On the way back, Tenten and Hazuki just couldn't calm down.
"Souma… do you think Yuichi-san will be okay?"
During a short rest, Tenten finally asked in a low voice.
"No idea," Souma said.
He only had slightly better comprehension than others, it's not like he was some fortune-telling sage.
Whether that samurai lived or died after this… how was he supposed to know?
Still—
The Kiyota clan is finished, that much is certain, he thought.
"If Craftsmen Village really had the intention—and the strength—to rebel, they wouldn't have been dragging their feet until now."
"You're right," Kakashi said, glancing at Souma with clear approval.
"On both sides, it was just a small faction trying to stir up chaos. In the end, it'll amount to nothing."
Iron Country and Craftsmen Country remaining neutral was already the tide of the times.
The current Shinobi World, after three Great Ninja Wars, was more or less stabilized.
These small countries… no matter how many fancy weapons they made, they weren't going to rise just like that.
Even if you lumped together Iron Country, Craftsmen Country, and Hidden Waterfall, the great nations would still swat them down if they stepped too far out of line.
"Yeah, I get it, you're both right…"
Tenten sighed. "But I still can't help worrying about Yuichi-san. He's a good samurai."
"Samurai like Yuichi-san have their own goals," Hazuki said quietly.
"If they haven't fulfilled that yet, they won't stop. We can't talk him out of it. The only thing we can do… is silently wish him good fortune."
"Just like we have our own ninja way?"
Tenten's eyes softened, something clicking in her mind.
Kakashi nodded, then slowly guided them:
"Then Tenten, Hazuki… what is your ninja way?"
"To become a great kunoichi like Lady Tsunade?" Tenten blurted.
"Tenten, that's your goal," Souma said, jogging beside her.
"It's not your ninja way. Your ninja way is what kind of shinobi you want to be."
Simple travel was a bit dull for people like them.
Chatting like this along the road wasn't so bad.
Tenten went quiet, thinking hard.
Hazuki, on the other hand, didn't hesitate at all:
"I want to prove… that even a kunoichi can become a truly great master of the sword."
Before, she'd envied Tenten for having something to obsess over, something she loved.
After Souma's reminder, she'd finally found her own answer.
So she didn't waver.
Tenten smiled too. "I've figured mine out as well!"
Souma basically already knew what she was going to say, so he just smiled instead of asking.
"Hm?"
Kakashi looked over, curious. "Oh?"
"Hehehe, it's a secret!"
Tenten stuck her tongue out at him and pulled a face.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
"You brats are getting harder and harder to handle."
He paused, then added, more seriously:
"But… congratulations. As you are right now, you're qualified to be called a real shinobi."
He had praised them before—but that was right before he passed out.
Even he barely remembered what he'd said.
This time, he meant it, clearly and soberly.
Souma went without saying.
His performance had blasted straight past Kakashi's expectations. The kid was more than qualified for chūnin.
What truly surprised Kakashi was Tenten and Hazuki.
Before, the two weren't weak, but most of their teamwork came from Souma leading them by the nose—
they hadn't really shown much initiative in their coordination.
But this time…
Tenten's tool manipulation and accurate sealing tag throws.
Souma's sealing and barrier control, locking enemies in place.
Hazuki's finishing strikes with the blade, clean and precise.
No verbal communication.
No pre-arranged plan.
But they had instinctively formed the kind of perfect cooperation Kakashi had been hoping to see from them.
That was a real squad.
In Kakashi's eyes, the three of them had already "graduated" from his teaching.
If they weren't going to miss the registration for the chūnin exams when they got back, he would've told them to just go and challenge it this year.
"Qualified to be called shinobi…"
Tenten and Hazuki murmured the words to themselves.
"Yeah. No one is perfect," Kakashi said softly.
"Even Souma isn't. He's bad at nature transformation and genjutsu. There are plenty of missions he can't handle alone."
"And that," he said, "is why teams exist."
Souma listened quietly.
If he spoke up now, he might accidentally ruin the atmosphere Kakashi had finally managed to build up.
Besides, having two girls on the same team as him… that came with its own pressures.
He stayed silent, thinking about something else.
The idea of using the absorption barrier together with Yamato's Wood Release had just been a spur-of-the-moment thought.
But if he followed that path further, the barrier's true value was clearly not limited to sealing and surgery.
Take Kakashi for example.
His combat ability was terrifying.
His only real limiter was chakra.
A barrier that could absorb and redirect chakra into storage was basically giving Kakashi a portable "fountain."
Set up one of those barriers behind the battlefield.
When he ran low, he'd just fall back a bit, refill, and dash back in.
On a real battlefield, that kind of thing would be completely busted.
To achieve that effect, though, there was one missing piece—
A storage medium.
But just now, Souma had been wondering:
What if we made something like Infinite Armor?
It didn't need incredible offensive power.
As long as it could temporarily store chakra contributed by others, that would already be enough.
Definitely worth a try, he thought.
Souma jogged while pulling out a notebook, jotting ideas down as he went.
And then there was—
"I wonder if Chiriku has made up his mind yet," he murmured.
Sealing and barrier techniques had massive room for development—
far more than ordinary ninjutsu.
A technique like the Temple of Fire's Sealing Iron Wall, combining both, was especially valuable.
Not to mention Senzoku no Sai—the "Sage Talent of the Temple."
"There's no way I can personally focus on all these fields at once," Souma thought.
"Good thing Tenten's a natural with ninja tools and actually likes that stuff."
He glanced over at her.
Tenten felt his eyes on her and blinked.
Why does Souma keep looking at me…?
But soon she pushed the thoughts aside, her mind drifting back to the four ninja tools sealed in her scroll.
The four great ninja tools of Craftsmen Village—their greatest secret.
When Kakashi and Souma had asked about her ninja way, she'd quietly set a private milestone for herself:
Crack the mystery of the Four Great Tools.
If she could replicate even one of them…
that would be ideal.
As they continued their journey, Tenten and Hazuki's stamina and mental focus gradually burned out again. They had to stop, eat soldier pills, and rest.
After they'd caught their breath, Souma opened his notebook and shared his idea.
The other three fell silent, exchanging glances.
Using the ninja tools as the core, to route and store chakra drawn in by an absorption barrier…
It was another perspective they never would've considered.
Kakashi couldn't help thinking about himself.
With a ninja tool like that, the number of jutsu he could safely cast in a fight would skyrocket.
His effective battle strength would rise quietly—but dramatically.
And who said such a tool could only store normal chakra?
What if it stored tailed beast chakra?
His breathing got a little heavier.
"Souma. Tenten. Hazuki," Kakashi said, his tone suddenly serious.
"Don't mention this to anyone when we get back. I'll report it directly to the Hokage."
"Four Heavenly Kings may have been asking for it, but those weapons are still Craftsmen Village's treasures," he continued.
"Without other arrangements, at best, we'll only be able to hold onto them temporarily."
"…You mean?"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
He'd heard the unspoken piece in Souma's earlier words.
"I mean…" Souma lowered his voice, leaning in a little.
"Is there a chance we might encounter a certain missing-nin on the way back?"
"Pff— cough cough cough!"
Tenten, mid-sip, choked on her water and coughed violently.
That…
wasn't that just straight-up robbery?
"Hard," Kakashi said, scratching his head.
"Orochimaru might be a missing-nin, but he hasn't shown up in a long time."
Souma thought for a bit, then moved even closer, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Sensei… in that case, why don't we work with Danzō-sama?"
"!!!"
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/pikachu614