The graduation exam went quickly, and everything was over by the end of the morning.
That afternoon, just before school let out, the final results were finally posted.
Naruto came bouncing up to Lei Dou, excitedly clutching his forehead protector.
"Thank you so much, Lei Dou! If you hadn't helped me train yesterday, I probably wouldn't have passed today!"
"It was nothing. You treated me to ramen, didn't you? I was just returning the favor!"
Naruto grinned foolishly and hooked an arm affectionately around Lei Dou's shoulders. "Once I start taking missions and earning money, I'll treat you to Teuchi's deluxe ramen-with double meat!"
Seeing Naruto and Lei Dou with their arms around each other, Sasuke snorted and walked past them, hands in his pockets and a cool expression on his face.
Lei Dou laughed inwardly. Was Uchiha Sasuke jealous?
After the exam, Naruto kept his promise and eagerly came over to Lei Dou's house to help with the so-called spring cleaning.
Once they finished, Lei Dou sent Naruto home to rest.
Lei Dou himself shut the doors and windows, ready to welcome his new power-a kekkei genkai, Ice Release!
Naruto had now passed the graduation exam and received his forehead protector without a hitch. It seemed the classic plotline from the original story, where he stole the Scroll of Seals, would no longer happen.
Thinking it over now, though, Lei Dou felt it was a bit of a shame. If Naruto could still steal the Scroll of Seals like he had in the original story...
Then Lei Dou might have had a chance to sneak a look at the forbidden techniques recorded inside.
On second thought, however, that seemed unlikely. It was a setup orchestrated by the Third, after all. If Lei Dou recklessly stuck his nose into it...
The consequences could be serious. He might even be treated as a rogue ninja.
At that moment, the Hokage's office was brightly lit!
With a pipe between his lips, the Third looked gravely at Iruka. "Are you certain?"
Iruka nodded firmly. "Yes, Lord Hokage. I saw it with my own eyes. There's no mistake!"
The Third picked up Lei Dou's file again and examined it. "That boy was hiding a talent for one-handed seals, too."
It was indeed surprising, and it explained a great deal.
"Have Naruto come here."
The Third set the file down, his gaze inscrutable. Without asking any further questions, Iruka respectfully withdrew.
A little while later, Naruto came charging in.
The moment Naruto entered the Third's office, he started shouting:
"What's up, Grandpa Third? Calling me over this late-do you already have an S-rank mission for me?"
Having just graduated and received his forehead protector that day, Naruto was feeling quite full of himself.
The Third smiled kindly. "Congratulations, Naruto. You've finally graduated!"
"Hehe! Of course I did!"
"By the way, there's something I wanted to ask you. Do you know why you suddenly passed out by the roadside yesterday?"
Naruto paused, then scratched his head. "Oh, right! I was going to ask Lei Dou about that today, but I got so worked up over the exam that I forgot!"
"Lei Dou... you were with Lei Dou yesterday?"
"Yeah! Lei Dou's a great guy. He taught me how to use the Shadow Clone Technique. Thanks to him, I passed the exam today..."
Naruto enthusiastically recounted what had happened, but the Third was no longer paying attention to those details.
His eyes flickered slightly as the picture became clear.
It seemed Danzo's real target yesterday had indeed been Lei Dou. Those Root ninja had been sent after him.
And Lei Dou had actually killed two elite chunin in an instant!
That was genuine combat strength. ANBU had also discovered signs of a fierce battle in a dense forest outside the village.
Furthermore, the ANBU ninja who investigated the scene reported evidence of large-scale Water Release use. Judging by the destruction, it had to have been an advanced Water Release ninjutsu of A-rank or higher!
Unleashing Water Release ninjutsu of that caliber in a dry environment without a nearby water source, snapping several towering trees outright-the amount of chakra required was beyond an ordinary ninja.
Shimozuki Raito... powerful Water Release. Yes, that fits, too. A perfect combination of Water Release and swordsmanship. Without an exceptionally strong command of Water Release, he couldn't possibly have created such stunning sword techniques!
That boy wasn't just talented in swordsmanship. He was gifted at everything!
The Third gave Naruto, who was still bubbling with excitement, a long look.
