"If only I could meet this man once… I'd love to know how he manages two whole countries," Sangonomiya Kokomi murmured.
She stared at the handsome man in the newspaper.
A strange urge rose in her—an urge to ask him for advice.
Just handling Watatsumi Island's internal affairs already left her scalp tingling. Yet this man was governing two great nations with apparent ease. Their economies were soaring. He had even built a massive new city.
If only Watatsumi could have a city of its own.
But that wish felt painfully distant.
The thought made Kokomi's shoulders slump a little.
For now, her management of the island was barely holding things together. Everything she used—every tactic, every principle—came from old military texts.
It was no surprise her methods still felt immature.
She kept reading until she reached the report on the sea train.
In that instant, she felt as if lightning had struck her.
"A train… that can run on the sea? Is this really true?" she whispered.
Kokomi jolted upright and began reading every line, word by word.
The more she read, the more shaken she became.
The train could carry hundreds of passengers at once, and up to three hundred tons of cargo. Most importantly, it was fast.
From Liyue to Mondstadt in just one hour.
If a sea train could be built for Watatsumi…
Could this barren island become prosperous?
The answer, she knew, was yes.
Right now, Watatsumi's unique location meant almost all of its food was seafood. Noodles and fruit were luxuries.
Weapons and armor were worse—most came from shady merchants. Priceless coral and pearls were traded away for pitiful returns.
If they could form a direct link with Liyue, that stalemate might finally break.
But then came the problem: what about the thundering storms off Inazuma's coast?
That was the biggest obstacle.
"Why are there so many things to worry about…" Kokomi sighed, resting her head on her desk. "It feels like I'm running out of energy."
This was her secret hideaway.
No one else knew of it.
If they did, they would be shocked—to see the usually sharp, flawless divine priestess reduced to this.
…
By the time Kamisato Ayaka finished her translation work, it was already the morning of her third day in Liyue.
All of the ninjutsu had been completely translated, each entry neatly annotated.
Su Han looked over the forbidden‑tech scroll and couldn't help nodding. "As expected of the Shirasagi Himegimi. Such delicate handwriting… and an excellent translation. Next step is to find people to test them and see how many of these techniques are actually usable."
Hearing that, Ayaka asked, "But ninjutsu isn't really suited for frontal combat, right?"
"True," Su Han said. "That's why I've picked out a group from the Black Blade troops for special training—to form a dedicated assassin unit. But for now, let's just try a few of the ninjutsu."
There were many people gathered today.
Most of the group members had come. Even Chongyun and Xingqiu were here.
All of them had come for one reason: to experiment with ninjutsu.
Beidou eyed the scroll and snorted. "I've got no use for this kind of thing. If there's an enemy, I just cut my way through."
Her cultivation of natural energy had already entered a proper rhythm. She wasn't a monster like Su Han, but her physical abilities had risen sharply. Her lifespan and old scars were healing.
Keqing shook her head. "That's not quite right. There are a lot of practical techniques in ninjutsu. We might not need to use them, but we can't ignore them either. One day we might end up in a situation where we can fire one off directly.
"For example, this Hard Vortex Water Blade. It's extremely well‑suited to Mona. Hydro is short on pure offense skills, and this one is convenient to use."
"Let me see…" Mona leaned in. "So this is how it's cast… Hm. Not that hard, but there is a bit of difficulty…"
She jotted down the instructions for the Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade and began studying them seriously.
Beidou, meanwhile, was eyeing Raikiri.
She really didn't want to learn it.
But if she ever lost her weapon in battle, this could still serve as a reliable trump card.
In truth, it wasn't bad at all.
And Raikiri was highly variable—a very useful technique once mastered.
At first, Beidou had been openly dismissive. But when she read the explanation about stimulating the body with lightning‑element chakra, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"So you can do this…? If I stimulate my cells with Electro energy, could I achieve extreme speed too?"
She began experimenting.
Following the diagrammed chakra pathways, violet lightning rose around her. As it crackled through her body, Beidou felt herself grow lighter.
Of course, this state couldn't be held for long; there would be aftereffects on the body.
But she had immortal arts to temper herself.
A little backlash didn't scare her.
In a blur, her figure vanished.
Her speed had increased by a full third.
"Hahahaha… this is fun. This is way too fun. Now this is a good ninjutsu!"
On the other side, Mona finally worked out the Hard Vortex Water Blade.
Countless droplets spun in her palm.
Her entire arm turned a deep blue.
"Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade."
She leapt into the air.
A mass of brutal water pressure crashed down, releasing a shock that shook the training ground.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Sections of the practice field shattered one after another.
