CH_172
Hearing Tōji's quiet call, Natchi—though full of doubts—did as Tōji instructed.
He deliberately focused, carefully channeling a small amount of chakra into the formula on his wrist.
Under Tōji's watchful gaze, the formula on Natchi's wrist emitted a faint chakra fluctuation…
Instantly, a strange sensation surged through Tōji, as if some invisible force was pulling at him. His vision blurred, a slight dizziness came over him—and he was already beside Natchi.
"It worked!" Tōji whispered excitedly, momentarily forgetting to stay low-key. "Aside from being a bit slow to activate in combat, this really is a practical means of teleportation."
Natchi's eyes went wide, staring in disbelief at the now-faded formula on his wrist. "You can use it like this?!"
Tōji explained with a smile, "This new Summoning Technique Lord Minato modified really is ingenious. By carrying a pre-drawn specific formula, we can achieve short-distance spatial transfer. It's far inferior to Lord Minato's 【Flying Thunder God Technique】, but it can still come in handy in certain situations."
Natchi grabbed Tōji's shoulder excitedly. "Tōji, you're a genius! If we could master this technique, wouldn't our missions be like having divine help?"
Tōji nodded. "That's right—but whether you can actually use this technique still depends on your skill level."
"Then I guess I'll just have to envy you. My talents don't lie in this area." Natchi scratched his head with a grin.
"This infiltration mission just got a lot simpler, it seems." Tōji turned to look at Kikai Island, and the two exchanged a smile.
Tōji named this summoning method the 【Directional Teleportation Technique】.
After practicing the 【Directional Teleportation Technique】 with Natchi a few more times, and before it got dark, Tōji exchanged their respective special summoning formulas onto each other.
Even though the formulas would be exhausted after only a few uses, they still chose to make them permanent—inscribing them into flesh and blood. Of course, both formulas were drawn by Tōji—Natchi couldn't manage it.
Tōji couldn't help but think—from now on, the two of them were bound together, entrusting their lives to each other.
For this reason, they also agreed—when facing a life-or-death moment, whether to summon the other from nearby, or destroy the formula to protect the other—they had to be decisive, without a moment's hesitation!
…
Night fell. The seabirds around Kikai Island's waters gradually quieted.
Chewing on dry bread, Tōji laid out the plan he'd come up with for Natchi…
"Our target is underwater at Kikai Island, roughly around…" Using his memory, Tōji pointed at a spot on Kikai Island so Natchi could get a general idea.
After Tōji explained everything in detail, Natchi nodded repeatedly, indicating he understood the plan.
With thorough preparations, Natchi and Tōji quietly swam underwater toward the target location, both staying alert and observing their surroundings the entire way.
When they approached the destination Tōji had described, they found a sizable underwater cave. The cave entrance looked just as Tōji remembered. The two exchanged a glance and decided to explore deeper.
Entering the cave, they saw a tightly shut door. It was the same ordinary door Tōji had seen before—just a barrier to keep the seawater out.
To avoid alerting any Kiri-nin who might occasionally patrol nearby, as well as Tenchi inside the laboratory, Tōji kept reminding Natchi not to make any obvious noise.
The door slowly opened, revealing a passage leading deeper inside. Seawater rushed into the passage, and the two quickly entered to prevent the water from flooding the corridor.
Natchi swiftly shut the door, and the two crept quietly deeper into the passage.