Somewhere on the eaves, the faint rustle of clothing quickly faded into the distance.
Fang Xu waited a little longer. Only after confirming that the feeling of being watched had vanished did he close the door.
The instant the bolt slid into place, he finally let out a breath.
"Crafty old fox."
Fang Xu rubbed the space between his brows.
Tonight's conversation had seemed mild, but every step had something behind it.
First came compensation to bring them closer, then questions about the Will of Fire and the village to confirm his stance, and finally the scroll-an investment, but also a tie.
A real child would probably have been so moved that they would have wanted to risk their life for the village right away.
Fang Xu did not resent it. The Third Hokage had his objectives, and he had his own needs.
At least the scroll was genuine. Getting the benefits in hand was what really mattered.
Fang Xu went back inside, closed the windows first, then moved the lamp to the table.
He did not unseal it immediately. Instead, he checked the sealing paper, confirmed there were no strange fluctuations from a Jutsu Formula, and only then carefully opened the scroll.
Once the text unfurled, he quickly became absorbed in it.
The beginning of the scroll stated quite clearly that this technique was incomplete.
Hidden Cloud's true core techniques-Lightning Release: Body Protection, bursts of maximum speed, and secret methods for adapting the body to high intensity-were all missing.
But the fundamentals had been preserved in great detail.
The first section covered stable control of Lightning Release Chakra.
It was not simply about releasing lightning, but keeping Lightning Release Chakra at an intensity the body could withstand and letting it flow slowly along the skin, muscles, and fascia.
The second section covered the order of body tempering.
The limbs first, then the torso.
Skin and muscles first, then bones and joints.
The internal organs and head required caution and must never be touched before sufficient control had been attained.
Reading this, Fang Xu immediately perked up.
It matched the principles he had set for himself last night, but the scroll went into greater detail.
For instance, when training an arm, he had to start with the fingertips, wrist, and forearm rather than covering the entire arm from the outset.
Leg training, for instance, had to be paired with footwork practice. Otherwise, if muscular reactions improved but bodily coordination could not keep up, falls and injuries would become more likely instead.
The third section covered brief activation during combat.
This section helped Fang Xu the most.
Previously, when using Lightning Activation, he had mainly relied on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's electric current to stimulate his body. The effect was powerful, but the consumption was high, and it lacked precision.
This incomplete Hidden Cloud scroll offered a different approach: there was no need to activate the entire body every time.
When throwing a punch, he should focus on activating the shoulder, elbow, wrist, waist, and back.
When moving, he should focus on activating the ankles, calves, thighs, and waist.
When dodging, he should use Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate neural responses first, then bring the body into motion.
This reduced both consumption and risk.
The more Fang Xu read, the more excited he became.
"So that's where the problem was."
What he had done before was essentially use lightning as a hammer to pound his body-crude, but effective.
The strength of Enel's Lightning Body-Tempering Technique lay in the fruit's power itself: highly pure lightning, rapid changes, and fierce bursts of power.
The strength of this incomplete Hidden Cloud technique lay in the ninja system's precise control: knowing how to guide Lightning Release Chakra along the body's structure, how to stimulate it in layers, and how to reduce damage.
Each had flaws on its own, but in his case, they complemented each other perfectly.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit provided high-quality lightning and Enel's experience developing its abilities.
The Chakra System provided methods for stable circulation and bodily adaptation.
The incomplete Hidden Cloud technique then supplied specific body-tempering steps and details for combat activation.
Fang Xu picked up a pen and quickly took notes on a sheet of paper beside him.
"Lightning Body Tempering can't just pursue stronger stimulation. It has to work in layers."
"The fruit's lightning handles quality; Lightning Release Chakra handles guidance."
"Switch combat mode to localized activation to reduce consumption."
"Lightning Fist doesn't need to fill the fist with lightning every time. I can activate the chain of force first, then release the current at the instant of impact."
"Lightning Assault needs adjustments too. The ankles and calves bear the most strain. I have to strengthen the lower limbs first, or my body won't be able to keep up once my speed increases."
As he wrote down one idea after another, Fang Xu's thoughts grew clearer.
He did not rush into training. He had only received the scroll tonight; understanding it mattered most.
Training blindly could easily lead to trouble.
He read the scroll from beginning to end three times.
On the first pass, he read the contents.
On the second, he compared them with Enel's experience with lightning.
On the third, he compared them with his own body-tempering process last night and the actual fight in the alley today.
Every reading revealed new problems.
Previously, he had thought his Lightning Activation was already good enough, capable of dropping three thugs in an instant.
Looking at it now, he saw quite a few flaws.
Consumption was rather high, the strain on his body was excessive, and his distribution of electric current when attacking lacked precision. Overwhelming weaker opponents was no problem, but against real ninja, all these issues would be magnified.
With this Incomplete Cloud Lightning Body Tempering Technique, he at least knew what to change next.
Rather than blindly increasing the current, he needed to make both Lightning Body Tempering and his combat mode steadier, more precise, and more economical.
Fang Xu looked at the scroll on the table, then at the paper filled with his notes, and the excitement within him finally began to settle.
What he had gained tonight was worth more than simply acquiring another ninjutsu.
It gave his previously crude path of lightning a real direction for improvement.
The Incomplete Cloud Lightning Body Tempering Technique, combined with Enel's experience in Lightning Body Tempering, was just what he needed to optimize his own Lightning Body Tempering and combat mode. He had gained a great deal.
Early the next morning, just as dawn began to break, Fang Xu left home.
He had studied the Incomplete Cloud Lightning Body Tempering Technique until very late last night.
Had he not worried that his body would fail to recover properly and he would be unable to get up for morning training, he would even have wanted to read it a fourth time.
That scroll had helped him enormously.
Previously, he had tempered his body with lightning entirely through the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's instincts and Enel's experience.
It was powerful, certainly, but far too crude.
Only now, with Hidden Cloud's fundamental approach to body tempering, did he truly understand that lightning was not something to pour indiscriminately into the body. It needed to be applied by body part, intensity, and rhythm.
When the arms needed stimulation, stimulate the arms; when the legs needed activation, activate the legs.
Areas the body could not handle must never be carelessly touched.
So during morning training today, Fang Xu did not rush to pile on more work indiscriminately. He jogged along Konoha's outskirts, keeping his breathing and his steps steady.
Running looked utterly ordinary, yet it was best suited to building a foundation.
However powerful the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was, it still needed a body to bear its power.
However effective Lightning Body Tempering was, it still required a foundation that could be tempered.
By the second lap, sweat had begun to bead on Fang Xu's forehead.
He did not speed up, merely adjusting his breathing in silence.
I can't rush.
Build up endurance first, then add localized activation little by little.
Only consider greater intensity once my body can adapt.
Fang Xu understood this very clearly.
He was no longer the ordinary Ninja Academy student he had once been.
But he was still far from being strong.
Against a real Jonin, once his few trump cards were figured out, countermeasures could be taken against him.
So the better the things he obtained, the less he could afford to get carried away.
Just as he rounded a small path, a familiar shout suddenly came from ahead.