Lucky Draw

After communicating with his father, Kanna felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart.

Train! Train hard! He would absolutely not step outside until he reached a certain level! That was Kanna's resolve.

What was his current strength? He was a weakling. The only technique he knew, the Transformation Technique, was useless and far from proficient; he reckoned any ninja with a slightly keen eye could see right through it.

By this metric, Kanna could claim to be the weakest candidate in the history of Kirigakure's exams. At the very least, graduates from previous years could kill a person with their own strength. Kanna had the resolve to kill, but when it came time to actually do it, would he dare?

Would he dare? Kanna himself wasn't sure. It was like watching a murder on television; because it had nothing to do with him and he was merely a spectator, he didn't feel much. Some people, upon seeing the protagonist hesitate or struggle before killing—even if the target was a villain—would even wish they could step in and finish the job themselves. But if they were actually forced to kill, they would likely be so terrified they'd wet their pants.

Self-reflection aside, Kanna felt he was doing quite well, but a gap in strength was a gap in strength. If Zabuza hadn't intervened back then, the one who died would have been him ten times out of ten.

In a way, that guy Zabuza had actually saved his life. How ironic.

Strength, everything was about strength! And now, there was an opportunity to enhance his power.

He had accumulated nearly three months' worth of lottery chances; what kind of ninjutsu could he possibly draw?

With a total of eighty-four chances, Kanna could choose to spend eighty-one at once to redeem an S-rank ninjutsu, or he could choose several C-rank and B-rank ninjutsu, plus one or two A-rank ones. Thinking about it, the latter seemed most suitable for him.

What rank was the Chidori, the only technique Kakashi developed in his lifetime? A-rank. What rank was the Rasengan, the Fourth Hokage's only offensive ninjutsu? Still A-rank.

A-rank was already a fairly high-level ninjutsu, the standard for jonin and even the Kage of various villages. But what about S-rank?

S-rank ninjutsu were practically the pinnacle of ninjutsu. Whether in terms of power or difficulty, they were unimaginably high. At the very least, it was impossible for Kanna to learn and utilize one at his current level.

Not to mention anything else, chakra alone was the limiting factor for low-level ninjas attempting to use high-level techniques.

Setting aside the delusions in his mind, Kanna still resolutely chose the S-rank ninjutsu.

Even if I can't use it, just looking at it makes me feel good!

After silently confirming the choice of an S-rank ninjutsu in his mind, a massive influx of information poured into his consciousness out of thin air. The content was vast and incredibly obscure; Kanna only took a brief look before feeling parched and lightheaded.

But reality also gave him a surprise.

S-rank ninjutsu: Flying Thunder God!

The trump card that earned the Second Hokage the title of "Fastest in the Ninja World"! The signature technique that the Fourth Hokage relied on for his fame! A space-time ninjutsu that allowed one to traverse the ninja world—the Flying Thunder God!

Even if this S-rank technique had not a shred of direct offensive capability, even if its destructive power wasn't worth mentioning compared to other S-rank techniques—falling short of most A-rank, B-rank, and even C-rank techniques—no one dared to covet it. Looking back through history, only four space-time ninjutsu had appeared in the ninja world: Flying Thunder God, Kamui, Amenotejikara, and Amenominaka. This was enough to show just how precious the Flying Thunder God was.

These four space-time ninjutsu each had their own strengths. By comparison, while the Flying Thunder God couldn't be called the strongest, it was definitely not weak. Or rather, there was no point in comparing them, as the latter two were essentially super S-rank techniques.

Regardless, Kanna truly felt satisfied. With the Flying Thunder God, even if he couldn't learn it now, he had something to look forward to. If he still couldn't decipher it once his chakra was sufficient in the future, he could just transplant it onto the Highland. At that point, as long as he didn't court death or fall into a fatal situation (like the Second Hokage, who was surrounded and killed while covering for his disciples and subordinates), it would be truly hard to die.

If you can't beat them, run; if you can, chase them. Come as you please, go as you wish. It was truly incredibly dashing and satisfying.

Of course, the prerequisite was having enough chakra; otherwise, everything was just talk.

