Secrets of the Flying Thunder God

"Have you ever considered this? Since Minato Namikaze can use the Flying Thunder God, why not have expendable men send countless specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai straight into the enemy's headquarters, then launch a devastating strike against their command system..."

Ever since the unwilling Hiruko had held another friendly discussion with Kato Xu and become the first person to survive the Triple Soul Sonata, he had never again mentioned test subjects or challenging Kato Xu.

Now, the words "test subject" had seemingly become taboo to him. Within the illusion, Kato Xu had conducted fascinating research into pain upon him in countless ways...

"Or even transport countless Explosive Tags, directly transfer techniques about to be unleashed, and keep harassing them like this until victory is won without a fight. The enemy would not even be able to touch the hem of his clothes..."

But Hiruko was unlike his usual self today. Rather than seeming to avoid him, he actually dared to barge directly into his laboratory and speak at length.

"If you do not say something that interests me today, then you will learn what the highest level of pain truly is..."

Hiruko only hesitated slightly before looking again at Kato Xu, who was busy at the experiment table.

A-Three had urged him many times already. For the first time, he felt an inexplicable reluctance to disappoint this Root ninja, though he wanted even less to see the brat before him.

"Hmph. If you had the chance, like me, to painstakingly study a single ninjutsu through countless days and nights, then you would understand the enormous secret hidden within it..."

"No wonder... It seems Danzo had long since begun researching the Flying Thunder God..."

Kato Xu stopped what he was doing. As he mused inwardly, he merely raised his eyes slightly toward Hiruko. A faint, inexplicable smile touched his lips, causing a chill to rise throughout Hiruko's body for no reason.

"While the Flying Thunder God traverses space, it relies only on those specially made Kunai for positioning. Amid the disordered space, the process of connecting to the coordinates of the special Kunai is simply a matter of using Chakra to activate those sealing inscriptions and thus find a fixed direction."

"So... what is wrapped around the handle of those special three-pronged Kunai is actually a wisp of Chakra sealed away to activate the Flying Thunder God Runes?"

"Of course..."

"You should know... those runes are also a form of Sealing Jutsu... and Sealing Jutsu takes time to activate..."

"Only by following a preset Chakra flow and sealing a certain amount of Chakra within them can the Flying Thunder God Runes be activated in an instant, achieving near-instantaneous speed..."

Hiruko looked at the thoughtful Kato Xu and relaxed his slightly furrowed brow.

"There are two ways to activate the inscriptions. One is through one's own Chakra remaining on them, and the other is through Chakra injected by someone else..."

"For example, the Flying Thunder God Runes on your arms when you and Minato Namikaze were on the Cloud Shinobi battlefield could be activated by your own Chakra, giving Minato Namikaze precise spatial coordinates..."

"You are telling me this because you want to say that you have already developed a way to counter the Flying Thunder God?"

Kato Xu's cold gaze swept over Hiruko. Hiruko could not help letting out a soft snort as he avoided looking directly at him.

"I have a general direction... but I do not yet know whether it will work. I may need your cooperation..."

"Speak."

"A Cursed Seal capable of eroding Chakra..."

Kato Xu slightly raised his eyes to look at Hiruko. The mention of Cursed Seals seemed to draw a little more of his attention.

"When the Flying Thunder God connects with its runes, its Chakra must first come into contact with the Chakra within the runes, whether that Chakra was sealed there or injected by someone else."

"If a Cursed Seal capable of eroding chakra is injected into the runes when Minato Namikaze connects with his Flying Thunder God Runes, the Cursed Seal entering Minato Namikaze's body along his chakra would cling to him like gangrene in the bone. He would have no choice but to expend more chakra to remove it. Depending on the Cursed Seal's effects, there could even be more options..."

"Would Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, the forbidden technique master hailed as the fastest in the Shinobi World, fail to consider that the Flying Thunder God had such a flaw?"

"Hiruko, if you want to die, I can send you on your way early. That way, you will not die even more miserably after going to Root..."

"Tobirama Senju did consider it, and he provided a corresponding solution. But as far as I know, after every battle, Minato Namikaze leaves behind not a single Flying Thunder God Kunai. Even the specially made Kunai that can be used long-term are given only to those close to him..."

"Even if Root obtains a specially made Flying Thunder God Kunai, the runes on it will lose their effect and it will become an ordinary Kunai..."

Hiruko's utterly certain expression left Kato Xu temporarily unable to tell whether this method would truly work, but he faintly sensed a plan with immense potential.

"You just said that each time the Flying Thunder God is used, one must first establish a connection with the runes and then activate them with Chakra..."

"What if some method interfered with that connection..."

Kato Xu's low voice slowly echoed through the laboratory. Hiruko's eyes grew brighter and brighter. As though he had forgotten the suffering Kato Xu had inflicted upon him, he eagerly took up his words.

"Then Minato Namikaze would become a blind man who had lost his eyes, eternally exiled into the ultimate darkness of spatial turbulence..."

"Blind... darkness... the Darkness Technique?"

Suddenly recalling a genjutsu he had mastered long ago, Kato Xu roughly understood that this killing move against Minato was gradually taking shape...

"You heard nothing about using interference with Minato Namikaze's connection to the Flying Thunder God Runes to break the Flying Thunder God. Understood?"

The excited Hiruko was suddenly enveloped by an icy, sinister Chakra. The heat in his heart seemed to be extinguished in an instant. He turned his head and looked into Kato Xu's cold eyes, remaining silent.

"I can tell you now that Level 12 pain is like the pain of childbirth..."

"If you want to experience it... I do not mind wasting a little time..."

Hiruko's pupils abruptly constricted. His hands clenched tightly into fists, his Adam's apple bobbing as he stared at Kato Xu. It was as though he was not looking at a person, but at a monster wearing human skin, one with an indescribably sinister aura.

"I understand..."

A-Three stood silently at the entrance to the laboratory, seemingly waiting for Hiruko, or perhaps simply silently guarding the laboratory door.

Anger still lingered in Hiruko's eyes as he emerged from the laboratory, but a large hand gently settled on his shoulder.

"Do you still not understand why the leader of Root did not place the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on you?"

The eyes behind the mask carried a trace of what seemed to be faint concern. Hearing A-Three's words, Hiruko's eyes suddenly widened. If he still could not understand after this, Danzo would never have entrusted him with such an important task.

"You mean... Danzo... Damn it!"

"At the very least, he will let you live..."

A-Three glanced toward the tightly shut laboratory door, then seemed to become a statue once more, without another word.

Hiruko silently stared at the laboratory door. His clenched hands slowly fell to his sides. He turned to look at A-Three, a complicated light surfacing in his eyes.

"I know that you and he may belong to the same organization that betrayed Danzo. Even what you have done may only have been to help him..."

"But... I will trust you this once..."

Seeing that A-Three gave no response at all, Hiruko silently sighed. His figure quietly disappeared into the darkness.

In a pitch-black corner stood several instruments Kato Xu had discarded from the laboratory. Hiruko's figure moved silently, busily at work.