When they set out again,
the atmosphere in the group became much more relaxed. A few of the wounded even had the mood to crack a couple of jokes.
If they'd known earlier that there was such a boss-tier carry in the team, what was there to be afraid of?
No wonder Lord Jiraiya had personally appointed this white-haired boy as captain. Although his rank was only special jōnin… what special jōnin could reap Sunagakure jōnin like wheat? Even ordinary jōnin probably couldn't do that.
The "special" here probably meant "especially strong," right?
"Captain!"
The Hyūga ninja from earlier finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked, "That movement technique you used just now… was it the legendary Flying Thunder God? I've long heard that you're one of Lord Namikaze's subordinates. That was incredible…"
"Not yet."
Mikami Yuu replied calmly.
In truth, within eighty meters, the effect of Instant Shadow Killing Formation was not much worse than Flying Thunder God. In a certain sense, it was even easier to use.
However, Flying Thunder God's upper limit was still higher, especially in the hands of a monster like Namikaze Minato, whose Cell reaction speed was abnormal. That Spiraling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three probably wasn't something Yuu could use even if he learned Flying Thunder God, unless he paired it with Cell Activation Technique.
But that technique's ceiling was still stuck for now. Even if Yuu maxed its current affection, he couldn't unlock the second-stage trait. Whenever he thought of this problem, Yuu got a headache.
"I wonder when Orochimaru will make new progress on Cell Activation Technique. I'm still waiting to pick up new corpse fragments from him…"
It gave him a headache, but there was nothing he could do.
After all, Yuu couldn't put a knife to Orochimaru's neck and force him to speed up his research. Not just him—even Sarutobi Hiruzen rushing him would be useless. Unless it was Orochimaru's beloved son Sasuke, perhaps no one could order him around.
He could only take things one step at a time.
Near dusk,
Yuu's group arrived at Kikyo City.
The two Konoha squads stationed there had received word and hurried out to meet them, settling all the wounded nearby.
It was worth mentioning that Nohara Hiroshi had already woken up by then and had even recovered some ability to move.
Just as Yuu had expected earlier, most of his injuries had recovered within about two hours. Even the damage to his organs and bones had mostly healed. The price was that the Seed of Vitality in his lower abdomen had almost completely dissipated, leaving only a tiny remnant of broken roots.
In theory, Yuu could plant another one for him.
But there didn't seem to be much need. After all, Seeds of Vitality were not unlimited, and there was a chance others might detect them. Before he fully understood their mechanism, it was better to be cautious and avoid exposing the information too easily.
"Yuu, Rin, I owe you both this time…"
"If I hadn't run into you, I'm afraid I would have lost my life here."
Nohara Hiroshi, whose injuries had recovered, still hadn't quite adjusted to his state. His expression showed lingering fear.
Rin gently patted her father's back to comfort him.
Yuu smiled slightly and spoke naturally. "Uncle Hiroshi, you're too polite. Mainly, your will to live was strong. Even if you hadn't met me and Rin, other medical ninja definitely would have saved you too. At most, you would have recovered a little more slowly."
"Hah."
Nohara Hiroshi clearly did not believe that explanation. After all, he had some idea of how severe his injuries had been. But seeing Yuu say this, he did not expose him. He only coughed lightly.
"You two should have other missions, right? Don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself."
"…That's fine."
Yuu pondered for a moment, then spoke again.
"By the way, there's one thing I need you to help keep secret… about my Mystical Palm Technique. This technique is one of the hardest medical ninjutsu to master. I don't really want everyone to know I've learned it. It might damage their confidence…"
"…"
That was true.
Tsunade had once said that she took five months to learn Mystical Palm, and she was already a figure standing at the peak of medical ninja, an undeniable genius. Senju Hashirama didn't count; he was beyond discussion. Most ordinary people would never learn this technique in their entire lives.
And Yuu, from the time he first came into contact with Mystical Palm until now, had only spent a little over three months in total.
If the time spent doing other things in between was subtracted, it was even shorter.
If such growth speed spread, it might indeed attract probing from various factions, and even more unnecessary trouble.
"I understand, Yuu! Don't worry. Dad and I absolutely won't say anything!"
