After the profit-obsessed Vice-Principal left, darkness began to fall.
Byakuya donned his black windbreaker, fastened the "Shuten-doji " mask to his face, strapped his ninjatō to his back, and headed for the forest outside the village.
He took a detour past the Uchiha clan compound. It was peaceful.
Outside the compound, several Uchiha guards eyed him warily.
It was ironic. The two founding partners of the Hidden Leaf had both faded into obscurity, but in completely different ways.
Looking at the eventual fate of the Uchiha, the Senju clan's decision was undoubtedly the wiser one. They had disbanded, blending into the village to avoid standing out, trading their clan identity for the safety and continuation of their bloodline.
"Papa, look at that person's mask..."
"Izumi, that mask is called 'Shuten-dōji,' the Shuten-doji from legends."
"Shuten-doji ? Is he strong?"
"Not as strong as us Uchiha."
The father held the little girl in his arms as they looked at Byakuya.
Izumi?
Byakuya stopped and looked at the curious little girl. Could she be Izumi Uchiha? What a tragic figure.
"What is your purpose near the Uchiha grounds?"
Just as the patrolling Uchiha ninja stepped forward to question him, Byakuya—mask and all—vanished from their sight in an instant.
"Huh? Where did he go?"
"Did he use a Shadow Clone? Did he release the jutsu once we spotted him?"
"Looks like it."
When Byakuya reappeared, he was already on the outskirts of the forest.
He had left a Flying Thunder God formula on an unremarkable little tree there.
Having received both Tobirama Senju's Water Style: Water Severing Wave and the Flying Thunder God, he had assumed the space-time ninjutsu would be the harder one to learn.
But once he started studying them, he realized the Water Severing Wave was far more difficult than the Flying Thunder God!
Not just a little harder—much, much harder.
It required precise chakra control to highly condense water, compressing it to molecular density to give the stream hardness and cutting power far beyond ordinary Water Style jutsu.
And successful compression was just the first step. The second step was directional projection and shape locking.
The water had to be guided into a thin, flat, straight state. Combined with kinetic energy and density, this created an unstoppable cutting force.
After reading the scroll for this S-Rank jutsu, Byakuya suspected Tobirama Senju might have been a transmigrator too.
This wasn't a water jutsu; it was a chakra-enhanced industrial waterjet cutter.
Deep in the forest, Byakuya failed yet another attempt at the Water Severing Wave.
He sat under the moonlight, sighing. "Tobirama Senju was obnoxiously talented. Compared to him, every other genius in the ninja world looks like an idiot."
"With my current chakra control, trying to condense water and compress it to molecular density is a pipe dream. Plus, the chakra requirements are insane. Compared to this S-Rank monster, the Tobirama-style Water Wall feels like a toy."
On the other hand, the Flying Thunder God wasn't as difficult for him.
Byakuya had received a boost to his Ninjutsu aptitude from his Destiny System. Although he hadn't fully mastered the technique yet, he could manage one Flying Thunder God jump per day.
That's right—one jump a day.
It drained a massive amount of chakra and left him mentally exhausted, but as a trump card for escaping, it was enough.
The keys to the Flying Thunder God were the spatial coordinate seal (the formula) and guiding chakra for the spatial jump.
You use your own chakra to leave a Flying Thunder God seal on a target object.
This seal acts as a medium binding your chakra to a spatial coordinate—essentially installing a GPS tracker.
The cheat here was that the seal persisted indefinitely.
Next, by sensing the connection between your chakra and the seal, you lock onto the coordinate. Then, you convert chakra into "spatial energy" to break the barrier between your current space and the target space, instantly teleporting yourself to the seal's location.
Aside from his boosted Ninjutsu aptitude, it turned out that the "spatial energy" involved in the Flying Thunder God was a type of natural energy.
His Destiny System had previously given him a small boost to his Sage Art aptitude and affinity.
This allowed him to quickly grasp the nature of spatial energy during his training, enabling him to convert his chakra, breach the spatial barrier, and teleport.
Byakuya couldn't help but marvel again. "Tobirama really was a genius. No wonder out of all the ninja in the Leaf, only Minato Namikaze learned this. Maybe it had something to do with the Toad Sage jutsu from Mount Myoboku too."
Minato knew Sage Mode; presumably, Jiraiya had taken him to Mount Myoboku to learn it.
"Right now, I'm helpless with the Water Severing Wave, and I've only just stepped through the door with the Flying Thunder God. If I want to improve, or reach Minato's level of spamming it at will, I need massive increases in my chakra reserves, control, physical stamina, and spiritual energy... then maybe it'll work."
Anyone else facing these requirements would be in despair.
But Byakuya was different.
He had a cheat.
As long as he laid low ("gou") and kept completing the timed missions from his Destiny System to reap the rewards, sooner or later he would be using Water Severing Wave and Flying Thunder God as effortlessly as Tobirama did in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
He calmed his excitement and pulled up his panel.
[Fortune Favors the Diligent]
Time Limit: 2 Days
Task: Throw Shuriken (57/100)
Reward: Minor increase in Ninja Tool Aptitude
In the last four days, the System had only issued one timed mission, and the reward was just a minor boost to Taijutsu.
Byakuya still hoped the System would give him more straightforward rewards like "Chakra Reserve Increase," "Chakra Control Increase," or "Stamina Increase."
But it seemed the System had its own rhythm—slow and steady, never rushing.
He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Either way, the goal was to survive!
Next up: finish the mission.
For the current Byakuya, hitting the bullseye with shuriken wasn't difficult.
After packing up his ninja tools and strapping on his sword, he moved through the forest, returning to the Leaf under the moonlight.
Halfway back, he suddenly sensed someone nearby.
He picked up on a chakra signature.
Like a cat, he landed silently on a tree branch.
There was a clearing ahead.
Kakashi Hatake was gripping the White Light Chakra Sabre, fully focused on practicing his kenjutsu. The moonlight shone on his silver hair, giving it a soft glow.
Right, Byakuya thought. The Hatake clan specializes in kenjutsu, don't they?
That short sword was the weapon of Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake. After Sakumo's suicide, Kakashi had inherited it.
As expected of the future Sixth Hokage, Kakashi suddenly whipped two kunai in Byakuya's direction.
Byakuya drew his ninjatō and effortlessly knocked the kunai out of the air.
"Peeping on someone's training is very rude." Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the "Shuten-doji " mask on Byakuya's face. "It's you. I want a rematch."
Byakuya let out a deliberately raspy laugh. "No problem. I'm curious to see what Minato Namikaze has taught you, and if you've actually improved..."
"Ready!"
"Ready!"
The battle erupted instantly.