"Sensei, this is the list of missing persons from the Uchiha clan. Please take a look. I don't think the enemy's goal is the Uchiha or internal strife within Konoha itself—but rather the Uchiha bloodline and the Sharingan!"
That very night, Shisui obtained the list from Inahori.
He immediately made his way to Kyoichi.
Of course…
He did so discreetly. Only Inahori knew where he was going.
Kyoichi read through the list, fell silent for a moment, then sighed. As expected...
Five children under the age of eight had gone missing.
Among the older generation, aside from those who died in battle, only one was unaccounted for. Those two or three adult shinobi were likely possessed by White Zetsu. But the missing children… they were clearly the ones Madara needed.
That bastard...
If he couldn't snatch Itachi, he'd just kidnap more and raise them like venomous insects in a jar?
Unbelievable...
So now he's even mastered "the way of the grind," huh?
"Sensei?"
"Shisui, do you personally know any of the names on this list?"
"Only some of them. Inahori probably knows all of them. If you'd like to ask more, you can speak to him directly tomorrow—he shouldn't hold anything back."
Shisui didn't hide the fact that Inahori was dissatisfied with Fugaku.
While external forces certainly played a role in the Uchiha's internal strife, most of it stemmed from Fugaku's indecisiveness and poor leadership, which allowed hidden dangers to fester within the clan.
And now...
The clan was in chaos, teetering on the edge of collapse. Fugaku bore a significant portion of the blame.
Kyoichi nodded thoughtfully.
It seemed…
His efforts to guide Shisui hadn't been in vain. Uchiha Inahori had also been "influenced" by him, shifting toward a softer stance more aligned with Konoha. And he carried considerable weight among the younger generation.
That meant, in the future, more children would grow up leaning toward Konoha.
Kyoichi pulled his thoughts back to the present.
After a brief pause, he said, "The enemy is highly skilled in concealment. Even with the list, it'll be hard to trace them directly. But with so many people involved, it's only a matter of time before they slip up. Besides, they're not without distinguishing traits."
"You have a lead, Sensei?" Shisui asked, pleasantly surprised.
"Remember Uchiha Ki? His body had a special chakra layer that could block Gentle Fist. I suspect it's some sort of unusual tissue. Hard to detect, yes—but not completely without clues."
"That's true…"
Shisui nodded lightly.
That special tissue—and the fact that the enemy went to such lengths to destroy it?
It meant that tissue likely had obvious markers.
His eyes brightened.
"If that's the case, all we have to do is capture one of them… Eh, but that's too difficult. You almost had one last time, Sensei, but unfortunately the target self-destructed."
Shisui sighed.
He didn't know who the enemy was, which is why he sounded so helpless. Kyoichi, however, wasn't surprised in the slightest. Madara and Black Zetsu were seasoned veterans.
With them involved, every angle would've been covered.
Besides...
It wasn't like this mission yielded nothing.
Konoha was now on high alert, and at the same time, the state of Konoha would likely raise alarms in Kirigakure as well—Kyoichi strongly suspected that Madara was currently controlling the Third Mizukage.
But…
That part was up to Yagura to handle on his own.
As an outsider, all Kyoichi could do was—
Once commissioned, personally see the job through.
…
Kyoichi passed the intel on those individuals to the Anbu, instructing them to quietly monitor any signs of their presence across different regions. If spotted, they were not to engage—just mark the location.
There were too many of them. Madara couldn't possibly keep them all by his side like he did with Obito. The only plausible strategy was to scatter them and raise them like venomous insects in separate jars—then pick the survivor.
So...
Eventually, one of them would slip.
Of course...
Even then, it would be incredibly difficult to trace the trail all the way to Madara. The most likely gain would be capturing a White Zetsu, which could then serve as valuable biological and medical research material for Konoha.
…
During this time, Minato had taken a long break.
But—
The good times didn't last long.
One morning, as Minato was out training, he caught sight of Kyoichi outside… holding a book.
Bang!
He slammed the door shut.
Nope. Definitely hallucinating.
Minato told himself silently.
"Hey, that's pretty rude, and I'm not even here to give you a mission."
Kyoichi waved the book in his hand.
The Tale of Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.
Jiraiya's book was finally published.
Kyoichi skimmed it and saw just two words written between every line: chūnibyo slogans.
Nothing but illogical motivational fluff and blind perseverance.
If the main character weren't the main character, he'd have died a hundred times already.
He handed it over. Minato glanced at it skeptically. When he saw the book, his eyes immediately lit up. "Is this Sensei's book?"
"Yup. Jiraiya's. He even got a ninja on duty to bring it over while out on a mission. Honestly… it's only because I wasn't around, otherwise I'd have condemned this flagrant misuse of public resources."
Kyoichi handed him the book.
Minato grinned sheepishly, then looked at Kyoichi more seriously and said, "I'm really sorry about how I acted before. But if you're not here for anything urgent…"
"I am here for something."
Bang!
This time, the door was slammed shut by Kushina—using the Body Flicker Technique, no less…
Like she was terrified she might be too late.
Kyoichi chuckled. "Hiding won't solve anything. Sooner or later, you'll be busy again. Obito and the others are all chunin now. A lot of missions won't need you anymore. And didn't you say you weren't taking any out-of-village assignments?"
