Chapter 92 – Testing a New Technique
The treatment lasted for more than an hour before finally coming to an end. During that time, the three jōnin—who had just finished reporting to the Hokage—also arrived at the hospital.
They came partly to check on their injured subordinates, and partly to relay what they had learned from the Hokage.
There was also another important reason: Hatake Sakumo needed proper medical treatment. What Taichi had done in the field was only emergency stabilization. If Sakumo wanted to avoid lasting complications, a full hospital procedure was unavoidable.
Once everyone's treatment was complete, the medical staff arranged them all into the same ward, which made it easier for them to talk.
"…So that's how things turned out."
Minato briefly explained the Hokage's version of events.
The room fell silent.
They had fought on the brink of death—only for the explanation to be a courier's mistake?
"So Inuzuka Makoto just… died for nothing?"
Yōhei's voice trembled. He clearly hadn't climbed out of his grief yet.
"The ninja responsible was punished," Minato said—but even he didn't believe those words.
"Minato-senpai," Taichi suddenly asked, "Danzō was in the Hokage's office at the time, right?"
"Yes."
"Then this was probably Danzō's doing," Taichi said flatly.
The three jōnin exchanged looks, each wondering who had taught a kid to speak so boldly.
"A-ahaha, Taichi," Minato laughed awkwardly, "maybe you're misunderstanding Elder Danzō a little."
"Yes, yes," Sakumo added with a rare grin, "Danzō is bad—but mostly because he's ugly."
The room froze.
No one had expected Hatake Sakumo of all people to crack such a joke.
"Pfft—hahaha!"
Saori burst out laughing first, and the rest quickly followed.
After the laughter died down, Taichi explained calmly,
"In Konoha, if something bad is about to happen—or already happening—and nobody knows who did it… blaming Danzō is right about eighty percent of the time."
Everyone stared at him.
"That's what Tsunade-sensei told me," Taichi immediately added. "And honestly, I feel the same way."
Hearing Tsunade's name instantly defused the tension.
Yes—this did sound exactly like something Tsunade would say.
Even so, Taichi's words planted a seed. From that moment on, everyone present became more wary of Danzō.
After some more casual conversation, the nurse finally came to chase everyone out. Those who didn't need hospitalization left together.
---
After parting ways, Taichi returned home, took a long, hot shower, and finally allowed himself to relax.
Though he hadn't been wounded as badly as Yōhei, the prolonged mental strain—and the sustained use of high-level medical ninjutsu—had drained him thoroughly.
Looking back on the mission, it had been terrifying from start to finish.
But the gains were equally staggering.
In just a few days, Taichi had gone through multiple high-intensity battles. He had personally killed two jōnin and nearly ten chūnin. Saying that out loud would make most people laugh in disbelief.
His system panel reflected it clearly:
Congratulations! Your Genin class level has increased to Lv. 8 (241/1400).
Attribute Points +1 | Skill Points +1
Combat improvement: Advanced Taijutsu +1000
Combat improvement: Advanced Kenjutsu +2000
Congratulations! Advanced Kenjutsu has reached Lv. 2 (1540/3000).
These were only the most prominent improvements. Other growth—especially in medical ninjutsu—was too extensive to list.
If there was one regret…
It was Inuzuka Makoto's death.
Just yesterday, he had been a cheerful, talkative friend. In the next instant, he had been swallowed by flames.
Every time Taichi thought of it, he cursed this damned world—and silently resolved that his arrival here had to make a difference.
Otherwise, what was the point of being reborn at all?
---
After a mission of such intensity, a long break naturally followed.
This time, Squad Eight received a full month of rest.
Partly because of their injuries.
Partly because even hardened shinobi needed time to decompress.
A machine that never undergoes maintenance eventually breaks—let alone a human being.
But that logic didn't really apply to Taichi.
Vacation? Impossible.
Unless his body physically couldn't move, resting was nothing but a waste of life.
Others relaxed during breaks.
Taichi relaxed by training.
Others felt happy by unwinding.
Taichi felt happy watching numbers go up.
So at dawn the very next morning—before the sky even brightened—Taichi was already awake.