The impact was so massive that even reinforced rocks, strengthened with sealing techniques, cracked and fell apart.
Keqing stared. "That strong?"
Hydro, after all, was usually considered one of the weaker elements among the seven.
But this one move was anything but weak.
When Mona landed, a water‑blue weapon formed in her hand. With a single, casual slash, the blade sliced cleanly through a boulder meant for practicing Conqueror's Haki.
"So this is how you use water…" she breathed.
Elemental transformations weren't limited to simple reactions like Vaporize.
There was qualitative change too.
Water could be sharpened, turned into a cutting edge no less keen than wind.
And because it seeped everywhere, Hydro could infiltrate an enemy's defenses with ease.
Hydro's power was endlessly mutable.
Back during pure chakra practice, Mona had been a bit dismissive of ninjutsu. But now she realized how wrong she'd been.
Any cultivation system, if pushed to its peak, had its terrifying side.
The ninja world's chakra nature transformations were one such treasure.
"Now, even fire can't just evaporate my water," she said quietly, flexing her fingers as liquid light flowed around them.
Seeing Mona's success, everyone else threw themselves into research.
Aside from the forbidden‑tech scroll, there were also many other ninjutsu passed on through Nagato's hands.
Each of the six nature types had its own frightening potential.
There were no S‑rank techniques included—but Su Han could help them develop upwards from there.
Within the forbidden scroll, beyond high‑tier ninjutsu, there were detailed methods for chakra nature change… and a selection of medical techniques as well.
Palm Sage Jutsu was one of the most notoriously difficult arts.
There were shadow‑type techniques too. Whether anyone could truly master them would depend on individual talent.
Xingqiu watched Mona's technique with open awe. "That's… incredible, Chongyun. If I could use that move, it would be perfect."
"But it's really hard to learn," Chongyun replied helplessly. "And I'm the unlucky one. There aren't any Cryo‑type ninjutsu in there."
Compared to his friend's excitement, Chongyun felt thoroughly left out.
In the shinobi world, ice release was a bloodline limit.
Naturally, there were no simple scrolls for it.
At that point, Su Han turned to Keqing. "I think you should work on some Raikiri variations—condensing the lightning into needles, like Chidori Senbon.
"With your Flower‑Flower Fruit, you can sprout arms anywhere around an enemy and fire off volleys of senbon. The killing power will be brutal."
"Got it… let me try," Keqing said.
Her techniques weren't exactly the sweeping, battlefield‑cleaving type. But she had never tried condensing Electro into that kind of pinpoint form.
Then again, she had practiced Haki before. Condensing power was second nature.
In less than thirty minutes, five Chidori Senbon shimmered between her fingers. Unlike Sasuke's pale blue, her lightning was royal purple.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The senbon flew out and punched through stone as if it were paper.
Soon after, she developed follow‑ups like Chidori Spear, each one proving extremely practical.
All around them, people were beginning to develop signature moves based on chakra nature change.
Shenhe had always been able to form ice avatars of herself.
Her ultimate technique turned that ice into countless shards of snow, unleashing a vast, indiscriminate attack. Each flake was razor‑sharp.
Some even carried a wreath of Haki.
Terrifying didn't begin to cover it.
Then Hu Tao raised a hand, grinning. "I've got a new move too. Want to see?"
"You came up with something as well?" someone asked.
"Of course," Hu Tao said proudly. "But don't get scared, okay? It's very powerful. Hehe…"
She moved quickly through a sequence of hand signs.
A layer of flame coiled around her body.
"Crimson Flame—Spiritification Art," she declared.
Su Han's face changed.
This was Kato Dan's technique.
How had this girl learned it?
Boom.
The air temperature surged upward.
Hu Tao's spirit form appeared before everyone's eyes.
Her soul‑body burned with pure Yang Flame, and six small flame spirits orbited around her like will‑o'-wisps.
"Hehe… impressive, right?" she said, voice echoing oddly. "I didn't expect to find something this fun in the forbidden arts. With this, I can throw off my physical body's limits.
"My movement is completely unrestricted."
With a flicker, Hu Tao shot into the sky.
One by one, she hurled the flame spirits outward.
They moved so fast that the eye could barely track them.
Without the weight of flesh, her power had increased to a frightening degree.
"Soul‑Pacifying Secret Art—Six Flames Ascend to Heaven!"
Boom.
A massive wave of heat detonated across the training ground.
A moment later, Hu Tao slipped back into her body.
Even after all that, she didn't seem tired. There were no obvious aftereffects.
The Spiritification Art was undeniably potent.
Even so, Su Han warned her in no uncertain terms to use it sparingly.