On the scroll of Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), the intricate and arcane spatial nodes stared back like a silent mockery at anyone trying to decipher them.
An S-rank kinjutsu was worthy of its name.
Without a solid foundation in fūinjutsu, attempting to anchor spatial coordinates was no different from throwing sand by hand in the middle of a storm.
To make up for lost time, he summoned dozens of Kage Bunshin at once. This kinjutsu demanded enormous chakra and a robust life force, but with his vast mental power and unusual physique, he could bear it.
The clones worked like a precision assembly line, efficiently parsing and memorizing the sigil schematics and energy node theory of Hiraishin.
However, committing it to memory was one thing. Putting it into practice was another.
The symbols on the scroll writhed and warped like living tadpoles.
Every step of sensing, anchoring, and phase shifting each spatial node jammed up against the same door, the one labeled "fundamentals of fūinjutsu."
The Uzumaki clan's fūinjutsu was the anchor that allowed Hiraishin to cross space. What he lacked was precisely that core.
"Efficiency is too low."
Ryo dropped the torn scroll pieces with a cold snap.
Tsunade would be returning soon, and his own deployment to the front drew closer by the hour. Before then, he had to master the core application of Hiraishin, not to become some fearsome wraithlike assassin like Namikaze Minato, but to reach any battlefield instantly and stand by Kushina's side, tearing apart any threat.
Long-distance, pure spatial jumps, as fast as possible.
Kushina's bright eyes flashed through his mind.
Right. The deep fūinjutsu foundation she had absorbed under Mito since childhood was the key to unlocking Hiraishin's threshold for him now.
Outside the old Senju residence, the great Hokage Rock loomed like a silent guardian. Ivy sprawled lush and green, crawling over the stone walls of the compound.
Ryo lifted his hand. Before his knuckles touched the old wooden gate, it creaked open a crack.
What peeked out was not the fiery, fluffy red hair he had expected, but a wary face.
"You again." Nawaki wedged himself in the doorway with a scowl, one leg subconsciously pulling back half a step. "Last time you broke two of my legs. The time before that you blew one off. Granny hasn't even settled accounts with you yet. You, you…"
His tone sounded less like pure anger and more like a picky little brother sizing up a future brother-in-law.
After all, the family had long tacitly accepted his relationship with Kushina. It was just that Ryo himself didn't seem fully adjusted to that shift.
Ryo's mouth twitched.
As for Nawaki's "blown off" leg, it had been a scrape from a seal tag he himself had set to detonate during extreme training.
The unlucky brat was just jumpy now about anything that came near him, classic paranoia.
"Move, Nawaki." Mito's aged yet steady voice carried through the courtyard. Nawaki pouted and shuffled aside.
Mito stood beneath a maple tree, her dark kimono giving her an unusually grave air.
"Ryo, for Kushina's safety, she cannot go out these days and cannot receive visitors." She looked at him and got straight to the point. "You came for fūinjutsu. You want to learn."
Ryo nodded, concise and direct. "I need it for Hiraishin."
Mito's clouded but still keen eyes paused on his face for a moment, then softened with understanding.
"You can." She turned the subject at once, gesturing to a neat row of rooms along the west side of the yard and handed him a key with an old wooden tag. "You can only study here. Move in."
The key sat heavy in his palm. Ryo asked nothing else.
Kushina was grounded, and a sudden weight in Mito's voice had leaked through for just an instant.
It was like the last tide at dusk, surging and then receding, carrying an unspoken sense of something about to fade away.
He did not say it aloud.
Uzumaki Mito, the First Hokage's widow who had once shaken the world, did not have much time left.
Kushina was the successor she had nurtured with everything she had.
Keeping him here made it convenient for him to learn fūinjutsu, and it also added a reliable layer of protection for Kushina during a critical period. The calm arrangement felt like a silent entrustment.
"Mm." He inclined his head again.
Nawaki nearly jumped. "Granny, he's moving in? If he moves in, can my legs even survive?"
Mito gave her grandson a flat look. "If you break them a few more times, you will get used to it. Think of it as prewar rehearsal so you don't get blown to pieces for real later."
Nawaki's face collapsed at once, eyes flicking between Ryo and Mito with tragic resignation, especially regarding the future of his legs.
So, a special uninvited guest took up residence in the west wing of the Senju compound.
At dawn the next day, the atmosphere of fūinjutsu training in the guest room hardened to an almost solid intensity.
In the spacious room, he sat seiza.
Before him hovered a model of runes woven from chakra, packed tight and flickering with dim blue light.
A clone of Kushina sat across from him, trying hard to put on a strict little teacher act, explaining how to use chakra threads to precisely construct stable spatial restraint field nodes.
