Orochimaru stared fixedly at the circles on the map, a trace of gravity flashing through his eyes.
Tsunade folded her arms across her chest, her expression darkening completely.
The crumpled simple map in Jiraiya's hand was densely marked with signs of at least seven troop movements.
Kusagakure, Takigakure, Hoshigakure... beside the name of each obscure little ninja village was a tiny arrow.
Every arrow pointed toward the same central location-the Land of Rain.
"Are you sure?"
Orochimaru casually asked another question.
At this point, Jiraiya had no hard intelligence to back it up.
Most of the markings on the map were deductions he had made from the villages' supply purchases and how frequently their ninja left on assignments along his route.
Intelligence like this could only be classified as highly probable, not fully confirmed.
The idea that the villages were secretly joining forces was still only speculation.
But Orochimaru knew Jiraiya well.
This was a man who spent his days peeping into bathhouses and fooling around.
Yet when it came to analyzing intelligence and predicting developments, he possessed an unusually sharp instinct that almost never missed.
Last time, he had predicted that Iwagakure was secretly expanding its forces from the faintest clues.
Just three months later, two fully organized ninja battalions had appeared out of nowhere along the Land of Earth's border.
"You bastard!"
"Don't underestimate my intelligence network!"
Jiraiya proudly thumped his chest, the force of the impact making the corners of the map in his hand curl slightly.
"I spent an entire day staking out Kusagakure and confirmed that they secretly ship out a batch of supplies every Wednesday before dawn."
"Transporting supplies before dawn, deliberately avoiding everyone-what does that mean? It means they don't want outsiders finding out!"
"The convoy takes remote mountain trails the whole way and avoids every main road. That's enough to prove those supplies definitely aren't headed anywhere inside the Land of Fire."
"And Takigakure has been buying up kunai and explosive tags like crazy lately. Their orders have tripled compared to the same period last year."
"Hoshigakure is the most ridiculous of all! That place is dirt-poor, but last week they ordered five sets of custom kunai straight from the Land of Fire's capital and paid in full. Cash on delivery!"
Tsunade slowly unfolded her arms, her tone as casual as if she were making small talk.
"Does the old man know about this?"
The seemingly calm question concealed considerable turmoil.
Amamiya Maki keenly noticed that her fingertips were unconsciously rubbing her upper arm.
It was a habitual gesture Tsunade made when she was thinking seriously and her emotions were in disarray.
Her feelings were particularly complicated at that moment.
Tensions simmered beneath the surface along the borders, and the shadow of war drew ever closer. That filled her with worry.
Yet deep down, an ill-timed thought surfaced.
Perhaps this war could prove that what she had insisted on all along was right.
If she could fully establish the new medical ninja system before the war, Konoha could spare countless ninja from dying in the fighting to come.
"I reported it as soon as I got back."
Jiraiya glanced at her, putting away his flippant grin as his tone grew considerably more serious.
"The old man's assessment is pretty much the same as what you suggested in your letters."
"These small countries intend to secretly support the Land of Rain, pushing Hanzō into the spotlight to do their dirty work and secure benefits for themselves."
"The entire shinobi world is secretly sharpening its blades for war."
He paused, then voiced the conclusion that left Tsunade most helpless.
"But your proposal to reform the medical system will probably have to be shelved for now."
"Rather than pouring time and effort into overhauling the system, sending a few thousand more explosive tags to the border is the most practical choice right now."
"It's not that your proposal is wrong. The situation won't wait, and there's no time to lay the groundwork slowly."
The corners of Tsunade's mouth dipped slightly, a trace of resignation and frustration passing through her eyes.
She knew perfectly well that Jiraiya was telling the unvarnished truth.
But understanding the reasoning and accepting it had never been the same thing.
These people had no idea how valuable a modern medical ninja system was.
A qualified battlefield medical ninja could raise battlefield survival rates by a full thirty percent.
This was not leisurely treatment after the fighting, but emergency care at the height of battle.
In just a few minutes, they could pull a dying casualty back from death's door and send them into battle again.
That kind of top-tier combat capability was worth far more than a thousand explosive tags.
But that was reality.
