"Go gather all the researchers you know."
After Honoka agreed, Natsuki spoke.
"Wait here for a mont."
Honoka imdiately left the room.
In less than ten minutes, she returned with seven people.
Natsuki looked them over and found that none of them were shinobi.
That was fine. It would make them easier to control and manage.
"Lord Natsuki."
One of the researchers spoke.
"We would like to know exactly what effect the forbidden jutsu you ntioned has."
Natsuki then explained the effects of the Chira Technique to them.
"There is actually a forbidden jutsu like that?"
"If it can fuse five summoned creatures, then it should be able to fuse countless summoned creatures."
"This forbidden jutsu is exactly what the Ultimate Summoning Beast requires."
After hearing the explanation, the group began discussing it among themselves.
"Do you accept Lord Natsuki's invitation?" Honoka asked after clearing her throat.
"We accept!"
The seven answered in unison.
Natsuki nodded.
He could tell that all seven were the kind of legendary mad scientists who were obsessed with their research.
That was precisely why the Chira Technique had attracted them.
Naturally, Natsuki did not possess the Chira Technique.
However, that was not a problem. He could simply find Hiruko and obtain it from him.
Hiruko had originally been a classmate of Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and the others. After his research into the Chira Technique was exposed, he beca a missing-nin.
In the original story, he targeted Kakashi's Sharingan, intending to use it as one of the kekkei genkai fused through the Chira Technique.
Aside from the Sharingan, he had also fused Storm Release, Dark Release, Steel Release, and Swift Release.
"Pack your things."
After thinking for a mont, Natsuki continued, "We'll et here in half an hour. I'll take you out."
"Alright."
The seven researchers turned and left.
"You should pack as well," Natsuki explained. "I'm going to call my teammate over."
After saying that, he headed toward Nawaki's location.
Nawaki had already found the Ultimate Summoning Beast and was hiding nearby, observing it.
When Natsuki appeared, Nawaki was startled.
A mont later, however, he smiled.
"I found the Ultimate Summoning Beast before you did."
Nawaki lowered his voice, sounding pleased.
It was rare for him to beat Natsuki at anything, even if it was only sothing insignificant like this.
"Mm."
Natsuki did not care about winning or losing.
He looked at the enormous insect-like summoned creature in the distance.
"Did you discover anything?"
"This Ultimate Summoning Beast has no intelligence. It looks no different from a crazed animal."
Nawaki shook his head and comnted, "Calling this thing the Ultimate Summoning Beast is an insult to the word 'ultimate.'"
"I agree."
Natsuki paused before continuing, "Co with ."
"Where are we going?"
Nawaki asked in confusion, "Are we just going to ignore the Ultimate Summoning Beast?"
"We'll deal with it later."
Natsuki answered casually.
The two soon arrived at Honoka's room.
When Nawaki saw Honoka, he froze.
He instinctively looked at Natsuki, his face full of questions.
What was going on?
"She is a mber of the Uzumaki clan. Her na is Honoka," Natsuki introduced.
"Why is a mber of the Uzumaki clan here?" Nawaki asked in surprise.
"I ca here to help them research summoned creatures," Honoka explained.
"I see."
Nawaki thought for a mont before asking, "The Ultimate Summoning Beast hasn't been completed yet, has it?"
"No, it hasn't."
Honoka sighed.
"Perhaps our approach was wrong from the very beginning."
Nawaki glanced at Natsuki and roughly guessed that the two had already spoken.
"Lord Natsuki has given us another direction to pursue, so we have decided to abandon the Ultimate Summoning Beast project."
Honoka quickly recovered and smiled.
Nawaki scratched his head.
He had not expected their mission to develop like this.
"There are two things we need to do next," Natsuki said calmly. "First, dismiss all the researchers. Second, destroy the Ultimate Summoning Beast."
"These researchers co from many different places. I'm afraid they won't be willing to leave," Honoka said with a slight frown.
"They won't have a choice."
Natsuki smiled faintly.
"Co out."
Kenpei appeared before them wearing an ANBU mask.
