Overdrafting the Future, Starting in Naruto

Chapter 53: Inspiration, and an Encounter

"We're finally here!"

After landing on the small island and seeing Hōzuki Castle close at hand, Yamanaka En plopped directly onto the ground, his tongue nearly hanging out. Mui, just as exhausted, also sat down with a thud. Uchiha Namiichi was equally fatigued but maintained his cool and composed demeanor. Genichi let out a long breath; thanks to his Yin Seal (In'fūin), he was alright. The two Jonin, Hatake Sakumo and Hidemi, were of course even less of a problem. After all, the four younger ninja had taken turns carrying the prisoner, while the Jonin had to maintain sufficient stamina to deal with any emergencies.

Fortunately, the journey had been without incident. They hadn't even encountered any large waves.

After they had rested for a moment, three people came out from Hōzuki Castle. Hidemi immediately went forward to negotiate with them. Next came the prisoner handover, after which Genichi and his team were arranged a place to rest and eat lunch.

Only at this moment did everyone's spirits finally relax.

"I'm definitely going to get some good rest when we get back this time," En said lazily, lying on a bed.

Genichi sat cross-legged. He had just eaten his fill, so of course he couldn't lie down immediately. He was molding chakra to replenish his Yin Seal. Hearing En's words, Genichi couldn't help but smile. "That's not for you to decide." If Sakumo didn't proactively take missions, Hiruzen would assign them anyway. Sakumo's strength was a known quantity, after all.

En sighed. "That's true."

"By the way, Genichi, you said before that you wanted to go on a training pilgrimage. Have you decided when you'll go?"

Genichi thought for a moment. "It will have to be next year at the earliest."

"Next year..." En mumbled, then suddenly sat up, his eyes wide as he stared at Genichi. "Wait, Genichi, I remember you're eight years old now, right?"

Genichi nodded. He was eight this year, and would be nine next year. Of course, age wasn't really a factor to consider in his case.

En looked at Genichi's figure and was speechless. "Your maturity completely makes people forget your age."

"Eight years old..."

Is this guy really eight years old? When Genichi stood next to him now, he was only a head shorter. And his strength... anyone who didn't know would probably never guess that this was a rookie who had graduated less than two years ago.

"You geniuses are all monsters..." En couldn't help but remark with emotion. He came from the Yamanaka clan and his own talent wasn't bad, but he was completely incomparable to someone like Genichi. Even Namiichi, En felt, would be surpassed by Genichi in a few years, unless Namiichi awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan.

Faced with En's remark, Genichi couldn't help but smile. "Someone like me is nothing. There are even greater geniuses out there."

"My own talent is only in Water Release and genjutsu."

"Lord Third is proficient in all five nature transformation techniques."

En couldn't help but roll his eyes. "That's the Hokage!"

Genichi closed his eyes and said nothing more. The Hokage? In the future, even the Hokage would be reduced to a side character. Genichi knew very well that if he didn't have his cheat system, if he hadn't found a way to obtain the Yin Seal, even if he realized his talent in genjutsu, he would have been a Special Jonin for life at best. His chakra would have sealed his upper limit. The same was true for his Water Release.

And now, even with the Yin Seal, Genichi could actually see his own limits. He could easily compare himself to the future Tsunade. But Tsunade's specialty was in medicine; her combat abilities were actually her weak point, and even so, she was at the Kage level. Surpassing the Kage level was not so simple. Not to mention the Near-Six Paths and Six Paths levels above that. Those basically all relied on cheats.

Chakra was the foundation! Without enough chakra, no matter how good your ideas were, you couldn't support them or bring them to fruition.

And in the world of Naruto, the two paths Genichi could think of were only Tailed Beasts and Sage Mode. Sage Mode itself required a sufficient chakra base to even begin training, otherwise, you couldn't even get through the door. Perhaps the Kuji-kiri was also a path, but it was unclear...

If he didn't have a cheat, it would be fine. He could live out his life as a Special Jonin, eating and waiting for death. But since he had a cheat, he naturally had to have ambition.

Hokage? At the very least, he had to become a "ruler of the planet" to be worthy of being a cheat character.

...

After resting for a night at Hōzuki Castle, the next morning, the castle dispatched a boat to send Genichi and the others on their way.

Sitting on the deck, Genichi's body swayed with the boat. At this moment, he held the "Zai" seal with both hands. The chakra in his body underwent water nature transformation, then dissipated into the air, merging with the dense water vapor here.

The "Zai" seal, the power to freely use all supernatural abilities.

At this moment, Genichi felt a different kind of state. Moreover, he had observed that when En used the Mind Body Switch Technique (Shintenshin no Jutsu), he actually used the "Zai" seal as well.

Could I combine Water Release and Yin Release to develop a unique genjutsu? A sudden idea struck Genichi, and a flash of inspiration went through his mind.

"We've got company!" a loud shout startled Genichi.

He stood up and looked, only to see a large ship approaching from the east. En was already up on the mast, observing with a monocular telescope. He quickly came down. "Captain, it's Cloud ninja!"

Everyone was shocked.

"They came so fast!" Genichi raised his hand to his forehead, peering into the distance, but he could only vaguely see blurry figures.

Sakumo shouted, "Prepare for battle!"

"Also, be prepared for the ship to be destroyed. Be ready to retreat at any time." Their boat was small and couldn't compare to the Cloud ninjas' ship at all. It was possible it could be rammed and sunk.

Everyone nodded.

Sakumo then looked at Genichi and reminded him, "Genichi, be careful of their Lightning Release."

Genichi nodded. "Understood!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

They all went up the mast, watching as the Cloud ninja rapidly approached.

"Hm? That's..." Genichi's eye suddenly twitched violently.

The future Fourth Raikage, and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer Bee! He had run into the A-B Combo.

Genichi's expression immediately turned grave. The future Fourth Raikage should be over twenty years old by now. And Killer Bee looked to be twelve or thirteen. Perhaps he wasn't a perfect jinchuriki yet, but he absolutely could not be underestimated. This guy himself was a genius of swordsmanship and Lightning Release.

On the Cloud ninja ship, six Cloud ninja were also sizing up Genichi's group.

The sunglasses-wearing Killer Bee locked onto Genichi. "That guy's the one who's good at Water Release and genjutsu, right!"

"This here is his home turf, but with me here, he won't get to show off, you dunce, you fool!"

A scanned Genichi, but his gaze was fixed on Sakumo. He said, "Shū, you take care of the dual-wielding guy. He can use a vision-stealing genjutsu."

The Cloud Jonin, Shū, nodded. "Don't worry, A. Leave him to me!"

A then said to Killer Bee, "Bee, you deal with that Uchiha ninja. Be careful of his Sharingan."

"If you get taken out by a Sharingan, I'll make you pay."

Killer Bee's gaze immediately shifted to Namiichi Uchiha. Although he hadn't activated his Sharingan, the clan crest on Namiichi's back was too obvious.

"An Uchiha... I'll let him know the might of Killer Bee of the Eight-Tails! To die by my sword is his honor! You dunce, you fool, oh yeah!"

Killer Bee danced around, finally pointing a finger at Namiichi.

(End of Chapter)

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