In this era, Gin didn't know many people, and most of them didn't have the opportunity to learn the Basic Inner Power technique.
After all, telling those already-established ninjas that he had a secret technique that could enhance their combat abilities would be met with skepticism.
Only a few were more gullible.
He put a piece of cake into his mouth, and the sweetness spread, filling him with a sense of happiness.
"So sweet."
Just as he was about to take another piece, a cat paw rested on his hand, stopping him.
A pair of blue cat eyes stared intently at Gin, accompanied by a meow.
"What about your promise?"
"And where's your stretcher?"
"What nonsense."
Kitty pounced and scratched wildly, but Gin held it down with one hand, pressing it onto the table where it struggled madly.
"Alright, alright, I'll buy a year's supply of cat treats tomorrow."
Hearing this, Kitty stopped struggling, and Gin cuddled the cat, stroking its fur.
Even cats were negotiating these days. It wasn't easy.
He casually tossed Kitty onto the floor, and it flipped over, landing steadily.
"Play on your own for now; you can stay here temporarily."
Gin's house didn't have any summoned beasts. Besides him, there was hardly a soul around, so letting a cat stay wasn't an issue.
Kitty licked its paws, seemingly indifferent to his words.
Gin went upstairs and opened the storage room.
"Less than a year, I need to increase my combat strength."
To prepare for the potential future battlefield.
His eyes scanned a bookshelf filled with neatly arranged scrolls.
After all, it was a Jonin's house, so having many ninjutsu scrolls was normal.
A small portion was obtained from missions, like the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique), while the rest was divided into two parts: one part was the Uchiha Clan's collection of ninjutsu, and the other was a variety of fūinjutsu (sealing techniques).
But these couldn't compare to the ninjutsu stored in Konoha's library.
Though the Uchiha Clan's collection was more extensive, Konoha's library had copies of all of them.
Beside the bookshelf was a round wooden table with six ninjutsu scrolls rotating on it.
These were the ninjutsu techniques Gin had spent a long time deducing.
He hadn't been idle during his restrictions. His eyes glanced at the titles on the scrolls.
They were:
Soru (Shave), Kami-e (Paper Drawing), Shigan (Finger Gun), Tekkai (Iron Body), Neko-go (Cat Language), and Basic Inner Power.
He had achieved four of the Rokushiki (Six Styles) from the One Piece world. Rankyaku (Storm Leg) and Geppo (Moonwalk) couldn't be completed without external chakra release.
Or unless his body could multiply its strength tenfold.
To complete the four techniques, he had spent most of his time on them, only now starting to teach Basic Inner Power to others.
To teach others, he needed a guarantee, otherwise, he would just be giving away everything for free.
Once he mastered stronger techniques, he would pass these on.
"Thinking back, it's been tough."
To complete the first four techniques, he had to explore each possibility bit by bit, complete the theory, and then submit it for deduction, failing multiple times.
It was like writing a college thesis.
Fortunately, he finally completed it, which was his guarantee here.
As for Neko-go, he had spent some time communicating with cats, collecting their sounds, and completing the deduction.
Basic Inner Power was the foundation of everything he had now.
"With my current strength, I should be able to handle an average Chunin. Even a Jonin, or Tokubetsu Jonin, would find it easy to defeat me."
This was theoretically speaking; he hadn't actually fought a Chunin yet, but his paper strength was solid.
"But my advantage lies in close combat. Ninjas use medium and long-range attacks. I need a way to counter long-range ninjutsu."
"Shunpo (Flash Step)."
Gin had made up his mind: speed is strength. He always believed that.
If he couldn't win, he could at least run. He wanted something like the Lingbo Weibu, enhanced tenfold by chakra.
If Soru could extend his movement range, no one could catch him or hit him.
He already had some theories in mind but hadn't had time to complete them.
"Use Kami-e for sensing, Soru for movement, and combine it with the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams."
In his past life, he had been guided to believe in superstition for a while, reading books on the Eight Trigrams and I Ching.
Although his memory was fuzzy, he could use deduction to recall it.
He brought up the deduction text box, and with a thought, the blurred Eight Trigrams and I Ching appeared.
He then found some ninjutsu scrolls related to movement on the bookshelf and investigated the range of large-scale ninjutsu.
He needed to organize all these details, complete his idea, and finally input it into the text box.
"Deduction."
Results should come soon.
[Deduction Failed]
Gin: (｀⊿).
"Honestly, are you a university professor in disguise, trying to make me write a thesis!!"
