Although Senju Tobirama very much wanted Li Ke to grow stronger as quickly as possible, he knew he couldn't rush things. It wasn't that Li Ke couldn't start learning Wood Release now, but doing so would consume a great deal of his life force.
So Senju Tobirama planned to wait until the war was over, then have Li Ke seek out Tsunade and make a contract with Sage Slug. The Senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest would cut the toll on his life force in half.
Or, Tobirama could simply have his elder brother, Hashirama Senju, teach the boy.
The problem was, he first had to find out the limits of Li Ke's abilities.
Could this ability, which was so similar to Impure World Reincarnation, summon only Tobirama himself, or could it summon others as well?
After all, he still wanted to put Li Ke through more tests.
But that could wait.
For now, even without his elder brother's Wood Release, Li Ke would easily earn the qualifications to become a Kage by fighting the Mist Shinobi!
To Li Ke, though, Senju Tobirama's words had already confirmed many of his suspicions.
Looks like the Second Hokage really is planning to groom me to become Hokage. In that case... I'll have to make an even better impression.
At the thought, Li Ke couldn't help smiling. But just then—
"Is that you, Qingtan?"
A gentle voice came from behind him. Li Ke turned around and saw the one person Obito had loved most—the woman who had driven him completely to the dark side.
Rin Nohara.
Looking at the girl, who seemed exhausted but still wore a gentle smile, Li Ke felt a pang of sorrow.
She was all but doomed to die. Black Zetsu and Madara Uchiha had their eyes on her. Without power beyond a Kage's and the ability to seal a Tailed Beast, there was no way to save her and bring Obito back.
Besides, Li Ke felt that, given Obito's intelligence, things might actually be easier to handle with him among the enemy...
Wait...
As he looked at the weary Rin Nohara, Li Ke suddenly realized something—
He already had power beyond a Kage's!
It was only an ordinary level of power beyond a Kage's, but he should be able to handle Madara Uchiha as he was now!
And most likely, he'd be assigned to patrol and inspect Konoha Base Camp. The medical unit was right beside the camp. If he could stabilize the Tailed Beast inside Rin with Senju Tobirama's help after the Mist Shinobi captured her and sealed it into her, he could foil Madara Uchiha's plans and get a Three-Tails for free.
He wouldn't even have to let Rin be sealed with the Tailed Beast. He just had to tail her, then catch up as soon as the Mist Shinobi took her. That way, he could get the Three-Tails and rescue Rin at any time.
But there was one prerequisite: he had to master Flying Raijin Jutsu!
Better still, he could learn Senjutsu and Fuinjutsu, then capture Black Zetsu. If he could do that...
It was time to find out whether the talent he'd inherited could let him contract more Heroic Spirits!
In the Type-Moon World, he could still summon Heroic Spirits. He just lacked the magical energy to do so. The effect on his side had changed a little, but the results weren't all that different!
Li Ke's thoughts raced. To Rin, he only paused for an instant before replying.
"It's you, Rin. You're here too. You look exhausted. Are you okay? And where's Kakashi? Aren't you two on the same team?"
Li Ke smiled, and Rin gave him a genuinely happy smile in return.
"Ah, I just used up all my chakra with Medical Ninjutsu, so I came out to get some fresh air..."
Rin scratched her cheek. But as she finished speaking, her expression dimmed and her voice fell.
"As for Kakashi, he's fighting with another team right now. Everyone's busy, after all. Even Minato-sensei has to keep reinforcing the battlefield."
She had obviously thought of Obito. Li Ke politely fell silent.
There was no helping it. He wasn't close to Obito, and Obito wasn't actually dead. It was hard for someone who knew that sixty percent of his classmates had died to feel sad for him—it was simply difficult to find room for grief.
"Yeah. Be sure to get some rest. The Uchiha Clan has also arrived at the battlefield, so things will get better."
Li Ke patted Rin on the shoulder. After a moment's thought, he spoke to Tobirama in his mind.
"Lord Senju Tobirama, please. Could you put a Flying Thunder God Mark on her too?"
The request left Senju Tobirama a little bewildered, but he still placed a Flying Thunder God Mark on Rin.
"You can't save everyone. If you use Flying Thunder God Jutsu to rescue people, you'll often find that you arrived a moment too late."
So this was the fate of the speedster?
Li Ke knew what Senju Tobirama meant. Even if you used Flying Thunder God Jutsu to save someone, there would be plenty of times when you arrived only to find there was nothing you could do.
"But I still want to master it. It can save my friends and hurt my enemies."
