Creek.
Pushing open the long-unopened door.
The slightly dazzling sunlight felt warm and ticklish on his cheeks.
Hyūga Kumokawa, who hadn't stepped outside his home for a long time, narrowed his eyes.
It had rained a moderate amount yesterday, giving Konoha fine weather today.
Puddles on the ground reflected the blue sky, like pieces of blue sky and white clouds painted on white paper.
The stifling feeling from days spent in closed-door training at home was now washed away by the rain, flowing into the drains.
"Seems like it'll be a good day today," Hyūga Kumokawa murmured to himself.
Amidst Might Guy's wildly enthusiastic shouts burning with fighting spirit beside him, Hyūga Kumokawa walked shoulder-to-shoulder with him out of the compound and opened his status panel.
[Name: Hyūga Kumokawa]
[Age:15]
[Bloodline:Ōtsutsuki Clan (5.5% → 6.8%)]
[Chakra Capacity:S-Rank]
[Chakra Affinities:Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Yin, Yang]
[Ninjutsu:Three Basic Techniques (C-Rank), Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique (B-Rank), Chakra Scalpel (A-Rank), Lightning Release Armor (B-Rank), Lightning Release: Chidori (A-Rank), Lightning Release: Chidori Current (B-Rank), Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear (B-Rank)…]
[Taijutsu:Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms (C-Rank), Eight Gates Formation: Gate of Injury (Forbidden Technique), Gentle Fist Art: One Blow Body (B-Rank), Vacuum Fist (A-Rank)]
[Kekkei Genkai:Tenseigan - Second Stage (12% → 20.1%) [Ability: Heart Wheel Binding God Seal]]
[Achievements:[Crocodile Tears] [Honeyed Words] [Pull the Wool Over Their Eyes] [Enter the Game Oneself] [Honey on the Lips, a Dagger in the Heart] [Feign Acceptance But Turn It Real] [Fabricate Wild Tales] [Play Deaf and Dumb] [False Display of Affection] [Attract Bees and Butterflies] [Behave in an Affected Way]…]
[Remaining Truth Points:10651]
"Finally succeeded."
Looking at the new ninjutsu listed under the [Ninjutsu] category and the Kekkei Genkai that had reached the second stage, a smile also appeared on Hyūga Kumokawa's face.
The speed at which this body, possessing the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki clan, could learn ninjutsu far exceeded expectations.
In just two months, he had not only mastered the Lightning Release Armor but had even developed the Lightning Release: Chidori based on it.
Lightning Release Armor, a B-Rank ninjutsu, also known as the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
By concentrating Lightning Release chakra throughout the body, the user becomes covered in Lightning Release chakra, electrifying their physical body and allowing the use of Lightning Body Flicker, enhancing defense and nerve conduction speed.
By honing the body and ninjutsu to the extreme, the speed can even rival that of Namikaze Minato using the Flying Thunder God Technique. It can instantly dodge Uchiha Sasuke's Amaterasu, its speed akin to blue lightning.
As for Lightning Release: Chidori, it is a derivative jutsu of Lightning Release: Raikiri.
The two are not the same technique, and their difficulty levels are completely different.
The former is only A-Rank, while the latter is S-Rank. The difference lies in the degree of chakra shape transformation.
"Chakra Shape Transformation" and "Chakra Nature Transformation" are both methods to use and enhance ninjutsu.
Simply put, the former is "shaping form," turning formless chakra into blades, needles, etc., allowing control over the technique's power and attack range.
The latter is "adding attributes," turning attribute-less chakra into wind, fire, water, earth, or lightning.
In terms of effect, compared to Raikiri, Chidori emphasizes functionality over pure power.
Raikiri, through "Shape Transformation," possesses greater piercing and cutting power.
Chidori's main method of attack relies on the various forms of Lightning Release chakra to cause damage.
For example, changing Lightning Release chakra into the shape of a long spear or a long sword creates "Chidori Sharp Spear" and "Chidori Katana," or injecting Lightning Release chakra into a weapon to greatly increase its sharpness creates "Chidori Blade."
Hyūga Kumokawa had the idea to try and develop "Lightning Release: Chidori" after mastering the "Lightning Release Armor."
After all, Uchiha Sasuke in the original story had mastered "Lightning Release: Chidori" in just a few days.
If that second protagonist could do it, there was no reason he couldn't.
However, wanting to go a step further and use "Lightning Release: Raikiri" was far from enough with just two months of time.
