"Puff!"
However, before Minato's hand could even touch the kunai, the chakra had already shattered in his palm.
"Just as I thought," Minato muttered. Although all his previous memories, including the methods of cultivating ninjutsu, remained intact,
this didn't mean he could immediately master all those ninjutsu cultivation methods again.
Earlier, when he attempted to imprint the Flying Thunder God mark onto the kunai in his hand, he had failed.
[Flying Thunder God Technique] was an S-ranked Space-Time Ninjutsu developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It allowed one to achieve "teleportation" across space through chakra manipulation.
This very technique was the source of Minato's nickname, the Yellow Flash. With it, he dominated the entire battlefield during the Third Great Ninja War undefeated.
Having inherited this technique, Minato improved upon its original form, making the jutsu even more refined.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was also one of his most proficient ninjutsu skills.
To teleport instantly, the practitioner must first place a chakra marker at the intended location. The essence of the Flying Thunder God Technique lay precisely in instantaneous movement between these markers.
Yet he wasn't discouraged because even if he mastered the technique immediately, he couldn't apply it effectively in actual combat yet.
The Flying Thunder God itself carried no combat damage potential. Yet Minato became feared across all ninja nations not just for the technique, but also for his personal prowess.
Using instant teleportation to evade enemy attacks and then appearing right beside opponents to strike back required not only tactical coordination but especially lightning-fast reflexes surpassing all adversaries.
Minato once faced off against the son of the Third Raikage from the Land of Lightning—the future Fourth Raikage—whom Minato defeated by relying on superior reaction speed.
Otherwise, before the Flying Thunder God Technique could be used, he would've been defeated by the Fourth Raikage's incredible speed.
Against enemies whose reflexes and movement speeds exceeded his own, rashly using Flying Thunder God to approach closely would actually offer the opponent an opportunity to eliminate him—a suicidal act.
Therefore, after mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato specifically trained himself for several years before achieving complete mastery.
Whether in the past or now, Minato excelled most in speed. Only such speed could fully unleash the true power of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
One could say that while the Flying Thunder God Technique established Minato's reputation, Minato himself elevated the technique to legendary status throughout the ninja world.
Shinobi from all major nations understood the Flying Thunder God's movement patterns and devised specific countermeasures.
Yet, just like the Fourth Raikage, they all undeniably ended up failing.
Every ninjutsu inevitably possessed weaknesses. Once known by the enemy, precautions could be taken; however, understanding these same vulnerabilities allowed the user to avoid them, refining the technique.
This was the essence of mastering technique through human will and skill. Previously, Tachiyama Shinsaburo misunderstood this principle, believing that the Immortal Body made him invincible. This blinded his original rationality, ultimately leading to his defeat.
To enhance the destructive power of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato spent three years developing another ninjutsu...
[Rasengan!]
Minato opened his right palm and focused on generating high-speed chakra rotation in his hand.
Buzz.
A bright blue chakra light appeared, but the spinning only lasted briefly before collapsing.
"Even holding the Rasengan has become impossible..."
Minato gave a bitter smile. To him, the Rasengan was never meant to be a perfect jutsu—it was merely an "unfinished prototype." At that time, the Rasengan had only achieved shape transformation of chakra. Its complete form should also incorporate nature transformation. And once completed, the Rasengan wouldn't simply remain an A-rank technique—it would truly become an S-rank ultimate jutsu.
However, developing such a high-level technique proved extremely difficult. Back during wartime, creating the Rasengan itself was already pushing his limits, and before he could finish refining it, catastrophe had already arrived.
If back then he had completed the nature transformation aspect of chakra, just one fully powered Rasengan might not have killed the Masked Man outright—but at the very least, executing a space-time ninjutsu escape wouldn't have been so easy for him.
Thinking about this, Minato couldn't help but feel grateful toward Master Jiraiya. This great teacher, whether in the past or present, had always been his mentor and guide on the ninja path.
His becoming the Fourth Hokage wasn't only due to his own hard work and the help of many comrades, but also significantly influenced by his teacher's guidance. Over more than a year, although the master hadn't taught him any particularly advanced techniques, he had trained Minato's reflexes and physical agility—precisely what was required to execute the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Now at over nine years old, his current abilities surpassed the level he had reached around twelve in his earlier development. His overall strength was now on par with that of an ordinary jonin, with only slight differences remaining. Combined with his rich battle experience and sharp combat instincts, he even had a real chance against jonin-level opponents head-on.
Considering the current situation alone, practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique would still prove challenging. Moreover, mastering the Rasengan wasn't something achievable in a short period. With the opponents he currently encountered, the urgency for greater Rasengan destruction power didn't exist either.
After carefully evaluating his current condition, Minato decided on his training direction.
He needed to regain his sensory abilities—detecting enemy positions and timing movements were especially critical when using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Most importantly, within his body resided half of the Nine-Tails—the existence shouldn't even exist in this era.
Regarding this matter, he didn't want too many people finding out, otherwise he'd draw attention from the village elders. As the Fourth Hokage, he understood Danzo's methods better than anyone else.
Ordinary ninja probably wouldn't sense anything unusual about his body nowadays, yet sensor-type ninja might be able to. Junko Watanabe once mentioned something strange about the chakra inside him—perhaps it was caused by the Nine-Tails' chakra.
He had to learn how to sense and block detection before evading a Sensor ninja's awareness.
Minato immediately sat cross-legged on his bed, gradually calming his agitated mind.
The first step in sensing was learning every detail of how chakra flowed through your body.
While clans like the Hyuga and Inuzuka had their own special senses, sensing itself was simply the ability to detect even the smallest shifts in chakra.
It demanded incredibly precise chakra control and years of steady practice to truly master.
Gradually, within the entire room, only the faint whisper of Minato's breath could be heard...
...
...(continued)
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