With Sakuraba Sadatoki safely returned home, their escort mission was complete. It was time to head back to the village.
Tenten seemed unusually thoughtful.
"So even girls from big clans don't have it easy, huh…"
Before, she had always envied those born into great families—thinking they naturally received the best treatment, unlike commoners like her who had to work twice as hard to become ninja.
But now—
She realized her own life wasn't so bad after all.
"Every position has its own hardships," Chiba said meaningfully. "Those from noble clans aren't necessarily better off. Not just the aristocrats in Kyoto—the same goes for our own village."
Tenten froze for a moment, and an image flashed through her mind—a figure dressed in white.
Was he talking about Kankurō?
Hyūga Neji…
Did he face similar struggles too?
She didn't speak, but Tsukikage Kaza was the one who broke the silence.
"The Hyūga Clan—I heard the Main Family and the Branch Family live very differently. And in each generation, only one of the Main Family siblings becomes the clan head. The other gets assigned to the Branch Family."
"What's the difference between Main and Branch anyway?" Tenten asked, confused.
Even Branch members could use plenty of powerful jutsu. They still had the Byakugan, didn't they?
Tsukikage Kaza shook her head. "That part, I'm not too sure about."
Both girls turned toward Kakashi and Chiba for answers.
Kakashi remained silent.
Chiba didn't reply right away either; he thought for a moment before saying, "I'm not entirely sure. But I've been studying sealing techniques lately—and I came across quite a few entries about curse-type seals."
"You mean…"
Tenten instantly caught on, eyes widening in surprise.
"Maybe," Chiba said vaguely.
"All right, enough about the affairs of noble clans. That's not something we can get involved in anyway." Kakashi looked around at the group. "Everyone done eating?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Then—hm? Wait a sec. You all keep eating. I'm going to buy something real quick."
Kakashi stood up, ready to leave. But out of the corner of his eye—
A bookstore.
His whole expression lit up.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, where are you—"
"Forget it," Chiba interrupted with a small smile, stopping Tenten before she could chase after him. "Let's just wait here."
He'd already finished the three sealing technique manuals. There wasn't much point in rereading them. Now that he finally had some downtime, he closed his eyes and visualized the Bodhi Seed in his mind, examining the markings that had changed.
Then—
He noticed that one of the previously faint patterns had grown noticeably deeper.
The one representing the chakra threads?
He was slightly surprised, then quickly understood.
Before, he'd only used the chakra threads for manipulating tools. But now, he'd developed a new ability—cutting. The increase in complexity must have been reflected in the Bodhi Seed's pattern.
So that's how it works.
Hmm. Even simple jutsu might have untapped potential after all.
He couldn't use every technique himself, but if others could learn from them, maybe it would have some indirect benefits too.
Inspired by the thought, Chiba took out his notebook and started writing.
Tenten tried to sneak glances out of the corner of her eye. She really wanted to see what he was jotting down, but was hesitant—it might be confidential after all. Ninja techniques were, by nature, quite private.
"If you want to look, just come over," Chiba said, amused. "It's nothing classified."
Overjoyed, Tenten leaned in and saw the words 'Chakra Thread Nature Transformation' scrawled at the top of the page. After thinking for a moment, she understood what he meant.
"Wait—you can apply nature transformation to chakra threads?"
"Why not?" Chiba asked.
Tenten opened her mouth, then closed it . After a long pause, she finally managed, "Not every chakra nature would work with it though, right?"
"Of course not," Chiba replied. "I think the best fit would be Wind Release. Then Lightning and Fire."
"What about Water Release?"
"It could work too," Chiba said, "but it's basically an extension of the second Hokage's techniques. Not much point reinventing that."
Tenten nodded thoughtfully.
"I've also heard," Chiba added between bites, "that Iwagakure has two unique forms of Earth Release nature transformations. If you could fuse those into chakra threads, the results might be interesting."
Tenten mulled that over for a long while before sighing and shaking her head.
The ideas were great, sure—but her strongest chakra affinity was Earth Release, and ninjutsu wasn't her main focus anyway. Developing a second nature transformation? Who knew when that would happen.
Looked like this one wasn't meant for her.
"Don't overthink it," Chiba said with a small smile. "Chakra threads are too fine. In practice, only Wind Release really makes them stronger. Lightning and Fire are more like support enhancements."
"Because Wind Release is good for cutting?" Tsukikage Kaza asked.
"Exactly."
"Got it!" Tenten declared. "If I ever develop a second nature transformation, I'm going for Wind Release!"
Chiba smiled faintly but said nothing more.
Nature transformation was something he could only give general advice on—he had no intention of focusing his research there.
Ninjutsu had limits.
Unless you possessed a kekkei genkai, no ordinary ninjutsu could ever rival Sage Arts.
Still, these notes would give the chakra thread technique a direction for future development. Let others experiment with it—it was a small-scale test for him.
Whether it would work or not—
Hard to say. But it didn't cost him much to try.
Soon after, Kakashi returned—refreshed, almost radiant.
Chiba leaned closer and whispered, "Sensei, you found a new volume?"
"No," Kakashi said, coughing into his fist. "Jiraiya-sama hasn't released anything new yet. Anyway, that's—uh—none of your business. kids shouldn't be prying into such things!"
Chiba chuckled softly.
Funny—this was the same man who'd been reading that kind of book in front of Tsukikage Kaza and hadn't even noticed until Chiba pointed it out.
If he hadn't, Tsukikage Kaza probably would've read through several chapters before he realized.
Kakashi's face flushed red, though the mask mercifully hid it. After a while, he muttered in a low voice, "Well, even if there's no new volume, I did find a side story. Says it's an 'extra violent' edition."
"Probably something the publisher got permission to write themselves, huh?" Chiba quipped.
Kakashi cleared his throat. "That's not important."
"Heh."
"…"
This brat—so not adorable.
Then , he wasn't exactly the cute type to begin with. kid or not, Chiba's kill count already outstripped most chunin.
Kakashi sighed inwardly.
With no one left to escort, the journey back to Konoha was swift. By sunset, the familiar village gates came into view.
"We're finally back!" Tenten stretched with a yawn, then turned to Kakashi with renewed energy. "Kakashi-sensei, no other missions today, right?"
"Nope," Kakashi said, for once sounding serious. "But tomorrow, meet at Training Ground 25. That includes you, Tsukikage Kaza. As for you, Chiba—come if you want. Tomorrow's lesson will mostly be about ninjutsu training."
"I've got something to do in the morning," Chiba replied. "I'll bring some special ration pills in the afternoon."
"Fine by me."
They passed through the village gate, checked in with the chunin on duty, signed the mission paperwork—
Then Kakashi waved his hand. "You're all dismissed."
"Yes, sir!"
In an instant, the group dispersed—
Leaving only Kakashi and the two gatekeepers standing beneath the evening sky.
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