The True Genius

"... Ninjutsu developed based on the Third Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode?"

Asuma, a teenager, sat in the room filled with books and manuscripts, looking at his friend who was listless and had dark circles under his eyes, his tone full of concern and surprise.

"Ah, ah~~"

The black-haired boy, having finished a week of secluded research, couldn't help but yawn and rub his eyes vigorously.

"Based on the principle that Lightning Release Chakra Mode enhances the body's ability to move at high speeds, a set of high-speed movement Ninjutsu was developed."

"Although this technique is not as demanding on the user's physical body as the original Lightning Release Chakra Mode, it requires extremely high levels of control over Chakra and mastery of the nature transformation of Lightning Release Chakra."

In terms of difficulty, it's probably even greater than that.

As he spoke, he let out an even longer yawn, tears welling up in the Kakuzu.

"That's already amazing!"

Asuma looked at his dearest friend and exclaimed in sincere admiration:

"To develop such a powerful Ninjutsu on his own simply by observing the Third Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode, even Kakashi probably couldn't do that."

Wow, you're amazing!

Hearing Asuma's words, the black-haired boy seemed to recall something, and a faint trace of melancholy flashed across his tired eyes:

"... I only benefited from the light emanating from those eyes."

The knocking sound suddenly lowered, as if talking to itself, or perhaps refuting Asuma's praise:

Ultimately, this is nothing more than a fallback measure.

The original plan was to continue this line of thought and expand the scope of the technique from a local area to the entire surface of the body... just like the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

But no matter how I calculate it, I can't break through that bottleneck.

Kou buried her face in her arms, her voice growing softer and softer:

"If it were Minato, Kakashi, or even you... in that situation, you would have done even better than me."

"... I?!"

Young Asuma looked at his best friend, whose condition was clearly off, with surprise, and subconsciously pointed to himself.

The black-haired boy seemed to finally succumb to exhaustion, slumping down onto the table covered with papers, his eyes already closed.

His breathing gradually became even, and before he completely drifted off to sleep, he mumbled his last words indistinctly:

"Ah, after all... you're a genius too."

Asuma stared at the rapidly approaching Iron Sand, the words he had unintentionally uttered in his sleep many years ago echoing in his ears.

"No, knock."

He responded silently in his heart, and a blue wind began to emerge from every inch of his skin.

But the wind didn't move; it simply enveloped his body quietly.

"You possess talent that no one else can match... you are the true genius among us."

A glint of blue light flashed in Asuma's black pupils, his gaze seemingly piercing through the overwhelming black Iron Sand before him, landing on the tall figure who had turned and left not long ago:

"Without your guidance, without those notes you left me... I simply couldn't have mastered this technique."

The moment he finished speaking, his figure vanished silently from the spot.

From beginning to end, not a single sound was made.

There was no sound of the Body Flicker Technique cutting through the air, no roar of Chakra bursting, and not even a single extra mark was left on the soil beneath their feet.

He didn't even stir up a wisp of wind.

Asuma appeared quietly, almost eerily, directly in front of the Iron Sand that was hurtling towards him at high speed.

Scorpion glanced at Asuma, who had instantly appeared in front of the Iron Sand Cube, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Even Hatake Sakumo, who had been keeping a close eye on Asuma out of the corner of his eye, widened his eyes slightly for a moment:

"What exactly is this technique...?"

A sense of foreboding rose in Scorpion's heart, and a sharp killing intent flashed in his eyes.

Without hesitation, he controlled the Iron Sand cube, splitting it into countless sharp Iron Sand that simultaneously attacked Asuma in all possible directions.

The black, cone-shaped rain tore through the air, emitting a sharp screech.

Asuma did not try to avoid the Iron Sand.

The layer of blue wind surrounding him began to flow just as the Iron Sand was about to touch his body.

As if guided by its own will, the wind precisely captured the trajectory of each Iron Sand, then propelled Asuma's body silently through the gaps between the countless cones!

Each of the Iron Sand grazed the hem of his clothes and the tips of his hair, but none of them touched his skin.

He wasn't dodging based on reaction speed; the wind itself was making the judgment for him.

"Wind Release ·Jiyi·Nagi."

Asuma murmured the name of the technique, then, amidst the shocked gazes of Sasori and Hatake Sakumo, raised his fists.

The azure energy that had been quietly surrounding him suddenly converged and compressed wildly towards his fist.

They were no longer calm winds, but hurricanes that whistled sharply and coiled around his fists.

Asuma slammed his right foot into the ground, creating a shallow crater beneath him. Using the momentum, he leaped into the air and then crashed down towards the center of the massive Iron Sand.

"Wind Release: Mountain Collapse Strike!!"

The punch landed squarely on the front of the Iron Sand cube.

The expected dull thud of metal colliding with flesh did not occur; instead, a deafening roar, like an earthquake, emanated from within the Iron Sand cube!

The wind was forced into the cube the moment it came into contact with the Iron Sand, and then expanded wildly, tearing every single grain of Iron Sand apart from the inside!

The cracks started from the point where Asuma threw his punch and spread wildly in all directions, with azure wind emanating from each crack!

The next instant, the huge Iron Sand cube shattered from the inside!

Countless fragments of Iron Sand were swept away by the wind pressure and swirled in all directions, smashing countless holes into the tree trunk.

Scorpion stared at the scene in disbelief, but his usually arrogant eyes finally betrayed an undisguised shock.

His attack just now didn't use any complicated Ninjutsu; he simply compressed all his powerful wind-style Chakra into a single punch, then injected that force into the Iron Sand Cube, detonating it from the inside!

But Scorpion knows better than anyone how difficult it is to do that.

Sasori stared at Asuma not far away, suppressing his shock, and murmured softly:

"This kid, how could he be this good—"

"Uncle Sakumo Hatake, now's the time!!"

Asuma's gaze pierced through the scattered Iron Sand fragments, precisely locking onto Scorpion's direction.

He suddenly raised his head and shouted in a deep voice towards the scorpion.

The instant Asuma spoke, Hatake Sakumo silently appeared beside Sasori.

Without wasting even a breath, the pine branch wrapped in blue Chakra in his hand thrust straight towards the Third Kazekage Puppet beside Sasori!

Scorpion looked at the White Fang that appeared beside him and thought to himself that something was wrong.

Almost instinctively, he manipulated the Third Kazekage Puppet to retreat rapidly, while simultaneously attempting to mobilize all the remaining Iron Sand to construct a defense in front of him.

But it was too late.

At such close range, White Fang of Konoha's pursuit speed was clearly faster than that of Iron Sand!

(The update time will stabilize later; I plan to update around midnight every night. I'll update at midnight tonight.)

(The next chapter will focus on the story of Lao Ma and his group, then it will switch to the story of Kou and Chu.)