Chapter 45: Sukunahikona, Ten No Shiso

(T/N: There is now a p.atreon for this work, and any new work I add will be dropped there first. check it out for an early release of up to 30 chapters edited smoothly. https://www.p.atreon.com/INeedRest)

(Four chapters today for you lot!)

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After sending the rescued hostages back to their villages, Colt and Maruboshi Kosuke received heartfelt gratitude from the villagers.

Colt had also successfully completed the first mission of his life.

Seeing that it was getting late, Maruboshi Kosuke proposed staying at an inn, in a nearby town for the night.

Anyway, there was nothing urgently awaiting them back in Konoha, Colt readily agreed.

Proper rest was also part of the training experience.

Coincidentally, he also needed a quiet place to study the newly awakened Mangekyo Sharingan.

...

Inside the hotel room, Colt set up a simple alarm barrier seal to prevent outsiders from intruding.

Sitting on the bed, the distinct pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan manifested in both his eyes.

The surging ocular power boiled in his mind, and Colt felt the four dojutsu techniques embedded within.

That's right, four techniques.

Two belonged to his autonomously awakened abilities, and the other two were Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, which belonged to Itachi's eyes. Which were given by him when he was treating him.

After some examination, Colt also identified the nature of his two personal mangekyo abilities.

Sadly, they were not the highly coveted 'dual Kamui' that he was hoping for.

The first dojutsu technique, [Sukunahikona], can shrink any inanimate object down and instantly restore it to its original size.

As for living beings, he can only shrink himself and not other people.

The second dojutsu technique, [Ten No Shiso (Heaven's Thoughts)], allows controlling any object infused with his own chakra, and he can even transmit chakra through the air itself.

Tremendously overpowered indeed.

After seeing the effects of these two dojutsu techniques, an idea instantly formed in Colt's mind.

Sukunahikona was simply too powerful in shrinking any object. If Naruto throws a Sage Art: Massive Rasenshuriken, then Colt can directly use the technique to turn it into a miniature Rasenshuriken, drastically reducing its destructive power.

At critical moments, he can also reduce his own body so that the enemy loses line of sight of him, which was extremely disadvantageous to them.

As for Ten No Shiso, while impressive alone, when combined with Sukunahikona, the two became a perfect symbiotic match.

However, Sukunahikona... This seems to be an extremely rare ability.

Not just unique here, but unique to the entire world outside too.

Looking at the Kaminari sword hanging on the wall, he directly controlled it to float over with Ten No Shiso and then used Sukunahikona to shrink it down.

In the end, it became like a sword pendant necklace that he wore around his neck.

This saved him a lot of hassle.

Colt was not at all concerned about the Mangekyo's fabled side effect of blindness from overusing these eyes.

He has the Sage Body, and this deficiency has been automatically compensated without even feeling it.

Not only that, he also found that his ocular power reserves were still growing at an incredible rate.

It seems the Mangekyo was not an end-state, but merely a new beginning.

Perhaps, when the ocular power has accumulated to a certain level, the eternal Mangekyo will naturally awaken.

"System, open my character status."

The status screen unfurled into view:

[Name: Kamiyo Colt]

[Age: 13]

[Constitution: 4396 (Sage Body awakening)]

[Spirit: 3900 (Sharingan awakening)]

[Chakra: 5.6]

[Talent: Ninja Lineage]

[Skills: Chakra Control (9), Raikiri (9), Chidori Stream (9), Rasengan (8) and more...]

[Chakra Natures: Wind (8), Lightning (9), Earth (7), Fire (8), Water (7), Yin (7), Yang (8)]

[Points: 45,654]

[Evaluation: Kage-level in strength, well-rounded with no dead ends, a ninjutsu grandmaster of this generation.]

[Possesses high-level fearsome ninjutsu, and exaggerated Chakra Transformation capabilities.]

Colt's status screen was gorgeous.

Among them, the Ninja Lineage talent had played a decisive role.

It was precisely because of this talent that Colt's various ninjutsu levels could be rapidly honed to such insane heights.

If it's only about a single nature transformation, this ninja world can probably compete with him in that one attribute.

But if talking about all five basic elements plus yin and yang releases, sorry, there really isn't anyone comparable.

Not even Nagato can match up completely.

Of course, this does not mean that Colt can necessarily defeat Nagato. After all, the Rinnegan's hax abilities were indeed quite the bullshit, and he still needed to train diligently.

After appreciating his status, Colt rested contentedly.

As for researching the Susanoo too thoroughly, it was not suitable to do so openly here.

He'll wait until he can find an unmanned training ground environment to safely experiment.

...

Early the next morning, Colt and Maruboshi Kosuke greeted each other and went out into the streets.

After such an arduous mission trip, he had to bring back some small gifts for Hinata and Ino.

But as he was walking around, there were increasingly big bags and small pouches in his hands.

No way, since he was bringing gifts for Hinata and the others, Naruto should also get some.

And since Naruto was getting them, shouldn't Shikamaru and Chōji also receive gifts?

Thinking of this, Colt simply counted all the Rookie Nine, leaving no one behind.

Of course, here referring to the new generation Rookie Nine, not counting Haruno Sakura.

If counting Sakura, it would be the Thirteen Rookies (including Team Guy), and the number 13 was not auspicious.

Finding a secluded spot, he used Sukunahikona to shrink all the bags in his hands down to the size of military ration pills, and stuffed them directly into his ninja pouch.

On the return journey, the two of them slowed down considerably.

Colt also took this opportunity to ask Maruboshi Kosuke about kenjutsu.

The Konoha-Ryū Yanagi was a Genjutsu-focused sword style, which does not match Colt's personality favoring brute force offense.

But that doesn't mean Kosuke had nothing to teach him.

After living for so many years, it was no exaggeration to call him a living fossil archive of Konoha's martial knowledge, and there was much worthwhile wisdom in Maruboshi Kosuke.

The two walked and talked simultaneously along the way.

Throughout the journey, Maruboshi Kosuke's appreciation for Colt had been raised to a new level.

'This kid's talent is too high, often a single casual pointer will bring forth tremendous insights.'

In just those two days, when they arrived back at Konoha's gates…

Colt had learned around seventy to eighty percent of his swordsmanship fundamentals.

The two relying on sword skills alone to spar and train, it took a supreme effort for the seasoned old man to barely edge out against Colt.

Looking at Konoha which he had not seen for a few days, Colt felt the intimacy of a returning native son.

It turned out that before he knew it, he had already made this place his true home.

'Yes, I have lovers and friends here.'

Only their existence can make him feel that the world was real and mattered.

Colt, standing at the gates of Konoha, shook his head and laughed wryly.

Just how old was he now?

To be so sentimental and pondering about such things.

'I can be at peace here, this is my hometown after all.'