The next morning, Fujimoto Tōma did something he rarely allowed himself to do—he skipped shadow-clone study.
Instead, he sat cross-legged with the Fourth Hokage's specially crafted kunai resting in his hands.Its metal was cold, weight balanced, the engraved phrase—"Sword of Shinobi Love"—catching faint morning light.Within those four characters lay the Flying Thunder God mark… the key to everything.
Tōma inhaled steadily and began feeding his chakra into the seal.
Not into the kunai itself—into the mark.
A normal weapon would never accept chakra so easily.This one was designed by the Fourth himself to be a learning gateway.If it weren't, then even the Fourth's… less perceptive apprentice would've noticed the seal carved into his gear ages ago.
This kunai was not for battle.He would never risk damaging it.The mark might be durable, but the metal holding it was not indestructible.
Even so, the process shocked him.
Something so small—just four engraved characters—held a complexity that made his chakra feel clumsy.Even with his refined control, progress crawled.
Two… maybe three days to fully infuse it, he estimated.And that was him.
Most Academy students wouldn't even reach the starting line.One wrong push of chakra, and they'd shatter the imprint entirely.
That alone said everything about how unforgiving the Flying Thunder God truly was.
If he hadn't discovered his Deep Focus State while fumbling through senjutsu theory earlier in life, he probably wouldn't have passed this first step either.He'd have the potential—sure.But it would take him weeks.
Today, he managed only a portion before his chakra dipped too low.
He set the kunai down and stretched.
He still needed to train.Knowledge could wait two days—Flying Thunder God was worth the delay.But physical growth?Never negotiable.
Even the Yellow Flash needed chakra and stamina to move.Time-space techniques didn't come cheap.
Day Three
Tōma finally exhaled a breath of satisfaction.
The kunai glinted in his hands with a faint, unfamiliar warmth—complete synchronization.
It now belonged to him alone.Even if someone else took it, they wouldn't be able to use it for aptitude testing.
He couldn't help admiring it.
This was just the first step… and already exhausting.
If simply infusing chakra into a pre-made seal was this difficult, then carving his own Flying Thunder God mark in the future would be…
Tōma winced internally.A nightmare.A glorious nightmare, but still a nightmare.
No wonder in all of Konoha's history, only two people ever mastered this jutsu.
But now…
He felt it.A faint tug in the back of his mind.
A thread—thin, invisible, unmistakable.
His connection to the kunai.
Tōma closed his eyes. Concentrated.
The thread brightened, sharpened, anchored itself.
His senses reached for it.
And then he froze.
Wait.What if he used Deep Focus State?
He placed the kunai on his lap, sat with his spine straight, and let his consciousness slip inward.
The enhanced clarity hit immediately.
His perception expanded—quiet, sharp, crystalline.
And the link to the kunai?
It blazed to life.
He could sense its exact location. Its angle. Its distance.Not vague intuition.
Precision.
If he actually knew the Flying Thunder God Technique right now…he could teleport to it instantly in this state.
A laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
This is better than I hoped. Far better.
There were still limitations:
He didn't know the technique yet.
He didn't have enough chakra to attempt experimental shunshin-level jumps.
Deep Focus State still couldn't coexist with ninjutsu usage.
But even so, his confidence for the Hokage's one-semester test skyrocketed.
As for the tool-summoning jutsu written in the scroll…
Please.That was the easy part.
He'd memorized the seals and chakra route on the first read.Executing it would be trivial.
Now came the repetition phase—strengthening the imprint connection daily.
Thankfully, maintaining and reinforcing the link required far less chakra and time than the initial infusion.
He folded the scroll carefully.
There was only one downside—
The chakra he'd gained recently had been earmarked for practicing new C-rank jutsu.Now those plans would have to wait.
Tōma sighed, but he couldn't be angry.
Flying Thunder God was worth every delay.