After the technique was inscribed, the brilliance faded away.
Takuno stood still, concentrating on his body, but he did not immediately notice any significant changes.
He then realized that everything in this laboratory was in a state of absolute stillness, with not even a speck of dust in the air.
In this vacuum-like dead silence, even the most sensitive nerves were rendered useless.
He pushed open the door and stepped outside.
A gentle breeze brushed past, carrying a fresh scent.
A leaf broke free from a branch, spiraling down; tiny dust particles danced lightly in the threads of sunlight.
This most ordinary of scenes now took on a completely different meaning through those Tenseigan that could see through all things.
The world had quietly "slowed down" in his eyes.
The scene before him remained the same, with not a single detail changed.
However, Takuno's perception felt as if it were submerged in a viscous stream of time.
The trajectory of every falling leaf and the moment of every dancing dust particle were infinitely stretched, imprinted with absolute clarity on his nerve endings.
What did this mean? It meant that for the same action or encounter, he now possessed far more time to think and react than before.
This was the bonus brought by the leap in his neural transmission speed.
It was not limited to the hall of battle.
In daily life, this subtle control over the flow of time could bring an indescribable composure and precision.
And in the midst of a rapidly changing life-and-death struggle, the value of this "thinking gap," even if it was only a fraction of a second, was immeasurable.
It was enough to see through an opponent's flaws, reverse the tide of offense and defense, and even determine the final outcome of the entire battle!
Now, the ultimate insight of the Tenseigan, which could see through the essence of all things, perfectly blended with his qualitatively changed neural transmission speed.
In the realms of "insight" and "reaction," Takuno was now unrivaled.
Perhaps there were others in the world whose reflex speeds could rival his, but they lacked the Tenseigan and could not see the world as abnormally clear as he did;
Perhaps there were those with exceptional insight, but it was extremely difficult for them to possess neural reactions reinforced by a technique such as his.
At this moment, although his pure power level had not jumped, Takuno's degree of trickiness had increased by more than one dimension.
The only regret was that this technique inscription could not be stacked.
However, being able to elevate neural reflexes to such a level was already a peak that ordinary people could never reach.
The corners of Takuno's mouth curled up slightly; he was sufficiently satisfied with his current gains.
After carefully sensing the changes brought by the increased neural transmission speed, Takuno began to experiment.
He then discovered that he was finally able to completely master the ultimate speed he could theoretically achieve.
Before this, how was his limit speed constituted?
It was the product of multiple powers stacked together: Lightning Release Chakra Mode and Sage Mode acting on the physical body to provide explosive basic power;
Stacked with the extreme speed granted by the Swift Release Kekkei Genkai;
And finally, supplemented by Wind Release to reduce resistance during high-speed movement, pushing it even further.
His speed in this state could be described as world-shaking.
However, this speed was a double-edged sword that was difficult to control.
The biggest problem was that his senses, especially his vision, could not keep up with his body's movement at all.
Even with the powerful Mangekyo Sharingan, his vision would become somewhat blurred at such limit speeds, filled with trailing phantoms.
It was like an ordinary person sitting on a speeding high-speed train; the scenery outside the window flashes by so fast that it's impossible to see the details clearly.
This resulted in Takuno almost never daring to truly use this theoretical top speed in actual combat.
When speed itself exceeds the limit of visual capture, using it blindly is no different from running with a blindfold; the slightest carelessness would lead to it backfiring on him.
The success of the Tenseigan first solved the dilemma at the visual level.
This ultimate ocular technique, evolved from the Byakugan known for its insight, possessed unparalleled dynamic vision and perception capabilities.
Even when Takuno upgraded his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to Tenseigan Chakra Mode and gained even greater speed than before, his Tenseigan vision remained crystal clear, able to accurately capture every detail during high-speed movement.
But a new bottleneck then appeared: his vision could see clearly, but his brain and body could not react in time!
The time window left for neural reflexes by such extraordinary speed was fleeting.
Takuno could see the target and the path, but the time it took for his brain to process the information and drive his body to perform the corresponding actions lagged far behind his body's movement speed.
This meant that the astonishing speed remained only a "theoretical limit" on paper, unable to be safely and effectively used in actual combat.
