Traveling with Haku was indeed a bit troublesome. Even Takuno, using the Kujaku Myōhō to travel high in the sky, still took two days to reach their destination.
At this moment, Takuno, pulling Haku along, knocked on the door of a very large residence.
"Who is it?" a voice inquired from inside the door.
"It's me," Takuno replied again in that androgynous voice.
Just then, a crow inside the door cawed, and only then did the door open.
"Lord, you've arrived?"
"Mm. Is your leader here?" Takuno asked.
"Yes, I've already sent a comrade to call the leader over," the person replied.
Takuno nodded, pulled Haku inside, and Haku watched the scene with curiosity.
Soon, the leader of the place rushed over, followed by Jugo.
When Jugo saw Takuno, his eyes lit up; he would never forget that figure.
In the past few days, he had only truly gone berserk once, and he had sensed it in time and used that scroll to restrain himself, ensuring no one was harmed.
Although the others had initially been frightened after his rampage, they grew bolder when they realized he couldn't break free from Takuno's Sealing Jutsu.
Some even dared to come up and touch his materialized skin after he had fully gone berserk!
However, the duration of the Sealing Jutsu's restraint was indeed too long. Even after he calmed down from his rampage, he remained bound for a significant period. Since the others didn't know how to undo the Sealing Jutsu, they could only wait for its effect to slowly fade away.
Furthermore, after his rampage, he had expected those people to treat him like a monster, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Perhaps some did, but they didn't show it openly, as he was the person Takuno had instructed them to look after.
"Lord, you've arrived!" the leader quickly said.
"Mm." Takuno's gaze fell upon Jugo. Seeing that Jugo seemed to be looking at Haku behind him, he beckoned Jugo over.
Jugo approached Takuno with a hint of joy.
"Jugo, from now on, Haku will be your comrade and friend," Takuno stated.
"Mm! Hello, I'm Jugo!" Jugo nodded and extended his hand toward Haku.
Haku opened his mouth, but first couldn't help but glance at Takuno. Seeing that Takuno didn't seem concerned with their interaction, he followed his inner choice and shook hands with Jugo.
"I'm Haku."
Afterward, Takuno gave some instructions to the leader. In truth, looking after Haku was simpler than looking after Jugo.
The main point was to ensure Haku did not use Ice Release. A power like the Kekkei Genkai was coveted by many, and if it appeared among these ordinary people, it could easily attract unwanted attention.
"Don't worry, we will definitely take good care of both of them!" the leader promised, sighing in relief.
Takuno nodded, then looked at Jugo and Haku nearby. Jugo seemed a little envious of the crow on Haku's shoulder. He remembered seeing a crow very similar to this one in the forest back then.
After thinking for a moment, he summoned the crow that had originally found Jugo and handed it over to him.
"Lord, I will definitely take care of it!" Jugo said, his eyes sparkling as he took the crow.
Takuno nodded. Looking at the current Jugo, although he still wasn't talkative, he was much better than the taciturn character in the original work.
"Lord, are you leaving?" Haku asked at that moment.
"Of course. I am very busy and don't have time to play house with you," Takuno said. "They will look after you."
"Alright." Haku didn't say much in the end. He knew he wasn't qualified to keep following him, but he seemed to have secretly made a decision in his heart.
Afterward, Takuno left, found an uninhabited location, and used the Summoning Jutsu to return near Konoha.
After submitting his mission report, he returned once again to the Sealing Team.
Stepping into this familiar workplace, he returned to his room, which contained a large amount of sealing material.
As Takuno sat down again in the spot where he usually inscribed Sealing Jutsu, he suddenly paused, a look of rare confusion appearing on his face.
The necessary Sealing Jutsu seemed to have been researched and completed.
Whether it was the Sealing Jutsu for splitting Tailed Beasts or the combined Sealing Jutsu for assisting the awakening of the eyes, both were now finished.
Therefore, returning here once more, he felt a sense of not knowing what to research next.
The only thing left that needed experimentation should be the Chimera Technique, but that certainly couldn't be tested here.
