Shinichi's gaze shifted again, coming to rest on an unexpected new Purple Entry.
He had assumed the next Purple Entry would be Medical Mastery.
Instead, the first to break through was the comprehensive Ninjutsu Entry.
Ninjutsu Mastery LV1 (Purple): Your understanding and control of the fundamental nature of ninjutsu and chakra have reached the level of the world's foremost experts. You can rapidly discern the core principles behind any ninjutsu, dismantle it, reconstruct it, and fuse it with others. Countless techniques flow effortlessly from your hands, adapting naturally to any situation without being confined to any single method or style.
Shinichi quickly understood why.
Whether it was Fire Release, Wind Release, or Lightning Release, accumulating recognition in those individual fields naturally also built recognition for his overall talent in ninjutsu. The two had always been inseparable.
As people marveled at how extraordinary the Fire Release, Wind Release, and Lightning Release displayed by both Shinichi and his clone Isshin were, they would inevitably come away with broader impressions such as an extraordinary talent for ninjutsu or unparalleled genius.
Most likely, this comprehensive Ninjutsu Entry had already been hovering on the verge of advancement.
Isshin's series of performances over the past few days had simply provided the final push, adding the last crucial stroke to the world's overall perception of Shinichi's prowess in ninjutsu.
Those were the changes to Shinichi's Entries over the past few days.
All of the newly acquired Entries were skill-based. None directly increased his physical attributes.
Yet his strength had still risen another step.
Over the years, Shinichi had gradually uncovered how these skill-based Entries truly worked.
Besides enhancing his talent and proficiency in a given field, they also optimized how he utilized his existing abilities.
Take the newly acquired Archery Proficiency, for example.
It didn't directly improve his eyesight or neural reaction speed.
Instead, it refined the precision of his dynamic tracking and distance perception, allowing him to judge a target's position and the point of impact with far greater accuracy, even while moving at high speed.
Firearms Specialization, meanwhile, sharpened his instinctive prediction of an enemy's movements and his sense of the perfect moment to attack.
As for the comprehensive Ninjutsu Entry and the various chakra nature Entries, they were essentially equivalent to granting Shinichi a Kekkei Genkai—or rather, an innate bloodline talent—on the level of ninjutsu.
Just as most members of the Uchiha Clan were naturally gifted in Fire Release, and the Yotsuki Clan possessed an innate affinity for Lightning Release, these Entries allowed him to achieve chakra affinity and elemental talent equal to—or even surpassing—that of those prestigious bloodlines, despite possessing no such heritage himself.
A slight boost to one attribute here.
A little more talent in another field there.
A bit more optimization elsewhere.
As Entry after Entry accumulated over the years, they steadily elevated Shinichi toward a level no one had ever reached before.
Though his bloodline was still that of an ordinary civilian through and through...
In essence, he had become an all-around monster who embodied the finest traits of numerous shinobi clans—and even more than that.
'In a way... I guess this counts as the obligatory power-up before the big war.'
With that thought, Shinichi dismissed the status panel, quickened his pace, and headed toward the main camp.
...
A short while later, inside Konoha's command headquarters—
Of the four division commanders, only Shinichi and Fugaku were present.
Namikaze Minato and Hyūga Hizashi had been assigned another critical mission. Three days earlier, the two had led an elite squad deep behind enemy lines to carry out an operation of the utmost importance, and neither had returned yet.
As usual, the briefing was filled mostly with good news.
Ever since implementing the strategy Shinichi had proposed, Konoha had achieved one solid victory after another despite being outnumbered.
Kirigakure outposts were being eliminated one by one. Their harassment raids and ambush tactics had grown increasingly refined, while coordination between the various squads became smoother with each passing day.
On the whole, it was Konoha—the side at a numerical disadvantage—that now held a slight edge.
Everyone present understood what that meant.
If this advantage continued to accumulate, and Kirigakure still failed to establish sufficient supply lines from the Land of Waves or other directions to sustain its offensive...
The balance of the war would quietly reverse.
When that happened, Konoha would be the one launching the general offensive.
After finishing the good news, Koharu set down the report in her hand.
Her expression grew noticeably more serious.
"There is one piece of bad news."
Before dawn that very morning, two Konoha squads had attacked a Kirigakure outpost.
They encountered the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
Neither squad survived.
Kirigakure's Three-Tails jinchūriki—a figure hidden away for decades, who had never once appeared in public, to the point that the outside world had long questioned whether he even existed—
Had finally entered the battlefield.
And with his very first move...
He had wiped out two of Konoha's elite squads.
The atmosphere inside headquarters immediately grew much heavier.
In the end, Koharu said nothing more.
