When the Insects clone found Chiri, she was picking up steel wires hidden by a Genjutsu.
The thin ones were irrelevant; the thicker ones had sunk into the river.
They had already broken into several pieces, the bio-steel burned by Lightning Release Chakra, leaving behind only charred steel cores.
The Insects clone landed on the shore, waiting for Chiri to come ashore.
"What's wrong?" Chiri asked Miki after coming ashore.
"You were forced to use Chiri-style Fancy Wire Manipulation Swordsmanship; was that Mangekyo very strong?" Miki asked in return.
With Chiri's ability, she could easily handle either Shisui's or Itachi's Mangekyo in the future.
"It was quite powerful." Chiri thought for a moment, then said, "It wasn't too difficult to deal with."
Then, Chiri continued to ask, "Why are you here?"
"Mito is going to perform the Tailed Beast extraction ritual and needs guards to prevent any accidents," Miki said.
"When?" Chiri asked.
Her original plan was to go trouble the militant faction (martial faction), to beat them all up, one by one, to make them behave.
"Tomorrow," Miki said.
"That fast?" Chiri asked in surprise.
"Mito is impatient," Miki said. "Besides, the sooner Tsunade inherits the Nine-Tailed, the sooner she can wield its power."
"Clan records state that the Nine-Tailed was just Uchiha Madara's pet; is it really necessary?" Chiri said.
"Of course, it's necessary," Miki said. "This way, he won't be able to control the Nine-Tailed."
Moreover, the Nine-Tailed Mode is very powerful.
"I understand," Chiri replied. "Meet up tomorrow morning."
"Do you need any help here?" Miki asked.
After a moment of silence, Chiri shook her head.
"Thank you, Miki."
"Honestly…" Miki said, "Take care of yourself and don't be reckless."
With that, the Insects clone disintegrated into a swarm of Insects, scattering and flying away.
After all the insects had disappeared, Chiri leaned against a tree on the bank, pulling up her clothes to treat her injuries.
They weren't serious; some bruises just needed ointment to reduce swelling. The injuries were sustained during her fight with the transparent figure.
Without the Sharingan to assist with observation, many attacks couldn't be blocked.
If not for the bio-steel clothing, her current injuries would be not much lighter than Mirror's.
After the battle, Chiri realized she relied too much on this Yin Release Genjutsu.
When the Genjutsu wasn't effective, her combat became restricted.
Furthermore, she lacked means of detection, a weakness exposed when dealing with the invisible figure.
Finally, she lacked a decisive finishing move.
The Shuriken Curved Jewel that Mirror threw at the end gave Chiri a bit of inspiration.
After sealing the medicine, Chiri unsealed a scroll.
She opened it and began to read its contents.
This was Mito's graduation gift to her.
The Jutsu's name was…
Flying Thunder God.
She understood the principle of the Jutsu.
But the first step, sensing spatial fluctuations, was something Chiri simply couldn't do, no matter how nonsensical it sounded.
She was completely at a loss.
So, did Chakra need to possess a spatial attribute?
And what was space? Could it truly be seen and touched?
But new Jutsu still needed to be developed to enrich her combat methods; relying solely on Genjutsu wouldn't suffice.
Thinking this, Chiri extended her left hand, and a glow of Lightning Release Chakra appeared on it.
It then transformed into a brilliant white, but only for less than a second before the white dissipated.
Her skin developed a series of blisters.
Her skin festered under the heat.
This White Fang's Jutsu was very dangerous and could only be performed with a sturdy weapon.
She activated Medical Ninjutsu to accelerate skin healing; dead skin peeled off, and new skin covered it.
"White Fang-senpai's Lightning Release nature transformation is heat."
"My Lightning Release nature transformation is diffusion."
Lightning appeared on her hand again and began to twist and radiate.
This Lightning Release nature transformation allowed for the shaping of Lightning Release Chakra.
Saying this, Chiri plunged her hand into the nearby tree, easily piercing it as if it were a sheet of paper.
"It's not very useful; the range is too short."
Withdrawing her hand, Chiri raised it and aimed in one direction, and lightning extended out like an arrow.
However, there was a limit to its range.
A mid-range Ninjutsu.
"Still not a very useful Jutsu."
Lowering her hand, Chiri frowned in distress.
The destructive effect of Lightning Release generally relied on its paralyzing property, but this property was inherent to all Lightning Release.
In terms of destructive power alone, Lightning Release was inferior to Fire Release.
Looking at the lightning on her hand, Chiri felt a bit lost.
At this moment, Chiri noticed that a section of the steel wire wrapped around her left wrist had come loose. She instinctively reached out with her right hand to grasp the steel wire.
But…
"???" Chiri tilted her head in confusion.
Her right hand couldn't pull away; it was stuck fast.
Immediately after, Chiri realized that the lightning on her left hand had extinguished, and naturally, her right hand could be removed.
But Chiri stared intently at the steel wires wrapped around her left wrist.
After a long while…
"Is this Magnet Release?"
Then let's try it.
Chiri stood up, leaping and moving rapidly in one direction.
It was indeed a bit difficult to see and touch space, but magnetic fields were very easy to perceive.
And Hitomi's efforts were even easier to perceive.
The swarm of insects flew low to the ground, and before long, found a training ground in the forest.
The erected wooden stakes were covered with marks from punches and kicks, and around them was an area of felled trees.
This was a clearing in the forest that had been artificially made.
The culprit was Hitomi.
Standing in the training ground at this moment, Hitomi was simply performing sword swings in the air.
Taijutsu training was this simple and monotonous, a repetitive and numbingly boring training that Hitomi had become extremely accustomed to, to the point where she could train while clearing her mind and sleeping.
It could be said that every move and form had been completely honed into a terrifying, beast-like instinct.
No, it was even more terrifying than a beast's instinct.
It was a pure, conditioned reflex forged through countless trials.
If she didn't die when her head was removed, Miki would sometimes wonder if this guy's body would still know how to fight even without a head.
Hitomi, this guy, was training and sleeping at the same time again. What astonishingly excellent time management.
No, this child is truly a genius!
To be honest, this kind of training no longer had any effect on Hitomi.
But there was no choice; as long as there was even a sliver of possibility for improvement, the monotonous training had to continue. Taijutsu itself was the result of countless trials and refinements.
Even without improvement, training was necessary to maintain her skills and prevent regression.
This was a clumsy method, simple but effective.
It wasn't because she was too lazy to think.
Miki didn't go forward to wake Hitomi. After some time away, a new, strange guest had appeared here.
Based on his height, he was a Ninja Academy kid graduating this year.
His hair was styled like an adult's, parted to the side.
He looked quite mature, with an uncle-like vibe.
He was wearing a ridiculous green training suit, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a square face, and a large nose.
At this moment, he was vigorously punching and kicking the wooden stakes.
This guy was the father of Konoha's proud Blue Beast.
The perennial Genin who beat the Seven Ninja Swordsmen into the Lucky Three Stars.
For a moment, Miki didn't reveal herself, observing from the shadows.
What was Hitomi up to?
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