After etching his own Flying Thunder God mark onto each of the teacups, Kei Yamanaka held the hand seal with both hands, keenly aware of the spatial markers as he began attempting the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Circulating chakra through specific meridian pathways, aided by his own Flying Thunder God marks,
combined with Kei's natural talent for ninjutsu, the skill listing "Shout-to-Summon" boosting his chakra control, along with the high compatibility granted by "Space-Time Insight" with space-related techniques,
he succeeded in his first spatial transfer after just a few failed attempts.
"It's like stepping through one door and entering another. Spatial teleportation turned out to be this easy… Tobirama Senju's a freaking genius!"
Privately, Kei couldn't help but admire the creator of the Flying Thunder God Technique—Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage—for his extraordinary brilliance.
To have created such a jutsu at such a young age,
and used it to slay Izuna Uchiha, the wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Not to mention leaving behind hundreds of forbidden techniques in Konoha.
If Tobirama hadn't died so early, he might have even surpassed Hashirama Senju in the end.
Moving back and forth between the two spatial markers and repeatedly activating the Flying Thunder God Technique,
Kei quickly grew accustomed to the sensation of spatial jumps.
Initially requiring several seconds of buildup and preparation, the activation time had already been cut in half after just a few dozen repetitions.
But still...
This chakra drain is brutal!
As his chakra drained faster than water bursting through an open dam, Kei felt completely numb.
Per use, the chakra cost wasn't especially high for its jutsu rank.
A short-range single-person teleportation within ten meters consumed only slightly more chakra than casting a C-ranked Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
But the problem was, who only uses the Flying Thunder God Technique once?
Take Pakura's previous fight against twenty Mist shinobi as an example.
Ten or even twenty Flying Thunder God Kunai launched.
Who could guarantee every kunai would land near an enemy?
Moreover, in combat, it wasn't just about teleporting next to enemies to attack. One also needed to dodge enemy attacks and readjust the positions of the Flying Thunder God kunai.
Even under the most ideal conditions—a perfect surprise kill—where every close-range enemy gets instantly eliminated,
you'd still need around thirty teleportations in a single fight.
Thirty consecutive uses of C-rank Great Fireball Techniques in a short span? A regular Jonin would run completely out of chakra.
Even Kei struggled to keep up with this level of consumption.
Bear in mind, thanks to the bonus from his red skill listing "World Traveler," his mental fortitude was seven to eight times greater than that of an average Jonin.
Combined with long-term training, his physical stamina also surpassed the average Jonin level.
His chakra reserves weren't as vast as Minato Namikaze's, who passively regenerated chakra thanks to a special skill listing.
Still, his chakra reserves were roughly three times that of the average Jonin.
In the original storyline, even Kakashi Hatake, an adult, had his available chakra significantly limited by his Sharingan, putting him slightly below average among Jonin.
[Tobirama Senju: Dead in the Pure Land—please don't ping me.]
In other words, Kei Yamanaka had roughly 3 to 3.5 units of chakra.
[Chakra Reservoir], [Hyper Reaction Speed]...
Kei rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He felt that in order to fully unleash the power of the Flying Thunder God Technique, he probably needed to acquire two more skills.
A massive amount of chakra could greatly improve the margin for error and endurance of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Meanwhile, reaction time far surpassing a normal person's directly raised the upper limit of the technique itself.
Ninja battles were blisteringly fast-paced.
Weaknesses displayed by elite ninja masters often vanished in an instant.
With Hyper Reaction Speed, one could seize these fleeting opportunities, greatly reducing the number of required teleportations during battle and even substantially minimizing the danger caused by being predicted due to movement patterns.
"Forget Chakra Reservoir—it's just a blue skill anyway. Maybe I'll copy a higher-level one if I get the chance."
"But Hyper Reaction Speed has to be acquired!"
"Without this skill, even if you flash around quickly, it's like Kakashi without a Sharingan using Chidori."
"Tsk… Now I get why Tobirama Senju couldn't perform consecutive Flying Thunder God flashes like Minato could, tearing opponents apart. Seems like it was simply because of reaction limitations."
While thinking things through, Kei continued slowly practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Only when he'd used up more than half his chakra did he stop training and deal with two teacups engraved with Flying Thunder God marks.
He didn't plan to reveal the Flying Thunder God Technique until it could be flexibly applied in actual combat.
After all, ninja techniques existed to eliminate enemies.
Needlessly showing off before achieving practical combat application would only alert potential enemies prematurely.
Moreover, his mastery of Yin Release alone was enough to dominate anyone below Kage-level.
Like today's situation where Pakura faced encirclement.
If it were him instead,
at full power, using Yin Release's eerie and hard-to-defend nature, he could take down at least half the opposing side in a single clash.
Then finishing off the rest without taking any damage would just take a little extra effort.
No waiting for backup, no bruises or injuries slowing me down.
After all, whether it was the advanced secret techniques of the Yamanaka clan or various genjutsu,
they were all especially adept at wiping the floor with weaker opponents!
Bang~
Strong spatial fluctuations erupted from where Minato Namikaze had vanished.
Immediately afterward, thick chakra-infused smoke burst outward.
Looking pale, as though ravaged by some unspeakable horror, Minato reappeared inside the room.
One hand leaned against the wall, the other clutched his abdomen.
His face twisted in pain, clearly trying—and failing—to suppress something.
"You're not seriously hurt, are you?"
Kei blinked, seeing his friend's face, most of his initial teasing mood instantly fading.
"Red ones, green ones, purple ones, pink ones, long ones, oval-shaped ones—worms! Ugh!"
Minato muttered as he spoke, but suddenly recalled vividly what "dining" at Mount Myoboku looked like, nearly vomiting right there on the spot.
"Why don't you think of something nicer? Hmm... Insects have six times the protein of beef... Chicken-like, only crunchier?"
"Kei~! Ugh... You *know* what food at Mount Myoboku's like!"
"Ugh~"
"You were the one who bought into Jiraiya's nonsense back then and made that contract with Mount Myōboku. Now that there's no going back, are we just gonna lay down and take it?"
"You— I... Ugh~!"
Minato Namikaze didn't even finish his sentence before bolting toward the bathroom.
After a lengthy session of loud retching, he finally trudged back to the living room looking utterly drained.
"Okay okay, now that you're done puking, let's think about what to eat tonight. I haven't even eaten dinner yet."
"Are you some kind of demon?"
Still dazed from all the throwing up, Minato's face went completely slack at those words.
He really couldn't wrap his head around it.
What the hell had gone wrong with his brain back then that made him actually seek out and befriend Kei Yamanaka, this human calamity?
All these years… and he could still clearly remember just how much chaos this bastard had dragged him into!
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