Chapter 8: Kimura Takuya's Ninjutsu Research Notes
"Notify Baku. Apprehend the target as soon as possible and bring him to the interrogation room."
The Third Hokage gave a specific reminder: "Remember—do not create too much noise."
ANBU agent Yoru nodded in acknowledgment and disappeared using the Body Flicker Technique.
The Third suddenly stood up, frowned, and after thinking it over, called over his ANBU guard captain—who was also his son, Karasu. Together, the group quietly departed from the Hokage building and headed toward Kimura Yō's home.
At this point, the presence of a spy in Konoha had become secondary. The real issue was confirming whether Kimura Yō had truly been possessed through the Spirit Transformation Technique.
If his guess turned out to be correct—
Then this was a rare opportunity to obtain a technique of immortality.
Even if it didn't lead to true eternal life, it could still grant him another lifetime.
And if given just one more lifetime, the Third Hokage had full confidence he could mold Konoha entirely in his image.
The Hokage position would forever remain in the hands of the Sarutobi clan.
In the future ninja world, it would be his clan that reigned supreme.
As he fantasized about the benefits of gaining the technique of immortality, the Third's expression remained calm, but his heart was filled with excitement.
He had completely forgotten that the Spirit Transformation Technique wasn't something he could learn. Even if he did obtain the Possession Technique, he wouldn't be able to use it. In the end, it would all be for nothing.
But as the saying goes, when faced with immortality, no one can remain calm—no one willingly gives up such a chance to another.
The Third hadn't told anyone about his suspicions and didn't intend to let anyone stand in the way of him acquiring the technique of eternal life.
Meanwhile, at Kimura Yō's house—
After eating his noodles, Li Yao entered his parents' bedroom.
Clunk—he opened the large cabinet in front of the bed and began rummaging through it, hoping to find any scrolls or notes related to ninjutsu training.
From the memories he had inherited, Li Yao knew that his parents had never taught him any ninjutsu. The only techniques he knew were the three basic Academy jutsu.
With his current chakra control, Li Yao could perform the Three Basic Techniques without even forming hand seals. He had demonstrated this during the practical class earlier that day.
Absolute, 100% chakra control gave him unparalleled ninjutsu talent.
After performing the seals for the Three Techniques once, he memorized the specific chakra fluctuations associated with each.
Then, with ease, he could reproduce those chakra shifts without seals and cast the jutsu instantly.
Not only was it faster, but the effects were identical to the hand-seal versions.
In other words, as long as the jutsu wasn't too complex, Li Yao could perform it without hand seals and without any degradation in performance.
With such talent, of course Li Yao wanted to learn more ninjutsu.
Alone in this world and lacking any sense of security, learning more techniques to grow stronger gave him a sense of safety.
That's why Li Yao continued to maintain a state of chakra refinement, never letting a single drop of physical or spiritual energy go to waste—he was desperate to gain strength quickly.
This was also why the ANBU bugs had failed to detect any chakra leakage from his body—he was constantly refining it.
And for that same reason, he had immediately aroused Minato's suspicion.
At this moment, Li Yao still had no idea he had already been targeted by ANBU, or that the Third Hokage was on his way to apprehend him.
Li Yao kept digging through the cabinet. He hadn't held out much hope, but to his surprise, at the very bottom, he found a ninjutsu notebook.
The name on the cover indicated it belonged to his father—Kimura Takuya—and detailed his research into ninjutsu.
Curious, Li Yao opened it.
Thanks to the residual memories, he had no trouble reading or understanding the language and writing of this world.
"Transformation Technique?"
Li Yao immediately lost interest. It seemed the notes focused only on the Transformation Technique from the basic Three Techniques. What was there to research about such a low-level jutsu?
Puzzled but still curious, Li Yao kept reading—
And soon found himself smiling with genuine interest.
In the notes, Kimura Takuya had actually categorized the Transformation Technique into tiers.
According to his classification:
Low-level Transformation Techniques were mere illusionary cloaks—using chakra to create a visual mirage over one's body to deceive the eye.
The body itself remained unchanged. Anyone could spot the illusion just by touching it.
At its peak, this type of Transformation Technique evolved into the ANBU's cloaking technique—using illusion to blend into the environment like a chameleon.
That stealth jutsu was basically standard for ANBU: simple, practical, and occasionally lifesaving.
At this point, the writing took on the tone of someone with ANBU experience, and Li Yao suddenly had a thought—were his parents ANBU agents?
Thinking about it… it actually made a lot of sense.
From what he remembered, his parents were rarely home—sometimes disappearing for months.
That kind of constant deployment didn't seem like something ordinary shinobi would experience.
Moreover, in those memories, he almost never saw his parents socialize with other ninja. No one seemed close to them.
Only ANBU operatives with hidden identities would live like that.
The more he considered it, the more certain he became that his parents had been ANBU.
"ANBU, huh… No wonder they died."
Li Yao sighed inwardly. The mortality rate in ANBU was far higher than for regular ninja. No way he was ever joining them.
Putting the thought aside, he returned to reading Kimura Takuya's notes.
Low-level Transformation Techniques were mostly useless in combat. Any experienced ninja could see through them instantly.
But above that, there existed an upgraded version of Transformation:
This kind produced a tangible transformation that could be physically felt.
If one transformed into a rock or water, the illusion wasn't just visual—it included the texture and sensation of stone or liquid.
These transformations were much more deceptive than illusions.
But still flawed—not perfect.
Whether illusionary or tangible, all these techniques relied on chakra to create a shell that cloaked the body, producing a visual effect.
At their core, they were still tricks of perception—not true transformations.
What Kimura Takuya wanted to create was a true Transformation Technique—one that would genuinely turn the user into a rock or a bird, a full material and biological change, without leaving behind any trace of chakra.
Even the Byakugan of the Hyūga Clan, which could see internal chakra flows, would only see an actual bird—without any signs of a transformation jutsu.
"If something like that really existed, it'd be no different from Sun Wukong's 72 Transformations…" Li Yao muttered in awe.
He was stunned by Kimura Takuya's ambition. If such a perfect transformation jutsu were ever developed, it would have incredible implications—not just in battle, but especially for ANBU assassins and intelligence agents.
In the notes, Kimura Takuya detailed many potential applications of this perfect transformation.
First and foremost: easily bypassing sensory barriers.
All five major hidden villages maintained protective sensory barriers over their territories.
Aside from main gates, which had controlled access points, the rest of the village was tightly sealed by these detection fields.
The gates were always manned, 24/7. Whether for trade caravans or shinobi, one needed official clearance and had to be scanned by the barrier ninjas to be let through.
In essence, a shinobi village was a massive military installation with tight security.
Under such conditions, infiltrating secretly was extremely difficult.
Any unauthorized entry would trigger the sensory field and alert the village's detection team.
In the past, ANBU missions that required infiltration relied on capturing enemy shinobi outside the village, then using threats or memory-altering jutsu to flip them into double agents.
No ANBU ever managed to sneak into a village directly and gather intelligence.
And it was all because of the chakra-detection barrier. Without the corresponding passcodes, no ninja could cross undetected.
Especially not someone with chakra.
Even a ninja like Li Yao—whose body leaked absolutely no chakra at all—would still be sensed by the barrier. It would detect the chakra within his body and raise an alert.
(END CHAPTER)