and it even carried the danger of losing a limb or other parts of the body.

It was a peak that could not be reached through half-hearted training.

That grueling, torture-like training was intended to strip away unnecessary chakra.

The attached Military Ration Pill was meant to push his will to move forward and "fly" to its absolute limit.

Tobirama had seen through Diejian's personality, knowing that if he used the Flying Thunder God in a perfect state, he would inevitably become careless and arrogant. That was why he had taken the liberty of manipulating Diejian's body to carve the Flying Thunder God formula onto him.

The kunai hanging above Diejian's head was inscribed with a corresponding formula that matched the Flying Thunder God seal and chakra on Diejian's body.

"Although it certainly took some time..."

Tobirama had originally thought it impossible for Diejian to reach the stage of being able to "fly" to the kunai in front of him in only one or two attempts, and he gazed at his disciple's sleeping face with an expression of admiration.

However, this was merely touching the "surface" of the Flying Thunder God.

To ensure he could "fly" consciously from here on out, he would have to be thrown into even harsher circumstances.

The real training was only just beginning.

I wonder what kind of expression Diejian will make when he finds out—Tobirama quietly deepened the smile on his lips.