After every battle, Shimizu's post-fight reflections benefited him greatly. His clash with Orochimaru had taught him even more.
But what mattered more was this:
From now on, the obstacles before him—aside from that Rinnegan wielder far away in the Land of Rain—had all been cleared away.
The Third Hokage was no longer making things difficult for him; he had even promoted him. Danzo had quieted down. Orochimaru was no longer pressing him aggressively…
He had even befriended the future Fourth Hokage from the original story—Minato Namikaze.
That golden thigh to cling to…
And now he also had his trump-card "Summoning Technique"…
A sudden feeling of clarity washed over him.
Finally, he could develop quietly and steadily…
The most exhilarating thing of all was that Orochimaru had indeed given him the Flying Thunder God technique of the Second Hokage.
This wasn't merely a single ninjutsu.
It was the Second Hokage's complete insights and annotations on the entire Flying Thunder God series of space-time techniques!
Just imagining that one day he too could ignore environmental limitations—appearing anywhere a Flying Thunder God formula existed—with that ultimate sense of speed…
Calm down, calm down... if I keep this up, I'll be high on my own hype until sunset.
Shimizu took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. Then he immediately began studying the two pages recording the Flying Thunder God technique with full concentration.
Every single word on those two pages was as precious as gold to him.
He immersed himself in the ocean of knowledge, utterly entranced…
Soon, several hours passed. Shimizu had read through the Flying Thunder God notes no fewer than five times.
But…
He suddenly realized something awkward.
He couldn't understand it.
He recognized every single character on the page—but once they were strung together, he found himself completely unable to grasp the meaning.
Why did this feel like doing reading comprehension on the college entrance exam in his previous life?!
The theory behind Flying Thunder God was far too obscure!
This cursed space-time ninjutsu…
He almost imagined someone mocking him: "You don't have the talent."
Who said that? Step forward!
Be brave—step forward. I promise I won't break your legs.
"…Sigh."
His earlier excitement and enthusiasm instantly dissolved into a long sigh. Shimizu felt his confidence take a heavy blow.
If he couldn't even understand it, how was he supposed to learn it?
The Second Hokage's understanding of space was on an entirely different dimensional level.
Then again… he was literally a being from a two-dimensional world.
Shimizu suddenly realized why a legendary, game-breaking jutsu like the Flying Thunder God had essentially vanished from the world of Naruto following the deaths of the Second and Fourth Hokages.
Quite simply: no one could learn it.
Even after the Fourth Hokage brought the technique to its peak and the name "Yellow Flash" echoed through the Third Great Ninja War, and despite the technique being recorded in the Scroll of Seals, not a single person in Konoha had managed to master it.
If such a powerful technique had been passed down—even to just one person—it would have been like divine assistance to Konoha.
Would the Third Hokage not want someone like that to emerge?
It wasn't that he didn't want to—it was that he couldn't. Because even the Third Hokage hadn't mastered it.
Perhaps Minato had once tried teaching Kakashi—but the result was obvious. Even a genius like Kakashi likely couldn't comprehend the mysteries of space.
The profundity and obscurity of this technique probably meant that only a once-in-ten-thousand prodigy could grasp its essence.
A talent rarer than even the Mangekyō Sharingan…
Because Shimizu realized that, in his memory, only two people had ever mastered Flying Thunder God…
Space-time ninjutsu…
Orochimaru's strange smile earlier—was that him laughing at Shimizu's naïveté and overestimation of himself?
Come to think of it, if it were really that easy to learn, would Orochimaru not have been interested in such a divine technique?
This felt like having a hard drive containing thousands of bitcoins—without knowing the password.
How depressing…
Should he go ask Minato for guidance?
Would Minato be willing to teach him?
And even if he did—would he be able to learn it?
Suddenly, a member of Konoha's ANBU appeared at his bedroom window and lightly knocked on the glass.
"April Uzuki. The Hokage is convening a jōnin meeting at the Memorial Stone."
"Understood. I'll be there shortly."
…
...
...
The Chūnin Exams finals, which had lasted an entire day, had already concluded.
This year had produced an unprecedented number of newly promoted chūnin—several times more than in previous years.
These fresh chūnin would become indispensable new forces in the coming war.
Shimizu had already submitted his security mission report for the Chūnin Exams yesterday. As for Minato Namikaze, he had finished later and only just wrapped up the mission not long ago.
Now the Memorial Stone was packed with a dense crowd of people. He had never really noticed it before, but Konoha actually had such an enormous number of jōnin.
Before long, Shimizu spotted Minato at a glance—his dazzling blond hair as eye-catching as a lighthouse at sea.
"Yo, Minato, finished your mission?"
"Yeah, just submitted the report."
"Everything went smoothly?"
Shimizu was referring to whether the missing genin incidents had happened again.
"No problems. Everything's normal."
Mm. Then the culprit was probably Orochimaru.
He had just fought Orochimaru today and given him what he had been longing for all along—Shimizu's blood.
He was probably soaking in his lab by now…
No time to commit crimes.
And no motive, either.
For Orochimaru at this stage, what interest could a few genin possibly have compared to Shimizu's blood?
"How were the Chūnin Exam results? Did those brats all pass?"
"Rin and Obito both passed. Though Obito barely made it…" Minato smiled awkwardly.
Got it. Some behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
Not the first time.
"Some of the genin were quite impressive. The Uchiha clan and the Hyūga clan each produced a genius."
He meant Uchiha Shisui and Hyūga Kazumo. Those two had indeed left a strong impression.
Their caliber was absurdly high—Shimizu thought very highly of them as well.
But in the original story, there didn't seem to be a genius named Hyūga Kazumo…
Or was he remembering wrong?
After all, those memories were from more than twenty years ago… they had faded.
"This year's number of promotions to chūnin is said to be three times that of previous years. The Hokage's mobilization efforts for war are really intense," Minato added.
"That's a good thing… The early stage of war won't be that fierce. That way these newcomers will have more chances to grow quickly," Shimizu said after some thought.
As the two chatted, the Third Hokage arrived at the very front of the crowd, wearing his signature Hokage cloak. Following behind him were the other four high-ranking advisors of the village.
The jōnin assembly officially began.
"I believe everyone here is already aware that the conflict between Konoha and Sunagakure has been intensifying."
"After the disappearance of the Third Kazekage, Sunagakure has concluded that Konoha cannot be absolved of involvement and has detained and imprisoned the envoy we dispatched."
"Even negotiations by the Daimyō proved futile… Just now, I received word that Sunagakure executed our envoy this morning."
This was tantamount to a declaration of war.
A wave of uproar swept through the crowd.
How could the resource-poor Land of Wind dare to provoke the Land of Fire—the strongest of the Five Great Nations in overall power?
Konoha's ninja carried the pride of belonging to the strongest hidden village. How could they allow Sunagakure to act so arrogantly?
"Yes, Sunagakure has launched war against us. The Land of Wind's authorities have officially issued a declaration of war. Our ANBU have already discovered signs of Sunagakure ninja activity along our western and southwestern borders."
"I hereby announce that Konoha will formally respond to Sunagakure's aggression and declare war!"
In times of peace, Konoha needed a politician who could bring prosperity.
But in times of war, the leader of a hidden village had to reveal the sharp edge of the strongest force.
Where his blade pointed—
There stood the enemy of Konoha's ninja.
…
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