With his bloodstained short blade on his back, he headed toward his private training ground: the riverside grove.
After months of relentless training, what had once been dense woodland was now a flat clearing nearly a hundred meters wide. Thick wooden stakes and massive stone slabs were scattered throughout.
These were targets and training tools Taichi had painstakingly hauled in from afar. Without them, the grove would have been completely destroyed long ago.
After finishing his basic exercises, Taichi sat cross-legged atop a smooth boulder by the river, eyes closed, deep in thought.
This mission, though ultimately successful, had exposed a number of shortcomings.
The most pressing one—
Speed.
Not agility on the stat panel.
Through long experience, Taichi understood that Agility was a broad attribute—representing overall physical coordination.
It encompassed movement speed, attack speed, neural response time, and even physical hardware such as dynamic vision and the brain's ability to process information.
Each point of Agility raised the entire system.
After all, what good was faster attacks if your nerves couldn't react—or your eyes couldn't track movement? That would just be blind flailing.
What Taichi was concerned about now was pure movement speed.
At his current level, his dynamic vision and neural response were more than sufficient—even when using Body Flicker Technique, he could still perceive and control his movements with ease.
Which meant—
It was time to push speed itself to the next level.
At present, the problem was clear: Taichi's physical hardware was already sufficient, but his software couldn't keep up.
His raw movement speed could only be improved gradually through training, yet the Body Flicker Technique he relied on was already outdated.
There were many variations of Body Flicker techniques in the shinobi world, but at their core, they all followed the same principle—using chakra to stimulate muscles, forcing them to produce speeds impossible under normal conditions.
Among them, the most refined approach belonged to Kumogakure's Lightning Release chakra activation, which directly enhanced the body itself. In the future, even Kakashi's Chidori would follow this same logic.
Unfortunately, Taichi had only just begun learning Lightning Release nature transformation. As for lightning-based bodily activation, he didn't even have a clue yet.
What Taichi currently used was the most common D-rank Body Flicker: concentrating chakra in the legs to stimulate and protect the muscles, then releasing it in a single explosive burst.
This technique had a fatal flaw—it could not be used repeatedly at high intensity.
During the last mission, one extended long-distance Body Flicker had already strained Taichi's leg muscles. Using it twice in succession had worsened the injury considerably.
The reason was simple: no matter how you framed it, this was still muscle-based movement. Its upper limit depended entirely on the body's physical strength.
But now, Taichi had a new idea.
Monstrous Strength.
The principle behind monstrous strength was precise chakra control—compressing chakra into a single point and releasing it instantaneously to produce overwhelming force. In other words, the power didn't come purely from physical strength; it relied far more on chakra output.
That meant it could bypass physical limitations. As long as chakra control was precise enough, the resulting force could be far greater.
What Taichi wanted to explore was how to convert that explosive force into speed.
For reference, he had Tsunade's Heaven Foot of Pain.
Stepping onto the open ground, Taichi carefully controlled his chakra output. He followed the same release pattern as the Heaven Kick—but instead of letting the force explode outward, he redirected it into forward propulsion.
Instantly, Taichi shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Unfortunately, if his posture hadn't turned into a flailing starfish mid-flight, the result would've been much better.
Bang!
Taichi slammed face-first into the ground.
For a long moment, he didn't move.
A leaf drifted down and landed gently on his head. Still nothing.
Only after a long while did his fingers twitch. Then, shakily, he pushed himself upright.
Taichi violently shook his head. That fall had nearly rattled his brain loose.
Looking at the ten-meter distance he'd flown, his scalp tingled with fear.
If he'd used even a little more chakra, he might have died right there.
This only deepened his respect for the Second Hokage.
Taichi was merely modifying an existing technique and nearly killed himself. Tobirama had created countless forbidden techniques from scratch—true mastery indeed.
A notification appeared:
[Skill under development: Body Flicker (Modified) Lv.0 (1/100)]
Seeing the new skill appear on his panel filled Taichi with satisfaction.
Sure, he wasn't as gifted as the Second Hokage—but he had a system.
Worst case, he'd just practice more.
