Konoha's Mission Master

“I… am not worried at all.” Maggie forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, having already prepared herself to give her life.

The top of the cabin turned into wooden planks, blocking out the sunlight and making the environment slightly dark. Mori Masako and Yuuki Chiyuki leaned against the wall and slowly fell asleep.

Both of them had exhausted a lot of energy in the battle just now, and they were able to fall asleep so quickly after finally relaxing.

Yakumo formed hand seals, emitting a deep blue light that eventually coalesced into a sphere the size of a basketball. As layers of sealing techniques covered the sphere, the blue light continued to compress, eventually shrinking to the size of a ping-pong ball.

This is the Healing Orb.

Once his life force is full, Yakumo will spend time creating healing orbs, since these orbs can change the outcome of a battle to some extent.

In just over a month, through his hard work, he had accumulated a stockpile of seventy. After manufacturing two more this time, Yakumo closed his eyes to recover his life energy.

Several hours passed, and it was evening. Yakumo needed to prepare dinner, since Yukotsu Chiyuki and Mori Masako were already fast asleep, so this task fell to him.

Yakumo quietly stood up, the wooden partition was moved aside, and after he came to the outside world, he made hand seals to create a deck and used resin to build a transparent barrier.

Place the kitchen utensils on the deck and light the fire.

Yakumo plans to make a stew of sea king meat chunks with wood ear mushrooms and tomatoes. The inspiration for this dish comes from stewed beef brisket with tomatoes, which was one of his favorite dishes in his previous life.

According to the steps, the sea monster meat chunks need to be simmered in a large pot until tender, and then tomatoes and wood ear mushrooms are added for a second stewing.

Carefully control the heat, add various seasonings, and use ventilation ducts to vent the smoke and fumes produced by burning wood far away.

Not long after, light footsteps could be heard on the deck.

Maggie came to the deck from the wooden partition she had bought. She had originally planned to take a nap, but the thought of her fate made it hard to stay calm, so she decided to come to the deck for some fresh air.

But she quickly froze in place, because through the barrier she saw white clouds that looked like cotton candy.

During the time she closed her eyes, the ship actually reached an altitude of 10,000 meters. Protected by the transparent barrier, she didn't even notice any shaking or strange noises.

"Don't scream, don't disturb their sleep."

While Machi was still in a daze, Yakumo had already quietly appeared beside her and spoke up to remind her.

"oh oh..."

Machi nodded, secretly thinking that Blackbeard was already dead at Yakumo's hands. Having consecutively killed powerful warriors of Emperor-level strength, being able to fly didn't seem so remarkable after all...

Is it really no big deal?

Maggie convinced herself that she had failed.

"Oh my god, damn it, why can he fly?"

In that instant, she felt she had learned a secret about Yakumo.

"I hope I won't be silenced?" Maggie thought to herself.

“Since you can’t sleep, why don’t you keep an eye on that fire for me? I’ll go steam the rice and make a fruit platter while I’m at it,” Yakumo said.

"Sir, are you preparing dinner?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Ah, hahaha, it's obvious."

Maggie simply hadn't expected that Yakumo would personally prepare the meal.

"You can't understand?"

“That’s right. Lord Yakumo is a man destined for great things. Even if he has time, he should be working hard to improve his strength or verifying the feasibility of the next plan through calculations... He probably doesn’t have time to prepare meals.”

When Maggie said this, she was indeed thinking of Monkey D. Dragon. Since she met him, she had never seen the leader prepare meals. After all, the leader's time should be spent on making decisions on all sorts of important matters.

"Preparing dinner is a big deal to me."

Yakumo used chakra to create water and washed the plump grains of rice. This type of rice was also discovered on the giant island, and each grain was the size of a long, narrow quail egg.

"Destroying Pirate Island Hive, isn't that a big deal?" Maggie asked.

"Not counting."

Yakumo shook his head in reply, focusing more on rinsing the rice in front of him, washing away all the tiny dust and parasites.

"No, there aren't any plans at all, are there?"

"Do we need a plan?" Yakumo asked in return.

"Take the initiative to attack. If you can't win, take off, get out of the enemy's attack range, and wait for the next opportunity to attack."

Machi was stunned. Following Yakumo's train of thought, she analyzed that they seemed to be invincible, in the vast ocean... Flying high in the sky was indeed an incredibly powerful ability.

According to the Revolutionary Army's intelligence, only Shiki, the owner of the Float-Float Fruit, can reach heights of tens of thousands of meters.

Could it be... that Lord Yakumo's Devil Fruit ability is the Float-Float Fruit?

Maggie quickly shook her head, but she was also caught in a mental storm as the wood under the iron pot gradually burned out over time.

"Remember to keep an eye on the flames," Yakumo instructed.