"All right, Naruto. That's all. Go home and rest! I still have official business to take care of!"
Naruto had been getting into his story. Yesterday had been his first time trying shadow clones, and he had mastered them right away. He had been hoping for some praise.
But seeing that the Third didn't seem particularly interested, Naruto lost enthusiasm as well.
He made a face at the Third, then ran off without looking back.
The Third relit his pipe, recalling the reports on the two bodies he had reviewed the previous night. Judging by the torn flesh around the cuts on their necks, the weapon used must have been extraordinarily sharp.
Yet the width and shape of the wounds didn't seem consistent with a standard ninja blade.
How exactly had Lei Dou done it?
By then, Lei Dou had once again reached the outskirts of Konoha under cover of darkness.
Having learned from his previous experience, Lei Dou maintained Transparent Release the entire time he left Konoha, completely concealing his form and presence without anyone noticing.
Then he swiftly moved beyond Konoha's security perimeter.
For safety's sake, he had gone outside the village, avoiding the location that had already been exposed.
Instead, he found another secluded, deserted pool beneath a waterfall.
Looking at the clear water rushing before him, Lei Dou took a deep breath, jumped onto a Giant Boulder in the middle of the river, and sat cross-legged.
"It should be safe around here now. I can receive the reward without worrying."
"Great Sage, how's the calculation coming along?"
[Great Sage: Calculation nearing completion. Countdown: 2 minutes.]
Only two minutes remained before the Ice Release he had dreamed of would be his.
Lei Dou couldn't help rubbing his hands together excitedly. Although this wasn't his first kekkei genkai, a powerful nature like Ice Release still filled him with anticipation.
The power of ice was certainly not to be underestimated in actual combat.
In fact, Lei Dou believed that, if developed properly, the power of ice would be no weaker than the legendary Wood Release.
[Calculation complete.] [Congratulations, host. New skill acquired: Ice Release.]
In that instant, Lei Dou abruptly closed his eyes.
An intensely cold energy seemed to surge from the deepest part of his lower abdomen.
As though alive, that cold energy swiftly flowed through every part of his body.
Yet it caused Lei Dou no discomfort whatsoever. Instead, it felt as though, on a scorching summer day...
He had suddenly plunged into a cool spring. That penetrating sense of refreshment and exhilaration was utterly addictive.
As Lei Dou tried to adapt to and control the newly born Ice Release chakra within him, white, freezing mist began spilling uncontrollably from his body.
The cold spread rapidly, and a thick layer of frost formed across the Giant Boulder beneath him at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Opening his eyes, Lei Dou looked down and spread his palm.
Crystal-clear snowflakes floated into existence above his palm, accompanied by a diamond-shaped ice crystal that slowly rotated in the air.
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So this was the power of Ice Release!
The sensation of controlling temperature was truly remarkable.
Lei Dou slowly pressed his hand against the Giant Boulder beneath him, then tentatively released a burst of Ice Release chakra.
Crack, crack, crack!
The cold erupted and spread in an instant. The Giant Boulder froze immediately, a thick layer of solid ice visibly spreading over it and rapidly extending onto the water from the points of contact.
In the blink of an eye, more than half the rushing river had frozen solid.
Under the blazing midday sun, the newly formed ice gave off waves of cold without showing any sign of melting.
Ice Release was even more formidable than Lei Dou had imagined.
And this was merely the crudest release of Ice Release chakra. It didn't even qualify as ninjutsu.
Now that he had the Ice Release kekkei genkai, he naturally needed to develop some powerful techniques to go with it.
"This ability to freeze everything around me could serve as the basis for a dedicated area-of-effect ninjutsu!"
"Great Sage, can you calculate and develop it?"
[Great Sage: Command received. Calculating.] [Calculating...] [1%...] [2%...]
Progress was somewhat slow, but Lei Dou wasn't in a hurry. It wouldn't take more than a few minutes anyway.
[Great Sage: Calculation complete.] [Congratulations, host. New skill acquired: Ice Release: Freezing Moment.]
Lei Dou examined the information on the new ninjutsu that had appeared in his mind.
What could he say about this technique? The name sounded intimidating, with a bit of an admiral's flair, but its actual effect...
