Tenji made his way north, passing through the Valley of the End, and looking at the large statues of his descendants. Seeing Madara Uchiha and Senju Hashirama reminded him of Indra and Asura, only spurring him on to move forward even more. Be that physically to reach the Land of Iron or with his skills. Tenji was more convinced that their methods, while well-intentioned, were badly executed. Hashirama had been too soft-hearted and shortsighted.
Tenji had talked with Hanato about his use of the Gentle Fist. To perform it, one needed the Byakugan, since tenketsu were invisible otherwise. And yet, Tenji not only performed the perfect movement but also improved it, advancing it to unprecedented heights. At the time, Tenji didn't understand how he did it, and he didn't care. But now, days later, he figured it out.
Tenji was walking with his eyes closed, only following his senses to dodge the trees and keep on track. While he was walking, Nature Energy flooded his system, balanced by his chakra, settling comfortably. Unlike the Sage Mode from Mount Myoboku or the one Senju Hashirama used, there were no visible marks on Tenji's face. But the power was there, present inside him, balanced through his chakra and moving through his chakra pathways.
That's what it was, the reason why he had changed and why he could sense tenketsu points, approaching chakra signatures from miles away and more. Tenji's healing and vitality were ridiculous ever since he woke up, and the speed at which Nature Energy rushed to him, when he called for it, as well as how easily and comfortably it stayed, was unprecedented.
Tenji never stopped walking and conducted all his training and experimentation while moving. He felt the connection to everything around him deepen tremendously. His senses expanded, and so did his strength. But this wasn't enough for Tenji; he wanted to achieve more. The potent nature of Sage Power had to be balanced out with chakra, and that was, in a way, only a permanent solution. Not something Tenji was content with.
So, he did what he had done when discovering chakra: he circulated it through his body. At first, he followed the chakra pathways, which shone like neon lights at night now. He moved it along the pathways, trying out different ways. What confused Tenji was his apparent lack of tenketsu points. He had theories about why that was, but what mattered was the effect this had.
Tenketsu points allowed a shinobi to release chakra, and by not having any, Tenji should have had trouble creating jutsu and the like. But he didn't. His disposition, given to someone with normal talents, would have been a great hindrance, but to someone like Tenji... it was freedom. Freedom to do what he wanted and break the established status quo.
For an entire day, Tenji did only three things. He walked, absorbed Nature Energy, and circulated it through his body, finding the most efficient paths. When he ran out, he repeated this process. Over and over, until he grew beyond that. At the end of the first day, Tenji stopped using the chakra pathways and instead flooded all of his trillion cells with nature energy. The idea was clear. His body was a desperate, bottomless well, willing to absorb and contain nature energy, so why wouldn't he grant his cells' wishes?
He nourished his cells, every single one, with nature energy and changed the way it flowed through each one until he found the perfect way. It wasn't effective for battle, but it would do for further strengthening his physique. Tenji felt the control over his chakra, nature energy, and his cells deepen as he did all of this. And the results of his training would become visible in the future.
.
Tenji also further improved on his jutsu arsenal. He weaved the seals for the jutsu he had created: Earth Style: Rumble Ground Jutsu. Like before, the ground started rumbling and moving up and down in thousands of different places. Tenji stopped the jutsu and thought about the hand seals. They were useful, as his grandson had intended, but technically they weren't necessary. All that was necessary to create a jutsu was intent and to add the specific nature transformation you desired.
So, why didn't he try that? That's what he thought.
Tenji focused on the jutsu and then formed a single hand seal.
'Earth Style: Rumble Ground Jutsu'
The result was impressive. A near-perfect use of the jutsu, while only using one hand seal. But that could be improved, and so, Tenji did. He went through the jutsu he had either seen from the three genin, or created himself, until he could do them all without hand seals. This process took him half an hour while walking.
He didn't have a large arsenal, granted, but it was all theory anyway.
"Hmm..."
Tenji finally stopped walking as an idea came to mind. What if he could use more than a single jutsu at the same time? That would reveal an entirely new set of possibilities. If someone were to hear Tenji's thoughts right now, they could only roll their eyes and smash their head on the ground in frustration. The notion was ridiculous, and it was especially absurd in the way Tenji planned it.
...
5 minutes later...
Tenji held his hands separate from one another and went through a series of hand seals for two different jutsu at the same time.
"Earth Style: Rumbling Spike Forest Jutsu"
From the ground, thousands of spikes rose at different angles. They sank back into the ground, in rapid succession, giving rise to the same rumbling sensation that made an unsuspecting shinobi stumble, while being impaled at the same time. Tenji had combined the Spike Forest Jutsu with the Rumbling Earth Jutsu and turned it into an entirely new one.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"The possibilities... endless."
.
As Tenji approached the border, he noticed the tensions had already given way to fighting. He didn't want to be involved in them for now, so he focused on another branch of chakra: the yin-branch. Aside from the five elemental nature transformations, two nature transformations were the source of all non-elemental techniques: Yin and Yang-Release. Tenji 'encountered' them during his fight with Hanato. Yin and Yang were not new concepts to Tenji, and in his thorough research into anatomy, he focused more on yang than yin, but was naturally aware of it.
