"Why is it this technique?"
Natsuhiko frowned slightly as he looked at the scroll in his hand. His head felt like it was starting to ache.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was no simple jutsu.
It was powerful—so powerful that it could even override the suppressive advantage of bloodline hierarchies.
Just look at Minato Namikaze.
Born as a civilian ninja, yet after mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique, the combat power he displayed was beyond what even bloodline clans could match.
He single-handedly killed fifty ninja in an instant, many of them jōnin-level fighters.
One could only imagine how terrifying that was.
It was precisely because of his existence—and because Iwagakure had to deal with Kumogakure's retaliation on a second front—that they chose to make peace with Konoha.
"But this technique really isn't something you can just learn casually."
Natsuhiko sighed inwardly.
As a member of the Senju clan, he had asked the elder about this technique when he was still very young.
The answer he received had nearly made him give up on the idea altogether.
It was simple:
The difficulty was beyond imagination.
To learn this technique required not only extraordinary talent, but also terrifying reflexes and exceptional bodily coordination.
The nature of Flying Thunder God was instantaneous spatial displacement—appearing suddenly beside the enemy to launch a lethal surprise attack.
Therefore, it placed extremely high demands on reaction speed and physical coordination.
Without sufficient reflexes, you might not even process what's happening after teleporting.
Without enough bodily control, you wouldn't even be able to maintain your balance.
Forget launching a surprise attack—you might just fall flat on the ground.
Or worse, collide directly into the enemy's blade.
That wouldn't be an ambush.
That would be suicide.
Konoha had existed for nearly fifty years and had passed through four Hokage.
Yet to this day, only two people had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique:
The long-deceased Second Hokage.
And the current Fourth Hokage, who was nearly sidelined politically.
Minato Namikaze had not been unwilling to pass the technique on.
He had even tried to simplify it by breaking it into components.
Technically, he succeeded.
But it proved useless in practice.
Genma Shiranui, Raidō Namiashi, and Iwashi Tatami had learned it in theory—
Yet they were incapable of using it effectively in combat.
Even using it merely as a teleportation method strained them greatly.
"The requirements of this technique are simply outrageous."
After seeing Uesugi Gen off, Natsuhiko returned to his room and slowly unrolled the scroll while thinking.
"Still… all those years of planting Basic Attribute Fruits are finally paying off. I meet the requirements for the first part. It's just the second part…"
What made Flying Thunder God so punishing was that it didn't just demand extreme physical capability.
It also required exceptional mastery over jutsu theory.
And not just any jutsu—
It was fundamentally a sealing technique.
The Flying Thunder God formula was essentially a variation of sealing arts.
One had to study sealing techniques to understand it.
And to deploy the formula quickly and skillfully, one's control over sealing arts could not be lacking.
It wasn't as simple as throwing a marked kunai.
The user also needed to be able to leave formulas on enemies quickly during failed surprise attempts.
For example, in the future, when Minato faced Obito, he silently placed a mark on him.
Using that mark, he later launched a decisive counterattack, severing Obito's connection to the Nine-Tails entirely.
"Overall, the troublesome nature of the Flying Thunder God Technique really exceeds imagination."
Natsuhiko quickly finished reading the scroll. After confirming that he had completely memorized its contents, he set it on fire without hesitation.
Watching the scroll gradually turn to ashes, thin wisps of smoke rising into the air, Natsuhiko let out a faint sigh.
"It seems I'll have to devote more time to studying sealing techniques… and to carving my own formulas."
Although Flying Thunder God was troublesome—one could even say extremely difficult to learn—Natsuhiko had no intention of giving up.
After all, he was different from others.
He had a cheat ability.
For him, the greatest difficulty wasn't mastering the technique.
It was successfully performing it completely for the first time.
The nature of his "cheat" was simple: once he successfully executed a technique in full, he would essentially master it completely.
It was an incredibly convenient trait.
His Water Release techniques had been like that.
The Earth Release techniques he hadn't yet managed to use would be the same.
With this level of control—combined with years of experience carrying out missions in the ANBU—he had achieved jōnin-level combat strength despite only possessing mid-level chūnin chakra reserves.
With this advantage, Natsuhiko believed he could absolutely master the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He might even use it more skillfully than Tobirama Senju or Minato Namikaze.
Of course, there was one crucial prerequisite before that—
Sealing techniques.
Although Natsuhiko was a member of the Senju clan, and the clan possessed many sealing scrolls, he didn't believe he had much talent in that area.
Especially since the sealing arts system was completely different from elemental release techniques.
For him, it was an entirely new challenge.
When he was young, he had secretly tried learning some of it.
But he had never achieved any real results.
"For the sake of Flying Thunder God, it looks like I'll have to go all in. And Kakashi is under my command right now. If it really doesn't work…"
If it didn't work, then he would have to find a way to get Kakashi to help arrange a visit to the Hokage's wife.
As a member of the Uzumaki clan—and one of its most important members—Kushina Uzumaki's mastery of sealing techniques was unquestionably astounding.
There was probably quite a bit of her contribution behind Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique.
If she were willing to teach him, Natsuhiko believed he could definitely learn something.
His requirements weren't high.
He only needed to grasp the fundamentals—basic sealing and the ability to construct the Flying Thunder God formula.
With his cheat ability, once he could perform it once successfully, he would be able to use it proficiently, thereby overcoming the most troublesome part of the technique.
As long as he could fully complete those steps and execute it properly…
"Figuring things out on my own might suit me better in the long run. But in this situation, being directly taught is far better. Especially when Kushina's abilities are beyond doubt."
Thinking of how, in the original story, she immobilized the Nine-Tails purely with sealing techniques—
And even after death, used the remnants of her chakra to help Naruto seal it successfully—
Natsuhiko felt his heart burn with excitement.
Kakashi's value was truly immense.
The help he could provide was almost unimaginable.
At first, when Natsuhiko had chosen to warn Kakashi, it had merely been for future planning—
And, incidentally, to drive a wedge between the Fourth and Third Hokage.
Whether it would work or not, he hadn't known, nor had he cared much.
But now, it seemed that move might carry real value.
Whether the effects would be positive or negative, however, remained unclear.
"But whether positive or negative, I can secretly adjust things."
"That's my advantage."