Rinto spent an entire day exploring the abandoned mine and modifying it to his satisfaction.
The mine lay beneath a cliff, its entrance completely concealed by overgrown vines and scattered rocks. Unless someone came within five meters, they would never spot it. About a hundred meters inside, the tunnel opened up, its four walls made of hard granite that could withstand the shock waves of a blowout. Farther in was a dry side cavern, perfect for storing his blueprints and materials. What pleased him most was its remoteness. The nearest settlement was over thirty li away by mountain trail, and not even herb gatherers came here. At last, he could escape those fly-like pursuers and tackle the tough problem of five attributes in peace.
He did not rush to put pen to paper. First, he laid three defensive layers around the mine: sensory anchors in the outer forest, a concealment barrier beside the cliff, and triggered Explosion Release traps at the entrance. He even stuffed Chakra primers into cracks in the cave walls as early warnings. He had learned his lesson. At the slightest disturbance, he needed some breathing room. He could not let that bunch charge right up to his workbench again and interfere with his real work.
By the time he finished the last trap, the dense forest had long since swallowed all the light in the mountain hollow. He lit two Chakra lamps, illuminating the cave walls, then found a flat granite boulder, swept away the dust and rubble, and laid down three layers of oilpaper. His temporary workbench was finally ready. He took out everything he carried close to his body: his experimental records wrapped in three layers of oilpaper, the core configuration drafts, and the old notebook of discarded drafts he had salvaged from the fire. He arranged them one by one, then opened the materials chest Kabuto had sent him, picked out the purest starfall iron and force-conducting crystal jade, and stacked them neatly beside him-these were everything he owned now, more important than his life.
After gnawing through half a dry flatbread and gulping some cold mountain water, he spread out his drafting paper. The moment his pencil touched it, his brow knotted.
The four-attribute staged preactivation logic was utterly inadequate once extended to five attributes. Wind, lightning, water, fire, and earth-the Chakra properties of these five basic attributes differed enormously. Earth Release was heavy and sluggish, Water Release fluid and changeable, Fire Release explosive, Wind Release maximally sharp, and Lightning Release unmatched in penetration. His previous primer could only identify a single attribute. If he switched too quickly, the next attribute would rush in before the previous one's residue had cleared, throwing the primer into chaos. That was exactly what had caused the final blowout in his earlier four-attribute work.
To achieve seamless switching between five attributes, he would have to scrap the old identification logic completely. Fixed thresholds would no longer work. He needed an adaptive primer-one that could instantly and precisely identify any Chakra injected into it, whether single-attribute or mixed, automatically match the corresponding preactivation parameters, and have the anchors dynamically adjust their redundancy with the attribute, without locking the boundaries in advance.
It worked in theory, but the details were full of pitfalls that could blast his head bloody. The adaptive primer's margin for error was minuscule. A single micron-scale anchor out of place would cause attribute misidentification, making the Chakra explode inside the channels. Arranging anchors with dynamic redundancy was even harder. Too much redundancy spread the anchors too far apart, leaving the structure unable to hold and reducing its power to an embarrassing level; too little could not accommodate the differences among all five attributes, and it would collapse anyway.
He hunched over the stone workbench, his pencil racing across the paper, drawing, crossing out, and revising, muttering all the while. One moment he cursed himself for thinking his way into a dead end; the next he crumpled a ruined draft into a ball and tossed it onto the rubble behind him. The mine was utterly quiet except for the faint scrape of an engraving knife across metal, the rustle of charcoal against paper, and his occasional curses. Not even the wind outside could be heard.
He kept at it for a full day and night.
Outside, the sky went from dark to light, then back to dark, and he never once moved from his seat. When hungry, he blindly grabbed a piece of dry flatbread and stuffed it into his mouth, forgetting to swallow as he chewed, his eyes still fixed on the blueprints. When thirsty, he gulped cold water without taking his hand off the paper. After wearing out three charcoal pencils and piling up a thick stack of discarded drafts, he finally worked out the adaptive primer's core logic. He also incorporated the channel-clearing function into the dynamic anchors, eliminating the need for an additional trailing structure that would interfere with the redundancy layout.
Without stopping for a breather, he grabbed a piece of top-grade starfall iron and secured it in his miniature vise with a click. Switching to his sharpest diamond engraving tip, he moved the Chakra lamp closer and brought his face almost against the metal, breathing as lightly as he could. In this configuration, the core adaptive primer alone had over a hundred micron-scale anchors, never mind the redundancy structure that adjusted dynamically with each attribute. The slightest engraving error would ruin the entire piece.
