"C-rank mission? Uh, alright then. Lord Hokage did say your team is cleared for C-rank missions. Please, take your pick."
The chūnin in charge of assignments laid out a mission roster.
Chiba glanced down the list—there were countless options: escorting merchant caravans, delivering classified documents, and more.
Wait a second!
Escort Sakuraba Sadatoki to the Temple of Fire?
Sakuraba—that was the surname of a noble family in the Land of Fire. And the Temple of Fire… that was something he was actually interested in.
Wasn't this perfect?
"Teacher Kakashi, let's take this one."
Escort Sakuraba Sadatoki
Mission Rank: C
So this kid wants to go to the Temple of Fire?
Kakashi immediately caught Chiba's intention.
He thought for a moment, then nodded. "We'll take it."
"Kakashi-sama, you'll need to travel to Kyoto first to meet Sakuraba Sadatoki. Along the way there may be… non-ninja combat situations, so please proceed with caution."
The chūnin still wanted to dissuade him, but—
"Isn't that even better?" Tenten exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement.
Tsukikage Kaza remained silent. Chiba noticed that whenever there were too many people around, she tended to fade quietly into the background.
"We'll take it," Kakashi confirmed .
The chūnin could only sigh and hand over the mission card.
The two girls were practically bouncing with excitement.
Chiba chuckled. "When the fighting starts, don't you dare hide behind me. At least protect the client properly."
"Hey! Who are you looking down on? You're the one who'd better not freeze up!"
The two of them glared at him in unison, united for once.
The four of them made their way toward the village gate.
Once they finished the exit check, the girls' energy shot through the roof .
Chiba, meanwhile, was calm as ever. He carried a small pack with three books strapped to the top—his reading material for the mission.
As they walked, he read, completely unfazed by the lively chatter around them. In contrast, the girls' enthusiasm made it seem like they were heading off on a shopping trip rather than a mission.
At least he didn't have to help carry anyone's luggage.
That alone was a blessing.
During a short rest stop, Kakashi looked at him curiously. "First time on a mission—aren't you nervous?"
"Not really. Besides, the mission hasn't even started yet. If we're already anxious, that means we were never ready for a C-rank mission in the first place."
Chiba popped a nutrient pill into his mouth and went back to reading.
Blood, life, death—he had seen all of it during his time at the hospital. Life and death were routine in a ninja's world, even more so for ordinary warriors.
If they ran into enemies during the mission, Chiba would not hesitate to strike.
Of course, it would be best if there were no surprises.
Chiba quietly flipped through his book, occasionally lowering it to gesture through hand signs in the air.
Kakashi watched him in silence, a flood of emotions rising in his chest.
At first, he had chosen to mentor Chiba out of curiosity—to observe him for a year before deciding. But now, he was genuinely moved.
All three of his students worked incredibly hard.
Tenten was relentlessly honing her chakra control.
Tsukikage Kaza was training to suppress her presence, always alert, always on guard—clearly working on some secret technique.
And Chiba… well, he was on another level entirely.
He was too talented, too diligent.
The young shinobi of this generation were both fortunate and tragic—
Fortunate, because there was someone like Chiba blazing the trail ahead.
Tragic, because they could never catch up to him.
After watching for a while, Kakashi finally spoke. "You use your right hand for a normal blade, and your left for a chakra scalpel?"
"As expected of you, Kakashi-sensei." Chiba nodded slightly.
Tsukikage Kaza's ears perked up immediately.
A chakra scalpel…? Wasn't that a medical ninjutsu?
"The chakra scalpel can indeed be used in combat," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "It isn't affected by physical interference, so its movements are quite different. Using it for left-handed assassination strikes… that's a clever idea."
He sounded genuinely impressed.
To think of combining a normal blade with a chakra scalpel in live combat—Chiba's way of thinking was far from ordinary.
"Keep at it," Kakashi said seriously. "You might just develop a completely new fighting style."
Tenten and Tsukikage Kaza exchanged glances. At this point, they weren't even surprised anymore.
This kind of thing happened too often around Chiba to faze them.
"It's easy to form the basics," Chiba continued. "The real challenge is maximizing the effects of both the chakra blade and the chakra needle. I'm wondering if it's possible to add a chakra-absorption effect on top of the two."
"Absorb chakra…?"
Kakashi frowned, thinking.
"By the way, Sensei, you've learned over a thousand jutsu, right? Doesn't Earth Prison Hall have the ability to absorb chakra?"
Kakashi nodded slightly. Yes, he did know that one.
"The Earth Prison Hall absorbs chakra mainly through its barrier. The earth release itself provides the restraint effect. But trying to embed that barrier technique into a chakra scalpel or needle… that's pretty much impossible."
"Then," Chiba pressed, "what if we stripped the barrier technique out of Earth Prison Hall and cast it centered on the user's body?"
That question—
Kakashi froze for a few seconds before replying, "…That barrier works by forcibly converting the enemy's chakra into earth-natured chakra, linking earth release and barrier formation together. Using your own body as the focal point would be extremely dangerous."
Chiba didn't argue.
He knew that already.
Chakra was made up of spiritual and physical energy, and everyone's chakra was subtly different. Absorbing another's chakra directly could overload one's system—certainly not worth the risk.
"What about using it through a blade, or a chakra scalpel?"
"Well… in theory it's possible, but the difficulty would be off the charts. At least S-rank level."
Using a chakra scalpel for combat was already high-difficulty. Adding barrier manipulation on top of that? Definitely S-rank.
That was forbidden-technique territory—and to Kakashi, not even worth the effort given the limited payoff.
But Chiba's eyes were shining with excitement.
Difficulty?
His chakra control was already among the best in the entire shinobi world. And with the feedback from his Bodhi technique, both his mental energy and control were still improving.
S-rank difficulty? Child's play.
For him, difficulty was never the problem.
"Kakashi-sensei, can you teach me Earth Prison Hall?"
"Uh… fine."
Kakashi hesitated, then began explaining the hand seals and principles behind the technique.
Chiba listened once, then immediately began experimenting.
He still couldn't perform the nature transformation—but that was fine.
Hand seals were just like programming code: if it didn't run, he'd just delete the faulty parts and rewrite them. He could sense chakra flow and oscillation clearly enough anyway.
And with his precise control, backlash wasn't even a concern.
Kakashi's eye twitched as he watched.
This kid was reckless!
"You can't just—huh?"
"Wait, I think it worked?"
Chiba focused his senses, adjusted the chakra flow, and tried . He ate another chakra-recovery pill and, moments later, a faint barrier began to spread from his palm.
Kakashi felt his physical and spiritual energy being drained ever so slightly.
He fell silent.
Seriously?
So… peeling off a jutsu was that simple?!
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