She simply instructed everyone to exercise extreme caution.
If they encountered the Three-Tails' jinchūriki during a mission, they were to avoid him whenever possible.
If they couldn't avoid him, then stall him.
Unless there was absolutely no other option, they were not to engage him head-on.
Everyone acknowledged the order before silently dispersing.
After leaving the main camp, Shinichi headed alone toward a cliff on the left side of the encampment.
By then, fierce winds drove sheets of rain across the land.
The sky was so dark it hardly looked like daytime at all. Only the occasional bolt of lightning tearing across the heavens illuminated the world below in a ghostly white flash.
For several consecutive days, the weather along the southeastern coast of the Land of Fire had grown increasingly violent, as though even heaven and earth themselves were echoing the brutal slaughter unfolding between the two nations' shinobi.
Yet when the driving rain reached Shinichi, it struck an invisible barrier.
The raindrops silently parted around him, diverted and swept aside.
The unseen currents flowing around his body even dulled the howl of the wind, leaving behind only a faint, continuous hum.
The Three-Tails' jinchūriki...
Shinichi never slowed his pace, but his thoughts raced.
Kirigakure's hidden Three-Tails jinchūriki had finally...
BOOM!
A massive bolt of lightning exploded overhead.
It was as though something had ripped the heavens open from the inside.
The deafening thunder rolled across the sea, and even the earth beneath his feet trembled slightly.
The crash shattered Shinichi's train of thought.
He stopped walking, slowly raised his head, and looked toward the depths of the storm clouds, where countless streaks of lightning writhed endlessly.
'The Three-Tails is a turtle... so its shell should be pretty tough, right?'
After staring at the clouds for quite some time, that thought crossed his mind.
His eyes flickered.
With a turn of his wrist, an ancient-looking black sword hilt quietly appeared in his hand.
The Sword of the Thunder God!
The next instant, countless blue-white arcs of lightning burst across Shinichi's body, tiny currents dancing over his skin like living creatures.
At the same time, the Sword of the Thunder God unleashed a dazzling golden blade of lightning.
The golden lightning collided with the blue-white electricity surrounding Shinichi.
Two different kinds of lightning.
One blue-white.
The other brilliant gold.
At first, the two remained completely distinct.
But before long, they began to seep into one another.
Blue-white arcs intertwined with golden ones, weaving together into a dazzling curtain of light that gradually transformed into an almost incandescent white.
For a moment, the very air within several meters of Shinichi crackled violently as it became ionized.
The falling rain evaporated into clouds of white mist before it could even touch the ground.
With both Ninjutsu Mastery LV1 and Lightning Release Specialization now acquired, Shinichi's command over ninjutsu as a whole—and Lightning Release in particular—had advanced by yet another tremendous leap.
Over the years, he had gradually figured out the relationship between comprehensive Entries and specialized ones.
When applied to a single field, a comprehensive Entry generally provided a bonus roughly one rank lower than a specialized Entry of the same color.
For example, while Ninjutsu Mastery LV1 (Purple) enhanced every aspect of ninjutsu, if only its Lightning Release bonus were considered, it was roughly equivalent to Lightning Release Specialization (Blue).
Its greatest advantage, however, was its versatility.
It simultaneously covered Fire, Wind, Lightning, Water, Earth, as well as Yin and Yang Release.
In other words...
His current enhancement to Lightning Release was effectively equivalent to stacking two Blue-rank Lightning Release Specialization Entries together.
Although it still fell just short of a true Purple-rank Lightning Release Entry...
The gap was no longer significant.
'Let's give it a try.'
With that thought, the crackling golden lightning surrounding Shinichi suddenly vanished, every last spark withdrawing back into his body.
Immediately afterward, countless high-speed wind currents erupted beneath his feet.
Layer upon layer wrapped around him.
Propelling him forward.
A sharp, piercing whistle of wind rang out.
Shinichi shot upward through the torrential rain like a meteor racing toward the sky, hurtling straight for the towering thunderclouds where lightning raged without end.
As he climbed higher and higher, violent winds churned across the heavens, sending the sea of clouds into turmoil.
The countless spiraling air currents surrounding him became like an invisible giant pump, frantically drawing in every airflow within hundreds of meters.
Dense black storm clouds were shredded apart, torn to pieces, and swallowed, transforming into surging torrents of white vapor that streamed behind him.
And with every passing moment...
Shinichi's speed increased even further.
Empowered by the combined effects of Ninjutsu Mastery LV1 and Wind Release Specialization, his flight speed had long since surpassed what it had been when he first created his Wind Release Nintaijutsu.
More importantly...
His mastery over Wind Release itself had reached an entirely new level.