The moment he woke up, he noticed that his body had become more powerful, filled with immense vitality and therefore, his Yang chakra. But in the fight with Hanato, he noticed that he held a larger portion of yin, and it was focused in his eyes. It was ironic in a way, and if anyone else knew what had transpired, they would want to lynch him for unfair advantages.
When Tenji told Hanato about their history, he unknowingly connected with his descendant through their yin-chakra. And in that moment, Hanato was able to glimpse fragments of the memory stone that Tenji had seen. Somewhat similar to a genjutsu, but different. Only those parts he wanted him to see. The Hyuga bloodline, how diluted it may be at the current age, seemed to 'remember' and form a link. That was why Hanato believed and trusted Tenji almost immediately.
Now, to pass the border unnoticed, Tenji focused on his yin-chakra and created a new jutsu. To perform a genjutsu, a ninja usually poured chakra into their target, which could be done through various means, such as eye contact (as the Uchiha do), sound, or other means. A genjutsu is created when a ninja controls the flow of chakra through their target's cranial nerves, thereby affecting their five senses; this is frequently used to create false images and/or trick the body into believing it has experienced physical sensations such as pain.
Tenji did it differently.
He first got a feeling for both yin and yang chakra. This wasn't as simple as the basic nature transformations. But Tenji was doing nothing except travelling towards the Land of Iron; therefore, he had a lot of time. This was usually incredibly hard to do, and it was even harder to use either yin or yang chakra if you didn't have a special bloodline.
For Tenji, however...
Yeah.
He had been constantly moving Sage Chakra through his body, nourishing his cells in the background, while focusing on other things. He hadn't quite arrived at a level where he could absorb nature energy constantly, but he wasn't that far off. And that helped him come up with a ridiculous way to use the yin chakra. He used nature energy as a vector and 'attached' his yin chakra to it. This way, the surroundings slowly became saturated with his yin chakra.
It was as though a fog of nature-yin energies followed Tenji and made all those who were caught up in it see what he wanted. Using this, he walked through each battlefield and across the borders. He passed through the Land of Rice Fields.
.
It grew colder, and the further Tenji travelled, the more the snow fell. At first, it only touched the top of the mountains. Then the air grew colder, cleaner, and strangely cutting. By the time Tenji crossed the final mountain pass, it was as though he arrived in the land of winter itself.
The Land of Iron was unlike any country he had seen since his return. There were no farms, no trees or blue sky. No bustling city or scared children running through the streets. There were also no banners of a ruling daimyo visible. As he crossed the border, he was stopped by Samurai patrols. They were tense, understandable considering the current situation.
"Who are you? What is your purpose in the Land of Iron?" one Samurai asked.
"So, there are still people who traditionally use swords? That makes me happy," Tenji said.
"I repeat, who are you?"
This time, the two Samurai moved to hold the handles of their katanas, ready for action. But Tenji held up his hands.
"No need for that. I am looking to acquire a sword of my own. I have been told that the Land of Iron has the best ones."
"Which country do you belong to?"
"No country. I travelled here across the Land of Fire and passed the Lands of Rice Fields. I am not a shinobi or a member of a hidden village. All I want is a fine blade."
The process took a while, but with a bit of yin-chakra, it was enough to grant Tenji access. He followed the sounds of a hammer striking metal right away and arrived at the swordsmith's forge. The forge sat half-carved into the mountainside, its stone walls blackened by years of ash and smoke. Racks of finished blades lined one side of the wall, their sheaths marked with sigils of different kanji.
Inside stood a massive older man, broad-shouldered with arms like tree trunks. His eyes were sharp and unimpressed as he looked at Tenji. At least at first. Upon a closer look, his expression changed. Tenji wasn't built like a mountain, but those proficient at spotting small mistakes and impurities, like experienced blacksmiths, could see the muscles shaped like steel cables beneath Tenji's clothes.
"Greetings. I seek permission to forge a blade," Tenji greeted them.
"Hahaha, you and everyone else," the smith said. "Get in line."
"There is no line, and I am not looking for you to forge my blade."
That earned Tenji a raised eyebrow. He studied Tenji closer now. He saw confidence, calmness and pride in Tenji's demeanour. Still, he shook his head.
"Listen, stranger, this is the Land of Iron. Even the most skilled Samurai earn their blades. We don't hand steel to wanderers who think swinging a hammer makes them craftsmen."
Tenji nodded, understanding the man's thought process. He didn't take it as an insult.
"Then let us wager," he said.
"Huh? Wager? Wager what?"
"I will forge a blade. If the blade I forge is inferior to yours, or you find faults in it during the process," Tenji continued, "I will pay the full price of a masterwork katana, plus the time you spent and then leave without complaint."
"And if you succeed?" the smith asked after a moment of contemplation.
"Then the materials and everything else are free."
The smith studied Tenji again. He didn't see arrogance in his face. Sure, there was a significant amount of pride, but no arrogance. So he chose to listen to his gut feeling.
"You're either very skilled or stupid."
"We'll see."