Flying Raijin Technique

Naruto nodded without any pride. With Zetsu's Absolute Control, learning the Rasengan was not difficult.

Next came Kushina's turn to teach.

"Naruto, now it's Mom's turn!"

Kushina rolled up her sleeves, eagerly preparing to teach Sealing Techniques. Even her red hair behind her floated up excitedly.

But Minato reached out and stopped her.

Minato's voice was soft, but his tone was serious. "Kushina, the essence of Sealing Techniques lies in controlling formula barriers and contracts. They're different from the Rasengan."

"No matter how talented Naruto is, he can't learn an entire sealing system in such a short time."

"And we don't have Shadow Clones to demonstrate. Relying only on explanations of symbols and written formulas, a single technique would exhaust all your Chakra."

"For now, let me teach Naruto the Flying Raijin Technique."

Kushina's expression stiffened for a moment.

She opened her mouth to argue, but Minato was right. There was nothing she could refute.

"I understand."

Kushina finally calmed down and turned to Naruto. "Listen carefully, Naruto. What Mom is teaching you isn't one or two Sealing Techniques, but the underlying framework of Sealing Techniques."

"I'll teach you all the principles behind the sealing formulas passed down through the Uzumaki clan for generations."

"Everything from Binding Formulas to Suppression Formulas, from raising barriers to spreading seals, from single-layer contraction to multilayer nesting."

"I'll stuff all of it into your head at once."

"I don't have time to stay by your side and train with you. You can only absorb this with your mind, then practice it over and over by yourself after you return."

Naruto nodded.

Next, Minato began teaching Naruto his most essential Zetsu technique: the Flying Raijin Technique.

"The Flying Raijin Technique is, at its core, a type of Space–Time Ninjutsu. Its key is to fix Chakra at any point in space in the form of formula coordinates, then activate the formula to teleport."

"The Shinobi World calls me the Yellow Flash because the Flying Raijin Technique allows for zero-delay movement on the battlefield."

At this point, Minato's tone shifted, becoming several degrees more serious. "But it has two fatal thresholds."

"First, the formula must be inscribed quickly, accurately, and steadily. There can't be the slightest error in its pattern. Even if one curse mark is drawn crookedly, the point you teleport to will shift."

"Second, the instant it activates, it consumes an enormous amount of Chakra and requires extremely complex coordinate calculations."

"After ordinary people learn to inscribe the formula, they often still can't activate it successfully for the first time even after years, because their minds can't calculate the spatial deviation between their own position and the target formula."

"Given our limited time..."

Minato slowed his speech. "I'll break down the complete formula diagram of the Flying Raijin Technique and explain it to you step by step. I'll also describe the essentials of spatial perception during teleportation—the most crucial yet most elusive part."

"As for how far you'll be able to take it in the future, that will depend on your talent and how much time you spend practicing after you return."

Naruto even softened his breathing as he listened.

His Zetsu's Absolute Control allowed him to control his brain's memory efficiency. Every word Minato spoke and every formula line was written into the most stable region of his memory.

Then Minato added a great deal of combat knowledge and techniques used by advanced shinobi.

For example, how to precisely gather Chakra beneath the feet to increase explosive burst speed; how to coat the surfaces of the hands and arms with Chakra to increase the hardness and weight of taijutsu attacks; how to shift one's breathing in battle to conserve Chakra; and how to judge an enemy's next attack direction from the slightest movement of their shoulders.

These were the distilled essence of Minato's experience from countless battles. Ordinarily, they would have required months of hands-on instruction at the training grounds, but now he could only explain them verbally and leave all the actual practice to Naruto's own time and sweat.

Naruto did not lose focus for even a moment as he listened. He was not merely listening—he was using Zetsu's Absolute Control to direct his brain, precisely categorizing and organizing every piece of knowledge.

Every sentence Minato spoke was completely engraved in the transition zone between his short-term and long-term memory. The moment any keyword was triggered, every related detail would automatically surface.

Finally, before her Chakra was completely exhausted, Kushina poured all the basic principles of her Sealing Techniques into Naruto in one breath.

"Listen carefully, Naruto. Adamantine Sealing Chains are the Uzumaki clan's Kekkei Genkai. If you awaken it in the future, you can use Chakra to construct chain-shaped suppression barriers on that foundation. The hand seal sequence is Rat–Boar–Rabbit!"

"The deployment pattern of the Four Symbols Seal is to lock it in place first, then nest it!"

"For the variation of the Fire Sealing Method, the Chakra flow must be reversed at the third hand seal!"

Kushina spoke at an extremely rapid pace, pouring out a huge amount of information in one breath.

When Kushina paused to catch her breath, Naruto raised his hand, his eyes clear. "Mom, I remembered it all."

Kushina stared at Naruto blankly for a beat, then smiled and raised a hand to rub his hair.

This time, she pressed down as she rubbed, with a slightly mischievous force.

"As expected of my son."

At last, after who knew how long, the two of them had exhausted their Chakra to the limit.

Fine cracks began to appear along the edges of the Golden Space, like the surface of a crystal illuminated by sunlight slowly peeling away.

Their figures also began to grow increasingly transparent. Starting from their feet and spreading upward, pale golden motes of light continuously drifted from the edges of their bodies and vanished into the depths of the gradually darkening space.

It was time to say goodbye.

Naruto watched their figures fade bit by bit. After a second of silence, he suddenly said, "Dad, give me the key to the seal holding the Nine-Tails."

Minato smiled and nodded without asking anything further.

His fingers formed several hand seals in quick succession, the movements clear and slow. Naruto's eyes firmly captured every instant of each seal.

Minato relaxed slightly as he transferred his final authority over the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style connected to the Nine-Tails to Naruto.

When the final seal was completed, a faint glow of Chakra flew from Minato's heart and entered Naruto's chest.

Kushina bent down. Transparent tears rolled down her transparent cheeks, shattering into light before they reached the ground.

"Naruto, Mom never imagined she could stay with you until you grew this big."

"Even though it was brief, Mom is already so happy that she could talk to you like this."

"I'm sorry... Naruto. You'll have to walk the road ahead on your own."

"We both love you."

Minato stepped forward and stood beside Kushina. Golden hair and red hair overlapped, and in that final light, they seemed to return to Konoha from many years ago.

The young Hokage and his wife held hands beneath the sunset over Kage Rock, speaking about the future.

"From here on, we're counting on you, Naruto."

"We can't stay with you anymore."

After Minato spoke, he smiled and reached a hand toward Naruto.

His hand was already completely transparent, his knuckles nearly impossible to make out.

It was not a gesture asking for a handshake.

It was the last gesture of touch he could offer to everything he loved most.

Naruto looked at the couple.

Somewhere inside the chest constructed of Chakra, a place that did not belong to Absolute Control was aching softly.

Then he slowly spoke.

"Thank you, Dad. Mom."