Over a few months, Bai had essentially copied about seventy to eighty percent of Hayate Gekko’s entire sword repertoire using his Sharingan.
Current Bai could faintly hear the voice of his Zanpakuto now, meaning he wasn’t far from achieving Shikai—how much distance remained was impossible to tell, since this was Konoha, not the Seireitei.
But Bai wasn’t satisfied with just this.
Bai had learned a vast, miscellaneous mix of techniques: Genjutsu passed down from Shinku Yuhi, ninjutsu, Fuinjutsu, and Yin-Yang Release techniques from Orochimaru, and Leaf-style kenjutsu.
Assisted by the Shadow Clone Technique, Sage Body, and Sharingan, Bai’s proficiency in these arts was high across the board—at worst comparable to a Special Jonin, while his Genjutsu boosted by the Sharingan reached Kage-level potency!
However, everything Bai possessed was divided into separate, distinct modules: swordsmanship was swordsmanship, ninjutsu was ninjutsu, and Genjutsu was Genjutsu, with no way to bridge them into a unified whole.
Truth be told, Bai had numerous ways to evolve his Sharingan to a Mangekyo right now.
Continuing to communicate with his Zanpakuto until Shikai would naturally trigger the Sharingan’s evolution; continuing to hone chakra shape and nature transformations would unlock the Mangekyo within half a year at most; even doing nothing and growing normally would allow his Sage Body’s passive growth to push his Sharingan to Mangekyo in a year or two.
But what Bai wanted most was to consolidate everything he knew, trim away the excess, synthesize it thoroughly, and forge a combat system uniquely his own!
Take Minato Namikaze, for instance: Flying Raijin and Rasengan were both indispensable, but even if someone else learned those two jutsu, could they replicate the legendary record of the Yellow Flash?
Ultimately, before this, Bai was merely an imitator; only by integrating these arts and carving out a Shinobi Way uniquely suited to himself could he transform from an imitator into a pioneer!
If he succeeded, leave aside the Mangekyo—he wouldn’t hit a single bottleneck all the way up to Six Paths level!
But this was brutally difficult; Bai estimated it would take three to five painful years!
Looking across Konoha’s entire history, ninja who innovated and created their own distinct Shinobi Way could be counted on one hand: the four Hokage, the Sannin, Madara Uchiha, Sakumo Hatake…
Even the famous Kakashi was merely known as the Copy Ninja.
Bai never degraded himself, nor did he indulge in blind arrogance.
After all, he possessed a broader range of techniques, meaning more material to synthesize—and naturally, the combat power jump upon success would be far greater.
Thinking of this, Bai couldn’t help feeling envious of Sasuke and Naruto again.
Sasuke had his brother.
Regardless of whether Itachi Uchiha was a clown or not, he was faultless toward Sasuke, waiting for Sasuke to take his life with his own hands, intending not only to make Sasuke a village hero with his death but also preparing the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan for him well in advance—too bad Sasuke failed to become Konoha’s hero and got tricked away by Obito instead.
Naruto had the Nine-Tails: mastering Sage Mode made him Kage-level, winning the tug-of-war against the Nine-Tails made him Beyond-Kage, and earning the Nine-Tails’ recognition put him straight at the peak of Beyond-Kage.
After dying in the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Sage of Six Paths personally handed out hacks, carrying them both straight into Six Paths level!
For Naruto and Sasuke, there was zero need to consolidate their skills or trim away excess—one Rasengan, one Sharingan, used all the way from the Chunin Exams to the grand finale!
“What are you daydreaming about?”
As Bai sighed in his heart, Anko Mitarashi’s energetic voice sounded in his ear.
Bai shot a glance at Anko, instinctively checking the sky before asking in confusion: “Why are you here?
School isn’t even out yet!”
“Call me Sister!” Anko poked Bai between his eyebrows, speaking with half-playful annoyance.
Bai rolled his eyes at Anko, ignoring her: “If there’s nothing, I’m leaving.
I still have class!”
“If you don’t call me Sister, you’ll definitely regret it!” Anko didn’t stop him, even stepping aside to make way, though her expression was teasing and her words held deep implication.
Based on Bai’s understanding of Anko over the years, he knew clearly this woman wasn’t talking nonsense.
Bai slowly stopped, scanning Anko up and down before compromising: “Sister Anko!”
“Hehehe!
Good boy!” That ‘Sister’ hit right at Anko’s heart, instantly turning her face into a beaming smile.
“Can you tell me now?
What’s actually going on?” Bai stared with deadpan eyes, asking in a lukewarm tone.
Anko didn’t tease him further, giving him a hand gesture: “Follow me!”
With that, Anko departed using the Body Flicker Technique.
After brief consideration, Bai flickered after her.
Anko brought Bai all the way to the BBQ restaurant.
Bai gave her a weird look, but Anko pointed in a specific direction.
Looking over, Bai saw Kurenai Yuhi sitting across from a male ninja; the two looked like long-lost friends chatting harmoniously.
In fact, they really WERE long-lost friends reuniting!
The male ninja possessed rugged yet handsome features, a full goatee, neatly cropped black short hair, the Land of Fire emblem wrapped around his waist, and a cigarette dangling from his lips—none other than Asuma Sarutobi, second son of the Third Hokage!
In his youth, Asuma Sarutobi was a rebellious delinquent who held both admiration and prejudice toward his father.
After a heated argument with Hiruzen Sarutobi, he left the village directly, going to the Land of Fire to serve as one of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi until now!
Seeing Asuma Sarutobi, Bai narrowed his eyes slightly.
At this moment, the threat Asuma Sarutobi posed to Bai far surpassed Madara Uchiha waiting to be revived or Kaguya Otsutsuki still sealed away!
In reality, through his probing over the past few years, Bai knew Kurenai and Asuma currently shared a normal friendship, or at most a comrade-in-arms dynamic!
At least Kurenai held zero romantic feelings toward Asuma right now.
One had to realize Asuma was three or four years older than Kurenai, meaning they weren’t in the same Academy class.
When Asuma graduated, Kurenai was only eight or nine; by the time Kurenai graduated, the Third Shinobi World War erupted.
Shortly after the war ended, Asuma left Konoha.
The time they actually spent together was limited to the war period and a brief stretch shortly after.
During the war, Kurenai’s thoughts revolved entirely around surviving missions, and after the war, she had to handle her father’s funeral—how could she have time or energy for romance!
Bai originally assumed Asuma was in the same boat as Kurenai, but now Bai was certain: Asuma had liked Kurenai for a long time!
Men understood men best.
Just sitting there, with a simple movement or a single glance from Asuma, Bai knew exactly what intentions he harbored toward Kurenai!
Because Bai harbored the exact same intentions!
Although Kurenai felt nothing romantic toward Asuma right now, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t in the future.
Scumbags feared fiercely stubborn women, while good women succumbed to persistent suitors!
The original series proved this point: if left to develop naturally, Asuma was guaranteed to get his wish in the end!
Although in terms of closeness, current Bai could run laps around Asuma—and if Asuma wanted to win the beauty’s heart, he’d have to suck up to Bai first—Asuma possessed one absolute advantage Bai couldn’t match: he was a fully matured adult male!
Kurenai at least treated Asuma as a normal, romantic-prospect man, whereas in Kurenai’s eyes, Bai was merely a little brother who needed taking care of…