The oil lamp's wick had burned black. Rinto reached over and nudged it with the tip of his carving knife. Sparks landed on the coarse paper, and he casually brushed them away, but the charcoal pencil in his fingers hung in midair, refusing to come down.
The paper was covered in sketches of dynamic Yin Release configurations, revised again and again. Some had been crossed out halfway through with a single sweeping X; others had red and black annotations crowding their edges, all records of trial and error.
Two days had passed since he broke the seal on the silk manuscript from the Land of Whirlpools.
He had nearly worn that half-scroll fragment to pieces turning its pages. He had long since dissected the basic logic of Yin Release and the methods for refining spiritual energy until everything was perfectly clear. The theoretical framework fit together seamlessly, but whenever he put it into practice, he hit a wall.
When he worked on chakra configurations before, whether it was nature transformation, reproducing Kekkei Genkai, or Senjutsu circulation, the core had always been "setting a flow path for chakra." Whether the medium was black iron, crystal jade, or his own chakra pathways, the routes were fixed and the logic linear. Yin Release was different. Its core was spiritual energy, something formless and fluctuating, impossible to confine within fixed patterns.
Over the past two days, he had tried no fewer than thirty configurations. Either the spiritual energy failed to bind securely to the chakra, causing newly formed anchors to disperse instantly, or the configuration was too rigid, and the slightest change in spiritual fluctuations collapsed the entire structure. His best attempt had produced only the outline of a wind blade at his fingertip, halfway between illusory and tangible. It could not even cut paper and dispersed into free chakra in less than two seconds.
"Fuck."
Rinto cursed under his breath, slammed the charcoal pencil onto the table, and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes to rub his aching temples. Bloodshot veins covered the whites of his eyes. After two days and nights without sleep, his mind had long since grown sluggish. The configuration ideas that had flowed so smoothly before were now like gears clogged with sand, never turning right.
His supplies on the table were running low, too. He had used up his high-precision Chakra Paper, had only half a roll of the sensory scrolls for recording spiritual fluctuations left, and had even worn three diamond tips blunt carving miniature configurations.
Staying cooped up inside and forcing himself to keep going would only waste time.
Rinto opened his eyes, stood, and locked the core blueprints on the table in an iron cabinet. He added two more layers of anti-intrusion seals to the laboratory, grabbed his cloth bag, and headed out. First, he would replenish his missing supplies at the black market and get a change of scenery along the way to loosen up his stalled mind.
Falling Sand Town was even busier at noon than it had been a few days earlier. The underground auction in three days had drawn black-market merchants and wandering ninja from neighboring countries, along with plenty of undercover agents sent by ninja villages. People crowded shoulder to shoulder in the streets, and the shouting and arguing had doubled.
Rinto pulled his hood lower, avoided the crowded streams of people, and headed straight for the materials shop he had visited before. The owner already remembered this formidable customer. As soon as he entered, the man hurried to bring out all the paper, scrolls, and diamond tips he wanted, even throwing in several bottles of imported, high-purity conductive fluid, his manner utterly deferential.
Rinto said little. He paid, stuffed everything into his cloth bag, and turned to leave. He had intended to return straight to the laboratory, but when he reached the street corner, a crowd packed several layers deep blocked his way.
Gasps rose from the center of the crowd, along with applause and cheers. Rinto frowned and was about to go around when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a colorfully dressed illusionist in the middle of the crowd. The man snapped his fingers, and a bouquet of vivid red flowers bloomed out of thin air in his hand, drawing another round of gasps.
Genjutsu.
Rinto stopped.
He had never taken much interest in Genjutsu before. He only knew that it used spiritual energy to interfere with another person's perception and was an application of Yin Release, but he had never dissected it carefully. Since his way was blocked anyway, he simply stood at the edge of the crowd, watching the illusionist as a faint thread of sensory chakra spread out silently.
One glance was enough to see through it.
There were no flowers in the illusionist's hand at all, and he had barely released any chakra. He had merely used an extremely faint trace of spiritual energy, following the spectators' lines of sight into their perception, then used Yin Release to construct a false configuration of "flowers" on a mental level. Everything the audience saw and smelled was something their misled brains filled in. None of it actually existed.
Then the illusionist performed another trick. He waved his hand, and the table in front of him instantly "disappeared." The spectators gasped in amazement, calling it "miraculous." Yet in Rinto's perception, the table remained right where it was. The illusionist had merely distorted the audience's visual perception with Yin Release, making their brains automatically ignore the table's existence.
