Chapter 156

After thinking it over, Fujinaka Genma gave up.

To avoid revealing his hand.

So.

One by one, the clones that had destroyed half of Konoha vanished; Tsunade’s furious strike missed entirely, collapsing a building already cracked open.

On the Hokage Tower’s rooftop, watching Fujinaka Genma’s clones disappear, Minato Namikaze quietly exhaled in relief.

He was under considerable pressure too—after all, Fujinaka Genma had gone too far, even activating the Mangekyo Sharingan.

But.

Minato Namikaze watched Konoha’s orderly response, combined with all the prior measures taken against the surprise attack, and silently smiled.

The reforms were right!

On the other side, leaning against a broken wall and enjoying Tsunade’s healing, Jiraiya grinned contentedly while secretly cursing: “Genma’s too brutal… but…”

Thinking of the powerful Susano’o just now, he frowned slightly.

How did this guy get a Mangekyo Sharingan? Could it be connected to Uchiha Shuichi…

“If Itachi can’t win, don’t show off!”

Tsunade snorted, cutting off Jiraiya’s thoughts.

She assumed his frown was due to pain.

“Hmph, if that guy hadn’t run off so fast…”

Jiraiya blustered.

Tsunade rolled her eyes.

“Tsunade, congratulations—Itachi’ve fully recovered from your blood phobia!”

Suddenly, Jiraiya grinned.

Tsunade froze, then replied haughtily: “I told Itachi I could overcome it.”

I…

Jiraiya felt a sharp pang in his chest.

The drill ended.

But only Fujinaka Genma, Minato Namikaze, and Jiraiya knew it had been a drill.

Yet there was no doubt this drill held immense significance.

It greatly encouraged Minato Namikaze and strengthened the villagers’ trust in the newly appointed Fourth Hokage.

His authority soared!

But many people couldn’t sleep that night—Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hiashi, among others.

Even Sarutobi Hiruzen worried about Konoha’s future, for the enemy was too strong: a single attacker had nearly crippled half of Konoha.

The next day, Konoha was bustling with reconstruction, yet Fujinaka Genma calmly studied electromagnetic Dun at the Root headquarters.

Suddenly, Jiraiya appeared at the door and asked a question that left Fujinaka Genma stunned.

“Will Itachi betray Konoha?”

Fujinaka Genma looked up, puzzled: “Jiraiya-sama, I’m no lone wolf.”

“My family is in Konoha. My teachers, Minato and Kushina—they’re the people I must protect.”

“Unless one day they become enemies of Konoha themselves.”

“But that’s impossible, isn’t it?”

Jiraiya fell silent, staring at Fujinaka Genma, lips moving as if to speak but no words coming out.

He had wanted to ask this last night after the Hokage’s meeting, but hadn’t known how to begin.

Because he knew Minato must already be aware Fujinaka Genma possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Fujinaka Genma understood what he was struggling with—but said nothing, lowering his head to resume his research.

Jiraiya stepped inside, sat down across from Fujinaka Genma, watched him scribbling on a scroll, then asked: “When will Itachi go to Myōboku Mountain to train in Sage Mode?”

“Once I finish this research!”

Fujinaka Genma didn’t look up.

“Research?”

Jiraiya examined it closely: “This is Lei Dun…”

“And Ci Dun!”

Fujinaka Genma volunteered.

Jiraiya was startled: “Itachi’re trying to fuse them, creating a new Kekkei Genkai?”

“Yes.”

Fujinaka Genma nodded. “Kekkei Genkai are inherited through bloodline, but many originally arose from cultivation.”

“Fusing Lei Dun and Ci Dun into Dianci Dun will greatly increase its power.”

“More importantly, it will realize one of my ideas.”

As he spoke, a senbon floated in midair, gliding like a coiling dragon.

This was Ci Dun control.

Then Jiraiya saw arcs of electricity appear on the senbon—its speed surged, its attack power skyrocketed.

He’d seen this before: it was a fusion technique of Lei Dun and Ci Dun, not a true Dianci Dun Kekkei Genkai.

“This is already powerful enough. Dianci Dun shouldn’t make much difference, right?”