He made his request.
Just then, more wounded were carried in. Rin could only say goodbye to Li Ke before rushing to their side. She treated them as best she could, then helped take them to the medical ninja camp.
The medical ninja camp was next to the main camp, but it wasn't actually inside it.
And on a battlefield like this, even when medical ninja ran out of chakra, they still had to keep working.
"Then you'll have to see whether you can sense space."
Senju Tobirama didn't refuse. Instead, he took control of Li Ke's body, guided him to sense the spatial coordinates, and began explaining how it felt to use Flying Raijin Jutsu.
He could use Flying Raijin Jutsu through Li Ke's body, but he didn't know if Li Ke could do it on his own.
After all, Flying Raijin Jutsu wasn't difficult in itself. Sensing space was the hard part.
Following Senju Tobirama's instructions, Li Ke focused on sensing. He could faintly detect something, but it was blurry. Only two or three coordinates were clear.
He was just about to ask Senju Tobirama whether that meant he had a talent for it when a bird's cry rang out through the camp. Li Ke immediately headed for the command tent.
It was the signal for Konoha to assemble its jonin.
Inside the tent, Li Ke saw Minato Namikaze, who had plenty of injuries himself, and the officers, all wearing grave expressions. Chojuro Akimichi looked especially grim.
Li Ke glanced at the battle map and fell silent too.
They had been pushed back across the entire front. Not a single one of Konoha's border outposts remained, and this had happened even with Minato Namikaze constantly reinforcing the front. There were also plenty of signs that Kumogakure Shinobi had been there, so they had to spare part of their forces to guard against those bastards.
They had already withdrawn, but who knew whether they would attack again?
There was no telling.
"You've all seen the situation. It's not looking good, so we have to counterattack quickly. If the Mist Shinobi manage to establish a stable foothold, it'll be a major blow to us."
Minato Namikaze spoke with great seriousness. He knew that sending reinforcements straight into a counterattack under these conditions would put many lives at risk.
But if they let the Mist Shinobi dig in, the problem wouldn't be solved by losing a few dozen or a hundred people.
The wavering Kumogakure Shinobi would surely join the fight again, and Iwagakure could return as well.
So no matter how great the cost, they had to push the Mist Shinobi's front line back within a month!
Minato Namikaze quickly began assigning missions. As Li Ke watched the ninja ordered to head for the front line, he couldn't help sighing.
Half of them probably wouldn't make it back. As for the freshly graduated Genin, they'd be lucky if even one in ten survived.
And, just as he'd expected, when they called his name, he was assigned to patrol the area around Konoha Base Camp. It was somewhat dangerous, but as long as he wasn't killed instantly and managed to launch a signal flare, he'd probably survive.
Still, as he looked at Minato Namikaze, who had given him the assignment, Li Ke thought it over and decided he wanted to leave his squad and head to the front.
With Senju Tobirama's help, he could save more people, learn more Ninjutsu from him, and build his reputation faster.
All of that was essential to becoming Hokage.
As for safety, that wasn't an issue.
So he spoke up directly.
"Lord Minato, I'd like to leave my current squad and head to the front line to provide support."
But Minato Namikaze only gave him a warm smile.
"I understand how you feel, Qingtan, but guarding Konoha Base Camp is just as important. Over the past week, Mist Shinobi have attacked our camp more than twenty times. There's no place that doesn't need ninja. I remember you're a rare ninja who's skilled in Water Release, right? With you here, we'll be better able to detect Mist Shinobi using Water Release to approach us."
Looking at Minato Namikaze, Li Ke felt a little speechless.
Minato Namikaze was no fool. He probably thought Li Ke wanted to wash away the stain on his reputation as quickly as possible, which was why he'd given him such an easy assignment.
"So Asuma's the one holding me back now?"
Li Ke was speechless. He knew that evil Sarutobi brat would only slow down his path to becoming Hokage!
Once he became Hokage, he'd make sure Asuma saw him and Kurenai being lovey-dovey every day!
But Minato Namikaze had made his position clear, and there was nothing Li Ke could do. He could only wait for a chance to show off Senju Tobirama's... no, his own strength!
"Understood."
Once the mission assignments were done, the meeting ended. The ninja who had received their orders hurried off to gather their squads, while Fugaku Uchiha and Minato Namikaze stayed behind in the tent. They clearly had more to discuss, and their conversation was evidently about the Uchiha ninja's assignments.
Li Ke quickly returned to his camp to rest.
