Time flowed like water.
In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.
At the abandoned, ruined training ground, Jin hung upside down from a branch, biting into an apple. Suddenly, Namikaze Minato appeared with his finger extended, trying to land a hit on him.
In the next instant, Minato pierced the tree branch with his finger, leaving a clean hole. But then he felt something solid against his back. Jin was pressed right up behind him, taking a huge bite out of his apple.
"Too slow, little Minato."
They both used Soru at the same time and vanished. Blurred figures moved at high speed, colliding at multiple points around the field.
In the distance, Kushina stood under a tree. With a quick flick, she tossed a small stone at the trunk. Instantly, a rain of shuriken and kunai fell from the tree onto her. Her body swayed left and right like a leaf in the wind. Not a single weapon touched her.
Watching this, Hyūga Kiyoshi ground his teeth. I can't keep up. I really can't.
Of the Four Forms, Minato had mastered all of them in just three months and used them with ease. Kushina had mastered Kami-e and Soru. But he had only mastered Tekkai, and he was still training Soru.
The Four Forms had high requirements, especially when it came to chakra. He could not believe Namikaze Minato was this much of a genius. But reality was right in front of him. He had to admit, even if he hated it, that he did not compare to Minato.
But compared to those two, Uchiha Jin was a complete monster.
Kiyoshi did not know where Jin had gotten the Four Forms, but Jin's combat power was not something a child his age should possess. His agility, his monstrous reactions, the effortless way he used the techniques. Even a genius like Minato was being toyed with.
Even though Jin could not use ninjutsu, Kiyoshi felt that even a Chūnin from his clan would have trouble beating him. Kiyoshi had trained with Chūnin and Jōnin before, and the feeling Jin gave him was like facing a Jōnin.
"That guy is a monster wearing human skin." Kiyoshi stared at Jin, the target Minato constantly chased. That was the real challenge. Unfortunately, Kiyoshi could not even keep up with Minato.
Jin glanced at Kiyoshi. The Hyūga did not know about the existence of Basic Internal Energy. The main reason was the band on his forehead, hiding the Caged Bird Seal. As a member of the Branch House, Kiyoshi could not resist the Main House. Jin could not fully trust him.
Tilting his head to dodge Minato's Shigan, the tree beside them was pierced with a sharp thud. Jin spun and threw a side kick. Minato's reaction was unbelievably fast, almost abnormal. He grabbed Jin's leg, clearly trying to use the momentum to lift himself. But Jin surged with explosive power, his leg accelerating and slamming into Minato's stomach before he could complete the movement, sending him flying.
Minato stabilized in midair and landed sideways on a tree trunk.
"Minato, you still need to work harder," Jin said as he finished his apple and encouraged him.
Minato jumped down and sat on the ground, defeated. "Jin, why are you so strong?"
He could feel his own progress skyrocketing, yet he still could not see the bottom of Jin's strength. It was like climbing a mountain. He thought he was halfway, but the distance to the peak never seemed to shrink.
His Basic Internal Energy was already at the fourth level, and he had mastered the Four Forms. Compared to Jin, he still felt like a child fighting an adult.
"You have to be diligent, Minato." Jin shook his head, looking like a wise man.
In truth, Jin's progress over the past three months had been small, limited by the growth of his young body. Still, his foundation was solid. On top of that, Minato, Duy, Kushina, and Orochimaru's understanding of Basic Internal Energy became his nourishment, flowing into his mind through the system. The same was true for Minato and the others' understanding of the Four Forms. That was why he could crush Minato.
Even as a genius, the current Minato only had the strength of a Chūnin.
Speaking of which, Orochimaru had gone the farthest in Basic Internal Energy. He was already touching the final layer. That last layer was essentially something Jin had created in pursuit of Immortal Cultivation. It was complex and demanded an enormous amount of chakra.
"Oh, right. Instructor Inoue said you have to go to school tomorrow, no matter what. He has an important announcement," Minato remembered. The main reason was that, in the past three months, Inoue Satoru had never once seen even a shadow of Uchiha Jin at school.
"Got it." Jin answered vaguely.
If he used that jutsu, Hachimon, he could threaten a Jōnin, or even have the strength of one. He could only use it once, though.
Orochimaru stared expressionlessly at the ninja inside the glass container. The man screamed in agony as his body gradually turned to wood. From the shadows, a bandaged man emerged. Under the dim light, he looked sinister. Konoha's shadow. Shimura Danzo.
"Any progress?"
