In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed again.
Yuya had completely perfected the first stage of the Lightning Release Body-Forging Technique.
To progress further, he would need to obtain the cultivation method for the second stage.
After mastering the first stage, Yuya no longer emitted obvious lightning from his body. At most, faint arcs of electricity would occasionally appear—so subtle that they were nearly impossible to notice without careful observation.
Yuya estimated that only after mastering the second stage would he be able to reach the level of the Third Raikage or Fourth Raikage, whose bodies were shrouded in a visible Lightning Release armor.
With the first stage perfected, Yuya's skin and underlying flesh had undergone significant strengthening. His body gradually shed its youthful frailty and moved toward maturity, his complexion taking on a healthy bronze hue.
It was worth noting—
Yuya was only around ten years old.
Yet physically, he already looked fourteen or fifteen.
This wasn't just because people in the shinobi world matured early—it was also the result of relentless taijutsu cultivation.
The growth of his body greatly accelerated Yuya's progress in training the Eight Gates (Hachimon).
Under normal circumstances, reaching the level required to open the Fourth Gate would demand nearly a full year of uninterrupted taijutsu training.
But on the battlefield of the Second Shinobi World War, such continuous training time simply didn't exist.
Just like now—
Yuya had little time to teach Konan and Yahiko, and even less time for his own training. He still had to constantly venture out to hunt shinobi and scouts from other villages.
On a battlefield like this, even three to five years might not be enough to reach the Fourth Gate.
Yet the first stage of the Lightning Release Body-Forging Technique had drastically compressed that process.
Yuya had been in the Land of Rain for several months, and this technique was effectively equivalent to nonstop taijutsu training during that entire time.
He estimated that if he could obtain the second stage, then perhaps even mastering half of it would be enough to meet the requirements for opening the Fourth Gate.
Unfortunately, like the remaining Kusanagi Swords, this was something that wouldn't be easy to obtain in the short term.
Shaking his head, Yuya decided that regardless of whether the remaining Kusanagi Swords were in Sunagakure, he would have to search for them on this battlefield.
As long as a Kusanagi Sword came within a certain range, he would sense it.
If he couldn't find them during the war, then during—or after—the war, he would personally infiltrate Sunagakure.
In addition to that, Yuya was certain he would also visit Kumogakure.
Given the massive boost provided by the Lightning Release Body-Forging Technique, it was something he absolutely had to obtain.
"Hah…"
Exhaling softly, Yuya stood up. The faint arcs of lightning around his body vanished instantly.
He walked out of the room and checked on Konan and Yahiko's training progress.
Since they were close to his age, their cultivation speed was far faster than that of children in the Ninja Academy.
In this world, younger wasn't necessarily better for training.
Chakra was extracted from the body's cells, which meant one actually needed to reach a certain age before cultivation became efficient.
Konan and Yahiko were at the ideal age.
At present, their chakra reserves were already close to genin-level, and Konan had finally succeeded in developing her initial Paper Release technique.
Once someone possessed a genuine ninjutsu, they could be considered to have genin-level combat capability—ordinary civilians could no longer threaten them.
Yuya nodded indifferently, neither particularly satisfied nor dissatisfied.
At the same time, he felt somewhat helpless.
During this period, Yuya had repeatedly tried to locate Nagato, yet found nothing at all.
It was as if Nagato had vanished completely.
This left Yuya deeply puzzled.
As usual, Yuya went out again, heading to a nearby town.
The Land of Rain wasn't large, and there weren't many towns. As a result, nearly every town had Konohagakure scouts stationed there.
It was worth mentioning that when news of Senjin's death reached Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi had remained silent for a long time before finally asking Yuya what he needed.
Yuya had requested the cultivation method for the second stage of the Lightning Release Body-Forging Technique.
But the request vanished without a trace.
There was no reply.
It seemed Konoha truly didn't possess it.
After wandering around the town, Yuya casually eliminated several Amegakure shinobi, along with an Iwagakure scout he discovered.
Then he went to locate the Konoha shinobi responsible for intelligence transmission.
On the battlefield, message delivery was highly specialized.
And for a special ANBU operative like Yuya, it was even more so.
They used the most ancient method—
Scroll-based transmission.
Unless opened with a specific method, the scroll would self-destruct, erasing all information within.
An absolute secrecy measure.
Yuya hadn't received news from Konoha in a long time. Usually, it was he who sent intelligence back.
But this time—
He received a message from Konoha.
In a secluded corner, Yuya解除 the scroll's special seal and casually glanced at its contents.
That single glance made his pupils contract sharply.
A fierce aura burst from his body.
He almost openly revealed his identity as a shinobi—but Yuya didn't care at all.
His fingers even tightened unconsciously, nearly crushing the scroll.
The intelligence read:
Tsunade, leading a Konoha squad, had been ambushed by Iwagakure forces and forced deep into the Land of Rain.
The situation was critical.
Yuya was ordered to provide immediate rescue.
Tsunade's strength was, at minimum, elite jōnin, possibly even quasi-Kage level.
Yet the wording used wasn't support—
It was rescue.
One word difference.
But the meaning was worlds apart.
This meant Tsunade was facing a genuine life-or-death crisis.
Taking a deep breath, Yuya destroyed the scroll and immediately departed.
If Tsunade was in danger, Yuya would never stand by and do nothing.
The plot had already diverged far too much.
Yuya couldn't predict whether Tsunade would survive if he didn't intervene.
So he had to go.
The scroll provided a general direction.
The route happened to pass through the area where Yuya, Konan, and Yahiko were staying.
Thus, Yuya decided to inform them first.
If the direction had been completely opposite, he likely wouldn't have stopped at all and would have rushed straight to the marked location.
Using full speed—without exhausting himself—Yuya returned to their hideout in short order.
Konan and Yahiko were still training.
Yuya briefly told them that he needed to leave for a while.
While he was gone, they were to keep themselves hidden, and it would be best for them to move into a nearby town.
They were no longer helpless civilians.
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