Now, the situation has completely changed!
The significant reinforcement of his neural transmission speed had broken the final key shackle.
The connection between Takuno's thoughts and actions had reached an unprecedented level of fluidity.
Visual information captured during high-speed movement could be instantly parsed by his brain and translated into precise physical commands.
He could finally transform that peak speed, which had been hidden for so long but trapped by his own reflex limits, from a theoretical concept into an at-will combat capability.
This once-dangerous double-edged sword was now finally held firmly in his hand, its sharpness fully revealed!
...
Moon Base.
With the conclusion of the final technique completion verification and the confirmation of the neural transmission speed reinforcement results, all his set goals on the moon had been achieved.
Whether it was the careful practice of the Tenseigan's potential or the deduction and solidification of those exquisite techniques, everything had come to a temporary close.
Admittedly, by staying on this silent lunar soil to practice diligently, his power could still grow steadily.
But Takuno's gaze had already turned toward a more distant horizon.
While step-by-step accumulation was certainly safe, when he clearly saw a path that could achieve a leap in strength or even break through his current upper limit, the choice was self-evident.
Some things must be started immediately.
Although time was no longer pressing for him now, Time itself still could not be wasted!
Before leaving, Takuno set periodic maintenance tasks and collection commands for the Intelligent Puppets at the Moon Base through core commands.
Once he confirmed everything was in order, he stayed no longer.
The Mangekyo Sharingan in his palm suddenly lit up, and as Ocular Power flowed, an ability was silently activated.
"Sarutahiko!"
There was no sound of space tearing, nor any ripples distorting the field of vision.
The threads of time seemed to be lightly plucked by an invisible force, and Takuno's figure was instantly erased from the Moon Base.
The next second, in the laboratory in the Shinobi World that had once hosted his countless secret research projects, his figure appeared as if he had never left.
Looking around, this place stored the most cutting-edge devices and precious data he had collected.
Now that the Moon Base was completed, fully functional, and superior in environment, the existence of this place became redundant.
Takuno felt no attachment, acting swiftly and precisely.
As someone who had researched Sealing Jutsu to the grandmaster level, packing and transferring these instruments was a simple matter for him.
The complex and precise devices were efficiently incorporated into specially made sealing scrolls in his hands, and the laboratory quickly became empty.
Finally, his steps stopped in front of the largest laboratory door in the base.
The heavy alloy door slid open silently, revealing the most important goal of this trip: the Mini Ten-Tails.
Takuno's gaze fell on the center of the cultivation tank.
Although in the eyes of an ordinary person, its coiled form was already massive, compared to the legendary complete Ten-Tails that could destroy heaven and earth, the existence before him was indeed exceptionally small.
It slept quietly, like an embryo that had not yet fully bloomed.
"It's time," Takuno thought as he gazed at this creation that contained terrifying potential.
Admittedly, with its current form, it was theoretically enough to accommodate Tailed Beast chakra and transform into a "Mini Ten-Tails" in the true sense; this was his original concept.
However, things were different now.
With Takuno's constantly expanding vision and increasingly powerful strength, the scale of power had become an indispensable key factor.
Therefore, launching the plan for the Mini Ten-Tails to break through its current shackles and grow into an existence with a much larger scale became his next vital and imperative task!
Then, Takuno also began to form hand signs, and countless seal formulas began to spread over the body of the Mini Ten-Tails.
As the last seal was completed, the Ten-Tails, which stood as tall as a small mountain, was also completely sealed into that special scroll.
Takuno put the scroll away, feeling the majestic power contained within; there wasn't much emotion in his eyes.
He did not rush to the location for growing the Mini Ten-Tails; his figure shifted again, returning once more to the laboratory inside the moon.
This was because the scrolls in his hand contained more than just those precise but replaceable top-tier instruments; if they were destroyed, with his current means, obtaining new ones would not be difficult.
What was truly precious and difficult to recover were the rare materials sealed within those instruments that he had spent countless efforts to collect.
These were the foundation of his power and could not be lost.
After cautiously placing the instruments carrying the precious materials one by one to ensure everything was safe, Takuno then took the scroll sealing the Mini Ten-Tails and activated Sarutahiko again, aiming directly at the location containing an enormous amount of energy: the Gelel Mineral Vein.
