Arriving in the world of Naruto.
It has already been thirteen years.
From being overly cautious to borrowing the power of others.
He had endured being called useless for a long time without much resistance, but with Sakumo backing him, he dared to confront the Uchiha elders.
And now.
Gin felt like he finally had some real power.
Power that didn't require him to fear anyone.
There were now fewer than a handful of people in the entire Konoha who could threaten him.
There was no need to think about running anymore.
As long as it wasn't those few people.
He would see who could still stand against him.
He was just one step away from being able to overturn everything.
Thinking about this, Gin almost laughed out loud.
"You seem very happy today, Gin."
Minato's face appeared in front of him, and seeing Minato's smiling face, Gin couldn't help but think of the sun.
Some people just naturally exude a certain charm.
"It's alright," Gin said with a smile.
His smile had a unique character too.
That kind of smile that didn't reach the eyes.
Minato found it strange; Gin's smile looked like a mask.
He didn't know when exactly he had stopped caring about these details.
When they first met, he had always been wary of Gin.
"Dango, here."
Kushina handed over three sticks of dango.
Gin and Minato each took one.
The three of them sat in a circle, eating dango and watching the snow.
"So sweet," Gin said.
He was indeed very happy today.
After all, he had reached the strength of an elite jōnin, and that strength was already considered a major milestone.
In the world of Naruto, there wasn't actually a clear concept of ranks.
A genin could still kill a jōnin with a kunai.
The ranking system was more about position, experience, and the number of jutsus mastered.
But that was in the past.
Now, a ranking system was gradually emerging within the village.
It was being assessed by the ninjas who survived the battlefield.
Ranked based on Basic Inner Technique.
The first rank consisted of regular ninjas without Basic Inner Technique.
Since the capable ninjas had already learned the Basic Inner Technique, this stage was called "Mu-nin."
Ninjas who posed no threat at all.
The second rank was the first layer of Basic Inner Technique, the Nourishment Stage.
Ninjas at this stage could not use ninjutsu, but their taijutsu was exceptional.
Generally, these ninjas were at the genin level.
They were evaluated as Nourishment Genin.
The third rank was those who had reached the second layer of Basic Inner Technique, the Opening Stage.
The reason these ninjas could quickly advance was that their chakra levels were sufficient.
They were also called Opening Chūnin.
The fourth rank consisted of ninjas with jōnin-level strength but still in the Opening Stage.
They were called Opening Stronger.
The fifth stage consisted of renowned elite jōnin.
They were called Opening Peak.
In other words.
The ranks were now gradually being named Mu, Nourishment, and Opening in three levels.
As for the Kage level, it was actually just a title, and the respect ninjas had for the Kage was not based on power level alone.
More often, it was referred to as a tailed-beast-level strength.
This terminology was only spreading among the ninjas of Konoha.
Other villages might have different terms.
And this power ranking wasn't entirely accurate.
It should be noted that Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya were all elite jōnin, but after obtaining Basic Inner Technique...
They had the strength to bear the title of Kage.
The so-called Opening Peak was no longer sufficient to describe them.
"These days won't last long, after all," Minato sighed.
Gin saw the gloomy expressions on both Minato and Kushina.
"Yeah, things aren't too peaceful with the Cloud Village either."
Gin took a bite of the dango.
Although the Cloud Village had not directly intervened in the war, they were still sending people to harass the rear of the Land of Fire.
The Konoha ninjas who had recovered from their injuries were all dispatched to other regions of the Land of Fire to deal with the Cloud and Stone ninjas infiltrating the area.
Among them, the casualties were not insignificant.
Of course, since it wasn't home-ground warfare, the Cloud and Stone ninjas suffered even more casualties.
But Konoha couldn't keep up with this kind of struggle; if it continued, they would just wait for death.
It could be said that Konoha was in a big crisis this time.
Fortunately, the first two layers of Basic Inner Technique provided only limited enhancement to the top-level strong.
At most, it increased lifespan and allowed them to accumulate chakra.
But at that level, the amount of chakra wouldn't change much.
The only thing that could change everything now...
Was who could break through to the third layer, which would alter the entire battle situation.
After all, the third layer of Basic Inner Technique was a qualitative change.
In Gin's estimation, that level was the same as Madara and Hashirama's level, which could be called "Super Kage."
Theoretically, if a Jinchūriki and their Tailed Beast truly understood each other and worked together, they could also reach this level.
At the present stage, no such Jinchūriki existed.
Gin suddenly had a bad premonition.
It felt like he had forgotten something important.
Something that could overturn everything.
...
Sunagakure.
The prison holding the One-Tail Jinchūriki.
As a person who had been a Jinchūriki since childhood, Bunpuku was still being held here.
With a few white hairs in his beard, Bunpuku was sitting cross-legged in his cell.
But his consciousness had entered the sealed world.
He sat cross-legged on a bottomless lake.
Behind him stood the enormous One-Tail Shukaku.
"Old man, if you use my power, you can reach that level—why don't you use it?" Shukaku shouted in dissatisfaction.
If this old man could gain that power...
Getting out of here would be easy.
But why?
"Why don't you try it?" Bunpuku said calmly without opening his eyes.
"But you might die, right?"
Compared to the other Tailed Beasts, Shukaku had much less chakra, and if too much was consumed, he might even die.
According to the village's estimation, sacrificing the One-Tail could allow someone to reach the third layer of Basic Inner Technique.
That was power capable of altering the entire ninja world's battle situation.
But Bunpuku lied to the senior officials of Sunagakure.
He said he couldn't do it.
Shukaku opened his mouth, suddenly feeling choked up. Other than the Sage of Six Paths, this was the first time anyone had cared for him.
Yet he lowered his head to Bunpuku.
"I'm not immortal. As long as chakra exists in this world, I will revive."
"But dying is a very painful thing."
Bunpuku calmly retorted.
"You old geezer!"
Shukaku cursed, turning away.
He was mad.
Clearly capable of reaching the level of Madara and Hashirama.
But worried about him, Bunpuku refused to do it.
"You damn old man, you deserve to be locked up here!"
Shukaku cursed again, feeling a little moisture in his eyes.
Can Tailed Beasts shed tears?
"This is fine," Bunpuku pressed his hands together.
"Hey, old man, if you're ever in mortal danger, go ahead and break through. If you die, I'll be sealed in someone even worse."
"I might not necessarily die, you know."
"Hmm."
Bunpuku replied, and it was unclear whether he had agreed or not.
The sealing space was utterly quiet.
Night, second.
(End of Chapter)