Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed since Rinjin began teaching Minato Namikaze.
He had to admit—Minato's talent was truly terrifying!
From stumbling at first, barely able to draw the Flying Thunder God formula properly, to now being able to clearly sense the location of his custom kunai. It wouldn't be long before this guy became the true "Yellow Flash of Konoha."
"Minato, there are many directions to develop the Flying Thunder God Technique. I hope that once you've mastered the basics, you'll fly with your own style. Alright, class dismissed!"
With that, Rinjin waved his hand decisively and turned to leave.
Just then, Minato stepped forward. "Sensei Rinjin, do you have a direction in mind?"
Rinjin paused mid-step, turned around, and nodded.
"I do, but I won't teach you. Everyone has their own style—there's no need to copy others."
Seeing Minato still looked like he wanted to say more, Rinjin placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Off you go!" he said with a low shout.
From her hiding spot nearby, Kushina Uzumaki watched as Rinjin and Minato vanished instantly.
The world spun wildly.
They reappeared in a place filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, lush and green everywhere. In the distance stood a large group of toad stone statues, with an earthy yellow river flowing down from above.
"This... this is Mount Myōboku?" Minato stared stupidly at everything around him. When he turned his head, he realized Teacher Rinjin had already disappeared.
Uh...
Did he just dump me in Mount Myōboku???
Are you kidding me?!
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Minato sighed helplessly and walked toward the village.
Like Jiraiya, he was a contract holder with Mount Myōboku's toads, so he wasn't worried about getting back to the village. But what did Teacher Rinjin mean by dropping him off here?
At this stage, he hadn't fully mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique yet, nor did he understand what it meant to teleport from the ninja world to Mount Myōboku.
The Flying Thunder God Technique held different meanings for different people.
Just like how the Sharingan evolves into the Mangekyō Sharingan—different people's different pursuits create various abilities for the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was the same.
From beginning to end, what Rinjin pursued was captured in his technique formula: Go wherever you want to go!
That's why Rinjin never learned techniques like Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder, which could redirect Tailed Beast Bombs. First, he didn't care about the power of Tailed Beast Bombs. Second, he didn't need to redirect them to protect anything.
...
After dropping Minato at Mount Myōboku, Rinjin returned home.
The house was as quiet and peaceful as always, except there was an uninvited guest at the door.
"Good afternoon, Orochimaru."
"Good afternoon, Rinjin-kun." That raspy, magnetic voice responded as Orochimaru withdrew his hand from knocking and smiled at Rinjin.
"Have you eaten?"
Rinjin asked while pushing open the door, inviting Orochimaru inside.
Orochimaru smiled and shook his head. "Then I'll trouble you."
The two walked into the house.
In the dining room, they sat down to enjoy a meal prepared by Rinjin's shadow clone.
After eating, Rinjin led Orochimaru to the tea room where they took their seats.
"Rinjin, your cooking is as excellent as ever," Orochimaru complimented coolly.
Rinjin smiled, picked up the teapot, and poured him a cup of tea.
"It's nothing special. Practice makes perfect. By the way, Orochimaru, how's the lab progressing?"
Hearing this, Orochimaru smiled faintly and pulled out a scroll about the length of a forearm from his robes, placing it on the table.
"This visit is precisely about that matter. The experiments have succeeded—mindless clones survived in the culture medium for over three months. The organs showed no signs of failure, and when transplanted into other bodies, there were no rejection reactions. I've recorded all the specific experimental data and procedures in this scroll. As for those researchers you transferred from Amegakure, I've had them sent back to you as well."
He picked up his teacup and took an elegant sip.
Looking at the scroll on the table, Rinjin nodded with satisfaction and pressed further: "And... what about the clones themselves?"
"Don't worry, I had them sent back to you too."
Hearing this, Rinjin finally breathed a long sigh of relief, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Just then, Orochimaru spoke slowly: "Rinjin-kun, I have a question I wonder if I may ask."
"Go ahead."
"Cloning others is one thing, but why clone several children? Especially that girl—she clearly has no bloodline abilities, just an ordinary civilian, right?"
Rinjin smiled mysteriously and tapped his finger on the table.
"Orochimaru, have you heard of 'sacrificing the plum to save the peach'?"
...
While Rinjin was explaining to Orochimaru, at Konoha Hospital in the village center—
Rin and Shizune, both wearing white lab coats, stood quietly beside a hospital bed.
On the other side of the bed, Tsunade stood with hands on her hips, pointing at the bandaged patient and speaking sternly:
"If you encounter someone on the battlefield who's been burned all over by Fire Release, remember—the first step is absolutely crucial: remove all their clothes! Then rinse the wounds with plenty of clean water while clearing the patient's mouth and nose to prevent suffocation from dust and debris. Only after the patient's condition stabilizes should you attempt to use Mystical Palm Technique on less severely burned areas! Remember! Mystical Palm Technique isn't omnipotent—in some situations, it can even be harmful to the patient's recovery."
Tsunade's distinctively mature voice echoed through the hospital room.
Shizune and Rin held their notebooks, writing furiously with complete concentration.
Using the patient she'd just treated, Tsunade went through the detailed follow-up procedures for handling Fire Release burns once more.
Seeing the two girls taking notes so seriously, Tsunade nodded with satisfaction.
She'd stayed in the village two days longer than originally planned. Not only had she taken on Rin, a talented and hardworking disciple, but she'd also treated many patients.
However, her time was up—time to head out and wander again~
This time, Tsunade planned to leave both Shizune and Rin in the village. Shizune was only six years old—dragging her around wasn't appropriate. Coincidentally, Rinjin was also going out of town these next few days, so the two could travel together while the children stayed in Konoha to study properly.
After all, with Rinjin's shadow clones at home, taking care of the girls' meals and schooling wouldn't be a problem.
There was also little Mei Terumi—three girls around the same age could go to school together and keep each other company.
With this thought, Tsunade briskly removed her white lab coat and placed it in Shizune's hands.
"I'm heading out now. Be good while I'm gone!"
Shizune nodded somewhat sadly.
Clearly, the little girl was conflicted. After all this time, even though Tsunade was unreliable when gambling, most of the time she cared for her like a mother.
Lost in thought, Tsunade had already pushed open the hospital room door and walked out.
Outside, a middle-aged woman dressed as a doctor blocked Tsunade's path, her face full of flattering smiles.
"Lady Tsunade, are you preparing to leave?"
Tsunade nodded expressionlessly.
"Won't you... consider staying a bit longer? After all... everyone's hoping to learn medical techniques from you Besides, the village has just emerged from war, and we're really short-handed"
Hearing this, Tsunade's delicate blonde eyebrows shot up instantly, and she replied with displeasure:
"Short-handed? If you're short-handed, go find that old Third Hokage! Is one more person—me—really enough?! Damn it! I've been fighting wars for so many years—can't I enjoy myself a little?!"
With that, Tsunade flicked her sleeves and strode out of Konoha Hospital with large steps.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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