Orochimaru replied coldly, "As you can see, it failed."
Danzo's expression was unpleasant. "This experiment has been going on for a month. Why is there no progress at all?" The number of sacrifices for this experiment was not small, and it even affected manpower on the front lines. The true instigator of this mission, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was already starting to waver.
"Hashirama Cells only keep corroding the host. There is no effective way to suppress them." Orochimaru shook his head. He had used every method he could, but he could not reduce the cells' aggressiveness.
"Continue the experiment. We need results."
"I am not your subordinate, Lord Danzo." Orochimaru emphasized the word "Lord" and shot Danzo a sideways glance. Even as his master's best friend, Danzo had no authority to order him around.
Danzo looked deeply at Orochimaru. "Hiruzen is also waiting for results. If there is no progress, the experiment will be shut down." With so many sacrifices and zero results, that weak Hiruzen would never allow it to continue.
Danzo turned and vanished into the shadows. In all of Konoha, only two people could research Hashirama Cells. One was the current Orochimaru. The other was Tsunade, and this could never be revealed to her. Tell her that, to strengthen Konoha, they had dug up her grandfather's grave? Even with the Will of Fire drilled into her, Tsunade would not stay quiet. She would flip Konoha upside down.
Orochimaru watched Danzo leave, but his gaze did not return to the failed test subject. Instead, he focused on an unremarkable pot in a corner where a small tree was slowly growing. In his eyes, that pot was far more tempting than Hashirama Cells.
"It's truly incredible. That Uchiha is a genius." Orochimaru's attitude had shifted from initial doubt to absolute certainty.
That pot had nothing to do with Hashirama Cells. It had originally held a dead sapling. He had only sealed the Fūinjutsu of Basic Internal Energy into it, and he had never watered it. The only "water" he used was chakra. And that dead seedling, unbelievably, began to grow.
"If chakra reaches a certain level, could true immortality be possible?" Orochimaru fell into thought.
Basic Internal Energy could extend a lifespan by a few years, but by itself it did not guarantee immortality. The key lay in the method of the Third Layer.
"Seal Natural Power inside the body using chakra."
This world had something called Senjutsu, Natural Chakra. Everyone thought about absorbing it, but no one had thought about using it in the form of sealing. According to the described steps, the sealed Natural Power, due to the characteristics of Internal Energy, would gradually change the body's constitution to adapt to natural energy.
"If the human body can store Senjutsu Chakra permanently, immortality is indeed possible." The White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave was living proof of that.
"This truly is the path to eternal life." In that moment, Orochimaru's eyes shone. In his pursuit of all ninjutsu, he had long felt the inadequacy of a human lifespan. He sought immortality as a means to an end. Now a real road to eternity lay in front of him.
Hashirama Cells? That was just forced labor someone had dumped on him. The cells were miraculous, yes, but they did not grant immortality. Only the path of basic sealing was the correct one.
"The future lies in Fūinjutsu."
Uchiha Jin had never imagined that his Basic Internal Energy would completely pull Orochimaru off his original path. Maybe the ninja world had once had similar techniques, but ninjas were, at their core, brutes who chased immediate destructive power. They chased the limits of jutsu, but they never thought about the path of longevity. Originally, only Orochimaru would think that way. Now there was one more. Uchiha Jin.
Ninja Academy.
Jin looked at the familiar yet oddly unfamiliar environment and sighed. "I only skipped a few days and the classroom already feels strange."
You skipped three months!! Inoue Satoru's heart roared with rage, but to maintain a teacher's dignity, he kept a gentle smile on his face.
"Ew! Instructor Inoue's smile is so ugly," a passing student commented in disgust.
Inoue's smile became even uglier than crying. "Won't you even let me keep my last bit of dignity?" Inoue Satoru: orz.
When everyone entered the classroom, Inoue recovered from his depression. But as he thought about what he had to announce, his mood sank again. He walked slowly to the podium, his body feeling heavy. Looking at the adorable students in front of him, the ones he had guided from the beginning, excluding Jin, he tried to speak, but his voice stuck in his throat.
The Second Hokage had set the graduation age at twelve. When did it change to ten? He could not understand that decision. Even less so the next one.
Seeing the students' confused looks, Inoue took three deep breaths before he managed to force out his best smile.
"Dear students, congratulations. Starting tomorrow, all of you will be able to participate in the Graduation Exam."
"WHAT?!?"
Jin sprang to his feet and slammed his hand on the desk.