The next day, at the Hokage's Office.
"Chiba, Kakashi already filled me in on the details. You performed excellently," the Third Hokage said with a wide smile. "It seems my decision to let your team take on a C-rank mission right away was the right one."
Letting a fresh genin squad skip D-rank missions had stirred up quite a bit of opposition within the administration. But Hiruzen had personally overruled them to grant the team special permission.
And now, their results had proven him right—completely.
Their division of labor was clear, their teamwork smooth.
A squad like that had already reached the standard of a fully fledged ninja team.
"I only did what needed to be done," Chiba replied modestly.
He didn't think he'd done anything remarkable. Their opponents had only been a few common samurai, after all. The battle had been one-sided—hardly a true test of coordination.
"Haha! For your first real mission, that's already impressive," Hiruzen chuckled, then shifted to business. "So, what brings you here today? Returning books? Or something else?"
Chiba handed over three sealing manuals, along with eight talisman papers and a written report.
"Hokage-sama, this is a new technique I developed on the road. Once activated, it can autonomously sustain a Binding Formation for a short time. I think it has some practical potential."
"Oh?"
The Third raised his brows and took the report.
Another technique?
Even if it was just an improvement, that was already remarkable—especially for someone who'd only been studying sealing for… what, half a month?
Actually, if one counted the time he'd spent on barrier theory earlier, it was more like ten days of true sealing practice.
Hiruzen fell silent for several seconds as he read.
But when his eyes moved down the page, his expression gradually hardened.
This wasn't a mere improvement.
The boy had split apart and reconstructed two techniques into a new one—a fusion between the Binding Formation and the Absorption Barrier.
Hiruzen's gaze sharpened like a blade, instantly discerning the structure.
When he finally looked up, there was open astonishment in his eyes. He studied Chiba for a long moment before exhaling slowly.
"Every time I think I've seen the limits of your ability," he said quietly, "you do something that completely overturns my expectations."
"…Should I take that as praise?"
"Of course," Hiruzen said with a laugh.
If only everyone in Konoha had this boy's creative spirit, the village might have unified the entire shinobi world by now. He could only wish there were more geniuses like him.
But that was impossible.
Prodigies of this caliber appeared maybe once in a generation. The kind of era that birthed multiple legends—like the time of the second Hokage—was something that might never come .
Just as Chiba had described, this revised version of the Binding Formation was far more practical: a single user could deploy it effectively. Its only drawback was the difficulty—it now required skill on par with a B-rank technique, and the diagram itself was A+ complexity.
None of his jutsu were ever simple.
But then Hiruzen noticed something odd.
"Hmm? Another page?"
He flipped to the next sheet—
'Proposal for Chakra Thread Modification.'
Hiruzen blinked, then—ironically—felt a twinge of relief.
So this one's just an improvement. Thank goodness. At least it wasn't another original invention to make him feel inadequate.
Scanning through it, he nodded approvingly. "I see. You're suggesting that others experiment with applying chakra nature transformation to chakra threads, to develop new ninjutsu?"
"I don't possess nature transformation myself, so I can't test it directly," Chiba explained. "But I think there's great potential there. More people working together means more progress. Innovation shouldn't depend on just one person."
The Third Hokage's smile deepened. "Well said. You're absolutely right—innovation should never be the effort of one or two individuals. The whole village needs to be part of it."
"Exactly," Chiba said earnestly. "Plenty of people have ideas for new techniques, but once they develop them, they hide them away and no one else ever learns from them. That's an enormous waste of resources."
Hiruzen nodded repeatedly, gesturing for him to go on.
"My thought is that the village should improve the reward system for innovation—make it worthwhile for people to share their discoveries," Chiba continued. "Of course, there must be safeguards st espionage from other villages."
He spoke calmly, almost like a young instructor addressing a class.
His goal wasn't the reward itself, though. He wanted Konoha's knowledge base to grow—to stop letting ideas rot unseen.
"What sort of reward and sharing system are you envisioning?" Hiruzen asked, tapping his fingers st the desk.
Chiba smiled. "Something similar to the Scroll of Seals. We could archive significant new jutsu there. Innovators who contribute could kidn the right to study one technique from the archive as a reward."
Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle.
So that was his angle. Of course.
Chiba's hunger for knowledge had always been completely transparent—he'd never even tried to hide it.
After a moment of thought, the old Hokage nodded. "Your proposal makes sense. I'll have the administration look into it."
Then came the tricky part—deciding his reward.
Book access? Already granted.
Swordsmanship notes? Already given.
What else could he offer a child who already had everything?
Then Hiruzen suddenly remembered.
"You don't have a proper weapon yet, do you?" he mused. "I still have some chakra metal stored away. Think about what kind of weapon you'd like, and I'll have the smiths forge it."
Chiba's eyes lit up immediately. "Really?! Thank you, Hokage-sama!"
Chakra metal—that was a treasure!
His mind spun with possibilities. "Hokage-sama, when you say 'some'… how much, exactly?"
"Not much," Hiruzen said with a cough. "Probably just enough for a blade about the size of the one you're carrying."
"Hokage-sama, don't be so stingy," Chiba wheedled, leaning in. "My suggestions were great, weren't they? Surely that's worth a little extra? I've brought so much benefit to the village already!"
The Hokage sighed. "All right, all right. What exactly do you plan to make? There's only a little left, you know."
"Nothing big," Chiba said, pretending to think. "Just a sword, and maybe a length of chakra-steel wire—something flexible but durable."
"…Wire?"
"Yes, so it won't take much material."
Hiruzen gave him a helpless look. "Fine, one sword and one wire. But that's the last of it!"
"Heh, thank you, Hokage-sama! I'll work out the design and bring it to you later."
In truth, Chiba knew nothing about weapon forging—and he didn't need to. Their team already had a weapons specialist. He'd just have her handle the design.
As for the type of sword… he'd need to think carefully about that.
Notebook in hand, he left the office—and just outside, he noticed an old man with black hair, wrapped in bandages and leaning on a cane, slowly approaching.
Chiba's eyes narrowed slightly.
Shimura kid.
Konoha's infamous troublemaker.
Chiba quietly stepped aside, bowing slightly to give way.
But as kid passed, he stopped.
"Young man," the elder said in a gravelly tone, "your talent far exceeds what they're giving you credit for. Tell me… would you like to perform on a bigger stage?"
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