Chapter 124 (Patreon)

Of course, even if Roy intended to train Fū, he would have to wait until she was older. Beginning too early could hinder both her physical and mental development.

Kushina still had work to deal with, so she did not keep her consciousness within the sealed space for long.

Roy, on the other hand, had nothing else demanding his attention, so he remained behind. With the Nine-Tails supplying him with chakra, he could practice Kidō without restraint while working to shorten its incantations.

By now, Roy could cast low- and mid-level Kidō with only a single line of the incantation while retaining the power of a complete chant.

However, casting them without an incantation and still preserving their full strength remained beyond him for the time being.

As he practiced, Roy noticed that the Nine-Tails appeared unusually interested in Kidō.

“Do you want to learn? I can teach you.”

“Tch. What a pointless collection of tricks. By the time you finish wasting your effort on something like that, I could have reduced the enemy to ashes with a Tailed Beast Ball.”

The lengthy charging time usually associated with a Tailed Beast Ball was misleading. In a real battle, a Tailed Beast could form and launch one in no more than two seconds.

Across the entire shinobi world, very few people could escape its blast radius in that brief span of time.

Once someone had grown accustomed to clearing an entire battlefield with the equivalent of a grenade launcher, why would they care about the limited firepower of a pistol?

Roy assumed that was how the Nine-Tails viewed the matter, so he did not give it any further thought.

When it came to both destructive power and effective range, low-level Kidō truly could not compare to a Tailed Beast Ball.

What Roy did not know was that the Nine-Tails had already learned every Hadō and Bakudō spell he had demonstrated within the sealed space.

However, with the fox’s stubborn pride, it would never admit to secretly learning someone else’s techniques. It was even less likely to confess that it had taken an interest in what it considered an inferior method of releasing power.

With its immeasurable reserves of chakra, the Nine-Tails had already surpassed Roy—the actual Shinigami—in terms of raw Kidō output.

The day soon came to an end. Sensing that the outside world was about to fade from view, the Nine-Tails simply curled up and went to sleep.

After dinner, everyone began their unconventional training.

Nonō left for the Konoha Orphanage, while Chiyuki was the first to reach her limit.

Although her kekkei genkai gave her a physique far superior to that of an ordinary shinobi, there was still a considerable gap between her and a member of the Uzumaki clan.

More importantly, her spiritual power seemed to have reached a bottleneck.

Even with Roy openly favoring her and providing additional support, there had been little visible progress.

Raw ability was only one part of a person’s combat strength. The techniques at their disposal were equally important.

Chiyuki had already mastered nearly every Ice Release secret technique currently available to her. If she wanted to grow stronger, she would either have to develop new Ice Release techniques or create an entirely new combat style.

Since she possessed spiritual power, she could naturally learn Kidō. However, doing so would only expand her range of attacks. It would not bring about a fundamental transformation in her strength.

As for Sage Mode, Roy could not yet be certain whether she possessed the aptitude to learn it. For now, it could only remain a secondary option.

The best path forward was to deepen her mastery of Ice Release.

Ice Release was a rare kekkei genkai formed by combining two chakra natures, but its basic applications were not all that different from ordinary nature-transformation ninjutsu.

For instance, Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome and Earth Style: Mud Wall followed largely the same principle. One created a barrier of ice, while the other raised a wall of earth.

At their core, most such techniques simply condensed a substance into a particular shape before using it to attack or defend.

Roy had at least studied physics before. He was not satisfied with such a straightforward method of merely forming chunks of ice and throwing them at people.

What if Chiyuki could make ice crystals sublimate instantly, bypassing the process of melting into water before evaporating into vapor?

Not only would that process absorb an enormous amount of heat, but the resulting vapor would also occupy more than a thousand times the original volume.

If the technique could be activated directly against an enemy’s skin—or even within their body—the combined damage from severe frostbite, thermal burns, and the explosion caused by the sudden expansion in volume would be almost impossible to withstand.

Furthermore, pure ice had a refractive index of approximately 1.3. In theory, Chiyuki could create an extremely precise ice lens in the sky, using it to focus sunlight on a distant target and burn through anything she desired.