After thinking for a while, Takuno remembered the Sealing Jutsu he had cast aside.
The Sealing Jutsu: Lightning Sealing and the Sealing Jutsu: Wind Sealing had been derived by referencing the Sealing Jutsu: Fire Sealing. Now, only the Sealing Jutsu: Water Sealing and the Sealing Jutsu: Earth Sealing remained unresearched.
Moreover, he recalled that Minato and Kushina had previously given him advice on the specific execution of these two Sealing Jutsu, so it was time to finalize their research.
Takuno stretched and then began his research.
He decided to submit these few sealing methods as his final achievement as the Head of the Sealing Team. His continued utility in this position wouldn't be significant afterward.
The fundamental reason he researched Sealing Jutsu was to enhance his own strength, not out of pure enjoyment. Since those two crucial Sealing Jutsu were already finished, he naturally didn't need to stay.
Conveniently, he also planned to change positions later, climbing to a higher rank to make it easier to investigate many matters.
Furthermore, he had some ideas regarding these sealing methods and wanted to experiment with whether he could successfully modify them.
However, there was no need to rush this particular Sealing Jutsu.
Therefore, he could allocate more time and energy to the Ninjutsu aspect.
He decided to rest for a while today and start again tomorrow.
Afterward, whenever Takuno came to the Sealing Team, he would split off a Shadow Clone to remain there and research Sealing Jutsu, while his main body would leave Konoha early and head to the experimental base.
There, he would split off three more Shadow Clones.
One would be used for subsequent experiments on the Chimera Technique, and the other two would focus on learning Ninjutsu.
As for Takuno's main body, he naturally undertook tasks that a Shadow Clone could not replace him in completing his physical conditioning!
Physical conditioning wasn't the goal; the goal was to increase his Chakra reserves!
Takuno's training regimen was so extreme that even the Taijutsu master Might Guy would shake his head repeatedly; Guy wouldn't dare apply such intensity in the early stages of physical conditioning.
But Takuno could handle it. He now possessed the Uzumaki bloodline, coupled with a recovery physique comparable to the Nine-Tails, granted by the life energy of the Gelel Stone.
As long as it didn't kill him, he would be completely revitalized the next day!
"1898, 1899... "
"1999, 2000!"
Inside the experimental base, Takuno lay sprawled on the sweat-soaked floor, breathing heavily. The liquid on the ground was nothing else but his own sweat.
Takuno could hear his heart beating rapidly, and the energy transmitted from the Gelel Stone in his heart throughout his body seemed to increase, repairing the damage caused by the workout.
After a long while, Takuno laboriously got up and removed the weights he was wearing.
Every day upon finishing his training, he felt as if he were about to die, but the power of the Gelel Stone had not disappointed him. That recovery ability, which could barely rival the Nine-Tails' Chakra, truly helped him immensely.
Even Takuno, whose current Chakra reserves were already considerable, could feel his Chakra volume increasing.
Perhaps others wouldn't achieve this effect even with such intense training, but Takuno possessed the Uzumaki bloodline; the coefficient was high enough that his Chakra increase was several times that of others.
Takuno dragged his still-exhausted body into the bathroom to wash up.
In the bath, he clenched his fists, sensing the power within. The strengthening of his physique wasn't just about increasing his Chakra reserves; the power of his Nin-Taijutsu would also increase accordingly.
With his control over Chakra, his monstrous strength, combined with his physique enhancement, might grow to be even stronger than Tsunade's.
Tsunade's monstrous strength was capable of smashing Madara's Susanoo.
Although Madara did not use the Complete Body Susanoo at the time, with his strength and control over Susanoo, he could freely materialize any part of the Susanoo for attack or defense.
In terms of defense alone, it was only weaker than the stage of Susanoo wearing the Tengu armor.
Being able to shatter this type of Susanoo using monstrous strength meant the attack power was indeed extremely high.