The Third would not approve it, Jiraiya urged her to wait a little longer, and Orochimaru only cared about when his research funding would arrive.
Despite all her ambitions, she was powerless for the moment.
Meanwhile, Minato quietly walked over to Amamiya Maki.
His gaze first fell on the bandages around Nawaki's abdomen.
The fresh bandages had already turned pale red from the blood seeping through them. Nonō was deftly removing the old bandages and replacing them bit by bit.
The glow of medical chakra hovering over her palms was much dimmer than before, and a fine sheen of sweat had formed at her temples.
At her current level, the Mystical Palm Technique was still enormously draining.
Her grasp of the technique was also insufficiently practiced. Each time she changed the dressing, she had to stop and take a deep breath, steadying herself before she could continue.
Minato watched that soft green glow quietly, remaining silent for a long time.
At last, he turned toward Amamiya Maki, unable to hide the astonishment in his voice.
"That technique just now... you really mastered it?"
"You spent the whole summer working it out yourself and developed it from scratch?"
Amamiya Maki nodded.
"Yeah, it's done. Entirely original. I created it myself."
Amamiya Maki felt perfectly at ease.
He had copied it first, after all. Anyone who copied it again would face the consequences!
In this timeline, the Rasengan had yet to be born.
Minato had not developed the technique either, making Maki its rightful creator.
Even if Minato developed it independently later, that would merely be a historical coincidence.
Just as Newton and Leibniz had independently invented calculus, neither science nor shinobi history lacked such coincidences.
The only difference, perhaps, was that the two mathematicians would not stand across a training ground hurling calculus at each other.
Minato opened his mouth, his mind packed with questions, but he could not get a single one out.
He looked down at Amamiya Maki's hands, then at his own, his emotions tangled.
After becoming Jiraiya's student and signing the Summoning Contract with Mount Myōboku, he had begun training.
He had mastered the Toad Oil Bullet and the Wild Lion's Mane Technique in just a few days, progressing far faster than most people.
He had thought he could finally close the gap between himself and Amamiya Maki.
But now it seemed their gap had not narrowed at all. Instead, it was growing wider and wider.
He silently took stock of the techniques he had recently learned.
The Toad Oil Bullet was practical enough, but it was just spitting oil and setting it alight. It wasn't cool enough and did nothing to give him the presence of a top-tier ninja.
The Wild Lion's Mane Technique combined offense and defense. It could restrain enemies or serve as a shield to cushion impacts, making it exceptionally useful.
But when he pictured his blond hair exploding outward as he charged at an enemy like a bristling hedgehog...
Absolutely not!
It clashed completely with the composed, radiant image of a Hokage he held in his heart.
A true Hokage should stand atop Hokage Rock, admired by everyone in the village.
Not fight with blond hair flying everywhere like a stray cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"You created your own ninjutsu? That's unbelievable! It's even more impressive than mastering a forbidden technique!"
[Mental pressure inflicted by the host on "Minato Namikaze" detected] [Obtained: Spatial Perception fragments ×3, pressure points +45] [Mental pressure inflicted by the host on "Yakushi Nonō" detected] [Obtained: vitality fragments ×2, pressure points +30]
Minato's clenched fists slowly relaxed, a jumble of emotions swirling within him.
He suddenly recalled something Jiraiya had once said.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had developed countless forbidden techniques without any existing techniques to reference, pioneering countless innovations in the shinobi world from scratch.
And now, Amamiya Maki was doing exactly what the Second had done.
No, it was even more outrageous.
Amamiya Maki was merely a Ninja Academy student who had not even graduated.
A student had somehow built a ninjutsu that required no hand seals entirely from scratch.
And the technique's attributes perfectly met every battlefield requirement.
No hand seals, instant activation, tremendous explosive power.
On the battlefield, the most lethal difference was often the brief instant needed to form hand seals.
Attaching an explosive tag took time. Throwing a kunai took time. Flicking a shuriken from the hand took time too.
Only Amamiya Maki's Rasengan had no windup and no casting time. A raised hand unleashed its full explosive power.
As that realization sank in, Minato felt his chest grow slightly heavy.
He wanted this technique so badly!
He had even thought of a name for the new move.
Spiral Chain Wheel Flash Ball!!!
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