Chapter 18: The Third Hokage's Investment and the Flying Thunder God

"Iruka, what brings you here again?" The Third Hokage looked at Iruka with some surprise. He had been coming quite frequently lately, almost forgetting to put away his crystal ball.

"I'm here again because of Natsuwari. I want to get him a library card." Iruka said. The library he was referring to was naturally not an ordinary library, but one that stored information about ninjutsu.

"Oh? Why did you suddenly think of getting him a library card?" The Third Hokage was a bit puzzled.

Iruka explained Natsuwari's situation to the Third Hokage with a helpless expression, saying that his talent was beyond what he could teach, so it would be more beneficial to help him get a library card.

"Shadow Clone? Are you sure there's no problem?" The Third Hokage frowned. Unlike Iruka, as the Hokage, he was very clear about the risks of this technique.

"Yes, Natsuwari has been using the Shadow Clone to come to school for more than a day or two, and his condition has been good every day." Iruka replied.

"Is that so? Talent, huh?" The Third Hokage murmured. Learning the Shadow Clone was good, but it wasn't too surprising. After all, it was a jutsu, and anyone could learn it.

But being able to use the Shadow Clone for studying was surprising. The only explanation was talent. The Third Hokage had seen all kinds of talented people.

Of course, he was still a bit surprised because Natsuwari's family background was clean, and it was impossible for him to have Uzumaki bloodline.

"In that case, we can open up non-ninjutsu knowledge to him." The Third Hokage made a decision after some thought.

A clean family background, a genius, hardworking, and mature. Any village would provide resources to such an individual because they were bound to grow up and become pillars of the village.

Soon, a library card certificate was handed from the Third Hokage to Iruka.

"You can take Natsuwari to take a photo and attach it later." The Third Hokage said.

"Yes!" Iruka took the library card, feeling both happy and shocked. The level of access the Third Hokage had granted was much higher than he had imagined. Even just knowledge was classified into different levels.

Of course, while Iruka was shocked, he was also happy for Natsuwari. Being noticed by the Third Hokage meant that his student's future was bright.

After Iruka left, the Third Hokage took a deep drag on his pipe and exhaled a cloud of smoke. He had already written a letter to Jiraiya before, but he was a bit angry that Jiraiya didn't intend to come back.

Now, after witnessing Natsuwari's talent and hard work, the Third Hokage decided to write another letter. The growth of a genius also required proper guidance, as well as a bond with the village. Jiraiya and Tsunade were undoubtedly suitable candidates, but...

The Third Hokage handed the letter to a toad and sighed deeply.

"Sigh!"

The next day, in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage looked at the crystal ball on the desk.

Inside the crystal ball was the scene of Natsuwari training. After watching for a while, the Third Hokage shifted the scene to the Ninja Academy, but the protagonist of the scene was still Natsuwari.

This time, the Third Hokage was slightly taken aback because he also saw Naruto beside Natsuwari, and they seemed to have a good relationship.

Seeing this, the Third Hokage couldn't help but ponder. In the end, he felt that this combination was quite good. If Natsuwari became strong enough, he could also help when the tailed beast went out of control, and maybe he could even awaken Naruto because of their bond...

Natsuwari naturally didn't know that he was being observed by the Third Hokage using the Telescope Technique. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care much. He didn't have any unspeakable secrets.

Later, Natsuwari successfully got the library card from Iruka and went to the heavily guarded library to try borrowing books.

The result was gratifying. He could even directly borrow B-rank knowledge. Although ninjutsu wasn't allowed to be borrowed, this was completely enough for Natsuwari.

With his current chakra level, he didn't even think about learning any ninjutsu.

And this library card was obviously not something that Iruka, a Chunin, could get, let alone get it for someone else. So Natsuwari quickly understood that he had been noticed by the Third Hokage, who had also given him great convenience.

Natsuwari was content with this. He didn't expect to get the Flying Thunder God Technique just by being noticed. That was something that only happened in dreams.

Although the Flying Thunder God wasn't a must-learn in Natsuwari's plan, it had a very high priority. After all, this ninjutsu was too famous in the hands of the Fourth Hokage.

Most importantly, its chakra consumption shouldn't be particularly high because the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, didn't have any special bloodline. His chakra amount couldn't compare to those monsters. So even if Natsuwari's chakra wasn't enough now, it would be enough for the Flying Thunder God's consumption in the future.

However, learning the Flying Thunder God also required talent, not only in space-time ninjutsu but also in reaction and combat.

With the Flying Thunder God, the Fourth Hokage became a ninja feared by enemy ninjas. It was simply because as long as one didn't have a certain level of strength, facing the Flying Thunder God was too difficult to counter.

But for those with some strength, like the Third Raikage, they probably wouldn't be that afraid of the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God. After all, it was quite difficult for the Fourth to break through the Third Raikage's defense, and even if he did, it was hard to inflict fatal damage.

If it was a desperate fight where escape wasn't allowed, it was hard to say who would win between the two.

Thinking of this, Natsuwari clicked his tongue. The Third Raikage was also an outstanding figure among ordinary people, and it was a pity that the Fourth died too early.

Otherwise, with the Fourth's talent, he could basically create the Rasenshuriken or similar powerful ninjutsu, which could make up for his lack of attack power 'compared to other aspects.' Then, what was there to worry about with the Third Raikage?

Moreover, according to Natsuwari's speculation, the negative effects of the Rasenshuriken wouldn't even affect the Fourth Hokage. No, it should be said that it wouldn't affect ninjas who could use the Flying Thunder God.

Because at the moment the Rasenshuriken exploded, the Fourth could directly use the Flying Thunder God to leave the explosion range, and the accuracy was even higher than throwing it with Sage Mode. It was just that the power was inferior to the Rasenshuriken condensed with Sage Mode.

Plus, the Fourth also knew Sage Mode, although he wasn't very proficient and needed a lot of time to accumulate natural energy, and the accumulated amount could only be used for a short time. In short, it wasn't very practical. But at critical moments, using Sage Art: Rasenshuriken, coupled with the Flying Thunder God to sneak attack those Ten-Tails Jinchuriki... it was estimated...

It would be quite exhilarating~

Natsuwari narrowed his eyes and decided that he would fulfill the Fourth's unfulfilled wish! (Fourth Hokage: I don't have such a wish...)

Natsuwari was just a little worried about whether he had the talent to learn the Flying Thunder God. After all, even Obito or Kakashi, who possessed Kamui, seemed to have only obtained that ability because of their bloodline limit and didn't have the talent to learn it.

From beginning to end, only the Second Hokage, the creator, and the Fourth Hokage had mastered the Flying Thunder God.

Bloodline limit was bloodline limit. Talent in bloodline limit didn't represent one's overall talent!

So the requirements for learning the Flying Thunder God were really very high. However, Natsuwari's eyes also showed determination. He could only believe that his talent was enough.

And now, he would continue to work hard. He needed to add the knowledge from the library to his current plan. It was fulfilling and enjoyable because it felt really good to clearly sense his own gradual improvement. The increasing amount of chakra every day could prove everything!

(End of Chapter)