"Aww, great!" Machi's eyes brightened. After learning that Yakumo had mastered the means of flight, she was no longer worried about the dangers that might come next.

Anyway, the enemy can't catch up.

Maggie's smile gradually became unrestrained.

Yakumo sensed Machi's change in mood but did not react. He reached out and lit the charcoal fire, heated the iron plate, and began to fry the sea king's meat chunks, finally sprinkling on the carefully prepared ingredients.

"I really find it hard to understand why someone as strong as you would spend so much time preparing meals."

Seeing Yakumo preparing the food with utmost seriousness, Machi asked again.

"Perhaps I am not a strong person, but just an ordinary person."

Yakumo answered without even looking up.

"Heh, just an ordinary person..." Maggie thought to herself.

Their conversation ended there. As Yakumo got up to prepare a fruit platter, Yukotsu Chiyuki came out of the cabin and took over Yakumo's work.

Seeing this, Yakumo took out a ninjutsu scroll and began to read it repeatedly.

This is the scroll of the Flying Thunder God Technique. He has practiced it hundreds of times, but he still can't find the feeling of resonance between what is written on the scroll and the space.

This ninjutsu involves, in a rudimentary form, spatial manipulation.

Although the Flying Thunder God Technique has a very limited effect on Yakumo's strength, it is a very good auxiliary skill. If combined with Masako Mori's Mangekyou Sharingan, it can produce unexpected results.

But what exactly is the energy of space?

Or... what is space?

Yakumo was completely focused on imagining Minato Namikaze using the Flying Thunder God Technique, throwing out the Flying Thunder God... and then, what?

"We cannot overlook even the slightest detail."

The images in his mind gradually slowed down and became more detailed, revealing details that Yakumo had previously overlooked.

Linking spaces requires a medium, and that medium is... chakra.

Before Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God Technique, his chakra had dissipated into the air. Now Yakumo realizes that it was not dissipation... but rather that it resonated with the space and consumed some of his chakra.

So, the first step is to spread the chakra outwards.

Yakumo closed his eyes, removed the nature transformation from his chakra, and diffused it into space in the most primal way.

But... no miracle happened, and he could no longer feel the sensation described on the scroll.

"Phew, Sage Mode."

When he entered Immortal Mode, his perception of space was amplified, and he could vaguely sense some kind of invisible energy slowly moving in the void.

So... could this energy be the veins of space?

That's not enough; this perception is too vague.

I had a vague understanding, but it was still veiled by a thin layer of mystery.

"The Eye of the Soul".

The changes in energy within the space became clearer, as if a thin veil was being slowly removed, but at a very slow pace.

Yakumo quickly cleared his mind of distractions, abandoning all other emotions except for sensing the space around him, and even stopped being wary of his surroundings.

Both things and I are forgotten.

Immerse yourself in the flow and dynamics of the space.

Half an hour later, Yakumo opened his eyes, unable to grasp that fleeting inspiration. His training of the Flying Thunder God Technique... failed once again.

"Since things have come to this, let's eat first."

With Machi's help, Yougu Qianxue had already prepared dinner: two large dishes made from the meat of sea kings, a silver fish about one meter long that was simply grilled over charcoal, and a fruit platter for dessert.

Masako Mori also came out of the cabin, first surprised by her current location, and then her attention was drawn to the dinner.

The four of them began to wolf down their dinner, their mouths covered in grease, until finally only the bones of the big fish remained.

After the meal... Yakumo held Masako Mori and soared through the air, while Chiyuki Yuuki was in charge of cleaning up the dishes, and then they began practicing swordsmanship on the deck.

Only Machi seemed to be doing nothing, squatting behind a chair reading a book she had borrowed from Yuuki Chiyuki, a book about the history of pirates.

Half an hour later, Yakumo returned to the dark green airship and continued towards their target, Pirate Island, Beehive.

The four returned to the cabin, where the partition wood rose up, and the wooden planks at the top of the cabin became transparent, revealing a vast starry sky and the occasional pale gray clouds that drifted by, their edges gleaming silver under the starlight.

Before long, everyone gradually fell asleep.

Yakumo sat cross-legged, contemplating the practice of the Flying Thunder God Technique, recalling every subtle change that Minato Namikaze made when using it.

"Sage Mode".

"The Eye of the Soul".

Yakumo re-entered high-speed learning mode, his thoughts becoming purer than ever before, focusing all his energy on learning the Flying Thunder God Technique.

From imitation to perception.

Space is not constant, but rather a flowing energy, and it is this flow that constitutes... the changing distance.

Therefore, what is needed in space is active integration, not control.

If you try to dominate space, you will only drift further away from it, just like you can't grasp flowing water.

Insights, and how to gain insights.