"Gather all the researchers together," Natsuki instructed. "Move them away from the laboratory."
"Yes, Lord Natsuki."
Kenpei turned and left.
Although his squad only had four mbers, they could use the Shadow Clone Technique.
In addition, none of the researchers were shinobi, so they had little ability to resist. The task would not be difficult.
"ANBU really is impressive and convenient," Nawaki remarked.
Natsuki waited a while longer.
Once all seven researchers had gathered, he led them out of the laboratory.
At that mont, Kenpei's squad had forcibly gathered all the other researchers together.
"The Ultimate Summoning Beast project is pointless, so the experint will be terminated starting today," Natsuki announced as he walked toward them.
"Why is it suddenly being terminated?"
"Why?"
"Who are you? Why should we listen to you?"
Many of the researchers imdiately objected.
"I am from Konoha."
Natsuki's tone remained calm.
The protests stopped imdiately.
To them, Konoha was an existence they absolutely could not afford to provoke.
Although so of the researchers ca from Kirigakure, Kiri was considerably weaker than Konoha.
They were not foolish enough to stand out and object at a ti like this.
"You have two choices. You can return to where you ca from, or you can join us."
After saying that, Natsuki ignored them and turned to Nawaki.
"Nawaki, go deal with the Ultimate Summoning Beast."
"Alright!"
Nawaki imdiately beca energetic.
He rushed into the laboratory.
A mont later, a sound like an explosion rang out.
An enormous summoned creature charged out of the laboratory, chasing after Nawaki.
Many of the researchers retreated in fear.
The Ultimate Summoning Beast noticed the large group of researchers and charged toward them like a wild animal.
"Your opponent is !"
Nawaki snorted and imdiately ford hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!"
A massive tornado appeared.
More precisely, it was a tornado ford entirely from water.
The mont it struck the ground, it burst apart.
Countless streams of water gathered into a long river and slamd into the Ultimate Summoning Beast.
The trendous impact brought it to a halt.
Fortunately for the creature, its body was large and heavy enough to withstand the river by force.
It raised a claw and swung it toward Nawaki.
"Geppo!"
Nawaki leaped into the air and avoided the claw.
He imdiately drew Sahada.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"
The water on the ground was quickly drawn toward him and transford into a massive water dragon.
Nawaki swung Sahada down toward the Ultimate Summoning Beast's head.
The water dragon poured downward.
Sahada also smashed heavily into the Ultimate Summoning Beast's head.
A scream rang out.
The Ultimate Summoning Beast thrashed wildly in pain.
"Sahada!"
Nawaki shouted.
Sahada imdiately opened its mouth and bit into the Ultimate Summoning Beast.
In an instant, it absorbed a large amount of chakra.
The chakra inside the Ultimate Summoning Beast was a mixture of many different chakra signatures.
Such chakra would be harmful to any shinobi.
Sahada, however, did not care.
As long as it was chakra, Sahada could absorb it.
As its chakra drained away, the Ultimate Summoning Beast gradually stopped struggling and finally collapsed to the ground.
Many of the researchers looked utterly devastated.
The death of the Ultimate Summoning Beast ant that all their research had gone to waste.
Natsuki shook his head.
He had just saved their lives.
Of course, there was no need for him to explain.
After destroying the Ultimate Summoning Beast's corpse and the laboratory, Natsuki led everyone back to Konoha.
During the journey, he explained the situation to Honoka and the others. They would continue their research in the Land of Snow.
Although the Land of Snow was far away, it did not matter much to them.
After all, the Forgotten Island was an isolated island at sea and was also quite remote.
After reaching Konoha, Natsuki personally made another trip and escorted Honoka and the others to Yukigakure.
He did not stay there and soon returned to Konoha.
As for Hiruko, he had already sent ANBU shinobi to search for him.
Another two months passed in the blink of an eye.
[Congratulations. Hatake Kakashi Template Ability Four has been unlocked: Three-Tomoe Sharingan.]
It had finally arrived.
Natsuki, who was in the middle of training, imdiately exhaled.
He stood still and felt the change in his left eye.
