"Then enough talk. Let's get started!"
[Great Sage: Calculation initiated. Estimated time required: 40 hours. Practicing dual-attribute nature transformation alongside it is recommended to accelerate the process.]
Lei Dou drew a deep breath. A roaring flame ignited in his left hand, while a fierce wind swirled in his right.
Fire and wind intertwined in his palms, illuminating the young man's determined face.
On the system panel, the numbers changed at a frantic pace.
The passive skill list had taken on a whole new look:
Chakra Refinement (essential for idle training) Basic Visual Genjutsu (the ultimate ambush tool) Advanced Taijutsu (physical enhancement) Boil Release: Hot Breath Blade (defense breaker) Ice Release: Freezing Moment (battlefield control) Dual-Attribute Nature Transformation (fusion core)
A new storm was about to sweep through Konoha.
He actively triggered the passive skill's dormant tenfold amplification, and a savage surge of power instantly flooded every inch of his body.
Lei Dou could distinctly feel his understanding of fire release and Wind Release, these two chakra nature transformations, skyrocketing at an astonishing rate.
When it came to elemental releases, Water Release was the only one Lei Dou could really boast about. His other elements left something to be desired.
This was the perfect opportunity to strike while the iron was hot and shore up those weaknesses.
If he could perfectly fuse wind and fire into a combination ninjutsu, his combat strength would definitely rise to a whole new level!
Lei Dou looked up at the sky, figuring he had roughly six or seven hours before nightfall.
If he devoted those hours entirely to training, could he fill the calculation progress bar in his mind?
He got straight to work, settling his mind and furiously working through the two attributes' nature transformations in his head.
The mysterious calculation's progress visibly accelerated.
[Great Sage: The host is currently in a state of intense mental concentration. If this high-pressure state can be maintained, calculations are expected to finish in five hours.]
Maintain this all-out state the entire time?
That was easy to say, but incredibly difficult to do.
Lei Dou was flesh and blood, after all, not a tireless precision machine. Even casting the same C-Rank ninjutsu twice in succession would never produce exactly the same feel and power.
Still, for the sake of greater strength, gritting his teeth and holding out for five or six hours should be within his limits.
Time slipped away like sand through his fingers amid the monotonous training.
Lei Dou seemed to enter a profound state, carefully sensing the flames' volatility and the wind's sharpness.
After just one hour of utterly absorbed training.
The power of these two elemental nature transformations had actually doubled!
This was countless times faster than simply leaving the skills in the system slots to collect their meager idle gains.
The improvements to his nature transformations were comprehensive, raising the destructive power of his corresponding ninjutsu along with them.
He was accelerating the calculations while making tangible gains in combat strength. As far as Lei Dou was concerned, this was an incredible bargain.
The same investment of time brought twice the rewards.
Watching his strength soar left Lei Dou exhilarated. His mental state was exceptionally good, and he actually managed to maintain that high-pressure pace perfectly.
It did not even take five hours.
After just four hours, Great Sage's emotionless mechanical voice rang out in his mind, sounding like heavenly music.
[Great Sage: Calculation procedure completed.] [Congratulations, host. New divine skill successfully unlocked-One Mind, Two Uses!]
At that instant, a massive torrent of information forced its way into Lei Dou's mind, bringing new memories and insights.
At the same time, his body seemed to undergo subtle changes that defied description.
Lei Dou slowly exhaled a stale breath and stopped practicing his nature transformations.
He could hardly wait to test just how powerful this mysterious-sounding "One Mind, Two Uses" really was.
First came the classic elementary test: drawing a circle with his left hand and a square with his right.
Both hands moved at once!
Before, he would surely have drawn crooked, misshapen figures. Now, however, each hand seemed to have a soul of its own.
The movements were utterly smooth, without the slightest awkwardness, as effortless as eating or drinking.
"Holy shit, it actually works!"
Lei Dou's eyes flashed.
"If drawing works, what about casting two completely different ninjutsu at once?"
The moment the thought arose, his body sprang into action.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
Wind Release: Beast Wave Palm!
Boom! Whoosh, whoosh!
Violent currents gathered behind him in an instant, forming a fearsome water dragon that roared and hurtled toward a thick stone pillar ahead.
At that very same moment, Lei Dou thrust both palms forward.
An incredibly fierce gust howled out, carrying countless fine, razor-sharp wind blades.
The unfortunate pillar took the water dragon head-on and collapsed with a crash, only to be sliced into countless fragments by wind blades that had been launched later but arrived first.
The two ninjutsu really had been unleashed in the same second!
This was not a slight time difference disguised by fast hands. They had truly been cast simultaneously, without causing the slightest disruption to his chakra.