Rinto stood there watching the performance, and something seemed to explode in his mind.
He had been stuck in a rut all along.
He had kept trying to give Yin Release a fixed, perfectly fitted structure, just as he did with Wind Release and Fire Release configurations, making spiritual energy follow set patterns. But the essence of Yin Release was not "fixed paths" at all. It was "guiding perception and constructing a framework."
Just like this illusionist: he had not carved rigid patterns for his spiritual energy. He had simply followed the audience's perception and provided a framework of "flowers" or "the table has disappeared." Their own minds and brains filled in everything else. His earlier Dynamic Reconstruction adjusted chakra paths in real time as they flowed, yet when it came to Yin Release, he had fallen back on the rigid thinking of fixed mediums. How could it possibly not collapse?
Spiritual energy was alive and fluctuating. The harder you tried to lock it down, the more easily it dispersed. Rather than fixing its paths, it was better to create an adaptive framework and let spiritual energy adjust freely within it. As long as the configuration's core logic remained unchanged, it could take stable form regardless of how the fluctuations changed.
It was just like the distributed tracking anchors he had previously made for Senjutsu. Instead of blocking water with a fixed dam, he let the entire system adjust with the current. Yin Release was the same. There was no need to carve rigid patterns. He only needed to establish the core framework and let spiritual energy fill it in and adapt on its own.
The dead end that had blocked him for two days suddenly opened up.
Rinto's eyes lit up. He could no longer even hear the surrounding noise; his mind was filled with new configuration frameworks. He turned and headed out of town. There were too many people and too much noise here. He needed somewhere deserted to test the idea he had just worked out.
He did not return to his rented house, instead heading straight for the canyon in the desert outside Falling Sand Town. It was deserted, with little wind, making it ideal for quiet experiments without interruption.
Once he left town, hot, dry wind swept grit toward him, and the voices around him gradually faded into the distance. Rinto walked quickly, repeatedly working through the new Yin Release configuration in his mind. He discarded all the previous fixed patterns, replacing them with an adaptive framework centered on spiritual anchors, defining only the core logic of its form without locking down specific circulation paths.
After roughly an hour, a long, narrow canyon appeared ahead. Steep rock walls rose on either side of a narrow path, and the wind whistled through the canyon. It was very quiet.
Rinto had just reached the canyon entrance when he heard fighting inside, along with explosions from colliding Ninjutsu and muffled human grunts.
His brow immediately furrowed.
Annoying.
He had finally found somewhere quiet, only to run into another fight.
He had intended to turn around and find somewhere else, but the explosions inside the canyon grew louder. The shock wave from an Earth Release technique traveled along the rock wall, sending loose stones tumbling down and nearly hitting him. Worse, a ripple of Genjutsu chakra spread through the air and drifted toward him on the wind, interfering with his perception.
Rinto's patience ran out completely.
He stepped into the canyon, and after rounding a bend, he saw the scene inside clearly.
Three masked rogue ninja were attacking two Konoha Chunin. Dense sealing patterns covered the rock walls, fragments of Explosive Tags littered the ground, and two Genjutsu barriers held the Chunin trapped inside. Their faces were deathly pale; they were clearly under Genjutsu.
Not far away, a masked man with long silver hair was trapped in a complex sealing array. He braced his Kunai against the ground, his Sharingan spinning rapidly as he deciphered the array's sealing patterns. But the sealing array was nested: as soon as he unraveled one layer, another immediately took its place. Two rogue ninja nearby also launched surprise attacks from time to time, restricting his movements.
It was Kakashi Hatake.
Rinto recognized him at a glance. Back in Konoha, rumors about Kakashi the Copy Ninja had often circulated in the Research and Development Department. Even though he paid no attention to outside affairs, he knew of this genius who had become a Jonin at twelve.
Kakashi also noticed Rinto entering. His Sharingan instantly swept over him, initially wary, before his pupil contracted slightly. He had seen the wanted notice Danzo had issued. The young man before him, dressed in a coarse cloth jacket and radiating exhaustion, yet with frighteningly bright eyes, was precisely the S-rank rogue ninja Danzo was desperate to capture: Uchiha Rinto.
What was he doing here?
Alarm bells immediately rang in Kakashi's mind. Danzo's wanted notice had stated clearly that Rinto possessed dangerous Ninjutsu technology and was extremely dangerous, but it had not said just how strong he was. With Kakashi pinned down by a sealing array and his two teammates trapped, things would be troublesome today if Rinto was working with these rogue ninja.