His patrol wasn't until the next morning, so he still had time to rest. It was within the rules, but this was obviously special treatment.
That was the value of being in the Hokage's inner circle!
Sitting in his camp, Li Ke followed Senju Tobirama's method to sense space. He soon detected two markers moving around the camp, along with several more that were blurry to him.
The feeling was strange, almost like the signal frequencies didn't match!
Li Ke quickly told Senju Tobirama what he'd sensed. Tobirama was astonished.
He could sense those blurry Flying Thunder God Marks too. They belonged to another user of Flying Raijin. Differences in their chakra and Fuinjutsu made it very difficult for other users of Flying Raijin to sense them.
But...
"Your talent never ceases to amaze me, old man. Come on, try using Flying Raijin Jutsu now."
Senju Tobirama was genuinely astonished. He'd already prepared himself for the possibility that Li Ke couldn't master Flying Raijin Jutsu, and planned to step in himself.
He'd never expected Li Ke to have a real aptitude for it.
In that case, Flying Raijin Jutsu wouldn't be all that difficult for Li Ke.
Flying Raijin Jutsu had only three difficult parts.
First, you had to sense spatial coordinates.
Second, you needed enough chakra.
Third, you had to adapt to the speed of Flying Raijin in high-speed combat.
The rest only required a little practice. With Li Ke's talent, he'd probably master it in about a day.
"However, how to use this technique effectively is something you'll need to figure out... Here's what you should do: go find that boy called Minato Namikaze and tell him you want to exchange your battle merits for a scroll of Flying Raijin Jutsu. If you don't have enough merits, ask Fugaku Uchiha to vouch for your achievements."
Konoha's system of battle merits was quite reliable. Li Ke already had enough merits to exchange for many Ninjutsu, but learning them wasn't easy.
And no matter how many Ninjutsu you exchanged for, if you couldn't master them, they were nothing but traps that could get you killed.
So Li Ke had always exchanged merits for Ninjutsu based on advice from his jōnin instructor and the occasional guidance from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
It wasn't out of the question to ask the battlefield commander for a Ninjutsu scroll. After all, they were both in the Hokage's inner circle, and Minato Namikaze would grant him that favor.
Anyone with eyes could see that Minato Namikaze was already Hokage.
After all, what kind of Hokage Candidate would be pulled away just as he was about to claim victory on a battlefield?
Right, Orochimaru?
That's right. Orochimaru was the unlucky one who'd been on the verge of claiming victory, only to be transferred back to Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had decided long ago that he didn't want Orochimaru to become Hokage.
"But, boy, you should prepare your own Flying Thunder God Mark coordinates and cipher. Otherwise, any user of Flying Raijin could use your mark to teleport."
Senju Tobirama continued teaching him. Li Ke didn't waste any time. Under Yuhi Kurenai's puzzled gaze, he headed back to the command post and waited for Minato Namikaze and Fugaku Uchiha to appear.
Before long, Li Ke saw Fugaku Uchiha and Minato Namikaze come out together. They were clearly getting ready to leave.
Li Ke hurried over and said the words he'd prepared in advance.
"Lord Minato, I'd like to exchange my battle merits for your Flying Raijin Jutsu!"
It would be a bit of a waste, but to earn battle merits faster and gain the freedom to act on his own on the battlefield, he was willing to spend them. Being able to use Flying Raijin at a time like this was what mattered most!
"My Flying Raijin Jutsu?"
Minato Namikaze wasn't surprised. Since becoming commander and gaining this authority, quite a few people had come to him to learn Flying Raijin Jutsu.
But many of them couldn't learn it. Exchanging merits for it on a whim would only waste their hard-earned points.
He considered it for a moment, recalling what he knew about Li Ke. Then he pulled a small booklet from his pocket and removed the seal on it.
"Flying Raijin Jutsu is extremely difficult, so you should think it over carefully, Qingtan. The writing in this booklet will last for two days, and it contains some of my insights... If you can manage it, come back to me. For now, I'm sorry, but the front line is urgent and we have to leave."
With that, he handed the booklet to Li Ke, patted him on the shoulder, then grabbed Fugaku Uchiha's hand and teleported away. Li Ke hadn't even gotten the chance to decline or thank him.
"How come I can't spend my battle merits..."
Li Ke opened the booklet, speechless, and his eyes widened.
Flying Raijin Jutsu!
The booklet contained the complete method for learning Flying Raijin Jutsu!
He closed it and couldn't help exclaiming,
"That's what you call being in the Hokage's inner circle..."
Exactly!
Before you continue