Overdrafting the Future, Starting in Naruto

While Sarutobi Mikage and the others were in charge of collecting the bodies, Kinoshita Genichi thawed out Hōzuki Mugetsu and applied a sealing jutsu, thus obtaining a living teacher. He was very interested in the Hydrification Technique. As far as he knew, it wasn't a Kekkei Genkai, just a secret technique. It could be a secret technique based on the Hōzuki clan's special constitution, or it could be a pure Water Release secret technique. If it were the former, he probably couldn't learn it. If it were the latter, then it wouldn't be a problem.

He handed the captured Mugetsu to Akimichi Tōdō to carry. Just as he was about to give the order to leave, he couldn't help but turn and look to the north. Three figures were rushing out of the forest.

"Genichi!" Might Guy exclaimed.

"Guy!" Genichi smiled in greeting. "Genma, Ebisu!"

These three unlucky guys. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were already gone. If they hadn't intercepted those two elite Mist squads, tragedy might have repeated itself. No, this time, there probably wouldn't have been a Might Dai to save them. In the original timeline, Might Dai had rushed to the battlefield only after hearing that the Seven Swordsmen had infiltrated deep into the Land of Fire.

"What are you guys doing here?" Genichi walked over.

Might Guy scratched his head and smiled. "We were stationed nearby. We heard the fighting and came to check it out. Didn't expect it to be you, Genichi. A pity, looks like we were too late. Genichi, are all the enemies dealt with?"

Genma Shiranui sighed to himself. This guy Guy is really dense. Can't he see this horrifying battlefield? The temperature right now couldn't possibly create this much ice. Was this caused by Ice Release? And this lake must have been created by Water Release too. There must have been a fierce battle here. With our level of strength, we couldn't have even participated.

The sunglass-wearing Ebisu was also silently observing. Seeing the prisoner on Tōdō's shoulder, he surmised, Only one prisoner. Were all the other enemies wiped out?

"The battle is over," Genichi answered Guy. "You guys need to be careful. People from the Mist Village might slip through the front lines and infiltrate the rear. Do you have a signal flare?"

"We do," Genma nodded. "Genichi, what's the situation on the front line? We heard the Mist's offensive is very fierce."

Genichi nodded. "It is. But since you're here, it means the village's reinforcements have arrived. The Mist-nin won't succeed. Alright, we have to go. Be careful!"

There wasn't much time to catch up during a mission. Genichi led Uzumaki Ina and the others away.

After watching them leave, Ebisu leaped onto the ice.

Crack!

The ice was already melting and cracked under his weight.

"The Ice Release Kekkei Genkai of the Village Hidden in the Mist… it's terrifying," Ebisu marveled.

Genma landed next to him and nodded. "And yet, an enemy like that was defeated by Genichi's team."

"I really don't know how that guy Genichi trains," Ebisu said with emotion.

Genma shrugged. "Talent."

As they spoke, Might Guy was playfully stomping on the ice, creating a series of cracking sounds.

When Genichi's squad of five returned to the front-line headquarters, Jiraiya happened to be back as well. Seeing that they had dealt with the Mist's infiltration squad, Jiraiya let out a huge sigh of relief. If they hadn't, Konoha would have had to expend several times the effort to hunt them down.

"Since they've been dealt with, you all should rest and then return to the village to report," Jiraiya said.

Genichi nodded and then asked, "Have the village's reinforcements arrived?"

"Fugaku Uchiha is leading them personally," Jiraiya replied. "But we're still a bit outnumbered compared to the Mist. And a portion of those troops can't be sent to the front lines immediately."

Genichi guessed he was probably talking about the "seedlings" like Might Guy.

"Here's the list." Jiraiya handed him a list.

Genichi took it and glanced over it, seeing that Shizune was on it as well, assigned to the medical corps. The younger ninja like Guy and Asuma Sarutobi were typically assigned to the rear to construct new defensive lines, guard the medical corps, or maintain the supply lines. But Genichi knew this was only temporary. When they ran out of people, they too would have to fill the gaps on the front line.

"Master Jiraiya, I'm leaving," Genichi said, putting down the list and turning to go.

Jiraiya looked up and couldn't help but mutter, "What a little monster."

After leaving the tent, Genichi and Ina went to the medical corps' camp. Seeing that Shizune was busy, they didn't disturb her and left.

After resting for two hours, Genichi led his squad away from the front lines and back to Konoha. At this time, the Mist's offensive showed no signs of stopping. As Yagura had said, Genichi was strong, but he couldn't change the entire course of the war. On a vast battlefield, he could only influence the outcome of a local area. Unless that local area was crucial to the overall outcome of the war. But the battle his shadow clones had participated in was not one of those.

Even defeating the elite infiltration squad had only resolved one of Konoha's crises; it couldn't immediately decide the outcome of the battle. Since morning, the Mist-nin had been attacking continuously, like waves crashing against Konoha's defensive line without pause. Even with the arrival of reinforcements, Konoha's fourth defensive line only held until two in the afternoon before being breached. Genichi couldn't change the outcome of Konoha having to abandon it.

But the further back they were pushed, the thinner Konoha's defensive lines became, but their forces became more concentrated, making it harder for the Mist to break through. This was destined to be a protracted war.

