Shinji narrowed his eyes, a hint of curiosity flickering in his gaze.
In his memory, creating a human bomb was indeed one of the abilities of the Ketsuryugan, but it required infusing chakra laced with Ketsuryugan's dojutsu power into the opponent's body. Only then could their body be used as fuel to create a bomb rivaling a high-grade explosive tag.
But just now, Chino had merely detonated a small amount of her own blood. Who would've thought that such a tiny amount could trigger an explosion that powerful?
Ryuzetsu stepped forward, staring at the massive crater left by the blast, momentarily stunned. "Chino, how… how did you do that?"
Chino shook her head. "I don't know! I just sensed some lingering dojutsu power in that blood and activated it. Then, somehow, it just boomed!"
Shinji approached the edge of the crater.
By now, the smoke had cleared, and even with the piercing insight of his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Shinji couldn't find a single trace of blood left in the pit.
"It detonated that cleanly…" he muttered under his breath.
His mind suddenly flashed to Hidan of the Akatsuki, the shinobi who killed using blood rituals. Imagine if Chino faced Hidan in battle. Hidan, after finally obtaining Chino's blood, licks it to start his cursed ritual—only for Chino to preemptively trigger her Ketsuryugan and detonate the blood in his mouth. The thought was almost comical.
Chuckling to himself, Shinji crouched down to inspect the crater.
It was pristine—no residue of explosives, not even a lingering smell of smoke. This meant Chino's blood detonation was highly efficient, wasting none of the chakra infused in her blood and converting it entirely into the explosion.
"Just a tiny bit of blood caused this much destruction…" Shinji murmured, frowning inwardly.
Whether it was the Koryugan or the Ketsuryugan, Shinji had wielded both himself and was no stranger to these Bloodline Limitdojutsu that manipulated blood. Yet, he wasn't entirely sure he could replicate what Chino had just done.
Turning his gaze to Chino, Shinji focused on her eyes, confirming once more that they were indeed a pure pair of Ketsuryugan. "The issue must lie with Chino herself," he thought. "Could it be because of the 'Blue Higanbana No. 1'?"
After ruling out other possibilities, Shinji formed a hypothesis.
The logic behind the Ketsuryugan's human bomb technique was to use dojutsu power to invade the target's body, using their chakra as fuel for the explosion. If the Ketsuryugan user's own blood contained enough chakra, it wouldn't be surprising for them to detonate their own blood directly.
Chino approached cautiously, her voice uneasy. "Lord Shinji, did I… do something wrong?"
Shinji shook his head. "Detonating blood is likely one of your Ketsuryugan's abilities. From what I know, the Ketsuryugan of your Blood Pool Clan can even invade an enemy's body through their wounds, using dojutsu power to detonate the blood within them!"
Hiss
Ryuzetsu, standing nearby, sucked in a sharp breath. In her view, if Chino could truly do as Shinji described, any opponent who got injured while fighting her was as good as defeated.
Chino stared at her own hands, still in disbelief. "I can do something like that?"
Shinji nodded slightly. "You can."
Chino already possessed remarkable talent. In the original timeline, her Ketsuryugan's genjutsu was powerful enough to trap Sasuke, who had the Rinnegan at the time, in an illusion. Now, not only had Chino been injected with the 'Blue Higanbana No. 1,' but she had also trained in the Twelve Palaces. Both her physical condition and chakra strength far surpassed her original self.
Patting Chino's shoulder, Shinji instructed, "Your ability is extremely dangerous. A single misstep could harm others or yourself. From now on, besides training in the Twelve Palaces and medical ninjutsu, you must also hone your Ketsuryugan and master your blood manipulation. Only when you can wield this power with absolute precision will it truly become your greatest asset!"
"Yes!" Chino nodded excitedly.
From Shinji's tone, she sensed a deep expectation, something she had never felt before.
Shinji considered mentioning that the Ketsuryugan was also a genjutsu-oriented dojutsu and that Chino could explore its illusionary potential. But on second thought, training in the Twelve Palaces and medical ninjutsu was already demanding, and adding blood manipulation training would stretch her thin. There was no time to delve into genjutsu.
Rather than being a jack-of-all-trades but master of none, it was better to specialize in one or two skills and perfect them.
Ryuzetsu teased, "Chino, you'd better be careful from now on. Don't accidentally blow me up, or I'll haunt you as a ghost every single day!"
"Hahaha, don't worry!" Chino grinned, brimming with confidence.
Watching the two, Shinji fell into deep thought.
Initially, he had taken them in to test the 'Blue Higanbana No. 1' for side effects. Later, having them train in the Twelve Palaces served a similar experimental purpose. But unknowingly, he had nurtured two extraordinary young shinobi.
In Shinji's judgment, both Ryuzetsu and Chino had the raw strength to rival Jonin from the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Even in the Hidden Leaf Village, teeming with prodigies, they would easily earn the title of 'genius.'
If they continued to train diligently, refined their abilities, and gained combat experience, reaching Elite Jonin or even Kage-level was only a matter of time.
With this in mind, Shinji realized keeping them confined to the hideout for training was no longer meaningful. Their Twelve Palaces training was on track, requiring only consistent effort from here on out—no further hands-on guidance from him was necessary. As for medical ninjutsu, they had both grasped the basics.
Further improvement required greater chakra control, deeper knowledge of human anatomy, and pharmacology—none of which could be achieved overnight. Instead of keeping them cooped up, letting them venture out to gain experience and broaden their horizons would benefit them more. With their current strength, as long as they avoided provoking the Five Great Shinobi Villages or the Akatsuki, they could easily protect themselves.
Having made up his mind, Shinji addressed the two, who were chatting quietly. "Pack your things."
"Huh?" Both turned to him, startled.
Shinji continued, "You don't need to stay here anymore."
Chino's face fell, panic in her voice. "Lord, are you… abandoning us?"