Stuck in Writer's Block!

Hoo-hoo-hoo... hoo!!!

Feng Xun panted heavily as he threw punches forward continuously.

Time Skip!

Feng Xun's fist, which had originally struck out rapidly, flickered and jumped as it instantly retracted a distance of about five centimeters. The arm went back and forth like a double-layered wave, striking out again in an instant. The surface of his fist, brushing against the air, even emitted a faint hissing sound.

There was finally some result.

Feng Xun leaned weakly against the tree trunk, nodding with great satisfaction at that last punch.

Ten days had already passed since Tsunade and the others set out. In these ten days, Feng Xun had still been in a state of recovering from his injuries for the first seven days.

In these three days, not only did he begin to focus on developing his ki, but he also summarized the uses of the Time-Skip Technique.

As for ki, since it was a foundational application, Feng Xun quickly mastered some small tricks regarding it. For example, condensing ki in the abdomen could strengthen the abdomen's resistance to blows, while condensing it in the legs could burst out with faster speed in an instant.

Of course, besides that, what surprised Feng Xun the most was that he had comprehended the Sky-Dancing Technique on his own.

Although he had just comprehended it, the time he could fly in the sky was very short, his speed was not fast, and the ki consumed was much more than in ordinary training. No matter what, though, he was now someone who could fly.

In the original Naruto, the number of people who could fly freely could be counted on one hand. It could be said that flight was an extremely rare ability.

Aside from ki, Feng Xun's development and application of the Time-Skip Technique could also be considered a modest success. Even though he didn't experiment with the Time-Skip Technique while recovering from his injuries, he already had many ideas.

One of them was inspired by the time the Raikage and Tsunade arm-wrestled in the original Naruto.

In the original work, relying on his speed, the Raikage instantly accelerated his arm the moment he let go, and then defeated Tsunade with the momentum of a splitting bamboo.

What Feng Xun had just done bore a miraculous resemblance to what the Raikage had done back then. He could even pull off repeated attacks in a short amount of time.

However, because his current strength was average, the speed of his punches was inferior to the Raikage's, and his power fell even further short of Tsunade's, he could at most manage a double-layered wave.

Yet as his strength grew, he believed that in the future, he would be able to achieve a triple-layered wave or even more.

Still, one rather headache-inducing point was that the ki consumed by the Time-Skip Technique was indeed as heavy as the description stated.

Executing the Time-Skip Technique once would consume about a quarter of his ki, and a single ordinary Kamehameha took no more than that.

Generally speaking, both were massive ki guzzlers. However, that wasn't even the worst of it; what left Feng Xun speechless was the ability he had previously favored, the Time-Skip Space.

Although the effect was extremely stellar, the ki required to fully charge it once was ten times that of the Time-Skip Technique.

Unless he did nothing all day and focused solely on storing the time skipped by the Time-Skip Technique, his ki simply wasn't enough for him to consume endlessly.

As expected, the restrictions on a castrated skill were numerous. Shaking his head, Feng Xun intended to continue practicing for a while longer.

"Big brother! Can I bother you for a second?"

"?" Feng Xun looked at Konan, who had run over at some point.

"Konan, what's wrong?"

Feng Xun found it a bit strange. If there was anyone among the three orphans he was least familiar with, it was definitely this little girl in front of him.

It wasn't that their relationship was bad, but he always felt that Konan had been avoiding him.

Konan hesitated for a moment, then pulled a pure white paper crane from behind her and handed it to Feng Xun. "Big brother, this is for you..."

"For me?" Feng Xun pointed at himself with his finger.

"Mm!"

Reaching out to take the paper crane handed over by Konan, Feng Xun rubbed the top of her head and smiled. "Thank you, Konan. The paper crane is very pretty, I will definitely keep it safe."

"Mm... Then... then I'll... head back first." With that, Konan ran back to the small wooden cabin in a fluster with a slightly red face, leaving Feng Xun standing alone in the spot, completely baffled.

What's wrong with this little kid?

Before Feng Xun could figure it out, Yahiko and Nagato, who had been stealthily following behind Konan, came up to Feng Xun together.

"Yo, isn't this my future underling? What are you and Nagato doing over here?"

Seeing the three kids coming to find him one after another, Feng Xun found it somewhat odd.

Could these brats be trying to pull a prank on me?

"Stop playing dumb. Tell me, what was Konan looking for you just now?" Yahiko demanded, akimbo, his face somewhat flushed.

What was Konan looking for me for? Feng Xun blinked, then shifted his gaze to Nagato, as if asking the other party which nerve in his buddy's brain had malfunctioned again.

After thinking for a moment, Nagato said awkwardly, "Konan hasn't been herself lately, and Yahiko thinks Brother Xun slipped some kind of potion to Konan, which is why we came to question you."

"Nagato, whose side are you on?"

Seeing Nagato take the initiative to speak up, Yahiko shouted angrily.

As for Feng Xun, seeing Yahiko lecturing Nagato like a little adult, he was left speechless by himself on the side.

I slipped Konan a potion? You've got to be kidding me, I'm totally innocent, alright?

Besides, even if I had the chance, I'd be slipping your punk self a love potion; what does that have to do with Konan?

Yet just as Feng Xun wanted to clarify things with the other party, a thoroughly cliché scenario suddenly popped into his mind.

Question

Out of sorts + rescue by a hero = ?

That goes without saying, it must be one of the three major illusions of life (she likes me).

She likes me... Konan likes me?

Feng Xun, who thought of this possibility, froze in place for a moment until Yahiko gave him a kick, snapping him back to reality.

"Brother Xun, what's wrong? You look a bit pale. Do you want to go back to the room and rest first?"

Hearing Nagato say that, Yahiko put on a show of disdain on the surface, but his eyes were filled with concern.

"Humph (ノ=Д=)ノ┻━┻ I'd say his face doesn't look bad, he's just acting with a guilty conscience!" With that, Yahiko spoke again: "If you really can't find an excuse to deal with me, hurry back and think about it. I can wait until you've got it figured out."

"Yahiko, do you like Konan?"

For no apparent reason, Feng Xun asked abruptly.

"I like her, of course. Konan is so kind, why wouldn't I like her?"

Without a trace of hesitation, Yahiko blurted out.

Yet as soon as the words left his mouth, Yahiko realized what he had just said.

Facing Nagato's surprised gaze, Yahiko hurriedly corrected himself: "I've always just thought of Konan as a little sister, and what older brother doesn't like his little sister?"

Feng Xun didn't care about Yahiko's sophistry, and instead spoke up again: "Then do you think Konan likes me?"

"How is that possible? Stop being so narcissistic over there!" Yahiko retorted hastily, his expression agitated.

Seeing this, Feng Xun could basically be certain of Konan's attitude toward him.

He had no desire to debate anything with Yahiko, and instead asked him with a calm expression: "Whether Konan likes me or not, I must ask you to pass a message to her: there's nothing possible between her and me."