It was, after all, the pinnacle of Lightning Release chakra shape transformation.
And there was also the "Purple Electricity" developed by Kakashi after losing his Sharingan, which seemed more like the ultimate nature transformation of Lightning Release chakra.
"Even so, this speed of training is really absurd," Hyūga Kumokawa couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
No wonder even the naturally optimistic Might Guy showed a moment of confusion upon seeing that scene…
Naruto, also jokingly known as Five-Village: The Legend of the Eyes, The Temptation of Returning to the Village, My Grandpa, Dad, and Teacher are All Village Elites, and Black Zetsu's Mother Rescue Mission.
This world, which tells the story of the two or three affairs of the Ōtsutsuki family, is indeed a place where bloodline is absolutely supreme.
But this, in turn, made Might Guy's qualities all the more rare and precious.
Thinking of this, Hyūga Kumokawa looked at Might Guy, who was burning with passion ahead of him, as if he could see a fiercely burning flame behind him.
"Senior Guy…"
"Kumokawa!"
Before Hyūga Kumokawa could finish, Might Guy quickly turned his head, grinning widely. "From now on, just call me Guy. Don't call me 'Senior' anymore."
Hyūga Kumokawa was taken aback and instinctively wanted to refuse, as it wasn't conducive to maintaining his humble image.
But seeing the seriousness on Might Guy's face and the subtle change in his eyes when he looked at him, Hyūga Kumokawa fell into a brief silence.
As expected, it's true—the genuine naturally counters the scheming.
Hyūga Kumokawa sighed inwardly. Finally, meeting Might Guy's gaze, he smiled and said, "Guy."
Hearing this, Might Guy's smile widened even further.
"Guy," Hyūga Kumokawa continued asking, "Did something happen in the village? I saw all those people heading towards the village entrance."
"Don't know," Might Guy shook his head puzzledly, but then laughed. "Let's go find out! How about a race to see who gets to the village entrance first!"
Hyūga Kumokawa didn't spoil the mood by refusing.
Seeing that Guy had already started running at full speed without waiting for an answer, he just smiled and followed.
However, he actually knew very well what these villagers were going to do.
They were going to welcome the Kumogakure envoy delegation coming to Konoha to sign the alliance treaty.
Although he had been in closed-door training all these days, that didn't mean his intelligence channels were also cut off.
Hyūga Kumokawa deeply understood the importance of intelligence and had naturally prepared some contingency plans long ago.
He knew that the biggest contributor to Kumogakure's arrival in Konoha to sign the alliance treaty was not Sarutobi Hiruzen, who held the fort in Konoha, but Shimura Danzō, who had been sent out.
Don't be fooled by Shimura Danzō's usual appearance of being incompetent in foreign wars but expert in internal strife.
In fact, Shimura Danzō was very active during the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars; otherwise, he couldn't have earned the moniker "The Darkness of Shinobi" throughout the ninja world.
Hanzo of the Salamander from Amegakure in the Land of Rain was coerced and persuaded by him into breaking ties with the original "Akatsuki" organization founded by Nagato and the others.
Otherwise, Hanzo did indeed have tendencies to ally with Akatsuki beforehand.
If the two had joined forces, it was uncertain whether the Land of Rain would have won or lost. So, looking at the results, one could say Danzō completely altered the course of the Third Great Ninja War.
Regardless of how dirty Danzō, this character written as "The Darkness of Shinobi" but read as "Shit-Stirrer," might be, at least his underhanded methods often produced miraculous results.
This time was no different.
By provoking relations between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, making the tension between the two countries increasingly thick, he instead eased relations between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.
However, Hyūga Kumokawa knew very well that all of this was part of Kumogakure's scheme.
"This day has finally come."
Looking at the crowd gathering in the distance, Hyūga Kumokawa revealed a smile.
(Author's Note: Found another plot hole.
In the original story, on Hinata's third birthday, Neji followed his father and saw Hinata for the first time, then received the Caged Bird Seal.
Hizashi developed killing intent towards Hinata and was punished, meaning Hizashi lived for a long time after Hinata's third birthday.
But in the manga, the incident where Kumo tried to kidnap Hinata happened on her third birthday, meaning Hizashi's sacrificial death happened within days of her third birthday. This is a complete contradiction.
So, for now, I'll follow the latter, moving the time Neji received the Caged Bird Seal forward, to before Hinata's third birthday.)