Gen Takuya had no idea Uchiha Obito had already approached the Akatsuki—trying to draw Nagato and the others into his plans.
But at this moment, Gen Takuya was already receiving news from far away.
From the Land of Rain.
A crow had sent word.
In the past, the distance would've been a problem. His Clairvoyance couldn't directly link to a crow that far away.
But now?
Now his chakra was more than enough.
He still wasn't on Uzumaki Naruto's level—not even close. If chakra "aptitude" was measured on a ten-point scale, he might not have reached a perfect ten yet… but he was comfortably at nine. Something like a dozen or more "cards" worth of chakra—more than sufficient for what he needed.
And chakra wasn't linear.
The further you climbed, the steeper the curve became.
Gen Takuya was satisfied with where he stood. More importantly, he could clearly feel it: his chakra was still growing. It was only a matter of time before he reached that so-called "ten."
So there was no reason to panic.
Still…
When he thought of Jiraiya and Might Guy—both "ten."
And then thought of Naruto—also "ten."
Gen Takuya could only sigh.
Even among tens, there were differences.
For Jiraiya and Might Guy, "ten" was their ceiling.
For Naruto… "ten" was just the starting line his body had been allowed to measure.
If you compared him to monsters like Naruto—or Senju Hashirama—then "ten" really was only the beginning.
Gen Takuya shook his head, dismissed the pointless comparison, and formed a hand seal.
His senses connected to the crow in the rain.
Sight.
Sound.
In the crow's view, several Rain shinobi were gathered below, talking quietly.
"I heard Konoha sent someone," one of them said.
"Huh? Why would Konoha send someone now?" another replied, startled. "The war isn't even over."
"Who knows. Probably to talk about the war—maybe it's ending. The front lines aren't as brutal as they were before."
"Shh." A third man raised a finger to his lips and glanced around. "Keep your voices down. I heard the Konoha guy with the scar on his chin came to talk to our leader about the Akatsuki inside our borders."
"What? Seriously?"
The others stared at him in surprise.
The man puffed out his chest, clearly proud. "I was on gate duty the day they met. I overheard a little."
He never noticed the crow perched high in the tree above him, calmly preening its feathers.
In the shinobi world, crows were common. No one suspected one might be a reconnaissance summon.
In most people's minds, a true ninja beast was something that could fight—or at least actively gather intel. Dogs. Hawks. Things like that.
A crow?
Too slow. Too passive. Not worth raising.
And honestly… they weren't wrong.
Even Gen Takuya's crows didn't "work" on their own.
Every one of them was assigned specific tasks. He had to constantly guide them through the contract—telling them where to go, what to watch, how to report—before they became useful.
If the summon wasn't naturally strong…
Then the summoner had to work twice as hard.
Gen Takuya severed the Clairvoyance link.
The moment he heard "Konoha sent someone to the Land of Rain," he already knew who it was.
The war hadn't ended yet. Anyone who went to the Land of Rain now and dared to meet Hanzō directly…
Could only be Shimura Danzō.
As for why Danzō was going after the Akatsuki?
It wasn't the Rinnegan. That didn't make sense.
Even Hanzō himself wouldn't learn of the Rinnegan's existence until just before Yahiko died.
If Hanzō didn't know…
Then Danzō in faraway Konoha definitely didn't.
No—Danzō's reason was simpler.
He wanted to seize the Hokage seat.
And to do that, he needed a strong enough ally… a strong enough "push" to shake the world.
Gen Takuya could only sneer inwardly.
Self-inflicted disaster.
If Danzō hadn't lived inside a great village like Konoha—where even Nagato wouldn't want to casually storm in—
He would've been dead long ago, just like Hanzō would eventually be.
Gen Takuya glanced at the shadow clones still training.
They'd already finished leaf-cutting.
They'd already worked on piercing wood with a kunai.
Now they were attempting the next step—
Fusing Wind nature transformation into the Rasengan.
But it had only been a short time.
They hadn't mastered Wind Release: Rasengan yet.
And now… he didn't have the luxury to sit and grind in peace.
Time was moving.
The curtain was rising.
Soon, Gen Takuya accepted a suitable mission and left the village.
This time, he didn't travel by summoning.
Not because he lacked an anchor point near the Land of Rain—he had one.
But because he wasn't in a hurry.
Hanzō and Danzō's bait for the Akatsuki was always the same:
A peace negotiation proposal.
They would claim they wanted to borrow the Akatsuki's influence—use their "neutral" identity to submit a peace plan to the three great nations: Fire, Wind, and Earth.
And Yahiko…
Yahiko was a dreamer.
A man raised by Jiraiya's teachings, filled with naïve idealism and burning hope.
Even if he suspected it was a trap…
He wouldn't allow himself to miss even a chance to end the war.
But such a meeting wouldn't happen instantly.
The Akatsuki would discuss it first.
Argue about it.
Then agree on a date and place.
That delay alone was enough for Gen Takuya.
So he ran.
He ran toward the Land of Rain with speed so fast it wasn't just Body Flicker Technique.
Because this time, he wasn't merely traveling.
He was training.
Speed was simple in theory:
Speed = Your capability − Resistance
In his previous life, improving capability meant physical training.
In the shinobi world, it was the same—plus another path:
Lightning Release to stimulate muscle activity and increase output.
But Gen Takuya hadn't mastered that yet.
So for now, he focused on the other half:
Reducing resistance.
Using Wind Release to cut through air resistance while moving at high velocity…
And even using wind flow as external propulsion.
A tailwind made a runner faster.
That was common knowledge.
Even in his old world, athletes could break records if you put a massive fan behind them.
Wind mattered.
It mattered a lot.
Gen Takuya's plan was clear:
Use Wind to reduce external resistance and create external thrust.
Then later, use Lightning to boost internal power.
If he could train both into instinct—
If he could do it without thinking, without dividing focus—
Then his speed would never be slow.
Under heaven, all martial arts came down to one truth:
Only speed is unbreakable.
But theory wasn't enough.
In real battle—where life and death were decided in an instant—you couldn't afford to "think."
You couldn't afford to split your mind into half a dozen tasks while someone tried to kill you.
So it had to become reflex.
A body's answer.
Not a mind's calculation.
And so Gen Takuya pushed himself forward—
Running, refining, repeating—
Training speed with every breath—
As he closed the distance to the Land of Rain.
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