Snapping out of his shock, the Third Hokage felt the lingering wind chakra inside the massive crater.
He looked toward Kamiki and asked, “Where did you learn this jutsu?” This was the first time he had ever seen this kind of Wind Release technique.
As the Professor of Shinobi, he had studied all sorts of jutsu for decades.
Inside this crater, he could clearly spot traces of damage caused by the Rasengan.
Yet the Rasengan was an unaligned chakra attack with zero elemental traits.
A wind nature transformation would never linger from it.
Therefore, his initial guess was that this jutsu had been created by improving and rebuilding upon the foundation of the Rasengan!
“I just had an epiphany and figured it out,” Kamiki answered with an innocent face.
Pointing a finger toward Yamato on the stretcher, Kamiki continued, “Just now, I thought he was an assassin from another village.
In a moment of desperation, I tried using wind chakra to mimic the shape of a shuriken…” “Go on.” The Third Hokage looked at Kamiki with probing eyes, waiting for the deeper insights and methods behind it.
Meeting the Third Hokage’s gaze, Kamiki braced himself and simply finished, “And then it worked…” The Third Hokage was at a loss for words.
And then it worked?
That’s it?!
Developing a brand-new ninjutsu is just that simple and casual for you?!
And an overwhelmingly destructive Wind Release jutsu at that!
Even the Second Lord had to go through countless trials and experiments when inventing new techniques.
Yet this boy glossed over the whole thing in a single sentence!
The Third no longer knew how to put his feelings into words.
At first, he had only seen Kamiki as an ordinary genius who stayed low for years before finally showing his true colors.
Now, it was clear that Kamiki’s natural talent was utterly monstrous!
Before today, in all his years studying ninjutsu, the Third Hokage had never seen a single ninja pull off the Wind Release technique Kamiki used tonight.
Not a single scroll in the archives recorded it either.
That meant there was an overwhelming chance Kamiki had invented this technique entirely on his own!
To master the Rasengan within just a few short years of learning ninjutsu, and then invent a catastrophic Wind Release technique on top of it—if this wasn’t a freak of nature, what was?!
“Kamiki, let me ask one more time.
Did anyone truly never teach you this jutsu?
Like Jiraiya, or…?” The Third Hokage could not help double-checking.
Kamiki assumed the Hokage was scolding him for inventing a dangerous jutsu and causing trouble.
“No, I did everything completely on my own,” Kamiki said, lowering his head.
Seeing this, the Third pressed no further.
Fearing that rival villages might discover the Leaf had produced such a terrifying monster, the Third ordered every member of the patrol unit to keep their mouths shut and leak nothing.
At the same time, to keep Kamiki from growing arrogant, the Third deliberately remarked, “Kamiki, your use of the jutsu was decent, but your control and technique are lacking.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t have destroyed your own home…” “So, do not blindly pursue a wide pile of messy jutsu.
Instead, take one single strength and train it to absolute perfection…” Hearing this, Kamiki nodded.
Sure enough.
The path of ninjutsu is long and slow!
I’m just a greenhorn elementary schooler taking my first steps!
These tiny accomplishments don’t mean a damn thing!
Kamiki looked up at the Third with deep admiration.
As expected of Lord Hokage!
His advice is so constructive!
It completely opens my eyes!
“Yes, Lord Hokage!
I will focus on this single jutsu and train it to the very peak!” Kamiki said with absolute resolve.
The Third offered an approving nod.
After that, the Third prepared to leave with the patrol unit and Yamato on the stretcher.
Kamiki showed a troubled expression.
With his house reduced to rubble, where was he supposed to sleep tonight?
“Lord Hokage…” Kamiki called out cautiously.
The Third Hokage turned around.
Seeing Kamiki standing lost in the empty dirt lot, he instantly understood.
“Go stay the night with that Naruto kid.” “Kamiki, you are clever, and you’re good friends with Naruto.
Help guide that boy more.” “Don’t worry, Lord Hokage!” Kamiki nodded firmly.
A few minutes later, the patrol squad escorted Kamiki to Naruto’s front door.
Standing outside, Kamiki heard faint, rhythmic thuds coming from inside the apartment.
“Naruto!” Kamiki called out, knocking twice on the door.
A few seconds later, Naruto swung the door open, looking at Kamiki with surprise.
“Kamiki, what are you doing here?” Naruto asked.
Faced with the question, Kamiki explained, “An enemy ninja attacked my place and blew my house flat.” Kamiki did not mean to lie to his friend; the Third Hokage had strictly ordered him not to spread word of tonight’s incident.
Hearing that his buddy had suffered such a disaster, Naruto quickly ushered him inside.
“Whoa, you’re so unlucky!
Hurry up and come in!” Stepping into the room, Kamiki noticed a wooden target dummy standing right in the center of the living room.
Several shuriken were stuck into the wood.
Connecting the sight of the dummy with the thuds he had heard outside, plus the sweat drenching Naruto and his exhausted look, it was clear: this kid had been secretly training hard at home!
“How’s the practice going?” Kamiki asked.
Knowing Kamiki had caught him secretly practicing, Naruto’s face turned slightly red.
“Not great.
It feels like hitting the bullseye is purely down to luck.” Kamiki remembered the Third Hokage asking him to help guide Naruto.
Since he had just gained an epiphany about shuriken tonight, he shared his methods without holding anything back.
“Actually, throwing shuriken isn’t just about mindless grinding.
You need to pull out the key tricks while practicing.
For example, you can do it like this…” Listening to Kamiki’s explanation, Naruto grew more and more excited.
“Kamiki, where did you learn all this?!
Iruka-sensei never taught anything like that!” “Of course Iruka-sensei wouldn’t explain it.
He told us to figure things out for ourselves, so I had an epiphany and worked it out,” Kamiki said casually.
“Sasuke, Shikamaru, and the other classmates must have learned this stuff long ago.” “We can’t fall too far behind, or we’ll never graduate.” “Stop wasting time, try practicing the way I just told you.” Standing to the side, Naruto was struck by sheer shock.
According to Kamiki…
Did Sasuke, Shikamaru, and the others figure out the Shuriken Shadow Clone long ago?!
Did they also figure out how to throw ten shuriken at once to hit ten targets?!
And can they bounce shuriken off the terrain ten times and still hit the bullseye dead-center?!
That’s terrifying!
Before this, Naruto never felt he was that far behind his peers.
But after Kamiki’s breakdown, he felt the gap between him and the rest of the class was like heaven and earth!
Forget about graduating—the only reason he was even allowed to sit in that classroom was because Iruka-sensei took pity on him!
Taking a deep breath, Naruto accepted the harsh truth and shouted with high morale: “Kamiki!
Looks like I need to work a hundred times harder from now on, or I’ll never catch up with the others!” “Right!
Let’s work hard together!” Kamiki nodded firmly.