CH_143

A series of maneuvers later, Tōji had caught most of that group of Umibōzu in a water bucket.

One of them had even been "drunk" by Sweet Potato…

Bold move!

Tōji panicked and tried to make Sweet Potato throw it up—but the dog was fine, so he let it go.

Though he'd caught a bunch of juvenile Umibōzu, Tōji was stumped…

These things didn't seem to have any intelligence yet—they couldn't communicate… they were even dumber than a puppy. How was he supposed to form a summoning contract?

No way around it—Tōji gave up on the contract and just kept them… After all, as long as they stayed in water, they cost nothing.

The only hassle was finding a hidden reef far from Jirō Island to keep them.

But these Umibōzu grew way too slowly! Based on Tōji's two weeks of observation, it would take over ten years for them to reach the level of a pathetic chūnin-level Water Release user… What use was this iron staff to him!

Once Tōji started looking down on the Umibōzu, he began using them for experiments…

Mixing mud into their water bucket!

Tōji wanted to try cultivating a "Mud Monster" from the Umibōzu, so he could use it as a test subject for developing his "Mud Release" jutsu.

And wouldn't you know it—the Umibōzu, soaking in muddy water day after day, gradually became murkier, their soil content increasing daily.

Once the Umibōzu's mud reached a certain thickness, whenever Tōji wanted to practice playing with mud, he'd just pull a handful off them. It was mud long-nourished by trace amounts of chakra—much better for his jutsu development.

『Other people catch Umibōzu as summoning beasts; I catch them as material sources for jutsu development…』 Tōji was speechless at himself.

This was great—a spy mission where he only "delivered a message" once every two or three months. The rest of the time he fished, trained, and invented new jutsu… Tōji was starting to think Minato was a genuinely good Hokage!

Summer in the Land of Seas was about as long as in Konoha. By October, yellow leaves were still rare. Ordinary people could keep wearing short sleeves.

From late March to early October—half a year had passed. Even someone as reclusive as Tōji had become familiar with several stall owners and shopkeepers on Mother Island.

Those Kiri-nin also stopped paying attention to a boy who came to Mother Island every other day to sell fish and buy vegetables and daily necessities.

Tōji had also gained a new understanding of his "Mud Release" jutsu.

He'd been referencing Kamizuki Izumo's "Mizuame" technique all along. Because it was a fluid, and because Izumo's "Mizuame" technique was still classified as Water Release, Tōji had assumed all fluid techniques fell under Water Release.

Because of that, Tōji had taken many detours.

Until… the Umibōzu truly became Mud Monsters!

Their viscosity was extremely high—so high that when Tōji punched one of the "Umibōzu," it no longer scattered like before!

They'd gained non-Newtonian fluid properties!

The greater the force, the higher the hardness and viscosity!

Though Tōji didn't know much about it, he knew that in his previous life, there were bulletproof vests made from non-Newtonian fluids!

This "Mud Release" technique leaned more toward Earth Release than Water Release—so he'd been going in the wrong direction!

The most useful property of this "Mud Release" for Tōji was enhanced resistance to impact, not just "stickiness." Sticking to and restraining enemies was good, but what did Tōji prioritize? Staying alive!

So Tōji's thinking suddenly opened up. This thing theoretically didn't belong to Water Release or Earth Release—it should be called "Mud Release," since it required combining two chakra natures. But because Earth Release made up a higher proportion, Tōji低调地 still called it Earth Release.

That "autumn," Tōji entered a new domain. He even shortened his training time.

Inventing jutsu was far more interesting than learning them!

『A high imitation of 【Swamp of the Underworld】? The Anbu codenamed "Beni" in the original story could even make clay fall from the sky…』