The increasing distance and the fierce, drawn-out battle left both Sunagakure and Kirigakure shinobi with no time to check on their injured comrades who had been left behind.
Suddenly, three crows shot down from the sky at high speed.
A Kirigakure shinobi, who was hurriedly tending to his own wounds, instinctively looked up.
Before he could even pull out a kunai to defend himself, one of the crows locked eyes with him.
In that instant, his mind was thrown into disarray, completely overtaken by Yamanaka Shinno's Mind Puppet Switch Cursed Seal Technique. He stood frozen, unable to move.
A moment later, Namikaze Minato flashed into view. His kunai sliced cleanly across the shinobi's throat.
A glint of golden light shimmered under the sun.
By the time the first shinobi's blood sprayed into the air, Minato had already reached the next target, precisely where another crow had marked.
Shing!
A second Kirigakure shinobi collapsed, lifeless, before the first even hit the ground.
The crows flitted like ghosts through the dense forest, guiding Minato to the optimal positions for his Flying Thunder God Technique.
As expected of the Yellow Flash, the six remaining enemies on the battlefield didn't last even ten seconds.
...
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
In a narrow alley within the town, four severed heads rolled to a stop at Yamanaka Shinno's feet.
Minato, standing beside him, carried an unconscious and heavily wounded Sunagakure shinobi over his shoulder, while holding another unconscious Kirigakure shinobi in one hand. In his other hand, he casually held the massive Samehada blade.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the still-warm Samehada toward Shinno.
"Minato, you're a beast!" Shinno grinned, praising his reliable comrade.
He flipped the dazed and sluggish Samehada over in his hands—it had been thoroughly scorched by Scorch Release. Then, he took out a scroll from his pouch and sealed the sword inside.
As for the four heads on the ground, he stored them in another sealing scroll for later use.
"Have your summons find a good hiding spot. We should relocate first," Minato suggested while hoisting the unconscious prisoners.
The ship they had arrived on had long since left the port after dropping them off. Before extracting intel from their prisoners, they needed a safe and hidden location.
"We don't know this area as well as the Kirigakure and Sunagakure shinobi. Instead of blindly relocating, why not hide right under their noses?" Shinno smirked.
He formed a hand seal, instantly releasing his summoning technique.
Several kilometers away, the three crows vanished in a puff of smoke, returning to the Konoha summoning beast sanctuary.
Then, using the signature Yamanaka clan hand signs, he activated the Mind Clone Switch Technique on the two unconscious captives.
They had no means to resist, and their bodies were immediately hijacked.
Now in full control, Shinno used the Transformation Jutsu to turn them into two stunning, alluring women. He even struck a seductive pose at Minato for good measure.
As for himself, he transformed into a greasy-looking middle-aged man.
"You... I... Ugh..." Minato opened his mouth a few times, hesitated, then sighed in defeat.
With no other choice, he followed Shinno's lead, transforming into an equally unappealing middle-aged man.
After removing all traces of blood and any scent that could be tracked, the two men, each carrying an enticing 'woman' in their arms, swaggered into the town's most luxurious inn.
...
Inside the largest suite of the inn, Minato set up a simple soundproof barrier while Shinno got to work.
Placing his hands on the captives' heads, he activated the Psycho Mind Transmission.
Also known as the Memory Extraction Jutsu, this technique was a must-learn for those in Konoha's Analysis Division.
Due to the incredibly high mental strength required, only about ten people in Konoha had mastered it.
Among them, Yamanaka Inoichi's ability to scan an entire day's worth of memories in under sixty seconds was legendary.
Yet few knew that Yamanaka Shinno could accomplish the same in under thirty seconds!
Ever since his trait Slightly Skilled had upgraded to King of Knowledge – Ninja World Edition, his speed had more than doubled.
In just five and a half hours, from noon until evening, he had skimmed through the past two years' worth of memories from both captives, carefully recording all critical intelligence onto a scroll.
Ding!
[Mission Complete: S-Rank Task – Obtain War Intel on Sunagakure and Kirigakure. Rewards: Trait Extraction x1, Trait Duplication x1.]
"!!!"
Shinno had just finished organizing his notes when the system notification rang in his mind.
Wait… what?!
Trait Duplication?!
For a brief moment, he was utterly stunned.
Then, almost reflexively, his gaze snapped to Minato, who was standing by the window.
Flying Thunder God…
A technique he had long desired was now within his grasp.
Without hesitation, he activated the duplication option and selected Minato.
[Duplication Successful! Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the Purple-Tier Trait: Spatial Insight.]
...
Host: Yamanaka Shinno
Occupation: Shinobi
Activated Traits: Transmigrator (Red), Yin Release Master (Purple), Handsome (Blue), Call It Out! (Purple), Spatial Awareness (Purple), King of Knowledge (Blue)
Unactivated Traits: Hardened Survivor (White), Fragile but Tenacious (White)
Trait Extraction: x1
Trait Gift: x1
...
An indescribable sensation surged through Shinno's body.
Suddenly, space itself shifted in his perception.
Before, space had always been an elusive, intangible force, impossible to grasp.
Now, thanks to the trait's enhancement, intricate space-time pathways appeared before his eyes, and hidden spatial nodes were laid bare.
Even the slightest fluctuations in space could no longer escape his notice.
The spatial coordinates he had previously struggled to sense were now crystal clear.
Constructing a Flying Thunder God formula and setting up spatial coordinates suddenly felt effortless.
If he wanted, he could now inscribe his very own Flying Thunder God seals just like Minato.
Even more astonishingly, he could faintly sense Minato's marked kunai inside his weapon pouch.
Each of those kunai contained spatial markers that were perfectly synchronized with Minato's chakra.
To his surprise, Shinno realized that he, too, could use them for teleportation.
However, due to differences in chakra nature, his transitions wouldn't be as smooth or as fast as Minato's.
"So, personal spatial coordinates, huh?" Shinno murmured.
Every individual's chakra was unique. Even if they used the same jutsu, the results varied.
And for a technique as reliant on precision and speed as the Flying Thunder God, those differences were magnified tenfold.
"Looks like I need to develop my own personalized spatial markers."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
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