Minato quickly reacted: "Looks like I was too eager for quick success and forgot that the more people involved, the harder it is to coordinate. Makoto, what you said makes a lot of sense."
Makoto: "It's just my speculation. Whether it makes sense or not can only be confirmed through firsthand perception."
"That's true. But Makoto, your sensory ability is far stronger than mine. Perhaps only you can detect the subtle issues during the activation of the jutsu. So I'll have to trouble you to join them and feel it out."
"Alright. I also want to see where the problem lies."
The six members of Hayate's squad and Genma's squad once again formed hand seals in pairs, pressing their hands together and forming a circle, with Makoto standing in the center.
This time, they needed to activate the Flying Thunder Formation Technique to transfer the target—Higashino Makoto—to the other side of the training field, where a kunai marked with the Flying Thunder God formula was placed.
Yūgao, worried about Makoto's safety, asked, "Makoto, is this really okay? Could there be danger?"
"Of course there is. Whether the jutsu succeeds or fails is one thing—but what if it succeeds, but not completely? Then I might get sent to some strange alternate space."
"If that happens, I might never come back. Sigh… just thinking about it is terrifying. If there's nothing in that space, I might starve to death."
"Huh? That won't do—I can't let you take that risk."
"I'm joking. Whether it's the Flying Thunder God or the Flying Thunder Formation, there are only two outcomes: success or failure. What I described won't happen. It's not like performing a targetless reverse summoning jutsu. Don't worry."
Yūgao puffed her cheeks like a bun: "…"
Give me back my concern, you bastard!
She had only asked out of genuine worry. Someone like Hayate, who understood Makoto very well, wouldn't even ask—if there were real danger, he trusted Makoto wouldn't stand in the center himself.
Genma said, "Captain, that joke wasn't funny at all."
"Yeah, not funny. What I actually meant is that, after Minato-senpai's improvements, the Flying Thunder Formation Technique is already quite safe. So you don't need to be so tense—relax a bit."
"Activating the Flying Thunder God Technique requires three steps: sensing the formula, initiating the formula, and finally summoning oneself to traverse space. You all, for various reasons, can't independently complete all three steps, which is why this multi-person Flying Thunder Formation Technique exists."
"Right now, I'm your client. Come on—the moment to prove yourselves has arrived. Send me to the other side of the training ground."
Hearing this, the group connected their chakra and immediately began the technique.
Among the six, some had strong sensory abilities—like Namiashi Raidō. Some could initiate the formula easily—like Tatami Iwashi. Others had good spatial affinity—like Genma.
The Flying Thunder Formation Technique combines each person's small strengths, amplifies them through shared chakra, and, together with sealing techniques forming a barrier space, achieves spatial transfer of themselves and the target within the barrier.
As they attempted to activate the jutsu, Makoto fully expanded his perception and observed carefully.
At that moment, the six people's chakra functioned as a single entity, easily sensing the marked kunai on the other side of the training ground.
Then they jointly initiated the summoning formula.
As expected—it failed. They went through a whole flurry of flashy moves, only to end up right where they started.
Makoto: "Yamato, Raidō, Yūgao—your three initiation timings are either too fast or too slow. They're not on the same frequency as Hayate's group. Especially you, Raidō—you're the slowest."
Although Yūgao was the youngest and the only girl, she had trained under Makoto since childhood, so her strength and chakra control were excellent.
Raidō was the weakest among them.
Yamato, coming from Root, had the strongest raw ability, but his coordination with teammates wasn't perfect.
The Flying Thunder Formation Technique developed by Minato greatly reduced the requirement for individual talent, but those casting it must move in near-perfect unison.
Raidō was puzzled: "Captain, I don't feel like my timing is any different from everyone else's."
"That's because you can't perceive it. The coordination requirement for this technique is extremely high—even a difference of 0.1 seconds will cause failure. Again."
They tried again—same result.
This time, Yamato synchronized, but Genma was slightly faster.
Minato said, "Just as expected. No wonder it hasn't worked. It seems from the beginning it wasn't suitable for everyone to cast it together."
"The more people involved, the harder it is to coordinate. The more failures, the more frustration builds up, making synchronization even harder. All this time, everyone has been trapped in this vicious cycle."
Makoto: "Then follow what I said—split them into two teams and practice again, just like when they first started learning."
Minato: "That's the only way."
...
Since the war ended, Genma's squad with Might Guy and Ebisu had disbanded due to differing development paths.
After Minato became the Fourth Hokage, Genma was selected into the Hokage Guard Platoon, forming a team with Raidō and Iwashi, working together up to now.
So the three of them had fairly good coordination.
At this moment, the three-person squad formed the Flying Thunder Formation, surrounding Makoto.
They had practiced coordination before, but had never succeeded. After Yamato joined the Guard Platoon, Minato decided to have them train together.
He had thought that more people meant greater strength—but instead, more people meant more chaos.
The technique failed.
After sensing again, Makoto said, "Raidō, you're too tense. Don't carry psychological pressure. Relax, open your mind, feel your teammates' chakra fluctuations, and follow the flow. Don't try to control it deliberately—the more you force it, the harder it becomes."
"I understand, Captain."
After several adjustments, at one moment, the three achieved perfect synchronization. The Flying Thunder Formation Technique successfully activated, instantly transporting them—with Makoto—to the marked location on the other side of the training ground.
The moment they appeared, the three collapsed onto the ground in different postures, panting heavily, clearly exhausted from chakra depletion.
Only Makoto stood calmly in the center, as if nothing had happened.
When they realized where they were, all three broke into smiles.
They had finally succeeded—personally completing a space-time transfer. The experience and sense of accomplishment were completely different from being carried along by someone else.
Makoto was also pleased. In the original timeline, how long did it take these three to master the Flying Thunder Formation Technique after Minato's death? Unknown—but it must have taken years.
And now, with his help, that result had been greatly advanced.
Often, learning ninjutsu is like this: without guidance, one can only fumble through trial and error, easily getting stuck.
But with guidance, the time spent exploring is saved and can be used for other training. That's the impact of having a good teacher on a ninja's strength.
Minato directly used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport over, his face full of joy. If it could succeed, it proved his concept for the Flying Thunder Formation was correct.
Yūgao, who had run over, asked in disbelief, "It really worked?"
Iwashi was doubtful: "Does this count as success? When we arrived, our bodies completely lost balance, and the chakra consumption is too high—we can't perform continuous transfers."
Makoto explained, "This technique wasn't developed for combat, so you don't need to achieve continuous teleportation. As for balance and chakra consumption, those are easy to fix.
When I first learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, I was about the same as you. Just spend more time practicing."
Minato added, "Makoto is right. Being able to succeed means you've crossed the most difficult hurdle. From here on, with practice, it will naturally improve."
Only then did the three relax. They understood the logic, but when it concerned themselves, anxiety was inevitable.
Yūgao grabbed Makoto's hand: "Quick, it's our turn! Makoto-nii, I don't want to fall too far behind!"
To avoid lagging behind, she even used her "acting cute" tactic—her personality was quite competitive.
Hayate's squad had a similar division of roles. Among the three, Yamato had the best perception and far more chakra than the others.
Hayate had some talent in space-time affinity.
Yūgao had neither, but she refused to drag the team down, so she invested the most time into mastering the formula.
For ninjas, the one organ they never lack is their liver.
Unfortunately, their overall coordination was worse than Genma's squad. After several attempts, they still failed to complete a single true spatial transfer.
This left the three feeling quite dejected.
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