Fall more.
Eventually, he'd become a "ninjustu master" too.
Soon, the training field echoed with various sounds:
Thud — body slamming into the ground
Smack — colliding with stone
Scrape — face dragging along dirt
Developing new techniques was full of uncertainty.
It sounded painful.
It looked even worse.
Only when Taichi's chakra was nearly depleted did the bone-chilling noises finally stop.
By then, Taichi was bruised and swollen from head to toe. Not a single spot was unscathed—he hadn't been beaten this badly even during the mission.
[Body Flicker (Modified) Lv.0 (25/100)]
Still, the progress was encouraging.
At this rate, he wouldn't need to crash anymore by tomorrow. And in a few days, the technique might actually be complete.
With daylight fully broken, Taichi slung his short blade over his back and limped away from the training ground.
On the way home, passersby stared at him. In his current state, he looked more like a beggar than a shinobi. If not for the sword and Leaf headband, the security patrol might've chased him off for ruining the city's appearance.
After washing up and enjoying a hearty breakfast, Taichi headed out again.
Morning training hadn't been satisfying—too much falling.
Now it was time for a 10-kilometer run to warm up properly.
Pedestrians felt a gust roar past them. By the time they turned their heads, Taichi was already gone, having veered onto a secluded route circling the village.
About twenty minutes later, a familiar shout rang out behind him:
"Two more laps before class—or a thousand extra punches!"
Taichi turned to see a soaked Might Guy sprinting toward him.
Taichi grinned. It had been a long time since he'd seen Guy. Slowing down, he waited.
Guy noticed him too, eyes lighting up. He surged forward and caught up quickly.
"Taichi! You're back from a mission!"
"Yeah. How've you been, Guy? Stronger than before?" Taichi asked with curiosity.
"Ahahaha! Then why don't we find out?" Guy flashed a thumbs-up, teeth gleaming. "Two laps around the village—whoever finishes first wins!"
"Ha! Then I can't refuse!" Taichi laughed. "Let's go!"
Without waiting, he suddenly accelerated.
"Come catch me, Guy!"
"Ah! Youth burns brightest in competition!" Guy shouted, tears streaming as he sped up. His pace now rivaled that of an average chūnin.
The two raced through the streets, laughter and sweat scattering beneath the morning sun.
In the end, Taichi's earlier injuries caught up with him. Guy gradually closed the gap.
Both collapsed against a wall, panting heavily.
Taichi barely won.
"Taichi… are you injured?" Guy asked between breaths. "You're running awkwardly."
"Just a minor injury from training this morning," Taichi replied casually.
They walked together, chatting until their breathing steadied. Then they parted ways—Guy heading to class, Taichi back to training.
At Training Ground No. 3, Taichi went through strength drills, taijutsu, and sword practice until he was utterly exhausted.
After devouring lunch at the barbecue restaurant, he returned again to train away the afternoon.
That was when he spotted Hatake Kakashi in the field, focused entirely on his sword practice.
Kakashi hadn't noticed the "little thief" stealing glances from the sidelines.
Taichi was openly learning. After all, his Kenjutsu foundation had come from Hatake style—Kakashi himself had once taught him.
Watching now, Taichi could clearly see the differences between their techniques—something he'd already noticed in Sakumo's battles.
His own Kenjutsu had evolved onto a different path after advancing, but there was still much to learn.
[Observing Kenjutsu: Advanced Kenjutsu EXP +1]
Finally, Kakashi noticed the stare and turned, instantly creeped out.
Seeing Kakashi's reaction, Taichi scratched his head awkwardly.
"Sorry, Kakashi. I got carried away."
"No, it's fine," Kakashi said seriously. "Actually… I should thank you. My father told me—without you, he wouldn't have made it back."
He bowed deeply.
Taichi panicked and quickly pulled him up.
"Hey—stop that! We're friends. I'd do the same for anyone from Konoha!"
"No," Kakashi insisted. "Saving a life deserves thanks."
"…Alright, you win," Taichi sighed, then smiled. "How about sparring? It's been a while."
Kakashi's eye gleamed.
"Fine. Come at me."
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