Halfway through engraving, the outermost sensory anchor trembled faintly. Rinto's hand paused for half a second, and he frowned—there were scattered Chakra fluctuations a little over a li beyond the hollow. Probably wandering ninja passing by; they were not heading this way. He put it out of his mind and gritted his teeth, finishing the anchor under his knife before shaking out his numb hand. Muttering, "Damn nuisance," he lowered his head and resumed engraving.
He desperately needed one complete, uninterrupted experiment. It had been almost half a month since he escaped Konoha, and he had spent it either running or being interrupted by pursuers. More than once, someone had come smashing at his door when he was only halfway through an engraving. He had had enough.
By the time he finished the final stroke, it was pitch-black outside again. He removed the starfall iron, loosened his neck, which was so stiff it felt ready to snap, and cracked his knuckles. After nearly two days without sleep, his eyes were bloodshot, but the gaze he fixed on that piece of black iron was frighteningly bright.
He walked to the rock wall at the deepest part of the mine, where the granite was thickest. Even a blowout would not bring it down. Taking a deep breath, he slowly infused Chakra into the metal, starting with the most stable attribute, Earth Release.
The primer responded instantly, adaptively matching the earth attribute's parameters as the anchors adjusted their redundancy in sync. A thick stone wall rose before the rock face, perfectly fitted together, with Chakra flowing through it without the slightest obstruction.
Rinto let out half a sigh of relief. His fingertips shifted slightly, switching to Water Release. Clear water flowed down the rock face. The anchors switched with almost no delay, no stuttering, and no residue.
Then he switched to Fire Release, Wind Release, and Lightning Release. The entire sequential cycle went smoothly. The metal only warmed slightly, without even the temperature spikes that had so often occurred before.
Halfway there.
He steadied himself and began switching rapidly out of sequence-Earth Release → Lightning Release → Water Release → Fire Release → Wind Release, jumping between them however he pleased, faster each time, determined to force the configuration to its limit. He switched over forty times in succession, and every switch remained stable. None of the five attributes lost any power, the switching delay was almost imperceptible, and even the most troublesome attribute residue was swept clean by the channel-clearing structures embedded in the anchors.
Just as the corners of Rinto's mouth began to lift, disaster struck.
On the forty-seventh switch, just as he shifted from Lightning Release to Earth Release, before he had fully reined in the Chakra at his fingertips, the mine's outermost sensory trap suddenly exploded-not the faint tremor from before, but a violent detonation triggered by force. Immediately afterward, the second and third layers of traps were breached in succession. In less than two seconds, the intruders had reached the entrance!
Fuck, they were coming for him, and they had antisensory measures! They had sneaked right up to the entrance before triggering the traps!
Rinto's heart clenched. The starfall iron in his hand was still operating, its Chakra not yet fully discharged. Forcibly interrupting it would only cause Chakra disorder. At best, the whole piece would be ruined; at worst, it would explode in his hand. Gritting his teeth, he held his fingertips steady and forced himself to complete the final half of the switch. Only then did he abruptly withdraw his Chakra, turn, and rush toward the workbench.
Just then, a deafening boom rang out!
The thick rock wall at the entrance was blasted apart, filling the front half of the mine with rubble and smoke. Over a dozen sealing talismans flew in, glowing blue, and plastered the cave walls. Cold Chakra spread instantly, making even the air deep inside the mine sluggish. Eight masked ninja charged through the dust, half Konoha Anbu and half Danzo's Root. The first targets of their kunai and Sealing Jutsu were not him, but the blueprints and experimental records on the stone workbench!
"Rinto, surrender!" The lead Root ninja's voice was ice-cold. "Lord Danzo orders you to hand over all your research materials and return to Konoha with us. Do that, and your life will be spared. Resist, and you'll be killed on the spot!"
Before he had finished speaking, two Root ninja had already circled to the side of the workbench, their sealing talismans heading straight for his experimental records.
Rinto's eyes instantly went red.
With his earlier pursuers, even when they wrecked his temporary laboratory or wasted his time, he had at most been irritated, cursed, and driven them off. But this time was different. These people had gone straight for his research materials-the lifeblood he had accumulated over more than a decade and thousands of exploded pieces of material, the thing he cared about most in life. Anyone who dared touch it, he would dare kill.
