There was another aspect of Lightning Release Gen Takuya wanted to explore.
Body reinforcement.
A secret art—one most famously held by Kumogakure.
The fact that other villages hadn't replicated it spoke to its difficulty.
But Kakashi's Chidori did contain a crude form of it.
Chidori stimulated the user's body, drastically increasing physical activity and speed—so much that even the user struggled to react to their own movement.
That was why Chidori demanded exceptional reaction speed.
Or the ability to predict an enemy's motion in advance—
Which was where the Sharingan came in.
Without the Sharingan, perhaps only someone like Minato—whose reactions could keep pace with Flying Thunder God—could truly control Chidori.
Gen Takuya didn't believe he had Minato's reaction speed.
But he could cheat.
Reaction speed, at its core, was nerve reflex.
And nerve reflex depended on electrical signal transmission.
So if he could refine Lightning Release control down to the level of biological electrical signals…
He could physically accelerate his own reactions.
With his chakra control, it wasn't impossible.
It was simply hard.
Very hard.
Gen Takuya sighed.
Everything he wanted to do demanded time.
And beyond all of it, he still needed to research Chimera Technique's second-bloodline fusion method.
Even if he couldn't use the Sharingan immediately after awakening it, as a hidden trump card, it still mattered.
Too many tasks. Too little time.
Even with Uzumaki constitution, Shadow Clone training wouldn't be enough.
He couldn't do what Naruto did—hundreds of clones grinding away at once.
Without the Nine-Tails inside him, doing that much—even with Uzumaki blood—would kill him.
So he forced himself to slow down.
For now, his plans didn't require overwhelming combat power.
Gen Takuya rolled his shoulders, then began with Wind Release: Rasengan.
That technique had a known training pathway in the original history. Not as detailed as Rasengan itself, but it could still cut down his research time.
Wind Release: Rasengan had low presence, truthfully.
Its form was already close to Rasenshuriken—already faintly shaped like a shuriken.
Once Naruto mastered Rasenshuriken, he naturally stopped using Wind Release: Rasengan.
Because he didn't lack chakra for Rasenshuriken at all.
The only time Gen Takuya clearly remembered it being used was when Naruto and Yamato used a combined technique to save a situation.
At the time, Gen Takuya had even thought Naruto misspoke—calling a normal Rasengan "Wind Release: Rasengan."
But it wasn't a mistake.
It was the prototype—the early stage of Rasenshuriken.
Gen Takuya formed a single seal.
"Ninja Art—Shadow Clone Technique!"
Four clones appeared around him.
He could produce more, but without Naruto's absurd recovery, he couldn't use too many clones for training.
The five of them exchanged a glance, then began.
First came Wind nature transformation basics—
Using chakra to cut a leaf.
Gen Takuya had only recently acquired Wind Release. Naturally, he wasn't proficient yet.
His plan was straightforward: let both himself and his clones pursue Wind Release: Rasengan, then push onward into Rasenshuriken.
Efficiency-wise, he knew it wasn't ideal.
Shadow clones only transferred memory and experience upon dispelling. That meant they'd likely repeat techniques and waste effort.
In theory, the best method was for each clone to research different techniques.
But while that increased overall efficiency, it delayed the completion of any single trump card.
And Gen Takuya needed a trump card first.
A skill in hand was worth more than mountains of wealth.
So he decided:
First, master Wind Release: Rasenshuriken as a life-saving killer move.
Then pursue broader, parallel training.
As he worked, his mind drifted briefly.
In the past, he had wasted too much time.
Rasengan had no inherent nature.
That meant, in theory, any nature transformation could be fused into it.
Even before he had Wind Release, he still had Earth Release and Water Release.
He could've tried fusing those.
But back then, his chakra reserves were too small. Judging by Rasenshuriken's consumption, even a lesser version would've been far beyond what he could afford.
And beyond that—his concepts were messy.
Earth Release: he first imagined a "mud ball."
But what would that even do?
Eventually his thoughts drifted toward Sunagakure—
Sand.
But even then, the power wouldn't be impressive.
Water Release was worse.
He could increase pressure and form water blades, sure—
But compared to Wind Release's natural cutting property, it would fall short.
So in the end, he had waited.
Now that he had Wind Release, he would start there.
As for Earth and Water…
He had ideas, but he would test them later—after Rasenshuriken.
Gen Takuya glanced at his four clones, each working hard to master Wind's cutting nature, and smiled faintly.
He wasn't Naruto.
But he could finally use Shadow Clones to learn.
Compared to his old self, that was already several times faster.
…
Far away, in a hidden base within the Land of Rain—
A man in black, wearing a mask, appeared before a group of Akatsuki members in their black cloaks with red clouds.
Their tense posture made one thing clear:
The masked man's arrival had caught them completely off guard.
At the front stood three figures—
Jiraiya's three disciples.
One of them was Nagato—the one who had discovered Gen Takuya's crow.
Even they were shocked.
Konan and Yahiko exchanged a look, then glanced toward Nagato.
Nagato's expression darkened. He gave a subtle shake of his head.
He hadn't detected the masked man in advance either.
Konan and Yahiko's hearts sank.
They knew Nagato's Rinnegan better than anyone.
If even Nagato hadn't sensed him…
Their wariness deepened into a cold, heavy dread.
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