Lei Dou savored the wondrous sense of control that One Mind, Two Uses had given him.
Clang!
He reached behind him and drew his ninja blade, Zangetsu, raising his arm to unleash Water Breathing's fierce swordsmanship.
His other hand formed hand seals on its own.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
This was a high-level technique he had snagged from Zabuza through Analysis during their earlier fight.
Now was the perfect time to test its power.
The instant the ninjutsu activated, a terrifying volume of water erupted from the ground beneath Lei Dou's feet like a river bursting through its banks.
An enormous wave surged outward from that point, sweeping wildly through the forest of jagged stone pillars.
At the same time, Lei Dou fully unleashed the Water Breathing Sword Forms with his blade.
Water Wheel!
Boom!
Lei Dou moved like lightning, his keen blade whipping up a tremendous vortex of water that shredded every stone pillar blocking his path.
The towering wave created by the Great Waterfall Technique followed close behind, crashing down and completely swallowing the broken rubble.
Lei Dou leaped into the air and landed firmly atop the tallest stone pillar.
As he watched the muddy water churn and rush beneath him, he could not suppress his smile.
One Mind, Two Uses was truly a divine skill made for combat!
He could cut enemies down with swordsmanship without losing a moment of ninjutsu bombardment.
That meant he could slip ninjutsu into his close-quarters Water Breathing attacks whenever he needed harassment or defense. Handling unexpected situations would be a breeze.
This feels amazing!
Holding his blade in one hand, Lei Dou fixed his eagle-sharp gaze on an enormous rock in the distance.
"Water Breathing: Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
This time, he combined the two!
A fearsome water dragon rose beneath his feet with a roar, twisting its massive body as it charged toward the boulder with earth-shattering force.
At the same time, Lei Dou vanished from where he stood, leaving only a series of hazy afterimages.
He seemed to charge along the water dragon's spine, moving at incredible speed.
In the next instant, Lei Dou streaked past the boulder, brilliant sprays of water bursting across its hard surface.
Then the water dragon's heavy body slammed into it as well.
The sword strike and the ninjutsu bombardment hit the same target at the same moment.
BOOM!!
With a deafening crash, the boulder exploded, instantly breaking into countless pieces of varying sizes that scattered in every direction.
Lei Dou spun around stylishly and glanced back.
Looking at the devastation he had wrought, he could not help exclaiming, "That's powerful!"
"The old name doesn't do this move justice anymore. I'll call it-Water Breathing: Third Form, Modified: Dragon Flowing Dance!!"
With One Mind, Two Uses as his cheat, his attack power was practically increasing exponentially.
The combination of swordsmanship and ninjutsu had proven flawless even in actual execution.
After all, precisely controlling the water dragon bullet's trajectory while performing difficult Breathing Technique swordsmanship was nowhere near as simple as it looked.
Just then, an even bolder idea suddenly sprang into Lei Dou's mind.
If it works with ninjutsu, what would happen if I used two kekkei genkai at once?
Lei Dou's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of fervor flashing deep in his pupils.
He gripped Zangetsu tightly and willed it into action.
Boil Release, activate!
Hiss, hiss, hiss!!
Scalding steam instantly billowed from Lei Dou's body, and even Zangetsu's blade began giving off white vapor.
Feeling his chakra boil within him like heated water, Lei Dou drew a deep breath and tried to forcefully unleash Ice Release.
He would use freezing Ice Release while maintaining Boil Release's intense heat!
Hiss, hiss, hiss!!
Cold surged abruptly. White freezing vapor suddenly spread from the right half of his body, flowing heavily downward.
This was air of extreme cold.
Unlike steam, which rose when heated, cold air would sink toward the ground without wind to disturb it.
Scalding steam shrouded his left side, while bone-chilling cold enveloped his right.
Behind Lei Dou, the white vapor seemed to form a strange pair of wings in two different shades.
The blade in his hand was an even stranger sight: heat streamed from its left edge, while frost rapidly formed along its right.
Yet this state of opposing heat and cold failed to last even three seconds.
"Urk!"
Lei Dou's eyes suddenly widened. He felt a violent surge inside his body, and a coppery taste rose in his throat. He nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Alarmed, he hurriedly cut off the chakra supply to both releases.
Lei Dou frowned deeply, his face somewhat pale. "Wasn't One Mind, Two Uses supposed to handle this? Why can't I control two kekkei genkai at once?"
[Great Sage: This is neither a failure of One Mind, Two Uses nor a deficiency in the host's abilities. When these two kekkei genkai are merely activated, their conflicting attributes repel and interfere with one another, preventing the host from maintaining this fragile balance.]