By the time Genichi and his team returned to Konoha, it was already dark.

He had Tōdō take the prisoner to the Intelligence Division, then went to the Hokage's office to debrief. Hiruzen listened quietly, then said, "You did very well. After the Intelligence Division is done with the prisoner, he will be sent to the hospital. Go back and rest."

"Yes, sir," Genichi nodded.

He returned to the Anbu base, turned in his equipment, and dismissed the squad. Genichi and Ina walked home.

"Even though it's only been two days, it feels like this mission has been going on for a long time," Ina said, stretching as they walked down the street.

Genichi smiled. "That's because so much has happened."

Ina nodded. "I wonder when the war will end. I still prefer the days of training in the village." She turned to look at him and added silently, And the days I get to spend with you, Lord Genichi. Although they were together on missions, it wasn't the same. She liked the feeling of home.

"The war probably won't end so easily," Genichi said, clasping his hands behind his head. "In fact, it's probably just getting started. But it will end sooner or later. We'll definitely make it to the end."

Ina smiled and nodded. "Mhm!" No one is stronger than Lord Genichi!

When they got home, his parents, Yaji and Minako, were overjoyed to see their son and future daughter-in-law return. The whole village knew about the war now, so they were naturally worried. Seeing him back was the happiest thing for them. And so, his father went back to minding the dango shop, while his mother went upstairs to cook. Ina immediately followed to help.

Genichi went to the bathroom, filled the tub with hot water, and soaked himself in it.

"Ahh, so comfortable." Genichi rested his arms on the edge of the tub, enjoying the moment with his eyes closed while his mind began to work.

Today was the first time he had directly used the Eight-Tails' chakra in battle. His speed, strength, and reflexes had all been greatly enhanced. It was wild and ferocious. This was a result of the high quality of the Tailed Beast's chakra.

"This fighting style is pretty exhilarating, but it has no technique, just a bit crude. If only the quality of my own chakra could reach the level of the Eight-Tails'…" he mused.

At this very moment, inside the Eight Trigrams Seal, the Eight-Tails' chakra was leaking out and being converted into his own physical stamina through the seal's circulation system. The Tailed Beasts were truly astonishing creations. They were chakra aggregates, but they also possessed physical bodies, so their chakra could directly restore stamina. Not chakra, but stamina. In other words, through the Eight Trigrams Seal, the power of the Eight-Tails was being continuously absorbed by Genichi's cells, becoming nutrition.

"My constitution is actually being constantly influenced by the Tailed Beast's power, although the feeling isn't obvious on a daily basis. This subtle change is not like the drastic transformation of becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki. If enough time passes, I wonder if my body can be changed to be infinitely close to the Eight-Tails, so that the chakra I produce will also be infinitely close in quality?"

If enough time passed… ten years definitely wouldn't be enough. Twenty, thirty years might not be enough either…

"Thankfully, I have a cheat," Genichi sighed.

A ninja's chakra is formed by the combination of physical and spiritual energy. In this case, the physical body often determines the quality of the chakra. Unless… like the Uchiha clan, whose Kekkei Genkai enhancement came from a spiritual mutation, leading to a change in their chakra.

The spirit, the body. Genichi pondered.

Tailed Beast Power.

Nature Transformation.

Sage Mode.

These were the currently known methods for changing the quality of one's chakra. But there was another difficulty: the feedback of chakra into the body and spirit. Putting the spirit aside, there wasn't even a good method for the physical body yet.

"Next, I need to work hard on developing the potential brought by my Ice Release and see what the effects are, whether it can bring about a significant change in my constitution, or even an increase in chakra quality. As for the Tailed Beast chakra path, for now, I can only rely on time to slowly grind it out. It's not long until the next time I can overdraw from the future anyway."

"Sage Mode, the Sage Body…"

Genichi was certain that Sage Mode did not equal a Sage Body. Just look at the three great sage regions. They obviously didn't need to "enter" Sage Mode like Jiraiya did. Genichi suspected that the Slug Sage, Gamamaru, and the White Snake Sage could directly absorb natural energy into their bodies, or rather, their cells. What they used was naturally sage power, which could also be called senjutsu chakra.

Jūgo, who was prone to rampages, was probably a half-sage. If he could control his rampages, then he would likely have a Sage Body, directly feeding on natural energy.

"If only I could get my hands on the sages of the three great regions to study them…" A wicked thought surfaced in Genichi's mind. And he was very curious, did the Sage of Six Paths' body undergo sage transformation? If he were like Gamamaru, he should have lived for a very long time.

There were too many questions. Genichi couldn't help but curse internally, "What the hell does a manga artist know about Naruto anyway? He made such a mess of things."

Splash!

Genichi opened his eyes and stood up from the bathtub. After drying himself off, he couldn't help but swagger a bit, very satisfied. Already so well-equipped at such a young age. In a few more years, I'll be able to display my divine might.

He got dressed and went out to eat.

After dinner, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to go out alone, arriving at a small lake in the mountains behind Konoha. This was where his shadow clones had been training in Ice Release. He had come here now, of course, to develop his Ice Release. He had given it a small test run today, and the effect was good; he had completely countered the Hydrification Technique. Now he had to seriously consider the direction for its development.

(End of an Arc/Volume)

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