At Ryo's side, seven or eight of his own clones popped one after another into white smoke.
He kept his eyes shut, his brows knit tight.
On the screen of his mind, several basic spatial anchor models collapsed in succession, leaving ragged tears in space.
"Tch." The Kushina clone nearby couldn't help stamping her foot.
Even as a mouthpiece for the original, she could clearly sense Kushina's frustration and the obstacles in front of them.
"You. Your mental power is ridiculous, but your fūinjutsu basics are full of holes. You skewed the most basic spatial stabilization seal three times in a row. Learn Hiraishin?" She planted her hands on her hips, rattling off the kind of jabs the original would never say to his face. "That's like trying to build a castle in the sky without tamping the foundation. Dream on."
Ryo opened his eyes, silver light flowing in his pupils.
"The geometric optimum for node energy convergence." He pointed at the lingering afterimage of the collapsed model, laying out the same analysis.
The Kushina clone blinked, then rolled her eyes. "Idiot. The optimum alone is useless. Energy flow doesn't move in straight lines. You have to factor the node's own tolerance threshold and how chakra nature changes impact spatial stability."
As she spoke, she drew up pale-gold chakra and swiftly formed a more complex and precise three-dimensional model before him. Lines of script danced at her fingertips, weaving like living threads into a basic framework that looked intricate yet extremely stable.
"Look. This is the base structure that actually resists spatial shear. The one you made?" Her tone dripped with disdain. "Use that in real combat for Hiraishin, and the first spatial fold will blow you into paste."
The small clone pointed and lectured with the flair of a little empress of fūinjutsu.
She didn't notice that her expressions and gestures made Ryo momentarily see the original Kushina's usual hopping, tooth-and-claw demeanor.
"Continue." Ryo kept it brief and closed his eyes again.
More clones burst and reformed with rapid pops, plunging into the next round of even wilder simulations.
Weak fundamentals?
Then he would fill the gap by brute-forcing it with exceptional will and nearly inexhaustible mental power.
Meanwhile, in the adjacent room with only a thin wall between them, the real Kushina had cocooned herself in her blanket, rolling around like a shrimp tossed in a hot pan.
Her cheeks were so hot she could have cooked a pancake on them.
For all her solemn act when teaching through a clone during the day, her real thoughts were in chaos.
Mikoto's "dating upgrade guide," whispered to her in secret at the Hokage Building, echoed in her head like a bewitching mantra, looping nonstop.
"Create natural physical contact." "Nighttime, alone, just the right amount of care is the golden opportunity." "Take the initiative, but act casual."
He had moved in. Right in the next room, only a wall away.
"No no no."
Kushina shook her head like mad, trying to banish the thoughts painting her face crimson.
But that thunderous heartbeat wouldn't quiet down.
She recalled how Mito had suddenly become strict about her fūinjutsu training lately. She didn't know the specifics, but a faint, uneasy haze hung over everything.
Even so, another feeling quickly pushed that thought aside.
That big blockhead Ryo had been grinding ninjutsu all day, clones blowing one after another. He had to be exhausted at night.
Checking on his body and mental state was basic. Obviously.
Yes, it was simple concern. Pure concern.
Pumping herself up, Kushina sprang out of bed.
She fussed with her trademark red hair in front of a small mirror, then, after a moment's hesitation, took off her ordinary outerwear.
Underneath she wore only a close-fitting cotton short nightdress that fell to mid-thigh.
She nervously tugged the hem down, revealing straight legs wrapped in over-the-knee pure white stockings. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then tiptoed like a little cat thief to Ryo's door.
Holding her breath, she pressed an ear to the wood and listened carefully.
Inside, there was only the faint, low hum of chakra circulation.
Kushina's hand trembled as she carefully pulled the door open a crack and poked half her head inside.
Her cheeks were pink. Her voice was a mosquito's buzz, with a nervous tremor she couldn't hide. "Ryo, are you… still practicing?"
Ryo lifted his eyelids.
Those silver eyes looked especially deep in the dim light, like the deep sea.
In the doorway's shadow stood Kushina, freshly bathed.
A few damp strands of vivid red clung to her fair cheeks flushed with a rosy sheen.
The cool short nightdress fit with awkward shyness.
That strip of pure white just over the knees set off the slim, lively lines of her legs.
She was enveloped in a warm mist, fresh and dewy, carrying a clean, gentle sweetness.
"So late." Ryo's voice was steady as always, though his gaze lingered on her for a moment.
"Ahem." Kushina cleared her throat and forced herself to act composed as she slipped fully through the crack and gently shut the door behind her. Her heart pounded like a drum. "I, um, saw you… using clones so hard all day. You must be mentally spent. Do you want me to…"
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)