Because he created five shadow clones, Kyuushin's assessment speed was extremely fast. By three or four in the afternoon, he had already assessed all the candidates.
Afterward, it took a little more time to compile the candidates' scores and hand them over to the school. Seeing that it wasn't dark yet, there was still time to report to the Hokage Office.
"The mission is complete? That fast?" The Third Hokage was a bit surprised.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"I saw you using shadow clones for the assessment the whole time. You must have used a lot of chakra, right? The mission deadline was three days, so you didn't need to rush so much," the Third Hokage said.
The mission scroll indeed only required completing all student assessments within three days, as Kyuushin was alone. However, the Third Hokage hadn't expected Kyuushin to continuously use Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"Actually, it's fine. I wasn't using ordinary shadow clones, but ice clones, which have stronger resistance to damage. Ice clones don't require the use of ninjutsu, so they can last a long time."
Kyuushin explained, though it wasn't that they lasted a long time, but rather that Kyuushin hadn't replaced them from start to finish. From the beginning, Kyuushin had given the ice clones a considerable amount of chakra.
"No wonder."
The Third Hokage also nodded in realization. At this moment, he recalled the First Hokage's Wood Clone Jutsu, which was indeed much more advanced than ordinary shadow clones.
Thinking of this, even the Third Hokage couldn't help but feel a hint of envy. Although he had cultivated nature transformation of all five elements to their peak, a kekkei genkai was a kekkei genkai; it couldn't be forced.
When he was young, he heard that in the Land of Earth, some people even cultivated Kekkei Tota. He secretly tried to cultivate a kekkei genkai himself, but almost every attempt failed.
In the end, he had no choice but to take another path of composite ninjutsu. However, this was out of necessity; no matter how powerful composite ninjutsu was, it had its limits.
Perhaps with the Third Hokage's current strength, most kekkei genkai shinobi in the ninja world were not his opponents, but he ultimately could not reach the level of Senju Hashirama.
Among shinobi without a kekkei genkai, the Third Hokage and the Third Raikage's strength had pretty much reached its limit, representing the peak level within the group of Kage-level powerhouses.
However, there was no further path to becoming stronger beyond that. Even learning more ninjutsu or secret techniques would only increase the means of engaging enemies, without any fundamental change.
To advance further, besides other unconventional methods, a kekkei genkai was the most probable. But the Third Hokage didn't have such an opportunity. Now, looking at Kyuushin, how could he not feel envious?
However, the Third Hokage wouldn't show it on his face. Seeing Kyuushin complete his report, he said to him:
"Since that's the case, I won't arrange any other missions for you during this time. You should seize the time to prepare. Once this batch of genin is arranged, I will notify you again."
Kyuushin nodded, then left the Hokage Office.
Upon returning to the Senju Residence, he found that Kushina had already returned home from school and was telling Nawaki and Minato about what had happened with Kyuushin at school that day. Even Mito was sitting nearby, listening with a smile.
Although students who didn't participate in the exam couldn't watch on-site, the school's large playground was not far from the teaching building. Many lower-grade students either went to the rooftop or peered out of windows, basically seeing the entire process.[5]
And Kyuushin, just a year ago, was a student at the school, and even now his age was similar to theirs. His performance today naturally became the talk of the entire Ninja Academy.
"You guys didn't see it, but basically all the students in our class became Kyuushin's admirers, especially the female students. They kept asking me about Kyuushin, and when school ended, I almost couldn't get back."
Nawaki listened beside them, practically drooling. Seeing Kyuushin enter, he immediately cast a resentful look at him:
"Kyuushin, you're too inconsiderate. A mission like this, the three of us should have done it together."
Kyuushin's scalp tingled from Nawaki's gaze, and he could only defend himself:
"This was a mission Hokage-sama gave me; I couldn't help it. How about next time I talk to Hokage-sama again and bring you along too?"
"It's a deal then! Next time, you absolutely must bring me and Minato!"
Nawaki's face lit up with joy upon hearing Kyuushin say this, but he didn't consider that such an event only happened once a year. Kyuushin's participation this time was due to special circumstances; it might not be the same next time.[6][5]
Kushina pouted without speaking, glanced at Minato, then said to Kyuushin:
"I noticed Makiko and Sachiko weren't very happy today. Since you'll be going to the battlefield again in a few days, how about we get together again?"
Kyuushin was a bit speechless at Kushina's blatant matchmaking. If it were before, he might have agreed, but this time it probably wouldn't work.
He said to Kushina, "I'll be busy cultivating these next few days, so I probably won't have time. Let's wait until next time."
He wasn't lying. There weren't many days left until he had to go to the battlefield, and he still needed to quickly familiarize himself with the Flying Thunder God Technique. This was a life-saving skill, so it was naturally better to practice it proficiently.
