What Fujimoto Tōma called "cheating" had nothing to do with some imaginary system boosting his reflexes to absurd levels.
It was far simpler—and far more unfair.
As long as an opponent had chakra circulating in their body, Tōma could sense them.
In combat, that awareness felt like permanent full-map vision. Normally, after using Flying Thunder God to teleport to a marked location, a shinobi had to instantaneously reassess positions, angles, and distance before launching an attack. Even a fraction of a second mattered.
Tōma didn't need that step.
From the moment he arrived, the enemy's position was already fixed in his perception. Even if both sides moved, as long as they remained within his sensing range, he always knew exactly where they were relative to himself.
So when Tōma used Flying Thunder God, there was no hesitation, no recalculation. He skipped straight to the attack.
That alone pushed the technique into outright unfair territory.
In situations like this, pure sensory perception was even more practical than the Hyūga clan's Byakugan. The Byakugan still relied on visual input, and rapid shifts in perspective weren't always easy to adapt to. Tōma's awareness, by contrast, was continuous and omnidirectional.
Over the past three years, his greatest improvement wasn't in raw power.
It was perception.
His sensory growth had never slowed, never plateaued. It simply kept expanding. That was the real reason he'd mastered Flying Thunder God so quickly. It was also why he could now sense natural energy without entering Deep Focus State.
Once he did enter it, natural energy became vividly clear—almost tangible.
There had been a time when Tōma nearly asked Elder Fukasaku to supervise an experiment where he tried absorbing a trace of it.
That request was rejected instantly.
Fukasaku had nearly summoned Jiraiya on the spot just to lecture him. Natural energy wasn't something you "tested." If control failed, being turned into stone was the best possible outcome.
Try it and die was not a metaphor.
Under Fukasaku's firm opposition, Tōma dropped the idea. Though, truthfully, this wasn't the first time he'd thought about it. From his perspective, natural energy didn't feel as uncontrollable as described.
Still, the stone statues scattered across Mount Myōboku were proof enough. Until he reached the safe threshold, caution came first.
At present, Tōma could already move freely while maintaining Deep Focus State. Normal walking, conversation, even basic combat actions posed no issue.
The first time he'd done it, Elder Fukasaku had stared at him as if he were looking at a miracle. If the Great Toad Sage had been awake, Tōma was convinced Fukasaku would've dragged him over immediately.
This progress accelerated everything else as well. His shadow clones read while staying in Deep Focus State, sharpening both the state itself and his learning efficiency.
At this point, Tōma had become a remarkably well-rounded shinobi.
Even though, technically speaking, he still hadn't graduated from the Ninja Academy.
As for ninjutsu—
Once Tōma's chakra reserves reached chūnin level, Jiraiya personally came to Mount Myōboku and finally taught him the Rasengan.
Tōma learned it in less than half a day.
Jiraiya left afterward looking visibly shaken.
So this was the difference in talent.
No wonder Minato had reacted so casually when Jiraiya once showed off the Rasengan. Compared to Minato, maybe Jiraiya's own talent really was lacking.
In truth, Tōma had already understood the Rasengan for a long time. He'd simply never rushed to practice it. Once his chakra control reached the necessary level, forming it felt almost natural.
Other techniques followed similar patterns.
His Substitution Technique now required only a single hand sign—and when fully focused, no hand signs at all. For an E-rank technique, it was absurdly practical.
In Wind Release, Tōma favored Vacuum Blade over Vacuum Bullet. To him, wind's true lethality lay in cutting power, not blunt force. With its slicing properties, Vacuum Blade became his most destructive offensive technique—stronger even than the Rasengan in raw lethality.
Lightning Release was trickier.
Tōma had successfully developed Chidori, but using it smoothly remained difficult. Even with his sensory "cheat," Chidori still allowed opponents a reaction window. Its speed was extreme, but not absolute.
At times, the velocity made fine adjustments impossible. Overcorrecting was just as dangerous as undercorrecting.
Still, even in its imperfect state, Chidori's most fatal flaw was gone. Tōma could use it without fear of being countered through misjudgment.
He wasn't satisfied yet, though. He had ideas—just not enough time to test them.
Besides, Chidori was something he'd learned quietly. Until he had proper authorization, there was no reason to rely on it. His current arsenal was more than sufficient.
Finally, there was Fire Release.
Despite lacking fire affinity, Tōma had learned basic fire techniques anyway. The output was weaker, but that wasn't the point.
He only needed ignition.
Paired with toad oil, that was more than enough.
And if repeated use eventually caused his body to develop fire affinity naturally, all the better.
Just then—
"Old man! Old man!" Elder Shima's voice echoed as she hurried over. "That old geezer finally woke up!"