The rogue ninja also noticed Rinto. Their leader barked, "Who are you? Get lost! This is Konoha business. Stay out of it!"
Rinto ignored him. His gaze swept over the sealing array on the rock walls, then over the two Chunin trapped in the Genjutsu barriers, and his frown deepened. The chakra fluctuations from these rogue ninja's seals and Genjutsu were a chaotic mess, making his head throb. There was no way he could settle down to test configurations.
"Fight somewhere else," Rinto said, his voice level but carrying an unquestionable chill. "I need this place. Stop making noise here."
"Huh? You've got a death wish, brat!" One rogue ninja instantly flew into a rage. Already frustrated because he could do nothing against Kakashi, he turned at once when some random passerby dared to order them around. Lightning Release crackled around the Kunai in his hand as he charged at Rinto. "I'll kill you first, you nuisance!"
Kakashi's Sharingan tightened. He was about to call out a warning when he saw that Rinto had not moved at all. He had not even raised a hand.
The charging rogue ninja had barely come within two meters of him when he suddenly screamed. The Lightning Release in his hand instantly dispersed, and he fell to the ground clutching his arm, rolling in agony. With a casual, invisible configuration, Rinto had directly altered the flow of chakra inside his pathways. Chakra surged backward through them, leaving him in too much pain even to stand.
The remaining four rogue ninja froze.
What happened? No hand seals, no Ninjutsu, and he just went down?
Kakashi was stunned as well. His Sharingan had seen it perfectly clearly: only a nearly invisible trace of chakra had spilled from Rinto's fingertip, so fast that even the Sharingan had almost failed to catch it, and he had incapacitated an elite rogue ninja outright. Such chakra control was simply beyond ordinary ninja.
"Attack together! Kill him first!" the leader shouted through gritted teeth, calling to the others. Two stayed to hold Kakashi down while the other two charged at Rinto, their Ninjutsu forming instantly. Fire Release: Great Fireball and Wind Release: Great Breakthrough slammed toward him together, the heat wave carrying wind blades and whipping up the loose stones around them.
Rinto frowned, the impatience in his eyes deepening.
He could not even be bothered to construct a proper configuration. He merely raised his hand casually, and the chakra at his fingertip stirred gently. Half a meter in front of him, the incoming fireball and wind blades instantly dispersed, as though crushed by an invisible hand, leaving not even a spark.
At the same time, the two charging rogue ninja fell screaming, just like the first. Chakra rampaged through their pathways, leaving them unable to fight.
In less than two seconds, all three rogue ninja had been incapacitated.
The two remaining rogue ninja holding Kakashi down went pale, their Kunai trembling in their hands. They had already been unable to do anything against Kakashi, and now a monster had suddenly appeared and incapacitated three people without even raising his hand. How were they supposed to fight this?
In the instant they froze, Kakashi seized his chance. His Sharingan spun rapidly, and following the logic Rinto had just used to dismantle the seals, he instantly found a weakness in the array's core. The electric glow of Lightning Blade lit up in his palm, and he broke through the sealing array in an instant. A backhanded Lightning Release strike electrocuted the remaining two rogue ninja until their bodies were charred black, dropping them to the ground.
The canyon instantly fell silent, leaving only the sound of wind passing between the rock walls.
Kakashi dismissed his Lightning Blade and removed his Sharingan, his gaze above his mask filled with wariness and surprise. He inclined his head slightly toward Rinto, his tone probing. "Thank you for your help. I never expected to meet you here, Mr. Uchiha Rinto."
He deliberately emphasized "Uchiha Rinto," hoping to see how Rinto would react.
But Rinto's expression barely changed. He merely glanced at him, his tone completely flat. "Don't thank me. You were disturbing me. Go somewhere else to deal with the aftermath. Don't stay here."
He did not care about Konoha Jonin or wanted notices. He only wanted these people to leave quickly and stop delaying his tests of the new Yin Release configuration.
Kakashi paused, then understood. Rumor said this man was an utter research fanatic who cared about nothing but his own experiments. Now it seemed those rumors were true. He had not acted to help Konoha at all. He had simply found them noisy.
"You should know about the wanted notice Lord Danzo issued." Kakashi watched him, his tone still probing. "Aren't you afraid I'll take you back to Konoha under arrest?"
Rinto lifted his eyes and glanced at him, as though he had heard something utterly inconsequential. "You can try."