Natsuki glanced at Nawaki and Kushina before walking to the other side.
He then activated the Sharingan.
A scarlet light flashed.
Three tomoe imdiately appeared in his left eye.
At the sa ti, the scene seen through his left eye changed and beca clearer than before.
More precisely, everything seed to slow down.
The only unfortunate part was that he had only one Sharingan.
Fortunately, he was not like Kakashi, who could not deactivate his Sharingan.
It was his own eye, so it worked no differently from the Sharingan of a normal Uchiha shinobi. He could activate and deactivate it whenever he wished and did not need to keep it open at all tis.
At that mont, Natsuki heard footsteps.
He deactivated the Sharingan and turned around.
Jiraiya and Minato were approaching.
"Natsuki."
Minato smiled brightly.
"Long ti no see."
"Jiraiya-sama, Minato, where did you go? Why were you away for so long?"
Natsuki walked forward and asked curiously.
"We went to the Land of Rivers."
Minato paused before explaining, "The mission itself did not take much ti. Most of it was spent training."
"I see."
Natsuki understood.
They had gone on a training journey, much like the three years Jiraiya and Naruto had spent traveling together in the original story.
Nawaki and Kushina also ca forward to greet Jiraiya and Minato.
"Your strength must have improved considerably. How about a spar?" Natsuki suggested.
"Sure."
Minato agreed imdiately.
"I'll finally have the chance to see the legendary Flying Raijin Jutsu."
Natsuki felt relieved.
He had been thinking about awakening a character template related to space for a long ti. Now, he finally had the chance.
"I won't disappoint you."
Minato wore his usual bright smile.
However, Natsuki keenly noticed that Minato was far more confident than before.
That was only natural.
"Wait."
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.
"Minato, go bring Orochimaru and Tsunade here. How could they miss sothing like this?"
Minato paused briefly before disappearing from where he stood.
"How convenient."
Nawaki could not help feeling envious.
"It's more than just convenient."
Jiraiya smiled proudly.
"Natsuki, if you aren't careful, you might lose."
"Natsuki won't lose!"
Kushina clenched her fists.
Jiraiya smiled at her words but said nothing more.
A short while later, Minato returned with Orochimaru and Tsunade.
"Who do you think will win?" Jiraiya asked with a smile when he saw them.
"You seem very confident. It looks like Minato has fully mastered the Flying Raijin Jutsu."
Tsunade sighed.
"That is truly rare."
So far, only two people in Konoha had mastered the Flying Raijin Jutsu, Senju Tobirama and Minato.
"Natsuki will win," Orochimaru said calmly.
"Then I'll bet."
Before Tsunade could finish, she was interrupted.
"Big Sis, bet on Minato," Nawaki said, blinking innocently.
Tsunade froze for a mont before realizing what he ant.
Enraged, she raised her hand and struck him on the forehead.
Natsuki secretly gave Nawaki a thumbs-up.
What a good brother.
He had perfectly taken advantage of Tsunade's curse of always losing her bets.
"Let's go to the nearby training ground."
After being interrupted, Tsunade did not finish placing a bet.
The group arrived at a nearby training ground.
This training ground also belonged to the Senju clan, so no one else was using it.
Natsuki and the others usually found the courtyard sufficient for their training.
They only ca to this training ground when practicing large-scale ninjutsu.
Natsuki walked into the center of the field.
As he looked at Minato, he considered the weaknesses of the Flying Raijin Jutsu.
The Flying Raijin Jutsu had almost no weaknesses.
The only thing that could be considered a weakness was that it required a Flying Raijin mark to teleport.
The Flying Raijin marks were usually placed on kunai.
However, they could also be placed directly on a target's body.
The most troubleso aspect was that Flying Raijin marks could not be removed.
In short, Natsuki could not allow Minato to leave a Flying Raijin mark on him.
"Begin!"
Jiraiya shouted.
Minato imdiately swung both hands.
A large number of kunai scattered toward Natsuki like flower petals.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Natsuki imdiately ford hand seals.