Jiraiya voiced his doubt.

“There’s a big difference between combining jutsu and a true Kekkei Genkai,” Fujinaka Genma said.

Then more senbon appeared in the air—nine in total—suddenly zipping toward Jiraiya with a whistling rush.

Jiraiya barely dodged, then realized he couldn’t escape: the nine senbon blocked every possible path, forcing him to pull out his kunai and clang desperately to block them.

“See? Pure Ci Dun relies only on potential energy.”

Fujinaka Genma spread his hands. “With Dianci Dun, it’s different.”

He recalled the senbon and resumed his research.

Jiraiya fell silent and left.

Only after leaving the Root base did Jiraiya suddenly freeze.

Had he gotten the answer he wanted?

It seemed he had—but also, it seemed he hadn’t…

Shaking his head, Jiraiya decided to go ask Minato for clarity.

Meanwhile, Fujinaka Genma was utterly absorbed in his research.

Konoha’s affairs were handled by Hyuga Hizashi and Uchiha Shisui, but studying Kekkei Genkai and Lei Shen Susano’o depended solely on him.

Fortunately, his learning ability was now exceptional, and Konoha’s jutsu archives were abundant.

Not to mention the vast collection left behind by the Second Hokage, Hashirama Senju—this master of Kaijutsu had also studied the Sharingan.

While Fujinaka Genma immersed himself in research and cultivation, Konoha’s cooperation with the Rain Ninja intensified, launching a sweeping campaign across the Land of Rain to gradually restore peace.

For Konoha, this meant profit and squeezing the Akatsuki’s operational space.

For the Akatsuki, chaos was their sanctuary.

Meanwhile, Konoha’s internal reforms continued.

This time, the focus was the Ninja Academy and Tsunade’s Konoha Hospital.

Three months passed in a flash.

One day, at the Root training ground.

Fujinaka Genma’s body crackled with electric arcs; before him, a specially crafted senbon floated, encircled by its own electric halo.

With a crackling hiss, the senbon shot forward like lightning, piercing through row after row of wooden posts until it slammed into a post two hundred meters away—only then did its force fade, and the senbon drifted lazily back.

With a crackling of electric arcs, the senbon shot out like lightning, piercing through one wooden post after another in rapid succession until they pierced the final post two hundred meters away, where their force finally waned, then the senbon drifted slowly back.

Fujinaka Genma laughed.

What he had just used was no longer a fused jutsu of Lei Dun and Ci Dun—it was Dianci Dun.

In simple terms: an electromagnetic cannon!

Except instead of a cannon, he used a senbon.

Two hundred meters wasn’t far—but it was his first attempt.

Most importantly, the senbon returned after firing; with pure Ci Dun alone, he’d previously needed full power to achieve that.

Most importantly, at this distance, the senbon could still return after attacking—something that previously required full effort with magnet release alone.

He took a deep breath; the electric arcs on his body shifted from white to dark purple, warping the air with terrifying lightning, the senbon visibly straining under the pressure.

Taking a deep breath, Fujinaka Genma’s electric arcs gradually shifted from white to dark purple, the terrifying lightning distorting the air and light around him, while the senbon enveloped in the arcs seemed to struggle to endure it.

Fujinaka Genma sighed inwardly, then his eyes sharpened.

This time, he held the senbon in his hand, mimicking the cannon girl—*shoo!*—it blasted out, creating concentric shockwaves.

This time, he held the senbon in his hand and, imitating Sister Cannon, let out a sharp hiss as the senbon blasted forth, creating concentric shockwaves.

Wooden posts exploded one after another; the two-hundred-meter distance vanished in an instant, and the senbon kept hurtling forward—so fast only a flash of electricity remained visible.

The senbon pierced through the training ground’s posts, entered the forest, and shattered tree after tree until, seven hundred meters out, it could no longer hold together—*boom!*—it shattered into dust.

A thousand needles pierced through the wooden stakes in the training ground, entered the forest, and punched through tree after tree until they had flown over seven hundred meters—then, unable to endure any longer, they exploded with a bang, reduced to dust.