The Third Hokage's Gift

"Oh? Oh, I see! Please, come in, Father," Kanna hurriedly greeted him.

The two entered Kanna's room. Kanna Tokiomi did not rush to speak; he first wandered around the bedroom, then pointed to a notebook on the desk and asked, "Is this your notebook?"

It was a notebook with a black cover, with two large characters written on it.

Gensei! That is to say, backbone, fighting spirit, and perseverance—it was a motivational term.

"That is correct," Kanna replied.

"The meaning is good, though the handwriting is a bit lacking," Kanna Tokiomi nodded and began to flip through it.

This notebook recorded Kanna's daily research and insights into S-rank ninjutsu, as well as his conjectures on various techniques and philosophies. In Kanna Tokiomi's view, while some of the content was slightly naive, for someone of Kanna's age, it was already extremely, extremely rare.

His peers were still learning ninjutsu step-by-step; how could they be like Kanna, who had S-rank ninjutsu to reference right from the start?

"Good!" Seeing a brilliant point, Kanna Tokiomi couldn't help but cheer, then looked at Kanna with approval and said, "As expected of my son, remarkable! Did you write this yourself?"

"Yes, of course. I just pondered it based on what our predecessors left behind," Kanna said with a modest smile.

"Very good. It seems I still underestimated you." Kanna Tokiomi, in a great mood, patted the bed and gestured for Kanna to sit down. "Since that is the case, I shall teach you a few things."

"You heard about Haku, didn't you? You must remember, as far as the village is concerned, no ninja is indispensable, including the Mizukage himself. This is also the Third Mizukage's sentiment. Kirigakure needs reform... haha, I've digressed."

Kanna smiled slightly and did not respond.

Kanna Tokiomi continued, "I mentioned you to the Third Mizukage regarding Haku. The Third said that for someone of your age, having never received formal training, to have the confidence not to lose to Ringo Ameyuri is remarkable! That is a rare compliment indeed."

"Many thanks to the Mizukage," Kanna immediately expressed his gratitude. He felt his father was unusually talkative today; it seemed he was truly in a good mood.

"Additionally, I know you have asked your mother about chakra control, but I am powerless in that regard. However, there is one person who is different; he is a master in this field." Kanna Tokiomi winked at Kanna and said, "Do you know who it is?"

"Could it be the Third Mizukage?" Kanna hesitated.

"Correct!" Kanna Tokiomi clapped his hands and laughed. "The Third Mizukage excels in genjutsu and is a master of chakra manipulation. Therefore, after hearing about your situation, he decided to teach you his unique secret technique."

Kanna was pleasantly surprised, then his expression turned solemn, and he bowed respectfully to Kanna Tokiomi.

"Thank you, Father."

If it weren't for Kanna Tokiomi's request, why would anyone bother with him? As Kanna Tokiomi had mentioned earlier, the Third himself had stated that no one was indispensable; only a Mizukage Aide would have such influence.

That night, father and son chatted until two in the morning before finally falling asleep. Kanna Tokiomi recounted the Third Mizukage's oral instructions regarding that secret technique word for word, urging him to memorize every detail.

The next day, after Kanna groggily woke up and finished washing, he decided to start experimenting with the Third Mizukage's so-called "unique secret technique."

Based on the intelligence Kanna Tokiomi had inadvertently revealed about the Third, Kanna had gained some understanding of him.

The Third Mizukage excelled in genjutsu, a trait that seemed to have been influenced by the Second. Furthermore, he could use every Water Style technique recorded in the village—that went without saying. Finally, he was also skilled in the "Mind's Eye"!

Observing the world with the mind is the Mind's Eye. Of course, it was not as magical as in myths, but rather a detection method, a specific application of genjutsu.

Genjutsu relies on deceiving an enemy's senses, creating false injuries within the illusion, and then guiding the enemy's brain to mistakenly believe they have been hurt or even killed, which then feeds back to the body, causing the enemy to experience pain, paralysis, and the most terrifying outcome: brain death.

In the original work, Sasuke Uchiha used the Mangekyo Sharingan to cast genjutsu on a Kumogakure jonin, forcibly deceiving the opponent's brain and causing them to collapse in paralysis, unable to break free even though they knew it was an illusion.

This is the offensive form of genjutsu: first sensing the enemy, then eroding them, and finally modifying the brain's electrical signals. By intercepting the first part of this usage—"sensing"—one can develop various detection methods. The Third excelled in this "Mind's Eye," which allowed him to observe his surroundings without using his physical eyes; that is why the Third usually kept his eyes closed.

What the Third wanted to teach Kanna was a unique method of training chakra.

Normally, refining chakra requires intense concentration, but what if one cannot concentrate?

In the original work, Jiraiya drew a dot on Naruto Uzumaki's palm and told him to focus his attention on that point. This is actually a common visualization technique in the ninja world... much like how if we want to try going cross-eyed, we move a finger to the center of our eyes and stare at it; the eyes are naturally drawn to it.

The Third Mizukage's method was even better: focus your attention inside your body, imagine the body as a circle, and after refining chakra, the chakra naturally circulates within this "circle," then naturally returns to the flesh, entering the next cycle.

Logically speaking, everyone refines chakra this way daily—cycle after cycle, slowly strengthening the body—but that is in a static state; it cannot be done while moving or fighting.

The Third Mizukage's secret was to strictly follow a specific chakra circulation pattern in the initial stages. Over time, the relevant meridians and acupoints in the body would strengthen, gradually replacing the original major acupoints and meridians to form a new system. This system could help a ninja circulate chakra at all times, strengthening the body every moment, reducing unnecessary consumption, and even slightly extending one's lifespan.

The most crucial part of this was the method of circulating chakra. From this, one could see that Kanna Tokiomi was truly trusted by the Mizukage, to the point that even such a secret could be taught to his son.

Why do the corpses of ninjas contain intelligence? Aside from the well-known bloodline limits and the ability to extract some memories while the brain is still alive, the most important reason is that the corpses contain the secrets of their ninjutsu!

As mentioned above, everyone has their own habits, so everyone's way of circulating chakra is different. Furthermore, the meridians and acupoints through which chakra flows differ when using different ninjutsu. People exercise year-round, so the relevant muscles become developed, and naturally, the meridians and acupoints do as well. After dissecting a corpse, one can see where this person differed from an ordinary person, thereby judging which parts their chakra flowed through daily, and thus peeking into the mysteries of their ninjutsu.

For example, if Might Guy were killed and his corpse fell into the hands of an enemy village, they would discover upon inspection that the forbidden Eight Inner Gates acupoints in his body were far more developed than those of an ordinary person. From this, they could deduce that this person used Konohagakure's Eight Inner Gates, and by observing his meridians and acupoints, they could see which parts the Eight Inner Gates required training. If things went poorly, they might even be able to decipher the entire Eight Inner Gates technique.

The Third Mizukage was willing to teach Kanna his own secret; truly, Kanna owed him a great favor. Granted, with the Mizukage's vision and capacity, this might not count for much, but for the current Kanna, this was extremely precious. If the opportunity arose, Kanna would absolutely repay this debt!

"Since the Great Shark Bullet Technique cannot be used for the time being, then it is perfect—I shall practice the Third Mizukage's chakra refinement formula!"

Kanna stood straight, followed the method taught by the Mizukage, formed a circle with his hands under his abdomen, imagined his body as a circle, used the circle to reflect the larger circle, and began his first cycle of chakra.