Rin solemnly promised, then turned to look at Nohara Hiroshi.
Although Hiroshi did not know the specific details, he immediately nodded as well.
"Yuu, you know me. I, Hiroshi, am not someone who runs his mouth. I won't mention what happened today to anyone. But you two must be careful. Blades don't have eyes on the battlefield. Don't let Sunagakure catch you off guard."
"Of course."
Yuu nodded, and a relaxed smile returned to his face.
"Then, Uncle Hiroshi, stay here and rest well. This place should be temporarily safe. Rin, stay behind and look after your father. I'll return to Mount Kikyo and report to Lord Orochimaru. If anything happens, remember to fire a signal flare."
"Wait, I'll go with you…"
"No need. If Sunagakure appears here, it will be at least one or two days later. Mount Kikyo should be fine for the next couple of days. Besides, the wounded here need someone to look after them. Your medical ninjutsu can be useful here."
"…Alright."
Rin lightly bit her lip and accepted Yuu's arrangement.
After that,
Yuu thought for a moment and left Little Green behind to serve as a bodyguard for the Nohara father and daughter. Although it was not overwhelmingly strong, it still had the level of a jōnin and possessed invisibility. If something really happened, it could bring the two of them away safely.
As for Yuu himself,
after greeting Gekkō Shigure and the others, he set out alone. Taking advantage of the fact that twilight had not yet completely fallen, he hurried toward Mount Kikyo.
After the sun fully set,
Yuu appeared travel-worn inside the stone chamber on Mount Kikyo and told Orochimaru about the situation on Jiraiya's side.
"…Hmph. As expected, he's an idiot. He won't change direction until he suffers a loss."
Orochimaru, as usual, criticized Jiraiya a couple of times. Then his gaze fell on Yuu. His pale golden snake eyes narrowed slightly, and his nostrils twitched.
"Speaking of which, Mikami-kun, you seem to have a fresh scent of blood on you. It looks like your return journey was not peaceful."
"?"
He can smell that too?
Yuu raised an eyebrow and calmly answered, "Yes. While escorting the wounded back, we ran into a Sunagakure surprise attack unit, around twenty-plus people. Aside from deliberately leaving two alive and sending them back to Wildfire City for interrogation, the rest were all dealt with."
"Oh?"
Orochimaru licked his lips and made a faint hissing sound.
"Twenty-plus people… and you dealt with them so cleanly. As expected, Mikami-kun, you always manage to surprise me."
After a brief silence,
Orochimaru raised his chin.
"Go back and rest first. The trap setup work is basically complete. Next, we wait for Jiraiya to lure the 'prey' in. Be patient over the next two days and conserve your strength. The final decisive battle may break out at any time."
"Yes."
Yuu said nothing more and turned to leave the somewhat oppressive stone chamber.
There was no need to go into detail about meeting Obito, Kakashi, and the others.
At first, when Obito saw Yuu return alone, he was startled and thought something had happened to Rin. In his shock, he almost opened his Sharingan to three tomoe. Only after hearing from Yuu that everything was fine did he let out a breath and calm down again.
As for Kurenai, she nervously came over to Yuu and asked whether he had been injured, making Asuma, who was not far away, feel very sour.
Over the past few days,
Kurenai and the others had followed Orochimaru's instructions and cleared out the old Mount Kikyo pass fortress. Although the exterior still looked broken, with ruins and collapsed walls, the interior was quite spacious and could accommodate a considerable number of hidden troops.
For now, it served as the group's temporary resting point.
Over the next two days,
Yuu stayed at Mount Kikyo and, together with Kakashi and the others, carried out final inspections and reinforcement of the prepared traps. They repeatedly deduced and simulated the tactics for the day of the ambush.
He used the remaining time to practice ninjutsu.
Hatake Swordsmanship and Water and Fire Release went without saying; they were daily essentials. The daily gamble with Monster Strength was also mandatory. These techniques were the ones he currently used most often, so he needed to raise their affection as quickly as possible. It would be best if one or two more could reach max.
In addition…
his practice of sealing techniques and Transparent Escape also proceeded at the same time.
Between these two, Binding Formula Seal progressed relatively slowly, usually increasing by only one or two points per day. It had only recently passed 25.