"Do I even have to check for plagiarism!! Damn it!!"
This system that made people write theses seemed suspicious!
"Where did it go wrong?"
Gin began to review the thesis... ahem... the theory he had organized.
At this moment, his pupils contracted into a dot, quickly returning to normal, his face showing a delighted expression.
"Kushina actually made it!!"
...
A little while earlier.
Kushina had seen Minato off and was leaning on the windowsill, resting her chin on her hands, watching the falling raindrops.
"But why is my little brother so shy and silly?"
She was lost in her worries. Minato had left looking dazed and blushing.
And that annoying Uchiha didn't even need to be mentioned.
"You two will never find girlfriends in the future."
Kushina looked disgusted.
One was shy, and the other had a sharp tongue.
After tidying up the table, she returned to her room.
This house belonged to Mito. When the Nine-Tails was sealed inside Kushina, Mito had passed away.
This place became her home, but it didn't feel like one.
"I feel like an outsider here."
Kushina sat on the bed, immersing her mind into her body.
This might be the only way to stop overthinking.
The ninjutsu she had received from that Uchiha put her in a peaceful state when used, gradually organizing her chaotic thoughts.
According to Basic Inner Power, the dantian area.
Chakra there wove into an egg shape, occupying her lower abdomen. Any newly born chakra would be absorbed into the egg.
Even the Nine-Tails' chakra would be absorbed into it.
What was originally a blue egg had turned golden.
"Isn't that fox supposed to be red?"
Kushina was puzzled. Sometimes she could enter the sealed space within her body and see the fox locked in the sewer.
Now she could do it more easily.
Inside the golden egg, a more complex sealing technique occupied the center, with red spots slowly oozing red chakra, which then turned golden.
Initially, there was a lot of red chakra, but now only a little was seeping out.
Even a little bit was enough. Over time, the golden chakra egg had solidified.
According to Basic Inner Power, as chakra accumulated, what started as various chakra lines forming the sealing technique would turn into a transparent light egg, then a solid, opaque one like it was now.
"I seem to have completed the first stage."
Kushina pondered.
The first stage was essentially about accumulating chakra, which wasn't very difficult, so anyone with chakra could complete it.
The challenging part was the second step.
"Using chakra to seal all the body's chakra flow pathways, and chakra needs to be drawn from the egg to construct the sealing technique."
But the amount required wasn't specified in Basic Inner Power, nor had that Uchiha mentioned it.
"It must be quite a lot."
Kushina frowned slightly, sinking her mind into the center of the chakra egg.
In the dark space, a massive rock prison surrounded by mountains appeared.
In the darkness of the rock prison, a pair of crimson eyes opened, glanced at the little girl appearing there, and then closed again.
Kushina wasn't afraid, stepping up to the sealed gate, seeing the giant fox lying on the ground as if asleep.
She kicked the bars with both feet, making a "clang" sound.
"Big fox, don't sleep. Lend me some chakra."
The Nine-Tails didn't even lift an eyelid, its voice clear.
"No."
If it were anyone else, he would lend the chakra, causing the jinchuriki to lose control and break the seal, granting him freedom.
But this little brat, after learning that hateful technique, was absorbing his chakra.
What kind of jutsu was that? He had never heard of such a strange jutsu. It was the natural enemy of tailed beasts.
Even worse than Mito. At least Mito would just hit him when in a bad mood; this brat was outright robbing him!!
Her idea of borrowing was blatantly stealing!
"Stupid fox, are you lending it or not?" Kushina's hair started to bristle in anger at the refusal.
The Nine-Tails turned around, showing her its rear, making its stance clear.
Which only infuriated Kushina more.
"Stupid fox, if you won't lend it, I'll take it!!"
Three chains extended from her back, crossing the bars towards the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails sensed something was wrong, trying to turn around, but the chains pierced it, causing a howl of pain.
"Ow!!"
Back in her body, Kushina blushed and looked at the ceiling, whispering an apology.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it. But you turned your back on me."
(Nine-Tails: I consider you the fiercest jinchuriki.)
There was no time to dwell on this. A massive amount of chakra started pouring from the chakra egg, so much that it couldn't be absorbed quickly enough.
She quickly stabilized herself, trying to control the chakra. Thankfully, the egg was absorbing it efficiently, preventing it from escaping.
Otherwise, people outside would notice.
"Seal all the body's chakra pathways."
"Basic Inner Power, Second Stage 'Opening Body Stage' Complete!"
(End of Chapter)