[Ice Release: Freezing Moment: Forces the surrounding temperature to drop rapidly, causing all objects within its area of effect to rapidly freeze.]
No wonder Great Sage's calculation had gone so smoothly.
Wasn't this just an upgraded version of the crude way he had used Ice Release chakra earlier?
At most, Great Sage had merely optimized the chakra's flow.
Lei Dou sighed helplessly.
He raised his hands and formed seals, ready to see how this "knockoff" performed in practice.
The next second, powerful chakra fluctuations erupted from Lei Dou.
He held his hand seals, carefully watching the changes around him.
Everything within ten meters of Lei Dou began rapidly accumulating frost.
As time ticked by, it took more than ten seconds before everything finally froze completely.
This technique felt rather useless!
More than ten seconds of windup and a range of only ten meters—unless his opponent was an idiot, they would know to stay away from Lei Dou.
Even at an ordinary person's running speed, they would have been eight hundred meters away after that long.
Was Lei Dou supposed to maintain this technique in battle while chasing his enemies around like some kind of lunatic?
Even if he eventually killed them, that fighting style would be far too embarrassing. There was nothing masterful about it!
"Forget it. Great Sage, try converting my existing Water Release ninjutsu into Ice Release ninjutsu!"
[Great Sage: Calculating...] [Converting Water Release: Water Wave to Ice Release...] [Conversion failed.]
Conversion failed?
Lei Dou froze. This could actually fail?
[Converting Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique...] [Conversion failed.] [Converting Water Release: Water Clone Technique...] [Conversion failed.] [Great Sage: Report. Converting ninjutsu with a single nature transformation into a dual-nature kekkei genkai ninjutsu requires critical information that is currently missing. Logical conversion cannot be completed.]
So simply slapping an Ice Release skin onto Water Release ninjutsu wouldn't work!
That made sense!
Ice Release was the product of combining wind and water chakra nature transformations. Naturally, there was a fundamental difference between that and converting techniques of a single nature.
"So if I can't convert the techniques directly, does that mean I have to develop them myself from scratch?"
[Great Sage: Yes.]
But he had just had Great Sage calculate a technique of his own design, and its power had been decidedly underwhelming.
As Lei Dou smiled bitterly, a sudden flash of inspiration made him pause.
"Right! I can use the skill slots to gradually improve a skill's proficiency and power!"
He reconsidered the underwhelming skill he had just developed, Ice Release: Freezing Moment.
Although its current effect wasn't impressive, if he kept it in a skill slot and continually strengthened it by grinding experience...
Its future would be an entirely different matter.
As its power kept increasing, it would surely reach an astonishing level. Eventually, Lei Dou would need only a thought and a hand seal.
Then everything within a hundred meters, or even a thousand, would instantly be engulfed in swirling snow and absolute zero.
At that thought, Lei Dou suddenly found the idea much more appealing. This was the right way to use it.
He would develop the techniques himself, then. Even if their initial power wasn't impressive, his cheat-the passive skill slots-could continually strengthen them.
Even the worst Ice Release ninjutsu would evolve into a forbidden-technique-level power in his hands.
And if he really couldn't think of specific Ice Release moves, he could draw inspiration from characters with similar abilities in other anime worlds he remembered from his previous life!
For Lei Dou, who had watched so much, that posed no difficulty at all.
Besides, when it came to imagination, there was probably no one in the entire Shinobi World who could rival a transmigrator like him!
Developing techniques? Easy!
Looking at the glittering frost around him, Lei Dou's lips curled into a confident smile.
He felt he might already have a brilliant idea!
Lei Dou raised his hands and looked at the bitterly cold mist continuously rising from his palms.
Ice Release!
It shouldn't just be about smashing people with hard chunks of ice. Its more important core should be the terrifying cold capable of freezing everything.
Temperature! That was the most terrifying, most fundamental power of Ice Release.
"Great Sage, besides the chakra natures, are there any physical reasons why Water Release can't be converted into Ice Release?"
[Great Sage: Flowing water is flexible and changeable, with no fixed form. When Water Release is converted into Ice Release, solid ice cannot change shape freely as liquid water can.]