Chapter 286: My Cast Net is a bit... off

The Next Day, Second Parallel World – Kannabi Bridge Base, Early Morning

Clang! Clang! Clang!

At the first hint of daylight, waves of refugees who had drifted into the area were already hard at work.

Because more and more people kept arriving at the base—and thanks to a sudden shift in plans—whole groups of curious shinobi from the "main-world" Konoha had shown up. The originally planned layout of the settlement was no longer sufficient, so they had scrambled through the night to expand.

In the end, the entire Kannabi Bridge was folded into the new town's blueprint.

Building a street with Wood Release was no challenge for either of the two Hashiramas, but such cookie-cutter constructions were too uniform. Skilled carpentry and interior finishing were still required.

As for the refugees, there was no helping that, either. Drawn by the relative safety—no bandits, no ronin, no more war—they had come of their own accord.

The proportion of elderly or disabled among them was low because in times of war, they usually didn't survive. Anyone who could make it to a safe haven had at least a bit of useful skill—like carpentry or house-repair. They were happy to help build their new homes, especially since they'd be paid for their work.

…

Meanwhile, over by a makeshift training ground, young Baki had just finished hearing Link's explanation of how he was approaching Wind Release.

"Mm… your logic seems fine." He thought for a moment and then, somewhat stiffly, came out with that one line.

Even he realized it sounded a bit perfunctory, which flustered him slightly—though his tanned complexion made the blush hard to see. So he quickly added, "If you really want to master Wind Release: Cast Net properly, then…"

He fell into teacher mode, enthusiastically describing the difficulties and techniques he'd encountered in his own Wind Release training, free to pass on all of Sunagakure's knowledge—his village had authorized him to share everything, so long as he built good relations (and collected plenty of intel).

"Right, right, right…"

Link listened intently while taking notes. This was truly a "wind-style genius": at barely his mid-teens, Baki was already a jōnin with deep expertise in wind-based ninjutsu—and, most importantly, he actually knew how to teach. Not all geniuses can teach well.

Take Kakashi, for example: Naruto was a doofus, sure, but Sakura and Sasuke were both talented in their own ways. Kakashi basically skipped teaching them the fundamentals, beyond handing Sasuke the Chidori. Most of the time, he'd do nothing but loaf around reading Jiraiya's novels. Hardly a model instructor.

Baki, on the other hand, taught in a methodical, easy-to-follow manner. His insights into Wind Release were comprehensive and well-articulated. It could practically be a textbook.

As Link absorbed the explanation, an old, familiar spark ignited in his mind. This is just like having a new external brain.

"I think I've got it!" he exclaimed, brimming with confidence as he formed seals, gathered chakra, and activated the jutsu.

[That's the seal sequence for Wind Release: Cast Net, right? Looks like it's working. Our village's original jutsu… so they've actually…?]

A surprised Baki made a mental note: the other-world shinobi had just reproduced one of Sunagakure's unique wind-style jutsu. But then he saw a half-transparent cord extend a few dozen centimeters from Link's fingertip… and just droop to the ground.

"Huh?" he muttered, face going blank.

Everything was correct—wind-chakra, the right seals, releasing the technique—so why was it just a single cord?

That cord hung there, see-through, about as long as a short rope. It even seemed to pass through the grass, looking much like a variation of the chakra scalpel.

[Wasn't this supposed to be a net? Where's the net? Why just one string?]

Link also looked clueless. If you think of a "net," it's basically something for catching animals or fish. Or, metaphorically, a means of binding or capturing. Possibly a reference to "inescapable snare," or woven from certain materials. In short: bind, capture, connect—three core ideas.

[So what exactly is my Wind Release: Cast Net…?] he wondered. He could tell it was draining his chakra continuously, just like his "Gale Palm" – a sustained state-type jutsu. While it was active, he could control that half-invisible cord from his fingertip. If it was meant for binding or capturing…?

He turned a mischievous eye on the baffled Baki standing nearby, then thought better of it. Probably best not to experiment on a human right away.

Calling upon his shadow ability, Link sent a portion of it slithering off to search for a wild animal. The base's proper training field wasn't set up yet, and local wildlife wasn't exactly plentiful. He couldn't help missing the rabbits he kept back in Training Ground #7.

[That shadow looks like the Nara clan's technique, doesn't it? And why did Wind Release: Cast Net come out like that? Same seals, different jutsu…?]

Baki silently catalogued these details, continuing his mental intel-gathering.

A while later, the shadow returned with a few rabbits. Evidently, these second-world rabbits had no idea they were about to be captured and possibly domesticated; they kicked and panted furiously.

Link was already feeling the strain. Maintaining Wind Release: Cast Net was pretty chakra-intensive. He glanced at Utakata, who promptly stepped in as Link's "battery" to recharge him.

[He's acting just like the Six-Tails Jinchūriki from Kirigakure—and even looks a bit like him…]

Baki kept up his frigid, "I'm-only-here-for-intel" façade.

Buoyed by his emergency chakra supply, Link maneuvered the cord from his fingertip into one of the rabbits. Immediately, a strange sensation arose.

He discovered that he could feed it even more chakra, thereby creating another cord and expanding the "net," or else he could break the cord connected to the rabbit.

All sorts of random thoughts bubbled in his mind: [nervous], [afraid], [hungry], [desire companionship?] He suddenly realized that among the rabbits, one was female, and apparently, from the rabbit's "point of view," she looked kind of cute…

What is all this nonsense…

He instinctively severed the cord to cut off those random feelings, and the jutsu fizzled out.

[So does this technique link me to other living things?] He examined the rabbit but saw no injuries after the cord was severed. So, time for round two.

He directed the shadow to release one male and one female rabbit, giving them a few seconds to calm down. Then he reconnected them (and himself) with the Net Jutsu, creating a second cord that attached to the female rabbit. All at once, a translucent line also appeared between the male and female rabbit—then vanished, invisible.

It was as if it had never existed.

But Link could still feel the presence of the net. Once it disappeared from sight, the jutsu's chakra consumption dropped drastically. The two rabbits, who'd just relieved themselves and been tethered for a bit, were clearly looking worn out.

[Weaving a net… forging connections… I think I get it.] Link's eyes gleamed with excitement. He'd finally stumbled on a very interesting variant of ninjutsu.

There was no actual mind-reading or sharing of consciousness. It was just a link. The rabbits, panicking and trying to broadcast their scattered thoughts, were effectively "spamming him with random nonsense." Link himself hadn't sent them any thoughts at all. And once the net was formed, the overall chakra load seemed to be shared across the different connection points.

[Fascinating. This technique has a lot of room for development.]

A look of delight shone in Link's eyes. He'd found a brand-new jutsu mutation that was both weird and wonderful.

~~~

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