Transparent Escape, however, was much faster.
Its personality was carved from the same mold as Jiraiya, only gender-swapped—in other words, a female version of an old lecher. As it happened, Yuu was quite confident in his own character design. Every time he conversed with or practiced Transparent Escape, the affection increase reached the upper limit.
So although Transparent Escape had entered the wooing list relatively late, and Yuu had not spent too much effort practicing with her lately, her affection was actually higher than Binding Formula Seal's by a fair amount.
And their first-stage traits unlocked as expected.
[Binding Formula Seal — Current affection: 27/100, Friendly]
[Stage reward obtained: Constitution +1. Trait · Thousand-Thread Net: Your sealing technique strength has slightly increased. Binding effect increased by 25%. However, if you use other ninjutsu while releasing a sealing technique, the sealing technique's chakra consumption will increase by 20% on top of its original cost.]
[Transparent Escape — Current affection: 34/100, Friendly]
[Stage reward obtained: Constitution +1. Trait · Hazy Phantom: Your Transparent Escape's concealment has slightly increased. After activating this technique, not only will your body enter a transparent state, your chakra fluctuations will also become hazy and perfectly blend into the surrounding environment, reducing the probability of being discovered by the naked eye and ordinary sensory ninjutsu. In addition, the fewer clothes you wear, the better the concealment effect.]
There was not much to say about Thousand-Thread Net.
A sealing technique trait that improved binding effects was perfectly in line with its specialty.
The increased chakra cost counted as a small side effect, fitting Binding Formula Seal's slightly yandere "landmine girl" image.
However, after Yuu personally tried it, he felt it was fine. After all, that 20% increase was based on the original cost, and Binding Formula Seal itself was only equivalent to a C- or B-rank ninjutsu. It did not consume much chakra. Increasing it by twenty percent was basically the same as no increase at all after rounding.
Even Kakashi would not lack that bit of chakra, much less the current Yuu, who already had several Kakashi units of chakra.
As for Hazy Phantom…
"Wait…"
"What does 'the fewer clothes you wear, the better the concealment effect' mean?"
Is this trait serious?
According to this logic, if he took off all his clothes before using Transparent Escape, wouldn't he become a true invisible man? Maybe even Sharingan wouldn't see through him?
[Transparent Escape: Hehehe, little Yuu's naked body… I want to see it. Slurp~]
"…"
The corner of Yuu's mouth twitched, and he ignored the old pervert's comment.
How should one put it?
In theory, this "clothes-off version of Transparent Escape" was not completely unusable. Because aside from Transparent Escape, Yuu also had Transformation Technique: Lifelike, which could perfectly mimic others. If he first used Transformation Technique to turn himself into Jiraiya or someone else, then used Transparent Escape…
The one running around naked would be Jiraiya. What would that have to do with me, Mikami Yuu?
Mm, considering Jiraiya had still taught him a few ninjutsu, he could switch to someone else. Danzo would work too. Presumably, this Root leader would not mind experiencing social death in front of the Konoha villagers.
However…
these playstyles were ultimately a little too perverted. It was like the Yamanaka clan using Mind Body Switch Technique to control an enemy, then using the enemy's body to eat shit by the mouthful. In theory, as long as one's own mentality could withstand it, any enemy could be mentally broken, but ordinary people really couldn't withstand that either…
"Pat, pat."
Yuu patted his forehead, suppressed those messy thoughts, and began trying the two newly obtained traits.
As the hand seals for Transparent Escape formed,
his body quickly became blurry and transparent, eventually merging with the surrounding air. Even his chakra presence became vague and uncertain.
Then, Yuu lifted a corner of the tent and went outside onto the mountain terrain. While maintaining Transparent Escape, he tried moving, weaving through the area, and using swordsmanship and ninjutsu. Compared to before unlocking the trait, these movements became lighter and more concealed. Even the sound of airflow while he moved was greatly reduced.
In this state, even when Yuu deliberately approached some ninja beasts and birds in the mountains, they usually did not notice him at all. Only when he actively released the ninjutsu and appeared, or deliberately made a sound, would they be startled and scatter in all directions.
~~~
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