The next day.
At three in the morning, before dawn, Uchiha Gen hurriedly got up.
The constitution of the Senju Clan allowed him to fully restore his energy with only half the usual amount of sleep.
He returned to the same small clearing in the forest as before.
Under the frequent washing of the rain, the crater Gen had made while experimenting with the Cherry Blossom Burst was no longer obvious.
Today, he wasn't wearing his green flak jacket.
Instead, he had donned iron-colored plated armor like Orochimaru's, with a black rainproof coat wrapped over it.
The defensive effect of this plated armor was comparable to the standard flak jacket, though it was twice as heavy.
However, its smooth surface provided better waterproofing.
In the Land of Rain, where water was abundant and the Hidden Rain ninjas excelled in Water Release, this was the superior choice.
Moreover, with the boost to his physical attributes from the Young Tsunade character card, this extra weight had no negative impact on his movements.
It was late spring, and the seasonal chill had not yet passed.
The weather remained damp and cold, and since it was early morning and raining, the temperature was even lower.
Gen infused Chakra into his feet and stepped lightly across the muddy ground.
"Let's do it here."
Uchiha Gen reached out to touch a thick tree trunk nearby, then formed a series of hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A sturdy earth wall with a cartoonish dog's head carved on its surface rose under the influence of a large amount of Chakra.
It was thick and wide, rising like a miniature fortress wall.
If one were to ask what Kakashi's best ninjutsu was, it would certainly be Lightning Release.
Aside from that, his most frequently used was Earth Release, to the point where people joked he was the true Tsuchikage.
His signature Earth Release technique was this dog-headed wall.
"This seems to be a specialized Nature Transformation of Earth Release."
"The wall isn't just simple soil and rock; compared to ordinary Earth Release, it shows signs of being vitrified like a brick."
"This makes the surface smooth and detailed enough to carve such a fine dog head, and its durability is higher than common earth techniques."
Uchiha Gen looked at the wall rising before him and commented silently.
Vitrification and petrification are common Nature Transformations for Earth Release, both serving to increase hardness.
Additionally, there's the Third Hokage's Earth Flow River and Jiraiya's Swamp of the Underworld, which are mud-based and relatively rare.
As for Deidara's explosive clay or the Third Tsuchikage's gravity control, these are categorized as secret techniques, often treated as closely guarded secrets of major clans or villages.
Gen looked at the dog head on the wall.
With a thought, he controlled the stone to slowly peel off and transform into a cheeky panda face.
He didn't have Ninja Hounds like Kakashi did, so he might as well change the carving to a different image.
The mocking emoji face was quite appropriate, as it came with a built-in taunting effect.
"During this period, the Nature Transformations Kakashi has mastered, besides Earth Release, should be Lightning Release."
Gen took a few steps back to create distance and formed hand seals again.
Ox — Hare — Monkey!
Lightning danced from his palm, accompanied by a sound like the chirping of a thousand birds.
As the Lightning Release Chakra was extracted and gathered in his palm, flowing through his entire body, Gen felt as if a restriction had been lifted.
With a single step, he subconsciously charged forward.
"Chidori!"
The panda face vanished as the Earth-Style Wall was pierced through the center, leaving a gaping hole.
Against most offensive ninjutsu, the Earth-Style Wall would have been effective, but Lightning Release counters Earth Release.
This holds true even if the Earth Release has undergone Nature Transformation.
Furthermore, Chidori, as an A-rank ninjutsu, represents a high level of Nature Transformation.
Lightning Release: Cellular Activation.
Using electric current to stimulate cells briefly increases explosive power.
Theoretically, the Hidden Cloud Village's Lightning Chakra Mode is also derived from this property, but their mastery has reached the absolute limit.
They must have added other Nature Transformations to make their Cellular Activation even more powerful and controllable.
This provides lasting boosts to physical defense, speed, and strength, as well as a permanent training effect on the body.
Kakashi's version wasn't that complex, but its power was not to be underestimated.
Its explosive power was considerable, with a very high ceiling for expansion.
Looking at Sasuke's Lightning Release in the future, one could see the true potential of the Chidori series.
The only flaw was that its burst was somewhat uncontrollable; the speed was so high that it was difficult to turn.
It was essentially a dash skill with high damage but a nearly linear trajectory.
Even if an ordinary ninja had high physical attributes, they would struggle to use this move effectively without powerful dynamic vision.
Fortunately, Uchiha Gen had the Sharingan.
"It's a pity it's only a single tomoe right now."
"If the Sharingan could reach double or triple tomoe... tsk tsk."
Thinking of this, Gen shook his head.
Before drawing this card, his strength was already at the level of a Special Jonin.
Now, with the addition of the Young Kakashi card, he was equivalent to a Jonin who had mastered three Nature Transformations.
His overall strength was certainly not at the bottom tier of the Jonin rank.
Moreover, any Uchiha who awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan already possessed strength above the average Jonin level.
Combining the two would undoubtedly make him a powerful Elite Jonin.
However, although the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was not out of reach, he didn't possess it yet.
Relying solely on bloodline to awaken the third tomoe was difficult.
Without suffering or a major shock, how could it possibly awaken?
Gen had no interest in seeking out that kind of torment.
He wasn't into that.
Suffering is just suffering; such things are not worth glorifying.
What should truly be praised is the spirit of remaining positive amidst pain and fighting against it, rather than the pain itself.
Two hours later.
After Gen had familiarized himself with Young Kakashi's abilities, eaten breakfast, and taken a short break, he arrived at the medical area.
He found that Tsunade and Sarutobi Biwako were not there.
As key figures among the Jonin, they had been called away for an emergency meeting.
"Has something big happened?"
Gen frowned.
He hoped it wouldn't disrupt his current safe rhythm of farming experience.
"Senior Gen, we..."
A young male medical ninja looked at Gen hesitantly.
With Tsunade and Biwako gone, Gen was the only high-level medical ninja on-site, and he was the only one who could manage the workload.
"Bring the wounded in first, then go do what you need to do."
Gen said, then formed a hand seal and created a Shadow Clone.
He had been learning the Shadow Clone technique before; it was a B-rank ninjutsu with a certain level of difficulty.
It wasn't beyond his capacity, but before he could master it manually, he had drawn the Kakashi card—who already knew the technique perfectly.