Having drawn the Flying Thunder God, Kanna's face went from excitement to gloom.

The meat was right in front of him, but he couldn't eat it. That kind of frustration was truly...

Chakra, oh chakra. Even if he was confident that he could raise his chakra levels to near-chunin or even chunin level in no time, it would still be useless. It simply wouldn't be enough.

How could he increase his chakra? Should he really go and fight for a Tailed Beast, or simply perform well enough to become Kirigakure's Three-Tails Jinchuriki?

Or perhaps, after drawing Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation in the future, he could just swap bodies? Like, for example, the body of an Uzumaki Clan member, who were known for having the most chakra?

Or maybe use a Cursed Seal? Fight for Samehada?

The Preta Path's Blocking Technique Absorption Seal? The First Hokage's cells?

Even though Kanna thought of so many methods based on his knowledge of the Naruto world, he couldn't pull off a single one.

"I brought this on myself, I brought this on myself..." Kanna simply closed his eyes and muttered to himself. If he hadn't been so ambitious, looking down on the C, B, and A-rank techniques that were destined to be phased out later, he wouldn't be in such a dilemma now.

"Three chances left. Redeem them for a C-rank ninjutsu."

Helpless, Kanna stopped thinking about the Flying Thunder God and used his final three chances to redeem a C-rank ninjutsu. The next moment, his expression turned strange.

C-rank ninjutsu: Water Body Flicker Technique.

"Huh? Could it be that I'm fated with the Second Hokage?" Kanna touched his cheek, caught between laughter and tears.

The Water Body Flicker Technique was a variant of the Body Flicker Technique, with its own pros and cons compared to the traditional version.

The traditional Body Flicker Technique allowed for high-speed movement across any terrain—as long as you had a foothold—but because of the limits of human reaction time, most ninjas couldn't master it, preventing it from becoming widely popularized. However, the few ninjas who used it well were terrifyingly strong, such as Body Flicker Shisui (Shisui Uchiha), the demigod Hanzo of the Salamander, the "Fastest in the Ninja World" Tobirama Senju, and the "Yellow Flash" Minato Namikaze; all were masters of the Body Flicker.

The Water Body Flicker was different. This technique was a flash of inspiration from Tobirama, created specifically for use on water. Its activation conditions were simpler than the standard Body Flicker; after all, there were basically no obstacles on the water, so you could dash however you liked.

However, if one compared the two, it became clear that the Water Body Flicker required more precise control of a ninja's chakra for "water walking." Otherwise, given the explosive power and recoil of the Body Flicker, it would be very easy to fall into the water. But in exchange, it was much more forgiving when it came to precise positioning. Unlike the traditional Body Flicker, which was difficult to gauge for distance, the Water Body Flicker combined Water Release with the Body Flicker. With the water flow as an aid, positioning was much simpler. As long as you could react in time, you wouldn't have to worry about overshooting. After all, you were stepping on water; you could dash when you wanted and stop when you wanted, just like riding a jet ski on the waves.

Furthermore, as another of Tobirama's techniques, the Water Body Flicker contained many elements that could serve as a reference for learning the Flying Thunder God, as the latter could be considered an advanced evolution of the Body Flicker.

The moment he obtained the Water Body Flicker, Kanna made up his mind: learn it!

He had to learn it! And he had to practice until he was proficient!

Thinking of this, Kanna began to read the techniques and chakra circulation methods of the Water Body Flicker word by word.

Then, his face sank.

No hand seals, purely through the circulation of chakra, relying on one's own superior control of Water Release to create currents out of thin air, then combining it with the Body Flicker to achieve high-speed movement...

The learning difficulty of this technique couldn't be represented by a mere C-rank. It was entirely a technique, a philosophy, a method of fusing Water Release and the Body Flicker!

That's right, the technique itself wasn't hard, but the difficulty lay in having to simultaneously learn the chakra circulation for controlling water flow and the Body Flicker! One technique was worth three!

In other words, this wasn't a ninjutsu in the true sense, but a fusion technique of two different ninjutsu! Just like how the Harem Jutsu was actually a combination of the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Technique.

"What a scam!" Kanna howled, collapsing onto his bed, unable to cry or laugh.