The second direction was the stability and concealment of the technique.
Flying Thunder God had an incredibly overpowered trait: its marks could remain permanently, and when inactive, they were completely hidden. The marked person could barely detect them.
After Two-Five Boy Obito was marked by Minato, the mark remained on him for a full sixteen years.
This was not merely a matter of Chakra control precision. It also involved the sealing concealment mechanism after the technique had been inscribed.
Naruto's current Flying Thunder God marks had yet to reach Minato Namikaze's level, so he still needed to put in more work.
The third direction was to integrate Flying Thunder God into his own combat style.
Everyone had a different fighting style. Minato Namikaze was the ultimate speed-attack type, and in his hands, Flying Thunder God was the core of decapitation tactics.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, was a tactical type. Flying Thunder God was merely one component of his vast tactical arsenal.
Naruto needed to find a way of using it that belonged to him. His strengths were his Chakra reserves and the extreme mobility of Golden Body Mode. What kind of reaction would Flying Thunder God produce when combined with that system? He needed to keep testing it through simulated combat.
The fourth direction, and the most important of all, was to advance Flying Thunder God to the second stage.
Flying Thunder God First Stage was a fixed-point, single teleportation. The second stage allowed continuous teleportation, switching coordinates multiple times in midair. It could change attack directions, evasion routes, and pursuit paths out of thin air.
This required the user to reach an extremely high level in both spatial-coordinate calculation speed and Chakra activation frequency.
Very soon,
Forty Shadow Clones entered a state of focused training, while Naruto walked to the other side of the cave and began practical adaptation training in Golden Body Mode.
He mobilized the Nine-Tails Chakra within him. In an instant, golden Chakra began to spread across his body. His hair rose upward into the shape of two horns, six black magatama appeared around his collar, and his pupils became vertical beast eyes.
The moment Golden Body Mode covered his entire body, Naruto could clearly feel his speed, strength, reactions, and perception being pulled to a completely different level.
Naruto stood in the center of the cave. He did not rush into difficult movements, instead starting from the basics.
Straight punches, roundhouse kicks, side dodges, forward bursts followed by sudden stops, high-speed turns and changes of direction.
He performed every movement slowly. He was not pursuing speed, but calibrating his muscle memory,
allowing his body to form stable neural pathways for every exertion movement under Golden Body Mode.
After calibrating his basic footwork, Naruto began summoning Chakra in different directions around his body.
First, two large golden hands extended from either side of his shoulders, then from his back, then from his waist.
Seven or eight giant Chakra hands unfolded throughout the cave at once, creating a spectacular sight.
This was not the first time Naruto had experienced the power of Golden Body Chakra hands, but being able to deploy and retract them freely in actual combat was another matter entirely.
Naruto controlled the Chakra hands to grab fragments of rock of different sizes from the ground at the same time. Some clenched into fists, some spread their five fingers, and some tapped lightly with a single finger. He precisely controlled their strength to avoid crushing the stones into dust.
He then tried to have those giant hands coordinate with his taijutsu movements while in motion, making every punch and kick connect more smoothly and naturally.
Time slowly flowed by amid such high-intensity training.
Meanwhile, in an office within the Hokage Building, the dark-red glow of a pipe flickered in the dim light.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind a broad desk piled high with documents. A pipe rested between his lips as he held a brush and wrote annotations on a scroll.
An ANBU member wearing a cat-face mask appeared soundlessly before the desk, dropped to one knee, and presented a scroll with both hands.
"Hokage-sama, this is today's itinerary record for the Jinchuriki. This morning, he went to the Ninja Commercial District and stopped outside four ninja tool shops, but did not enter any of them."
"He stayed in his apartment in the afternoon, then spent some time discussing ninjutsu theory with his Shadow Clones in the evening."
Before the cat-faced ANBU could finish, the Third Hokage raised a hand and gave a light wave, signaling that there was no need to continue.
"You've worked hard. Leave the scroll behind."
Hearing this, the cat-faced ANBU did not linger. He placed the scroll onto a designated stand at the edge of the desk, then vanished soundlessly with the Body Flicker Technique.
The Third Hokage did not immediately reach for the scroll.
He turned his head and lightly waved his aged fingers over the desk. A live image of Naruto's apartment appeared within the crystal ball on the tabletop.
At that moment, Naruto was snoring away beneath his blanket. His golden hair was a mess, the blanket covered only half his body, and one leg hung over the edge of the bed. Every so often, he turned over and smacked his lips.
His breathing was even, and his sleeping posture was utterly defenseless—the exact appearance a worn-out twelve-year-old boy ought to have.
"The Ninja Commercial District, huh..."
The Third Hokage removed the pipe from his mouth and tapped it against the ashtray. A faint smile appeared on his aged lips. "The Chunin Ninja Exams are almost here. Little Naruto must be feeling the pressure."
"He knows to check out equipment at ninja tool shops before the exams. Compared to the reckless little brat he used to be, he really has gained a bit of the mindset needed for the battlefield."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took another puff, shut off the image in the crystal ball, and extended his hand to pick up the scroll.
Just as his fingers were about to touch it, there was a knock at the office door.
"Come in."
Hiruzen Sarutobi set the scroll aside for the moment, leaned back in his chair, and put the pipe back between his lips.
The heavy wooden door was pushed open, and three figures entered one after another from the corridor outside.
Leading them was a young female ninja with a short ponytail and a beige trench coat: Mitaraishi Anko, the examiner for the second test.
Behind Mitaraishi Anko was a pale, thin young man. The dark circles under his eyes were so heavy that he looked as if he had not slept for days, and he gave a light cough every few steps. He was Gekko Hayate, the chief examiner for the third test preliminaries.
Last was a burly man covered in scars. That face was renowned throughout Konoha and even the entire Shinobi World: Ibiki Morino, examiner for the first test and ace of Konoha Torture and Interrogation Division.
The three stood in a neat line before the desk and bowed slightly at the same time.
"Hokage-sama."
There was only one reason for all three of them to be here at once: the examiner assignments for the Chunin Ninja Exams.
"You've worked hard, Anko, Hayate, Ibiki."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze swept across their faces, his tone carrying its usual kindness. "For the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams, I will be relying on each of you to preside over your respective portions."
"Ibiki will handle the first written test, Anko will oversee the second test in the Forest of Death, and Hayate will preside over the third test preliminaries."
"After the preliminaries are over, I will personally supervise the final official matches."
Before you continue