Stepping into the core of the mineral vein, a rich emerald light instantly filled his entire vision, and the soft yet majestic glow of energy reflected on Takuno's face.
After successfully integrating the Chimera Technique, his own direct dependence on the energy of this mineral vein had vanished.
In other words, it was time to supply this energy to the Mini Ten-Tails for its growth.
Takuno's gaze fell upon this vast ocean of green energy that had condensed into a physical substance.
The terrifying scale it contained—according to the original work, its loss of control could directly destroy a continent—though that claim was a bit exaggerated.
But Takuno inferred that it was certainly capable of destroying a region just by being passive.
In terms of the purity and vastness of its energy, ordinary Tailed Beasts could hardly rival it; perhaps only the Nine-Tails, known for its chakra volume, could barely be compared to it.
And the power of the Nine-Tails undoubtedly occupied a significant portion of the massive energy system that constituted the complete Ten-Tails.
Despite this, Takuno also understood that even if the Mini Ten-Tails could devour the energy of the entire Gelel Mineral Vein, its size could never reach the terrifying, sky-blotting scale of the complete Ten-Tails in one leap.
Growth itself is the most greedy consumer of energy in the world.
The legendary God Tree absorbed the life force of the entire planet and took thousands of years to grow into its final form; how could its profound foundation be matched by a mere Gelel Mineral Vein?
He silently calculated that the current volume of the Mini Ten-Tails was likely not even one-tenth of the Great Ten-Tails in its prime, which could be called weak and pitiful.
This huge gap was precisely the fundamental reason why he wanted to cultivate the Mini Ten-Tails.
If he could use the majestic energy infusion from the Gelel Mineral Vein to let the Mini Ten-Tails grow to about twenty percent of the Great Ten-Tails' size, he would be satisfied.
If it exceeded expectations, that would be a pleasant surprise.
After a brief thought, Takuno did not immediately release the Mini Ten-Tails.
His chakra erupted, and he precisely and cautiously cut out a portion roughly the size of a small lake from that vast ocean of mineral vein energy.
Compared to the entire mineral vein, it was a mere drop in the bucket.
This kind of pure life energy had wide uses, and feeding it all to the Mini Ten-Tails would indeed be a waste of such a heavenly treasure; it was better to leave a small portion for his own future use.
Once finished, Takuno's expression turned solemn.
He took a deep breath and formed hand signs.
Finally, he pressed both palms heavily onto the ground at the edge of the mineral vein!
"Buzz!"
In an instant, countless cursed seal symbols shimmering with an eerie light surged from his palms as if they were alive, instantly sinking into the ground.
The symbols spread rapidly like ink dropping into clear water, turning into a massive network covering the entire core area of the Gelel Mineral Vein.
Finally, they formed a seamless, massive Jutsu Formula.
With the closing of the final rune, a powerful and hidden chakra fluctuation suddenly rose, and a visible translucent energy barrier was generated out of thin air, enveloping the entire emerald energy ocean along with the core of the mineral vein beneath it seamlessly.
Faint light circulated on the surface of the barrier, emitting an aura that isolated detection and defended against intrusion.
This place would become the cradle for the Mini Ten-Tails to devour and grow, and no mistakes could be allowed.
Takuno would naturally leave a Shadow Clone here to guard and practice for the long term, but that was only a last resort; it was better to remain undiscovered if possible.
With everything ready, Takuno no longer hesitated.
He unsealed the sealing scroll.
"Plop!"
The small and strangely shaped Ten-Tails Larva was thrown into that emerald-colored sea of energy.
Almost at the moment of contact, the calm surface of the energy liquid suddenly boiled!
A visible torrent of emerald energy was frantically sucked as if by an invisible giant mouth, pouring turbulently into the small body of the Mini Ten-Tails!
Watching the Mini Ten-Tails greedily devour energy like a bottomless pit, a look of satisfaction finally flashed through Takuno's eyes.
However, as his gaze swept over the still vast and majestic Gelel Mineral Vein, his mood returned to tranquility.
Even if the Mini Ten-Tails' absorption speed was already so astonishing, to completely absorb this vast, ocean-like energy...
It was definitely not the work of a single day.