The next morning, in the same little grove.
This time, Nobuhiko created one shadow clone to test the waters.
Then he had the shadow clone practice the hand seals for Water Dragon Bullet off to the side.
He himself began practicing Water Formation Wall.
Nobuhiko first tried the two seals the Second Hokage had devised, only to find that the chakra inside him showed no response.
Sure enough, I can't rush this. I'd better do the hand seals properly.
Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall."
No big deal. Keep practicing.
Only after practicing until nearly noon did Nobuhiko finally start getting a feel for it.
After lunch, Nobuhiko continued practicing.
The shadow clone, of course, didn't get hungry.
By evening, he could already guide his chakra haltingly along the circulation route for Water Formation Wall.
Nobuhiko estimated that, at this rate, he should be able to successfully cast Water Formation Wall tomorrow or the day after.
That's settled. Time to call it a day and head home.
With a "poof," Nobuhiko dispelled his shadow clone, and his vision went black.
Sure enough, I can't use too many shadow clones for thinking. My head hurts a little now.
Then he reviewed the shadow clone's progress.
"Oh!"
The shadow clone had gone straight for the four-seal method of casting it.
After a day of practice, he had actually started to get somewhere.
He could already get chakra to circulate along a short stretch of Water Dragon Bullet's route.
It felt as though he could cast the four-seal Water Dragon Bullet in less than three months.
Nobuhiko instantly felt like a genius.
He cheerfully went to eat dinner, then went back to rest.
Two days later, in the afternoon, in the same little grove.
Nobuhiko wore a serious expression as he formed hand seals.
Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall."
Nobuhiko spat out a waterfall-like torrent that formed a wall of water in front of him. It could block enemy attacks.
It provided defense faster than Water Shockwave, and its defensive effect looked better, too.
Thoroughly satisfied, Nobuhiko prepared to call it a day. Since it was still early, he would visit his father's grave.
As for this place, he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.
He could work on using hand seals to guide the chakra needed to cast Water Dragon Bullet at the old Senju residence, too.
After visiting his father, Nobuhiko reviewed the nature-transformation ninjutsu he had learned on his walk back to the old Senju residence: Water Shockwave, Water Trumpet, Water Formation Wall, Wind Release: Breakthrough, and Gale Palm.
His other ninjutsu included the Three Basic Techniques, Shadow Clone, and an extremely rudimentary Body Flicker Technique.
So, his next task for the first stage was to keep practicing Water Dragon Bullet with a shadow clone.
Then he would look through the Second Hokage's notes to see whether he could find anything about the Body Flicker Technique. It was quite useful in actual combat.
The second-stage task was to simplify the hand seals.
He would aim to reduce Water Shockwave to a single seal before learning Water Dragon Bullet. He would leave Water Trumpet, Gale Palm, and Wind Release: Breakthrough to chance, studying them if he had time and leaving them alone if he didn't. Water Formation Wall would be reduced to two seals.
He would try to finish all of it within three months.
After eating dinner out and returning to the old Senju residence, he felt the lonely atmosphere.
Nobuhiko felt that he missed Tsunade a little.
This damned war!
With Tsunade away, Nobuhiko could only return to his room in boredom and lie on his bed.
He thought back over the little moments of his two lives.
It all felt like a dream.
In his previous life, he had just been an ordinary university student at a school that belonged to neither Project 985 nor Project 211.
One day, while walking down the street, he had suddenly felt a pain in the back of his head, and then somehow transmigrated.
After arriving in the world of Naruto, he had lived with his father.
At first, Nobuhiko had always thought he was a civilian, so once he could extract chakra at four years old, he trained very hard. On top of that, whether it was a perk of being a transmigrator or not, Nobuhiko's own talent for training was quite good.
Then his father had suffered grievous wounds in the war and died after treatment failed.
Then came the experiences of the past few days.
Nobuhiko suddenly felt as though he was the child of destiny.
Wouldn't the combined Senju and Uchiha bloodlines be stronger than half of Kurama? Damn, they don't seem stronger than Asura chakra.
Fine, Naruto is still the child of destiny.
Then what did I transmigrate here for? To keep being a supporting character?
I was a supporting character before transmigrating, and I'm still a supporting character afterward. Didn't I fucking transmigrate for nothing?!
No, Nobuhiko felt that he couldn't keep drifting aimlessly like this.
Drawing on what he had learned in his previous life, Nobuhiko felt he should set himself some lofty ambitions.
Like taking good care of Tsunade?
That seems workable.
It's somewhat lofty, but not enough.
I miss Tsunade again!
Fuck, this damned war.
I'm going all in!
The person Tsunade admired most was the First Hokage.
Even the First Hokage couldn't put an end to war back then. If I could end it, wouldn't my image in Tsunade's heart...!
Maybe that would let Tsunade get past the age barrier in her heart!
The more Nobuhiko thought about it, the more excited he became.
It's settled!
Step one: become the strongest in the Shinobi World.
Step two: unite the Shinobi World and kill everyone who refuses to submit.
Step three: pick a strong, intelligent successor and instill some advanced theories in him. For example, unite the majority of strong people who are honest and content with their lot, and kill those who are both powerful and ambitious. That should maintain peace for a long time.
After all, this is a world of supernatural powers. The strong can decide most things.
Take one step and look two steps ahead. That's the plan for now.
Any plans beyond that can wait until I become the strongest in the Shinobi World.
With this ambition established, Nobuhiko instantly felt that his direction in life was clear. He was no longer lost.
I just don't know whether Tsunade will let me take secondary wives once I become the strongest in the Shinobi World and unite it.
Fuck! I'll be the strongest in the Shinobi World by then. Tsunade should show me some respect, right? Probably!
Nobuhiko drifted off to sleep with this happy worry.
In the courtyard of the old Senju residence.
Nobuhiko was pondering the Body Flicker Technique.
As for the Second Hokage's notes...
The less said, the better. Although they contained records about the Body Flicker Technique,
rather than the Body Flicker Technique, they were more like some research insights into Flying Thunder God, but without any concrete results.
They were utterly tasteless to eat, yet a shame to throw away.
In the end, Nobuhiko still had to figure it out himself.
Although the Body Flicker Technique was only a D-rank ninjutsu, the so-called mere genin level, this technique ran through Naruto from beginning to end.
At its core, it consisted of ninjutsu and taijutsu that achieved instantaneous movement. However, different shinobi had different Body Flicker techniques, each with its own characteristics.
In the original story, there were five or six common types of Body Flicker Technique in the Shinobi World. The two most common were the Taijutsu Body Flicker Technique and the Ninjutsu Body Flicker Technique.
The Taijutsu Body Flicker Technique could broadly be divided into two types.
One, exemplified by Might Guy, achieved instantaneous movement entirely through physical ability, developed through tireless training day after day, year after year.
The other was the Lightning Release Chakra Mode of the Raikage lineage, which used lightning release chakra to activate the body's cells and achieve high-speed movement.
Nobuhiko had absolutely no interest in this category of Body Flicker Technique. Even as a gifted transmigrator, he couldn't hope to master either one without eight or ten years, and during that training, he wouldn't have the energy to study anything else.
Just like Might Guy and the Raikage, whose combat methods relied on the Eight Gates Released Formation and Lightning Release Chakra Mode, they basically never used other moves.