Uchiha Haruki raised both hands, formed precise hand seals, and channeled the chakra within his body to perform the ninjutsu—Wind Release: Wings of Wind!
In the next moment, a pair of pale blue wings appeared on his back.
Compared to the original version, after leveling up to Lv1 and reaching the entry-level threshold, his chakra wings had undergone several changes.
The most noticeable was their size.
The wings had shrunk from their original two meters down to just under one and a half meters, making them appear much more compact.
However, despite the reduced length, their effectiveness had significantly improved.
With a single thought, a surge of Wind Release chakra burst out from the wings.
As a result, Haruki's feet lifted from the surface of the sea, and his entire body began to rise.
The chakra continued to propel him upward, taking his figure higher and higher.
Very soon, he had left the ocean far behind and soared into the sky.
Looking down at the rapidly shrinking Eagle's Beak Cliff far below, a natural wave of fear washed over Haruki—a primal reaction for a land-dwelling creature suddenly suspended at great heights. In simpler terms: fear of heights!
Though Haruki had been training with Wings of Wind for some time now, he had never flown this high before. It truly was a first-time experience.
Inhale~~~ Exhale~~~
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, forcing himself to overcome the fear. He stopped looking down and, with a firm thought, controlled the chakra wings to gently flap—
In the next moment, his body soared forward.
Yes, now that his Wings of Wind had reached Lv1, he could finally fly.
As for flight speed—
After a few minutes of testing, Haruki made an estimate: about 10 meters per second, or 36 kilometers per hour.
That speed…
Well, it was about as fast as an electric scooter from his past life.
In this world, that wasn't even as fast as most ninja could run.
Another downside was the chakra consumption. Using Wings of Wind to fly drained a significant amount of chakra.
Even for Haruki, it felt quite painful.
Still, the technique had its advantages.
At the very least, while flying with Wings of Wind, he didn't need to worry about the terrain below.
And taking a straight-line route would definitely save a lot of time.
Besides, this was just Lv1. As the skill leveled up, it could only become more refined. In that sense, it held great potential!
Pulling his thoughts back, Haruki glanced at the sky. The sun had already set, and dusk was creeping in.
Without delay, he turned and flew back toward Eagle's Beak Cliff.
However, just as he neared the area, several Konoha ninja jumped out from behind cover, drew kunai, and looked up at him with alert eyes.
"Who goes there?" one of them barked.
Hearing this, Haruki activated his Sharingan and looked toward the voice. He immediately recognized them as sentinels posted at the outpost.
Having just successfully developed a flying jutsu, Haruki had been feeling quite pleased—so much so that he forgot this direction was under strict surveillance.
Flying in so boldly like this was sure to draw attention.
Maybe I should learn a jutsu for concealing my presence...
The thought surfaced, but he quickly pushed it aside. Now wasn't the time for such musings. To avoid further misunderstandings, Haruki gave a quick flap of his wings and descended.
"Captain?"
Once he landed and the sentries got a good look at his face, they called out in surprise and doubt.
"Yeah, it's me."
Haruki nodded in response and immediately spoke the password.
Here, one couldn't rely on appearance alone to confirm identity.
After all, with Transformation Jutsu and other similar techniques, a ninja's appearance could easily be altered.
That's why passwords were standard protocol.
Only after Haruki gave the correct password did the guards relax completely.
Then, one of them asked curiously, "Captain, did you succeed?"
As he spoke, his eyes landed on the chakra wings still faintly glowing behind Haruki.
Haruki glanced at the speaker and, seeing it was a young Chūnin from the Uchiha clan, immediately understood.
Only a fellow clansman would dare to ask such a question.
After all, cultivation—especially among ninjas who treat intelligence as life—is a private matter.
Even though Haruki hadn't kept his research into flight jutsu a secret, and many in the base were aware of it, no one would randomly bring it up.
Only those from his own clan or close confidants would speak so casually.
Perhaps because he was in a good mood, Haruki wasn't annoyed. He simply nodded lightly and walked away.
Watching his back, the young Uchiha—Uchiha Hikaru—murmured with envy, "I wish I could be like the Captain one day!"
At this, the nearby ninja chuckled.
"Hikaru, quit dreaming. The Captain is a true genius. There's no point comparing."
"Yeah, Hikaru, even if you're from the same clan, I don't think you'll ever catch up," another one added.
Hearing that, Hikaru's face flushed red, his youthful pride ignited. He stiffened his neck and declared, "Just wait! One day I'll surpass the Captain and prove you all wrong!"
"Hahaha!"
The group burst out laughing clearly not taking him seriously.
Haruki, meanwhile, was unaware of their chatter. After responding to Hikaru's question, he deactivated the chakra wings and headed back to his quarters.
······
Inside the room.
Haruki quickly freshened up, made some food, filled his stomach, and began planning his next moves.
Now that he had successfully developed a flight jutsu, all that remained was to grind it further. It was also time to make arrangements for what came next.
After a long period of contemplation, Haruki came up with a plan.
First, as per his previous schedule, he would study the Mind Link Secret Technique to improve information transfer between his real body and shadow clones.
Second, he would prepare for developing the Shadow Sword Technique, which would be based on further research into the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique derived from the Shadow Clone Technique.
Lastly—and most importantly—he would contact the Uchiha clan to request books and scrolls on developing Earth Release Chakra.
That's right—he was preparing to develop his fourth chakra nature.
The successful creation of Wings of Wind had given him a deeper mastery over Wind Release chakra.
But further improvement in that area would be difficult in the short term.
So, after careful thought, he decided it was time to unlock a new chakra nature.
Why choose Earth Release instead of Lightning Release?
The answer was simple: he lacked defense.
Sure, his constitution stat was already high, and his physical toughness far surpassed ordinary ninja, but at the end of the day, he was still flesh and blood.
He could still bleed. He could still die.
So, to cover this weakness, he planned to learn one or two defensive ninjutsu.
And when it came to defense, Earth Release had the advantage. He still remembered the impressive Earth Release: Earth Spear technique used by Kakuzu.
Unfortunately, at that time, Haruki hadn't yet developed Earth nature chakra, so he couldn't copy it.
However, he firmly believed that with the thousand-year heritage of the Uchiha clan, finding similar techniques wouldn't be a problem.
Of course, Lightning Release also had defensive jutsu, like the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, but most Lightning techniques were known for their offensive power.
So, better not to burden the Uchiha clan unnecessarily.
Would they even agree to his request?
What a joke. He was currently the pride of the Uchiha clan—how could they refuse?
With that in mind, Haruki pulled out pen and paper and began writing a letter.