The ground beneath revealed a stretch of mudflats....
A familiar "spatial ripple" wafted out....
Minato Namikaze only saw a blur in front of his eyes, the young boy beside him smiled slightly, and with a flick of his Nen Line, both he and Rin Nohara suddenly sank into the ground, reappearing... over a hundred meters ahead!
"Space-time ninjutsu?!" Minato continued his pursuit, but his mind froze for a moment, staring blankly at Roy as he disappeared into the distance with Rin, leaving him far behind.
The "Yellow Flash" was renowned for one word, "speed." Minato Namikaze's two signature techniques were the "Rasengan," and the second—
"Space-time ninjutsu"... "Flying Thunder God"!
This ninjutsu developed by the Second Hokage has stumped countless elite ninjas. Throughout all of Konoha, those who have mastered it can be counted on one hand. This shows... the difficulty of learning "space-time ninjutsu," and the extraordinary talent required is just insane!
"Fly... Flying Thunder God?"
"Tap... tap....." Because of Minato's slight pause, Kakashi and Obito finally seized a chance to catch up... the two of them were distinctly separated, one on the left and one on the right, but all their gazes were focused ahead, on the boy taking Rin Nohara in and out of the "surface" and "underground," or emerging from a boulder, a tree, or a creek!
Kakashi blurted out a word, only to negate it himself... there was no "kunai," nor any "markings," this was not the "Flying Thunder God Technique" their teacher was most proficient at, but... another unknown [space-time ninjutsu]!
His white hair swayed... the boy with half his face covered in a deep blue mask gulped uncontrollably.....
He fixed his gaze on the receding figure of Roy, turning his head to ask Obito: "Are you two really from the same Uchiha clan?"
Already shaken because Rin was taken away, Uchiha Obito, flustered, glared angrily: "What do you mean?"
Kakashi said nothing, giving him a quick glance before turning his focus back... such silent doubt and disdain, under normal circumstances, would be as much as a clay bomb thrown at his heart, thoroughly igniting it!
But today, in this gentle morning, deep within the lush southern forest... with goggles on Obito's head, there was not a hint of a reactive outburst, instead he was even quieter than Kakashi, pushing forward with all his might, both to chase after Rin and seemingly to pursue... Uchiha Jin!
"This guy....." Kakashi was stunned, bewildered by the boy's unusual attitude,
Where had the usual fool, who could be incited to outburst with a few words, gone?
Why did he... turn so compliant when he encountered that Uchiha Jin, like a sheep being gently stroked along its spine?
Confused and puzzled, waves of emotions surged over Kakashi's heart, more intensely than ever...
Meanwhile, out of sight, the ever-watching Sarutobi Hiruzen, or rather...
'I'm not spying, I'm observing openly....'
In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind a large desk, recalling the warning glance the boy had given when unexpectedly encountering Sakumo. His elderly eyes gleamed as they fixated on the crystal ball, watching Roy "sink" and "emerge" repeatedly, forgetting even the pipe in his mouth. Finally, he took a deep drag and slowly exhaled a plume of smoke.....
"Is the boy deliberately doing this for me to see?"
"Such a brilliant 'space-time ninjutsu'!"
If earlier Sarutobi Hiruzen harbored any doubt about Fugaku raising a child like Roy, now... he was a hundred percent certain that Uchiha Jin's growth was entirely due to his personal talent, unrelated to Fugaku at all!
Because not even Fugaku, not even Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Lord of the Third Hokage, recognized by the great ninja villages as the [Ninjutsu Doctor], could personally train a child to "master space-time ninjutsu" proficiently. Let alone....
[Space-time ninjutsu] are exceptionally rare; not many exist in the whole ninja world, if you discount common techniques like "summoning jutsu."
"Whoa~" A sudden gust from the window lifted the corner of a scroll laid on the desk... the reverse of the scroll bears the bold four words marking Roy's name—Uchiha Jin.....
Sarutobi Hiruzen gazed at it thoughtfully,
The pen in his hand, the ink dried, as he wanted to add another comment at the end of the scroll. He hesitated for a long time, unsure of what to write....
When ordinary seven-year-old children are still learning the "Three Body Technique" at the ninja academy, practicing throwing "shuriken," the boy in front of him was already able to create his own "space-time ninjutsu" while effortlessly traversing rocks, trees, lakes, and paths with Rin Nohara. It's something even if his teacher were resurrected and sat in his position, he might not believe.
And this is talent, an Uchiha genius on par with the Senju!
"Whoosh...whoosh...." In the southern forest,
When Kakashi and Obito, carrying logs on their shoulders, sprinted past brushing shoulders with a certain blond man,
Minato Namikaze seemed to suddenly snap out of the shock that "Roy actually mastered space-time ninjutsu"... he had always considered this his signature move, and had imagined more than once that he could have students inherit this ninjutsu from him. Unfortunately... Kakashi couldn't, Obito couldn't, and neither could Rin... until—