"Get lost!"
He roared, and the newly engraved five-attribute starfall iron at his fingertips instantly lit up. Without any hand seals, a blade of Lightning Release energy slashed out first, straight at the two ninja reaching for his experimental records. Neither had expected him to strike so quickly. They hurriedly raised their kunai to block, but the lightning blade cut straight through them and sliced through their forearm guards, leaving wounds deep enough to expose bone. The sealing talismans in their hands were shredded.
Immediately afterward, he flicked his left hand, sending three Explosion Release crystal jades flying. They detonated at the entrance, forcing the intruders two steps back. He moved with the motion, placing himself before the workbench, his back firmly shielding the blueprints and materials on it.
Previously, he had always ended fights quickly and been satisfied with driving people away. He never struck to kill; it was too much trouble. But this time, he truly wanted to kill. These people had not come to recruit him. They had come to steal his lifeblood and destroy his research.
"You're asking to die." Rinto's voice trembled with cold fury. Light flowed through the starfall iron at his fingertips, and Earth Release instantly raised two thick stone walls before him, blocking the incoming Fire Release and Wind Release. Then Lava Release acid splashed through the gaps, forcing the three Anbu at the front to scramble away. The rocks beneath their feet hissed and released white smoke as the acid dissolved them.
These people had clearly come prepared. They were harder to deal with than every pursuer he had encountered before. The Anbu kept him occupied from the front while Root ninja circled around to ambush him. Two Sealing Squad members kept applying sealing talismans to the cave walls. Chakra flow throughout the mine grew increasingly sluggish, and even the barrier he had laid was being sealed off bit by bit.
Worse, they refused to clash with him head-on. Every attack angled toward the workbench, making it obvious that they intended either to seize the materials or destroy them. He was forced to scramble to defend it, unable even to fight freely for fear that stray force would shatter the blueprints on the stone table.
"Rinto, you can't escape!" the lead Root ninja barked coldly. "Our people are stationed throughout the Land of Rivers. Sunagakure and Iwagakure spies are looking for you everywhere too. Hiding won't help, wherever you go! Hand over the materials, and we'll spare your life!"
"Fuck you!" Rinto cursed. Lightning Release and Explosion Release triggered simultaneously at his fingertips, blasting lightning-wrapped shock waves outward. The two Sealing Squad ninja applying talismans were blown into the cave wall, unable to get up for a long while.
But he was alone against eight elite Konoha ninja, with a steady stream of reinforcements heading toward the entrance-he could hear the rush of movement beyond the cliff. At least five or six more were coming. If he kept fighting head-on, even if he killed them all, he would not be able to protect his blueprints and materials. Once the mine was sealed shut, it would become a deathtrap.
He glanced over the things on the workbench, his mind racing. The core experimental records, drafts, and remaining top-grade materials had to come with him. The other consumables, the vise, and the unused ordinary crystal jade would have to stay. So would the spare materials he had hidden in the side cavern.
In that instant of distraction, two Root ninja used the dust as cover to circle to the side of the workbench. Their kunai slashed straight toward his experimental records, intent on destroying them along with their oilpaper wrapping.
Rage shot straight to the crown of Rinto's head. Without thinking, he turned sideways to shield the workbench and took the kunai on his arm. The sharp edge opened a long gash, and blood immediately welled out. Ignoring the wound entirely, he clenched the ring engraved with Explosion Release in his other hand and drove it straight into the ninja's chest. The blast sent the man flying, breaking who knew how many ribs.
"Touch my things, and I'll kill you!" His eyes were frighteningly red, Chakra surging throughout his body. The five-attribute starfall iron in his hand crackled, five kinds of Chakra flowing at his fingertips. Even loose stones shook free of the cave walls.
The remaining ninja were all shaken by his reckless ferocity and instinctively hesitated.
Seizing that half-second opening, Rinto spun around. His hands moved so fast they left afterimages as he stuffed the experimental records, core blueprints, remaining starfall iron, and crystal jade from the workbench into the waterproof bag he wore against his body. Even the old notebook of discarded drafts salvaged from the fire was pressed tightly to his chest. At the same time, his other hand grabbed the explosive tags he had prepared and flung them onto the materials chest and remaining drafting paper-what he could not take, no one else would get.
Boom!
