Development of a New Technique

Early in the morning, Sasuke arrived at Chuanhe Residence as usual, intending to head to school with Hui.

"Meow, is that you, Sasuke? Hui studied way too late last night, I have a feeling he's going to be late today," Amber's voice drifted down from the roof.

"Tch, that guy. I'm not waiting for him then." Sasuke was in a foul mood, so he headed to school alone.

Until classes began, Sasuke didn't even glance at Hui. By then, he was actually feeling a bit worried, wondering if something had happened to Hui last night.

Beside him, Naruto kept tossing small paper balls at Sasuke.

Just as Sasuke grew annoyed enough to throw one back to tell him he didn't know anything either, Hui finally appeared.

Hui's voice sounded somewhat hoarse: "I... Iruka-sensei, I'm sorry, a lot of things happened yesterday, and I went to sleep very late."

Iruka was an experienced man, and one look at Hui's state seemed to make him understand something.

"Hui, go take your seat first. Don't be late next time. As for your punishment, you'll be standing in the hallway tomorrow at noon!"

Hui rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and said: "I... I see. I won't let it happen again, Iruka-sensei."

Naruto watched it all quietly from the side. Had something happened at Hui's home? Naruto was all too familiar with that look. He had spent countless nights of his own just like that.

At noon, on the familiar rooftop.

The familiar trio was there, with the difference being that this time, Hui had actually brought two bento boxes.

"What's wrong, Naruto? Eat up, it'll get cold if you don't."

Naruto hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: "Hui, let me treat you to ramen tonight. Sorry, Sasuke, I'll make it up to you next time."

Sasuke turned his head away and curled his lip: "Tch, who cares about ramen? Just go with Hui."

Hui was feeling a bit listless and spoke subconsciously: "Eh, weren't we supposed to go training today?"

Naruto said with high spirits: "Hehe, this isn't just any ordinary ramen, this is ramen that can lift your spirits!"

Hui understood what Naruto meant, and while he was curious about this ramen, he had a better idea that would allow Naruto to save money while still achieving the same goal.

Besides, he needed to develop his ninjutsu during this period; letting his inspiration slip away would be a waste.

So, Hui said: "Haha, it's fine, it's fine. Naruto, I have a better idea. Let's do it next week, the two of us together. We shouldn't go back on our promise to train."

Another boring day of classes ended, and the three of them went to the riverbank to train as agreed.

Naruto and Sasuke had become much more familiar with each other, and their bickering now seemed harmless and lighthearted.

Under Hui's guidance, the three of them practiced climbing walls and trees once again.

While training alongside them, Hui's thoughts drifted toward "Four-Dimensional Perception."

Rasengan, Rotation, and Water Mirror Technique—none of these were suitable for outdoor training, so he could only attempt to recreate yesterday's Four-Dimensional Perception under the current circumstances.

The chakra control that had been effortless before began to grow sluggish. This caused the movements of his feet to slow down as well.

Can this also increase the difficulty? Hui thought to himself.

He didn't show any obvious abnormalities at the moment. He realized that he could still perceive something similar; the only difference was that it wasn't as clear as it had been yesterday.

Whether it was due to the Three Tomoe or the Four-Dimensional Perception, his control over chakra was now exceptionally powerful. The slight sluggishness didn't affect Hui much.

As he continued to perceive, he discovered that within the three-dimensional world, there seemed to exist certain [Shortcuts]. One only needed to borrow a path from the fourth dimension to easily skip over a stretch of distance.

Such opportunities didn't appear all the time, but there happened to be a [Shortcut] of less than a meter right in front of him.

Hui injected a large amount of chakra into his feet and, using a form similar to the Body Flicker Technique, stomped down heavily and vanished from his spot in an instant. He arrived a meter away and continued charging forward without losing speed.

Success! Let's call this technique [Space Leap]; even if it were exposed, no one would immediately understand its essence.

It was that group of masked ninja again. The leader, a one-eyed ninja, felt a jolt of alarm at Hui's movement. Such incredible speed—even he hadn't seen what happened in that moment.

But what he didn't know was that if he had been able to see it, that would have been the real miracle.

For Hui, the training that night was dull and tasteless. It seemed he no longer needed this level of basic training.

For Naruto and Sasuke, their gains that day weren't as significant as the first day of walking on water.

After all, the ground wasn't water; every time they fell, they had no energy left to mock each other. The strange synergy between them had faded, and their progress slowed accordingly.

"Naruto, should I take you to the hospital? Sorry, I was focused on my own training today and didn't keep an eye on you two," Hui said apologetically, looking at Naruto's bruised and swollen face.

"Haha, no problem, no problem. It's just a small injury, I'll be fine after a good sleep," Naruto said, still full of energy.

Seeing Naruto like this, Hui felt a heavy weight in his heart.

"Hmph, take this." Sasuke tossed a bottle of unknown liquid to Naruto.

"This is..." Naruto caught it with both hands, looking at Sasuke in confusion.

"It's a secret medicine from my clan. I don't want to see you showing up tomorrow all bruised and swollen," Sasuke said, turning his head away.

Hearing this, Naruto clutched the medicine, stunned for a moment. He carefully tucked it away, then threw his arms around Sasuke.

"Thanks, Sasuke, I knew you cared about me."

"Ba-bastard. Let go of me, you idiot. Who cares about you?"

Sasuke still couldn't bring himself to be honest.

Looking at the two people before him, Hui felt relieved.

Afterward, the three of them each returned to their own... rooms.

At night, inside his room, he attempted to release the [Rasengan]. This time, using his powerful chakra control, he easily overcame every obstacle.

"This is practically a dimensional strike. No, no, I still have to train honestly." Hui looked at the ninjutsu that had dealt him such a blow, speaking with a sense of emotion.

The [Rotation] also seemed to be a success; although it wasn't his original intention, Hui was still very happy.

Chuanhe, standing to the side, teased, "Your Rotation isn't the same as the Hyuga's Rotation. The original version can actually counterattack. Yours is, at best, just an oversized Rasengan."

Upon hearing this, Hui's spirits immediately deflated. Fine, it seemed there were still some things he hadn't quite figured out.

It appeared the only long-cherished wish left from this period was the Water Mirror Technique. No, wait—the Flame Explosion Technique? Could that unscientific compression actually be compressing toward the fourth dimension?

That would explain why his Shadow Clones didn't shatter under that level of compression. Because during the charging phase, the part causing the destruction wasn't even in this three-dimensional world. What he saw was merely the escaping light.

Recalling the entire process of the Flame Explosion Technique once more, he now discovered the secret within, something he hadn't understood at all before.

This technique seemed highly abnormal. If the limits of its compression were removed, it would look more like...

Ascending dimensions?!