There was none of the hostility of a threat, only a matter-of-fact calm. As though the idea of arresting him was as insignificant in his eyes as those rogue ninja's attacks had been.
Kakashi fell silent.
His Sharingan had seen everything clearly. Rinto's control over chakra had already reached a level beyond common sense. Not only had Kakashi just broken out of a sealing array and expended considerable chakra, but even at his peak, he might not be able to capture him. Besides, he knew perfectly well what Danzo was like. Most likely, Danzo had fabricated the charges on this wanted notice to seize the man's technology.
He had little interest in carrying out Danzo's orders to begin with, much less when facing someone so unfathomable.
Kakashi smiled, his tone relaxing, and made no further mention of the wanted notice. "Sorry for disturbing you. We'll leave right away."
He turned and walked over to the two Chunin, casually broke the Genjutsu barriers, then checked their injuries. He nodded to Rinto once more and quickly left the canyon with his two teammates, dragging the rogue ninja along the ground.
Before leaving, Kakashi glanced back. Rinto had already reached a flat rock wall deep inside the canyon and set down his cloth bag. He was concentrating with his eyes closed, as though the confrontation had left no trace in his mind at all.
Kakashi sighed inwardly. This time, Danzo had truly provoked someone extraordinary.
At last, quiet returned to the canyon.
Rinto gave the brief interruption no further thought. His mind was filled with the Yin Release configuration he had just worked out. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and settled his mind. First he stabilized his own chakra, then refined his spiritual energy and slowly spread it out along the framework he had conceived.
There were no fixed patterns or rigid paths, only a core anchor defining the logic of a "wind blade's" form. Spiritual energy wrapped around chakra, automatically adapting and circulating along the framework as formless energy slowly gathered at his fingertip.
This time, nothing collapsed or dispersed.
Rinto opened his eyes. A translucent wind blade hovered around his fingertip. It was not a tangible wind blade compressed from chakra like before, but a form constructed entirely through Yin Release, poised between illusion and reality. He flicked it away, and the blade flew out, striking the opposite rock wall with precision. There was no earthshaking explosion, yet it left a deep, smooth, clean groove in the hard stone without dislodging a single fragment.
It worked.
Rinto's eyes lit up. He tried several more times with fire, lightning, earth, and water. The Yin Release configurations for all four basic natures took shape on the first attempt. He did not even need to control them deliberately; the spiritual energy automatically adapted to the corresponding forms along the framework.
Just like that, he had broken through the bottleneck that had troubled him for two days.
He then tried combining Yin Release with his earlier Dynamic Reconstruction. Chakra circulated at his fingertip, completing nature transformation and Yin Release shaping simultaneously. It was nearly twice as fast as his previous Barehanded Jutsu Casting, and the chakra dissipation rate was lower, too.
Only when the sun was nearly down and orange-red light had painted the canyon in warm tones did Rinto stop testing. He recorded all the new configuration logic, trial-and-error parameters, and optimization details in the notebook he carried, filling the pages densely without leaving out even the smallest adjustment.
Putting away the notebook, he turned and headed back toward town. He had worked out Yin Release's basic framework. Next, he only needed to wait for the auction in three days, acquire the Second Hokage's sealing manuscript and that fragmentary Yin Release scroll related to the Six Paths, and complete the entire system.
By the time he returned to town, dusk had fallen. The crowds in the streets had not thinned. Instead, many unfamiliar faces in clothing from various countries had appeared, all with steady presences and wary eyes. Clearly, they had come for the auction.
Passing the tavern, Rinto happened to glimpse two familiar figures. Kabuto, dressed as a black-market merchant, was speaking quietly with a black-market steward. His usual gentle smile rested on his face, but calculation lurked in his eyes.
Orochimaru's people were here, too.
Rinto did not slow down or spare them another glance. Whether it was Kabuto, Danzo's men, or any other faction, he did not care. Anyone who dared stop him from obtaining research materials at the auction would be a nuisance delaying his work.
And he had never lacked ways to deal with nuisances.
Back at his rented house, he first added two layers of anti-surveillance seals to the sensory anchors on the courtyard walls before entering the laboratory. There, he carefully organized the Yin Release configurations he had grasped that day into a complete experimental record.
The oil lamp's flame flickered quietly in the night. Outside the window, the noise of Falling Sand Town gradually subsided, leaving only the clear, steady scratch of the charcoal pencil in his hand moving across the paper.
His path had opened up another great step ahead.