Before they left, Temari and Kankuro made a special point to visit Daigan. Other than that, over the past two days, the siblings had tacitly avoided making small talk with him, and Daigan had been tactful enough not to bother them.
He didn't know what they were busy with, nor what they were about to do. They simply exchanged greetings and parted ways for the time being.
One thing Daigan was thankful for was that the unstable Gaara hadn't come looking for trouble, and he hadn't heard of anyone being killed by the increasingly crazed Jinchuriki of the One-Tail.
The One-Tailed Shukaku's Magnet Release was exceptionally unique. Its chakra had inherent sealing properties, rendering ordinary sealing jutsu useless against the tanuki-shaped incarnation of sand. The only way to temporarily subdue Shukaku was to use a spirit medium parasite technique, at the cost of sacrificing Gaara.
But this was not a long-term solution. Once the volatile Shukaku awakened, it would bring catastrophe to everything around it.
*Alone again.*
Having grown accustomed to solitude, Daigan wasn't one to get sentimental over such a small thing. It was just that being in Konoha without a single person to talk to stirred a sense of crisis that brought a sliver of unease.
At times like this, only jutsu training could temporarily make him forget his troubles.
Unfortunately, of the five jutsu in the scroll Captain Otokaze had given him, only one didn't require hand seals: the very peculiar "Third Eye."
At first, Daigan hadn't paid much attention to this reconnaissance jutsu. It was only when he truly sat down to study it that he realized something was off.
*The so-called "Third Eye" isn't a branch of Earth Release's Sand Manipulation Technique at all. It's a highly advanced secret jutsu.*
Sand was merely a medium for casting the jutsu. It would be no different if one used another form of chakra. Earth or water would work just fine, as long as one's chakra control was up to par. For a truly gifted ninja, even lightning, wind, or fire could be used, though their stealthiness would vary.
The first step was to connect the chakra-formed eyeball to one's own optic nerve. Once that was done, the jutsu was basically complete.
The difficulty lay elsewhere: transmitting the visual signals from the "Third Eye" back to the user's body. This was what truly tested a ninja's skill.
If the distance was short, one could directly transmit and share vision through chakra perception. But that wasn't very useful; you could just use your own eyes. The only benefit was being able to see into blind spots.
However, using a chakra-consuming secret jutsu just for that was clearly not worth the effort. It was a waste of energy, and its stealth couldn't be guaranteed.
Of course, the jutsu was still very beneficial for Daigan. When using the Polarizing Light Killing Formation, which rendered his body completely invisible and sightless, the "Third Eye" was an excellent sensory supplement.
Otokaze's intentions were good. While the jutsu was of little use to most Sand ninjas, it was perfectly suited for Daigan and his unique Wind Release fighting style.
But it fell far short of the long-range reconnaissance Daigan had envisioned.
The core of this jutsu was how to transmit the information seen by the "Third Eye" back to the user from a great distance.
Currently, the only ones in the ninja world capable of using this secret technique were Fourth Kazekage Rasa and Gaara, and their methods were likely different.
Gaara had an innate ability to manipulate sand, so he could simply use a "Sand Eye." Rasa, on the other hand, used his Kekkai Genkai to transform one of his eyeballs into gold sand, which was like directly controlling a part of his own body, so there was naturally no issue.
Regardless of whether it was Gaara or Rasa, when the father and son used the "Third Eye," the Magnet Release originating from the One-Tailed Shukaku always played a subtle role.
It wasn't that the "Third Eye" was impossible to use without Magnet Release, but its effectiveness would be drastically reduced.
*As I thought, there's no such thing as a free lunch in the ninja world. I should be content with having the Shadow Clone Jutsu.*
To unleash the full potential of the secret technique, Third Eye, one either had to master the Sand Manipulation Technique to the point of it being instinctual, like Gaara, or master one chakra nature transformation to an exceptional degree. It didn't have to be on the level of a Chakra Mode, but at the very least, one needed to be able to dematerialize a part of their body.
Right now, Daigan could do neither.
Inherited clan techniques like Hozuki Suigetsu's Hydrification Jutsu were out of the question. As for Lava Release Chakra Mode and Lightning Release Chakra Mode, there were people who had successfully mastered them.
But a Wind Release Chakra Mode, Daigan's specialty, was unheard of.
He couldn't compare in terms of talent or background, but...
*If the Third Eye can't perform long-range reconnaissance, could I find a way to make it see further?*
A sudden idea struck the disappointed Daigan.
The human eye, while intricate, is not powerful. Many creatures have vision far superior to humans. Thinking along these lines, there was a lot of room for improvement.
With this thought, Daigan abruptly rose. He had his Substitute Puppet push his wheelchair to the rooftop garden of the Konoha Hospital.
It was approaching dusk. The scorching heat of the midsummer afternoon had begun to dissipate, and the streets were once again bustling with people.
"What a wonderful sight. This kind of lively, human world is something you rarely see in the moribund Sunagakure," Daigan murmured to himself. With his back to the setting sun, he closed his eyes, basking in the gentle, warm breeze.
"Let's begin."
A gust of wind stirred up some sand dust, which formed a nimble eyeball by Daigan's hand.
The first step was simple.
Next, the sand eye hovered in front of Daigan's left eye. In a short while, the neural connection was successfully established.
This step might be difficult for most ninjas, but for a puppeteer well-versed in human anatomy, it couldn't be simpler.
Then, the sand eye dissolved into a diffuse cloud of dust and slowly drifted high into the sky, reforming into an eye nearly a hundred meters away from Daigan.
"This is the limit of my chakra perception."
And that was only because the sand eye was light, consumed little chakra, and he was extending it in a single direction. If he were to spread it out for 360-degree coverage, the range would be much shorter.
Through the sand eye, Daigan clearly felt as if he were a hundred meters in the air, looking down upon the busy village of Konoha.
After maneuvering the sand eye around to get a rough idea of his control range, Daigan opened his right eye.
*What a strange experience.*
Human eyes were meant to work in tandem. Now, the fields of vision of his two eyes were severely skewed, slightly weakening Daigan's ability to judge position and distance.
***
It couldn't be helped. And this was just the beginning.
After getting used to the strange sensation for a moment, Daigan cautiously opened his left eye.
What was it like to have both left and right eyes, plus the "Third Eye" high above, all functioning at once?
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