Walls of water rose around him, perfectly blocking the incoming kunai.
Minato disappeared and reappeared in front of the water wall.
"Rasengan!"
A massive hole was smashed through the water wall.
Natsuki had expected this.
He threw the Kurosawa in his hand.
An explosion erupted.
Countless fragnts shot toward Minato.
Minato vanished imdiately.
In the next second, Natsuki heard the sound of air being torn apart behind him.
"Shigan!"
Minato appeared behind him.
A chakra projectile resembling a bullet pierced through the water wall and flew toward Natsuki's head.
"Water Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirlpool!"
Natsuki spun his body.
Minazuki, wrapped in flowing water, split apart the rapidly approaching chakra projectile.
More water surged outward and swept toward Minato.
Minato disappeared again.
Natsuki's attack struck empty air.
"As expected of the Flying Raijin Jutsu created by my granduncle!"
Nawaki could not help exclaiming.
"It's incredible!"
Previously, whenever Minato sparred with Natsuki, he would lose within a few exchanges.
It was always a one-sided defeat.
Now, however, the situation was different.
Minato had not lost, and the battle appeared evenly matched. Neither side seed able to gain the upper hand.
Kushina nodded in agreent.
Minato truly was much more difficult to deal with now.
He appeared and disappeared unpredictably, making his next move almost impossible to foresee.
"How is Natsuki's reaction speed so fast?" Jiraiya asked with a frown.
Minato's reaction speed had already been extrely fast.
Combined with the Flying Raijin Jutsu, most shinobi could not react to his attacks in ti.
Natsuki, however, had reacted to everything.
It looked as though Natsuki could not do anything to Minato, but in reality, it was Minato who could not do anything to Natsuki.
"His reaction speed really is astonishing," Tsunade said with a slight nod.
"If this continues, Minato will lose," Orochimaru said casually. "Using the Flying Raijin Jutsu this frequently will drain his chakra before long."
"The fight isn't over yet. Either one of them could still win!"
Jiraiya snorted.
Although he already had a bad feeling, he refused to admit defeat before the outco was decided.
Natsuki looked around at the Flying Raijin kunai scattered across the training ground.
In the next mont, Minato appeared.
"One Sword Style: Thirty-Six Pound Phoenix!"
Natsuki imdiately released a flying slash.
"Geppo!"
Minato leaped into the air.
During this period, aside from learning the Flying Raijin series of ninjutsu, he had also learned Natsuki's Konoha Six Powers.
The sound of rushing air rang out.
Minato threw four kunai from the air.
Natsuki responded by throwing a Kurosawa.
The Kurosawa collided with the four kunai and imdiately exploded.
The four kunai were scattered by the resulting turbulence.
At that mont, Minato aid his index finger at one of the kunai.
"Shigan!"
The force struck the kunai, sending it flying toward Natsuki at trendous speed.
As it approached Natsuki, Minato suddenly appeared beside it.
"Rasengan!"
Without hesitation, he slamd the Rasengan toward Natsuki's back.
This was the tactic Minato used most often in the original story, the Flying Raijin: Second Step.
Brilliant lightning erupted.
Minato's pupils contracted.
Natsuki turned and slashed toward him.
Countless arcs of lightning gathered around Natsuki's right hand, carrying enough power to tear through anything in their path.
Minato made his decision in an instant and disappeared.
He had no intention of trading injuries with Natsuki.
He also understood Natsuki well.
With Armant Haki, Natsuki would be able to withstand the Rasengan without suffering serious harm.
Minato could not do the sa.
Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter clearly possessed piercing power comparable to a blade.
"What kind of Lightning Release is that? Why have I never seen it before?" Jiraiya asked.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Cutter."
Tsunade smiled.
"Natsuki created it himself."
Jiraiya imdiately fell silent.
At that mont, Minato reappeared nearby.
Natsuki flexed his right hand.
The lightning transford into countless senbon and shot toward Minato.
Minato had not expected Lightning Cutter to transform into senbon, but fortunately, he had learned the Konoha Six Powers.
He hurriedly used Soru to avoid the wide barrage of lightning senbon.