Additionally, he had a recent premonition that the Ice Release's transformation of his body was nearing completion. He didn't know what would happen then, so he could only try his best to stay at home.
If there was still time, he also needed to look at the Fire Release ninjutsu scroll the Third Hokage gave him last time. He had coincidentally completed the Fire Nature Transformation this time, so learning a few more Fire Release ninjutsu would give him more means against enemies.
Thinking this way, even these few days might not be enough. He truly had no time for this gathering. In any case, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future, so there was no need to rush now.
"Alright then." Kushina naturally knew what was important, and seeing Kyuushin say this, she didn't press further.
"However, this gathering will be on me. Have a good time, and please apologize for me."
Kyuushin pulled out a bundle of banknotes from his ninja tool pouch and placed them in Kushina's hand, saying to her.
"Then we also..." Nawaki, seeing that Kyuushin wasn't even going and still needed to cultivate, hesitated a bit.
"I have special circumstances. You all have been tired from cultivating recently, so it's fine to go relax a bit. Cultivation is best with a balance of tension and relaxation."
Only after Kyuushin said this did they agree.
In the following days, the Third Hokage did not give him any orders, so Kyuushin stayed at home to cultivate.
In the training ground, Kyuushin flickered unsteadily, appearing and disappearing, but each appearance and disappearance was only for an instant. Below the jonin rank, most probably wouldn't even have time to react.
After a while, Kyuushin finally stopped. After closing his Gene Lock, he let out a long breath. The first stage of the Flying Thunder God Technique, having been practiced to this extent, was already more or less sufficient for the battlefield.
During these days, Kyuushin also tested the maximum range of his Flying Thunder God Technique. As he expected, he could only sense the fluctuations of the formula within a range of about two kilometers.
A little further than that, although he could sense his chakra, he could not sense the spatiotemporal fluctuations generated by the formula. If he couldn't sense the spatiotemporal fluctuations, he naturally couldn't transfer.
In addition to this, Kyuushin also made many marked Flying Thunder God kunai during these days. Because the formula he created was not as large as Minato's in the original work, it didn't require specialized kunai, which was much more convenient.
Moreover, he imprinted the formula directly on the blade of the kunai, similar to Senju Tobirama. The Flying Thunder God formula was originally black, and the kunai was also dark, so unless one looked closely, it was completely unnoticeable, making it even more likely to catch enemies off guard.
Kyuushin rested for a while, preparing to resume training, but suddenly his expression changed, and he quickly sat down cross-legged.
The feeling that Ice Release's body modification gave him was originally like a massage for every cell. But just now, this feeling suddenly began to intensify, gradually shifting from a comfortable sensation to an itch, then the itch gradually worsened, and now it had directly turned into a stinging pain.
It was as if countless needles were simultaneously piercing every cell. The more comfortable the massage felt before, the more painful it was now.
However, Kyuushin had, after all, experienced the after-effects of activating the Gene Lock. Although the current pain was also considerable, it was much less severe than the after-effects of the Gene Lock.
Therefore, Kyuushin was able to keep his mind clear and not fall unconscious. However, accompanied by these waves of stinging pain, his Ice Release chakra also suddenly became uncontrollable, surging out from within his body in waves.
In just a moment, the entire training ground was covered with a thick layer of frost. Mito also arrived here shortly after Kyuushin's chakra erupted.
However, she did not touch Kyuushin's body. This was what Kyuushin had told her before. Although he didn't know what kind of commotion a complete transformation would cause, if the commotion was significant, Mito would naturally be needed to step in.
Mito first sensed Kyuushin's current state. After confirming that his vitality was still strong, she began to set up a barrier jutsu. If Kyuushin continued to erupt like this, an entire street would probably be frozen solid in the end.
However, the previous commotion was already quite large, and many shinobi with sensory abilities had noticed it. But seeing that it was in the direction of the Senju Residence, they did not venture over to investigate.
However, the Third Hokage was naturally an exception. He quickly advanced towards the area. At first, he thought the Nine-Tails had gone berserk, but he didn't feel any violent chakra aura. Only later did he faintly sense an icy aura.
This immediately made him think of Kyuushin, so he also rushed over. After seeing a thick barrier jutsu enveloping the area, he breathed a sigh of relief. After finding Mito's location, he landed directly and asked:
"Mito-sama, what's going on?"
"I don't know either, but I imagine it's because Kyuushin's Ice Release wasn't fully awakened before."
Mito naturally knew what was happening, but Kyuushin didn't plan to reveal the secret of his Synthesized Kekkei Genkai yet, so she naturally couldn't speak out on her own and found an excuse.
"There's such a thing?"