The logic was sound: on a battlefield, being late—even by a minute—can put your comrades in danger.
Take the Kannabi Bridge battle. If Minato hadn't been late—if he'd destroyed the bridge faster and arrived in time to support Kakashi and Obito, saving Rin after she was forcibly abducted by Iwa shinobi using Camouflage Concealment—then perhaps the hidden hand Black Zetsu, working with Uchiha Madara behind the scenes, would have been cut off. Maybe Obito wouldn't have fallen into darkness.
But there are no "what ifs." Black Zetsu's goal was to revive his mother; if he hadn't latched onto Obito, he would have targeted another Uchiha—Shisui, or Roy's little brother Itachi.
Roy's thoughts flickered. His gaze slid past Minato and briefly swept over Obito and Rin behind him.
They were still just teenagers. When Roy looked over, their reactions differed: Rin looked curious; Obito visibly tensed and inched closer to Rin, like a protective animal—less "caution" than a message:
She's mine. Don't even think about it.
Roy's gaze moved on quickly. It turned and landed on Kakashi instead. The prodigy who'd shattered the Ninja Academy's graduation record wore his mask as usual, studying Roy with the same faintly probing look. Roy's mind flashed to last night—his father's unmistakable emphasis on how important this boy was.
"Fine." Wrong was wrong. Punishment was deserved.
Roy kept it simple. No dodging, no excuses. Hands in his pockets, he waited for Minato to continue.
Minato's blond hair swayed. The man who would one day earn the title "Yellow Flash" narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"Simple," Minato said, holding up one finger. "Weighted run. Kakashi, Obito, Rin—you three, plus Roy. Each of you carries a log. Ten laps around the woods. Time limit: one hour. Move!"
Kakashi and Rin both froze and instinctively looked at Obito. One person late, the whole team punished. Normally, Obito would explode and demand "Why?!" on the spot.
But today he was… off.
Aside from the way Roy's casual glance at Rin had sparked a clear flicker of possessive alarm in him, the biggest surprise was this: for once, Obito didn't argue. He stayed silent… and just hoisted the log onto his shoulder.
Kakashi and Rin exchanged a look—both seeing the same disbelief in each other's eyes.
Obito didn't care. He didn't even blame Roy. With the log on his shoulder, he took off first into the forest, shouting back, "Move! What are you standing around for?!"
Kakashi and Rin each grabbed a log and followed.
And last came Roy.
Footsteps faded into the trees.
Roy said nothing. He simply extended one hand toward the log stuck upright in the ground at the edge of the clearing.
Magnetic Field: Attraction. A technique derived from the legendary magician Moritonio's Nen ability—"Blood Magnet." Its first appearance in Konoha.
A powerful pull swept past Minato's shoulder.
Minato's expression tightened. He watched as the log tore free of the earth, cut through the air, and shot straight into Roy's waiting shoulder.
No hand signs? Minato's mind immediately labeled it: a no-sign jutsu?
He stared—because he hadn't seen Roy weave even a single seal. The log landed, Roy steadied it with one casual adjustment, and then walked off.
After a beat, Minato kicked up a log of his own, shouldered it, and flashed after them.
If students are punished, the teacher shares the burden. That was something Jiraiya had taught him—claiming it came from the Third Hokage. But…
Up in the Hokage Tower—
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't recall ever teaching Jiraiya anything about "no-sign jutsu." If anything, Hiruzen himself barely had a few of those in his arsenal. Otherwise he wouldn't have been so limited when dueling his former student Orochimaru.
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen watched through the crystal ball as Roy ran with the log, then caught up to Rin, passed Obito, and finally slipped past Kakashi to take the lead. He took another puff from his pipe, opened a drawer, and pulled out the dossier scroll labeled Uchiha Jin.
He unrolled it, moved to the last line, and added:
"Displayed a 'no-sign technique'—self-created, unknown origin. Known effect: attraction."
Hiruzen's eyes flickered. After a pause, he added another line:
"Is it possible to bypass the hand-seal phase for all jutsu? Unknown."
He set the brush down and stared.
From his elevated view, Hiruzen understood the value of no-sign techniques better than most. They were rare for a reason.
Hand seals were inherited from Indra—an "inscription method" designed so ordinary people could guide chakra along fixed internal pathways:
Fire Release: stimulating yang chakra, forcing a surge and release.
Water Release: drawing chakra toward the kidneys, inducing fluid properties.
Lightning Release: driving high-frequency vibration at the ends of the chakra network.
It wasn't a step you could simply "skip."