Minato sighed, opened the door, gently coaxed Kushina back inside, then turned to Kyoichi. "What is it?"
"The Flying Thunder God. More precisely… the group variant of it we discussed before."
As he spoke, Kyoichi took out a scroll.
It was a concept he'd written over the past few days—plans for a Flying Thunder Formation. Everything from theory to practical implementation was laid out. All it needed now was for Minato to flesh out the actual techniques.
Minato took it.
After a few glances, he immediately realized the value of what he was holding.
A Flying Thunder Formation!
While it didn't allow for instantaneous battle teleportation like the original Flying Thunder God, its purpose wasn't combat—it was for long-distance transportation of people and supplies.
A game-changer for battlefield logistics.
After thinking it over for a few seconds, Minato said, "I've thought about something similar before, but never figured out how to combine it… Using barrier techniques—that's actually a pretty good idea. But modifying the Flying Thunder God is going to be a pain."
"I'm no expert in barrier techniques. Maybe you and Kushina can figure out a way to lower the learning curve. If not, we can categorize it—two people for item transport, three for personnel, four to five for small teams, etc."
Kyoichi replied.
He'd always thought the Flying Thunder Formation in the manga was way too rigid.
Three users needed to activate it together—and in that cringey synchronized pose, no less. Completely impractical for real combat. If they could refine it and reduce the requirement to just two people transporting objects, it could become tactically viable.
Minato sank into thought.
Item transport only?
He'd… never considered that…
His only goal had been to simplify Flying Thunder God so more ninja could learn it. This hadn't even crossed his mind. But now that Kyoichi mentioned it, it was absolutely worth pursuing.
After all, in real combat, three-person coordination was nearly impossible. But two? Entirely doable. While not as flexible as the original Flying Thunder God, this method could work great when paired with explosive tags, for example.
Even Kushina had calmed down.
When it came to serious business, she was always focused—never unreasonable.
"Wouldn't multiple users cause confusion?"
"No. If it's just two people for item transport, the jutsu formula can be much simpler. One person handles targeting, the other does the actual sending."
Kyoichi explained.
"One targets, the other transmits?"
Minato's eyes lit up.
That…
Had never even occurred to him.
"Exactly. I've been studying Flying Thunder God lately. I can't do it solo, but if I use a shadow clone, we can still make it work."
As he spoke, Kyoichi created a clone. A jutsu formula appeared in the clone's palm.
The next moment…
He threw a kunai, and both the real Kyoichi and his clone made hand seals.
In an instant…
Kyoichi vanished—and reappeared next to the kunai.
"Wh-What?!"
Kushina was dumbfounded.
That was Flying Thunder God!
Kyoichi could use it?
Minato, meanwhile, fell deep into thought. After a long while, he finally understood.
"You're using your real body to maintain the formula and teleportation, and the clone handles the 'open and stabilize the tunnel' part—allowing the actual teleport to happen."
Kyoichi's version wasn't complete.
But—
It was a viable method.
Minato's thoughts began to branch outward. The more he pondered, the more he realized how limited his own thinking had been.
Flying Thunder God…
Didn't necessarily have to work the exact same way it did for him.
He got excited.
"Kyoichi, come in, let's talk more."
"No need. Most of it's already written down in the scroll. What's not written is just conceptual stuff—like ideas for making the teleportation smoother."
"No, no! I think those ideas are more important than the jutsu itself!"
Minato gripped Kyoichi's hand tightly.
Shadow clone training…
Why hadn't he thought of that?
Brilliant…
Kyoichi was a genius.
What could he do?
Kyoichi had no choice but to stay. Kushina enthusiastically brought out snacks, even proudly noting that Minato had made them himself.
It was very… heartwarming.
And hard to turn down free food.
So Kyoichi stayed and listened.
Minato's concerns weren't just about Flying Thunder God. He also had trouble with other jutsu—his signature techniques were all too complex, making it hard for others to learn.
That had always been a problem for him.
"Kyoichi, you know Obito… his theoretical understanding is kind of poor. He struggles with advanced jutsu, but I don't have that many low-level ones to teach."
"Uh…" That's a humblebrag if I've ever heard one.
Kyoichi was speechless—but it wasn't an unsolvable problem.
"For Obito, he can try shadow clone training for both Flying Thunder God and Rasengan. His base is weak, but his potential is high. It's all about how you teach him."
"Rasengan too?"
Minato paused, then suddenly clapped in excitement. "Right! If I break down the jutsu into multiple phases, Rasengan could be divided into 'formation, maintenance, amplification'…"
"Formation and maintenance can be done by the real body, amplification by the clone!"
Smart people just need the right nudge.
But—
Minato was too smart. He never considered these "dumber" solutions.
"Mm-hmm…"
That'll be your son's signature jutsu in the future.
Kyoichi chuckled to himself.
Minato, fired up, began pacing. After a while, his thoughts calmed down.
"Wouldn't that consume a lot of chakra?"
"Of course. That's why it can only be a trump card. It's the same reason Kurenai can't use the Chakra Enhanced Technique all the time."
Not everyone had Naruto-level chakra.
In Obito's case…
Once a day—max.
Twice? Every other jutsu would be off the table.
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