Explosions rang out one after another inside the mine. The consumables he could not carry, the ruined engravings, and the unused drafting paper were all blasted to pieces. Flying rubble and shock waves forced the approaching ninja back again.
Under cover of the spreading dust, Rinto turned and ran deeper into the mine. During his earlier exploration, he had discovered a thin section of rock at the very back, beyond which lay a rocky gully leading to the rear mountain. He had kept it in reserve for emergencies, never expecting to actually need it.
The ninja behind him reacted and chased like mad, ninjutsu and kunai raining toward his back. Without turning, Rinto sent a Lightning Release blade backward to shatter the kunai, then raised a thick Earth Release wall behind him to block their pursuit.
Reaching the rock face, he infused Chakra through his fingertips. Explosion Release and Lightning Release struck together, blasting an opening large enough for a person through the thin rock. Mountain wind immediately rushed in, carrying the dampness of the forest.
He glanced back. The stone wall had already been blasted open, and the ninja were charging toward him like mad. He spat out bloody saliva, cursed, "Haunting me like a bunch of fucking lunatics," and leaped through the opening. In a few bounds, he plunged into the dense forest behind the mountain, vanishing instantly beneath the thick canopy.
By the time the ninja blasted through the stone wall and rushed into the depths, all they found was the ravaged mine, rubble and scrap iron strewn across the ground. Rinto was long gone.
Rinto ran wildly through the forest for over half an hour. Only after confirming that he had shaken off his pursuers did he stop beside a secluded mountain stream.
He leaned against a tree, gasping for breath. The wound on his arm was still bleeding, blood dripping from his fingertips. The burn blisters on his palm had also rubbed open and stung fiercely. He first lowered his head to check the bag against his chest. Only when he saw that the oilpaper wrapping was intact and the experimental records, blueprints, and discarded-draft notebook were all safe did he breathe out and drop onto a rock.
He had no mind to tend his wound. First, he took everything out of the bag and inspected it piece by piece. Only after confirming that nothing was missing or wet did he fully relax. Once that tension ebbed, overwhelming exhaustion and anger surged up. He punched the tree trunk beside him and cursed, "Fuck, a bunch of lunatics!"
Before, he had thought that if he hid somewhere remote and deep enough, he could avoid these people and research in peace. Only now did he understand that it was useless. From the moment he blew up his laboratory and escaped Konoha, his technology had become a juicy prize coveted by every ninja village. There was no hiding from them. This time, Konoha had gone straight for the kill, not even bothering with empty talk of recruitment. They wanted his materials and his life. More pursuers would follow, and they would only be more ruthless.
He could no longer stay in the Land of Rivers. The Land of Fire's border was right nearby, and Konoha's people could come whenever they pleased. Sunagakure and Iwagakure spies were searching everywhere too. Even if he hid deeper in the mountains, he would eventually be found. If he faced another prepared encirclement like this, he might not be able to protect his research materials every time.
He looked up at the sky. Dawn was approaching, and morning light filtered through the leaves onto his hands, stained with blood and charcoal dust. He looked down at the five-attribute starfall iron in his hand. He had used it several times in the emergency, and it had remained perfectly stable. Even during an intense fight, its rapid switching had not produced a single error.
The five attributes worked, yet he did not even have a place where he could record his experimental data in peace.
Rinto gritted his teeth, stood, and treated the wound on his arm, binding it tightly with gauze. He packed his things again and slung them onto his back. Instead of heading deeper into the mountains, he changed direction and went south-away from the Land of Fire, away from the borders of the Five Great Nations, toward places beyond the reach of those great powers.
He had to find somewhere he could truly conduct his research in peace. He could not keep hiding here and there, chased around by a swarm of flies and having his experiments interrupted every few days.
As for those who refused to stop pursuing him, Rinto's gaze turned cold. Before, he had not wanted to bother with them; he had only wanted peace and quiet. But now it seemed hiding alone was useless. He needed to make a batch of defensive ninja tools that could block sensing and clear an area quickly. If anyone dared interrupt his research or touch his materials again, he would not mind showing them that the engraving knife in his hand could do more than carve configurations-it could take lives.
He lowered his hat brim and kept walking, plunging into denser woodland. Besides the Kekkei Genkai fusion configuration he intended to work on next, there was now one more thing on his mind-how to get rid of those time-wasting flies as quickly and with as little effort as possible, so they would never ruin his experiments again.