The concentrated light could instantly produce temperatures reaching several thousand degrees. Since the heat would be generated by focused light, there would be none of the travel time associated with a technique such as the Fireball Jutsu.

Once the ice lens had formed overhead and locked onto its target, there would be no projectile to evade. The resulting ignition would be practically unavoidable.

The difficult parts were condensing a flawless ice lens and positioning it at the correct angle.

Chiyuki would need to determine the appropriate altitude, angle, and lens size in an instant.

Once she overcame those problems, the supposedly undodgeable Ice Flame Release would finally be complete.

Naturally, a technique developed from this concept would be heavily influenced by environmental conditions. It would resemble Sasuke’s Kirin, which required extensive preparation before it could be used.

Even so, its potential destructive power could not be denied.

Roy glanced at the drowsy Chiyuki. This was clearly not the right time to discuss such a complicated idea with her. It would be better to wait until she had rested properly.

As for Kushina, Roy had no intention of helping her develop new techniques in the immediate future.

Ordinary ninjutsu would offer her little benefit, making the time spent developing them largely pointless.

Techniques powerful enough to be useful—such as Water Release: Spiral Nuclear Explosion—came with dangerous consequences. Such an attack would harm Kushina every bit as badly as it harmed her enemy.

What she needed most at the moment was either Sage Mode or Tailed Beast Mode. Either one would provide her with another safeguard in battle.

Kushina had already passed through the period in which her compatibility with the Nine-Tails’ chakra improved most rapidly. From this point onward, she could only continue adapting through steady, persistent effort.

Training in senjutsu, however, required long periods of uninterrupted concentration.

As Hokage, Kushina could find plenty of scattered moments throughout the day, but securing a large block of free time was another matter entirely. They would have to find a way around that problem.

That was also the main reason Minato had managed to learn Sage Mode but never became truly proficient with it. He simply had not possessed enough time to practice.

Had he been able to devote himself to training as freely as Jiraiya did, mastering a stable and long-lasting Sage Mode would not have been impossible.

Kaorui, meanwhile, had no great ambitions regarding her own strength.

All she wanted was for her child to grow up safely and in good health. She also wished to help Kushina and Roy manage the household and take care of their everyday affairs.

For that reason, Roy had no intention of forcing her to become exceptionally powerful. It would be enough for her to learn as many of the Uzumaki clan’s sealing techniques as she could, perhaps supplemented by some medical ninjutsu.

Early the following morning, Kushina finished breakfast and left for work with a thoroughly unwilling expression.

Roy stopped Chiyuki just as she was preparing to leave and practice her Ice Release techniques. He then carefully explained the ideas for her new techniques that he had organized the previous night.

“Roy-kun… can I really do something like that?”

She could just barely understand the explanation involving the lens.

The other concept, however—with freezing, sublimation, transitions between solid, liquid, and gas, as well as complicated theories about heat absorption and release—left her head spinning.

“Believe in yourself. I’ll be helping you as well.”

Seeing the unwavering trust in Roy’s eyes, Chiyuki felt her uncertainty disappear.

“I’ll do it. I promise I won’t disappoint you, Roy-kun!”

“You don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself. The theory may be sound, but even I don’t know how powerful these techniques will be once they’re completed. If they truly prove unworkable, I have other ideas we can try.”

Roy’s expression softened.

“Your physical and mental well-being matter more than any technique.”

Those gentle words nearly made Chiyuki melt on the spot.

If Roy had not still needed to find Kushina and discuss her Sage Mode training, Chiyuki likely would have dragged him back into the bedroom before the morning was over.

Although Shikaku and Fugaku were now elders of Konoha, certain major matters still required the Hokage to make the final decision.

If Kushina could simply leave all her work to the two of them, she would be able to travel to Mount Myōboku and concentrate on her training without concern.

Unfortunately, matters were not that simple.

What they needed now was someone with sufficient status, authority, and experience to keep the village under control while serving as Acting Hokage.

Only then could Kushina finally free herself long enough to train.