The instant Minato landed, Natsuki raised one hand.
"Railgun!"
A kunai shot toward him.
Minato's heart trembled, and he disappeared again.
When he reappeared, he could not help panting.
Just as Orochimaru had said, repeatedly using the Flying Raijin Jutsu was rapidly draining his chakra.
What frustrated him most was that even after using the Flying Raijin Jutsu so frequently, he still could not find an opportunity to win.
Natsuki not only possessed extrely fast reaction speed, but he also had many abilities that could be activated instantly without hand seals.
He was practically the worst possible opponent for Minato.
Minato had never expected that even after learning the Flying Raijin Jutsu, he still would not be able to defeat Natsuki.
Still, this was much better than the one-sided beatings he had suffered before.
"It's about ti we ended this, Minato," Natsuki said with a smile.
Minato had already used the Flying Raijin Jutsu, the Konoha Six Powers, and the Rasengan.
It had to be said that compared to his counterpart in the original story, Minato had beco much stronger.
However, he was still not strong enough to defeat Natsuki.
There was no helping it.
Natsuki not only possessed the reaction speed granted by the Kirigaya Kazuto Template, but also Mind's Eye from the Sasaki Kojirō Template.
No matter how fast the Flying Raijin Jutsu was, he could react to it.
Minato's gaze sharpened.
In the next mont, he saw Natsuki raise both hands.
"Invisible Air!"
Natsuki gripped a Kurosawa and threw it.
"What?"
Minato heard the sound of rushing air, but he could not see the Kurosawa.
With no other choice, he used the Flying Raijin Jutsu to evade.
The Kurosawa struck the ground and remained embedded there without exploding.
"An invisible sword?"
Jiraiya looked surprised.
"What kind of ninjutsu is that?"
"It's a Wind Release technique he created," Tsunade explained with a smile. "It's called Invisible Air. It prevents the target from seeing the ninja tool."
"What an ingenious idea."
Jiraiya shook his head.
"Minato has no reason to feel ashad of losing."
Although the battle had not yet ended, Jiraiya's experience allowed him to see that his student was barely holding on and could lose at any mont.
Natsuki's hands moved so quickly that they beca blurs.
A large number of Kurosawa concealed by Invisible Air flew toward Minato.
Minato was extrely fast, but there were too many of them, and he could not see the Kurosawa.
After several seconds, one finally reached him.
"Tekkai!"
Minato sensed the danger and reacted imdiately.
The Kurosawa exploded.
The wind carried countless fragnts into Minato.
His entire body was sent flying.
Fortunately, Tekkai protected him, so he was not seriously injured.
Natsuki snapped his fingers.
Every Kurosawa he had thrown earlier exploded.
With the help of the wind, the flas spread, transforming the entire training ground into a sea of fire in an instant.
Minato imdiately felt the scorching heat below him.
If he landed, he would be burned to charcoal.
At the critical mont, he released Tekkai and hurled a Flying Raijin kunai into the sky.
He then appeared beside the kunai.
Natsuki raised his hand.
Countless Kurosawa appeared and aid at Minato.
Minato's expression stiffened.
Although Flying Raijin kunai were scattered across the ground, all of them were covered by flas.
He was also currently in the air.
His only option was to use Geppo together with the Flying Raijin Jutsu to escape the area.
However, the Kurosawa covered such a wide range that if they all exploded at once, Minato would most likely have no ti to escape.
"I surrender."
Minato sighed inwardly and spoke.
"Where did Natsuki take out so many swords from?" Tsunade asked in confusion.
Natsuki had previously used a ninjutsu resembling Unlimited Blade Works combined with Broken Phantasm against Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.
At that ti, however, he had needed ti to prepare a large number of swords and had also required the assistance of shadow clones.
Now, he could do it alone.
"Space-ti ninjutsu," Orochimaru suddenly said.
Jiraiya and Tsunade instinctively looked incredulous.
However, after thinking about it carefully, that was the only explanation.
Natsuki must have projected a large number of swords in advance and stored them inside another dinsion.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)
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