And yet… geniuses always found ways around frameworks.
Single-hand seals. Sharingan-assisted copying. Kisame-style brute-force chakra volume. Haku's bloodline simplifications.
Every true no-sign technique was proof of terrifying talent.
And now one had appeared right under his nose.
Meanwhile, deep in the Southern Forest, the first lap ended quickly.
Roy ran in front, maintaining Sun Breathing nonstop, moving through the trees as calmly as if he were jogging on Kukuroo Mountain. Even while towing Rin along, he didn't so much as sweat.
Minato caught up to Rin first. He didn't speak. He didn't encourage. He simply watched the three ahead, waiting to see what they'd do.
Obito was the first to look back.
He wasn't even trying to compete with Roy—he was fixated on Kakashi. But when he noticed Rin lagging, he immediately gave up chasing Kakashi and slowed, moving alongside her and trying to steady her.
Then—
A thin, transparent "line" whipped past Obito's shoulder with a hiss, faster than he could react. It reached Rin in an instant, wrapped around her waist, and yanked her forward.
Right in front of Minato, Rin let out a startled yelp as she was dragged ahead at speed.
Obito froze. Rin flew past him, and his brain visibly cracked like a dropped porcelain bowl.
"Rin—!"
"Annoying!"
"Get back here!"
He exploded into motion, sprinting after her with a strength he didn't even know he had—blasting past Kakashi, chasing the "towed" Rin like his life depended on it.
Now only Minato remained at the back, staring at the transparent line around Rin's waist.
Another no-sign technique. Another one he didn't understand.
Where did this kid learn all this? Minato wondered.
Did Fugaku teach him?
He pictured Uchiha Fugaku's stern, humorless face and immediately tossed the idea away. Fugaku had discipline, caution, and tradition. He didn't scream "innovator."
Minato flashed forward, accelerating.
A yellow streak overtook Obito, Kakashi, Rin—until Minato reached Roy's side.
Back in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen saw it too: after the magnetic "attraction," Roy had casually flicked out a transparent chakra-like line and towed Rin forward.
Hiruzen's old heart—one that had stayed steady through wars—gave an unfamiliar lurch.
That earlier note—"Can all jutsu bypass seals?"—suddenly didn't feel like idle paranoia anymore.
In the forest, the running continued. Ten laps didn't take long.
Roy ran with effortless rhythm, always in Sun Breathing, moving like he owned the terrain. Even dragging Rin along, he looked relaxed.
Minato caught up again and finally spoke, eyes bright.
"What's that technique called?" he asked, smiling.
Roy answered like he had earlier when Itachi asked him a similar question.
"Haven't named it yet."
Minato's eyes sharpened. So it really is self-made.
A child not yet eight had created no-sign techniques?
Kushina would've called that a joke if she heard it. And yet…
Minato couldn't deny what he was watching.
He asked, genuinely curious, "If you haven't named it, how did you develop it?"
Roy understood what Minato meant. In shinobi culture, names reflected concept and intent. Like Minato's own developing Rasengan: also no-sign, named for the spiral force that defined it.
Roy shrugged.
Honestly, compared to chakra—born from the God Tree and divisible into yin/yang—Nen was far more "anything goes." Logic, rules, neat diagrams… they were all optional.
There was only one law:
If I can imagine it, I can build it.
You could see that principle in the world's ultimate example: Alluka being called a "wish-granter."
Roy lifted his shoulders. "I don't know."
Then he looked at Minato with a completely innocent expression and explained, "That night I was thirsty, and I didn't want to get out of bed. So I tried to see if I could shape chakra into a rope and have it bring me a cup of water from the kitchen. And… it just happened."
He raised his right hand slightly. The "line" at his fingertip twitched, tugging Rin along behind him.
Minato went quiet.
So did the old man watching through the crystal ball.
Minato had spent three years developing Rasengan.
And this kid was out here casually inventing techniques because he didn't want to stand up for water.
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen started coughing—hard. Maybe the smoke caught him. Maybe Roy's absurd-but-somehow-plausible explanation did.
He pressed a hand to his chest, forcing the cough down, then stared at the boy in the crystal ball for a long time, pen hovering uselessly above the dossier.
"So this is what genius looks like…" Hiruzen murmured.
Minato thought the same thing, silently: Yes. This is genius. Unreasonable genius.
Then—like some switch flipped—Minato raised an eyebrow and asked, "Can you go faster?"
Roy glanced over. "Faster in what way?"
Then he tilted his head, as if a new idea had just formed.
"…Like this?"
Swamp Space—activate!
~~~
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