But if he combined Might Guy's power with Tsunade's Chakra-controlled monstrous strength technique, one punch from him—
He would dare to clash head-on with the Tengu form of Susanoo, and perhaps even the Complete Body Susanoo wouldn't be impossible to test the hardness of from the side.
Lost in thought, Takuno stood up from the bath and went to the mirror to look at himself.
His body had undergone significant changes compared to before he acquired the Chimera Technique.
His pale complexion, originally caused by Chakra deficiency and excessive Chakra refinement, now had more color due to the boost from the Uzumaki bloodline and the nourishment from the Gelel Stone.
Furthermore, his physique had become more defined thanks to his recent training.
However, the ink-black fusion marks were still very noticeable. These ink-like traces proved that the Chimera Technique had flaws.
Takuno sighed, put on his clothes, exited the bathroom, and went to the area designated for Ninjutsu experimentation.
After focusing his main energy on training and Ninjutsu these past few days, he finally managed to control the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken to a perfect degree.
Counting the time, he had been studying the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken for over a year.
Meanwhile, Naruto only took one month in the original work.
Of course, if he were aiming for the same semi-finished product as Naruto, he wouldn't have taken much longer than him. The most time-consuming part was the process of moving from a semi-finished product to a completed one.
In fact, he hadn't yet used a perfect Rasenshuriken even once.
This was because the Chakra reserves of a Shadow Clone were insufficient. A Shadow Clone would naturally share the refined Chakra equally, but it couldn't equally divide the unrefined physical and spiritual energy.
When using the Shadow Clone, surely no one would be foolish enough to extract their entire Chakra reserve all at once, right?
Because Chakra is an energy that cannot be stored for long periods if unused, extracting it all at once without quickly consuming it would result in considerable waste.
Ordinary ninja don't have the Chakra reserves to waste; they refine Chakra simultaneously as they use Ninjutsu, which is the most Chakra-efficient method.
For a typical ninja in daily life, they usually only maintain enough Chakra to use simple Ninjutsu.
Such as the Three-Body Technique and the Body Flicker Technique, which allow for instant evasion of attacks.
If they constantly maintained a large amount of Chakra, and it dissipated because it couldn't be stored, wouldn't they be finished if an enemy came looking for trouble?
Takuno took a deep breath and extended his palm.
Instantly, highly concentrated Chakra began to gather in his hand. Normal Chakra is invisible, but this high concentration of Chakra could already be seen directly with the naked eye.
Soon, a giant, rotating shuriken-like mass of highly concentrated Chakra appeared in Takuno's hand.
This was the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
However, the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken seemed to be missing something at the moment. Takuno looked at the Rasenshuriken in his hand, and with a thought, that piercing sound reappeared.
What was missing just now was that grating sound.
The completed Wind Release: Rasenshuriken could already control its sound freely.
However, Takuno sighed again, feeling the weight transmitted through his hand.
No wonder the manga explicitly mentioned that Naruto, after learning Sage Mode, gained a powerful physique and overcame the flaw that prevented the Rasenshuriken from being thrown.
Sage Mode not only helped perfect the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken but also granted Naruto the physical strength needed to throw it.
Because it truly was very heavy!
Takuno felt the weight in his hand and knew he could barely throw it, but the speed would likely be so slow that any ninja could dodge it.
And a Ninjutsu that could be dodged, no matter how powerful, was meaningless.
Therefore, if Takuno wanted the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken in his hand to successfully hit an enemy, he would still need to release it by hand at close range—
In that case, there seemed to be no difference between the semi-finished and the completed product, meaning Takuno had wasted his time during this period.
However, Takuno was not disappointed, because having developed it to the completed stage, he could do more than just make it silent, he could also do this.
The Rasenshuriken in his hand began to change, its size shrinking.
The result of the shrinkage was naturally a corresponding decrease in its weight. Only when its radius was reduced to half its original size did Takuno feel it was just right.
At this weight, the speed at which he could throw it would be fast enough. As long as he found the right timing, he could ensure a hit.
Although the power would certainly decrease significantly, it also consumed less Chakra, and its inherent cutting ability still remained!