"Lord Hokage, this is the preliminary sketch I designed together with Tenten. We'd like to give it a try."
"Hahaha, as expected of young geniuses. Since you've already drawn it out, then go ahead and try."
The Third Hokage took the design with a smile and looked it over carefully. His eyes narrowed slightly.
This design…
"This doesn't seem to be your original intention, does it?"
Who was the Third Hokage? Of course he understood Chiba.
This child always designed multiple plans, each one building upon the last.
What he saw now was probably the most basic version.
"Yeah, but it's the most practical one. If I went with my original idea, it'd require a lot of chakra metal. Does our Konoha even have that much?"
Chiba didn't hide anything.
The Third pondered for a moment, then cleared his throat and said, "There's still some left."
"…"
Chiba was speechless for a moment.
"Cough, cough—what I mean is, that's the village's chakra metal. What I gave you before was from my personal stores. It's not quite the same thing."
The old man's face reddened slightly, and he coughed to cover up the awkwardness.
Chiba rolled his eyes but merely chuckled.
The Third Hokage smiled. "Go ahead and test it. If it works, we'll discuss getting you the better kind."
"Alright."
Chiba nodded.
The higher-grade materials were incredibly precious—but the effect would also be far stronger.
He understood, and so did the Third Hokage.
Stored chakra could come from ordinary shinobi… or from a tailed beast.
If it was the latter—
"Oh, right. Have Kakashi take your team along. There's a mission ready, and also—the Artisan Ninja Village has already sent their letter of apology."
"Yes, sir."
Chiba exited the Hokage's office, his heart burning with excitement.
When he reached the ground floor, Tenten was waiting anxiously.
"How did it go?"
"It's approved!"
Chiba nodded firmly.
One mind alone sees only so far—
Now that the Hokage had agreed, they could head to Konoha's ninja tools factory to forge the prototype.
They'd create batches of materials, test different combinations, and improve layer by layer.
As for Tenten, this would be valuable training for her.
It wasn't necessary that she personally forge every single weapon.
Just as Chiba often shared his creative ideas for others to develop—though he earned less credit, it freed his time and energy from tedious manual work.
It was the same for Tenten.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Chiba led her to a quiet spot. He then took out a mirror.
Forming seals, he wiped the surface—and an image appeared.
On the other side, Tsukikage Kaza was practicing her sword forms, clearly within the Moonlight Clan compound.
"Tsukikage Kaza's at home. Go find her—I'll go look for Kakashi-sensei."
"Eh?"
Tenten blinked in confusion.
"Why?"
"It's been a while since we've taken a mission."
"Ohhh, I get it!"
Tenten instantly brightened.
A trip to the tool factory plus a mission—clearly the Third had arranged this to help them build up some record of accomplishments.
Chiba shifted his chakra focus and sought out another person.
Moments later, Kakashi's image appeared in the mirror.
His location…
Hmm?
Chiba was slightly surprised—Kakashi was observing one of his shadow clones.
Not too strange, though.
With Kakashi's wandering habits and sharp perception, noticing something off about Chiriku, Asuma, and Chiba himself was trivial.
Moreover, if he had created a clone and left it sitting unmoving in a forest, even an ordinary chunin would think it suspicious.
Chiba thought for a moment, then released the shadow clone.
The next instant—
Darkness filled his vision. An immense wave of fatigue crashed into his mind, nearly knocking him out.
Luckily, his mental strength was extraordinary. He managed to withstand the backlash from the clone's accumulated exhaustion.
"Whew…"
No wonder the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was classified as a forbidden jutsu.
Only freaks like Naruto could handle the exhaustion from dispelling several long-lasting clones.
Reincarnation of Asura's chakra…
Chiba couldn't help feeling envious. Unfortunately, that kind of power wasn't something a normal person could acquire—and it came with the risk of that half-dead Sage of Six Paths lurking behind it all. Too dangerous.
In the Forest of Death
Kakashi looked at the shadow clone that had just vanished and frowned slightly.
It disappeared?
What was Chiba up to this time?
Could it be…
Did Chiriku actually teach him the Gift of the Hermit Group?
"Forget it, I'll just go ask him directly."
Kakashi tugged down his headband to cover the Sharingan and set off from the Forest of Death toward Konoha.
Soon, he spotted Chiba.
"Waiting for me?"
"Yeah."
Chiba briefly explained the Hokage's mission.
Kakashi chuckled helplessly. "The Hokage really…"
The mission was simple: go to the tool factory and escort a shipment of ninja tools back. A C-rank task, at best.
The true goal, of course, was just to polish the team's mission record.
Kakashi couldn't help but grin.
"Well, it's been a while since our last mission anyway. Let's go stretch our legs."
"That's what I thought too. And actually, we'll need your help testing the new ninja tool, Kakashi-sensei."
"You've finished it? I see—so that's why you're heading to the factory."
Kakashi's eye lit up.
Chiba had mentioned this new ninja tool before, and he'd been eager to see it in action.
He hadn't expected that in just over two months, Chiba and Tenten had already completed it.
Impressive!
"By the way," Kakashi added, "what was your shadow clone doing earlier?"
Chiba smiled faintly. "I thought you'd figure that out yourself."
"I'm not that bored."
"The Gift of the Hermit Group."
Kakashi's single visible eye widened.
Well, damn!
He actually did get his hands on that from the Fire Temple?
What kind of deal had he made with Chiriku?
Kakashi clicked his tongue inwardly.
"You… already mastered it?"
"Yeah. In fact, I learned it too fast. It feels… a little strange."
"Heh."
Kakashi gave him a sidelong glance, thinking he was just being humble in that annoying "humblebrag" way.
But Chiba wasn't bragging.
Natural energy was no ordinary chakra—it couldn't be absorbed or fused merely by having strong chakra control or mental power.
Even geniuses like the Fourth Hokage only managed a half-finished version.
Orochimaru, despite reaching Ryuchi Cave, never succeeded in learning Sage Mode. Jiraiya had to rely on two toad sages to barely maintain his own.
The bar was extremely high.
Yet Chiba had absorbed the natural energy held within his clone with surprising ease.
That was what puzzled him.
The Gift of the Hermit Group wasn't quite the same as Sage Mode or Sage Chakra. It felt more like a state that integrated directly into the body—almost like an ancient exorcist art.
It was something in between natural energy and Sage Chakra.
Actually, he had a guess—
Perhaps his ability to merge with natural energy so easily was linked to the Bodhi Seed's recent glow.
Every change it brought had yielded benefits.
This time's change might have altered his very physique.
Still, it was just a hypothesis for now—no solid data to prove it.
"Let's go," he said finally. "We'll meet up with Tenten and the others."
Kakashi sighed inwardly, feeling a bit worn out.
He really didn't know what to say anymore.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
https://www.patreon.com/Mindsmithstudio