Inside the Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage had originally been preparing to go home, but Yagyu Souma had somehow dragged him back into the room and forced him to work overtime.
Hiruzen looked down at the scroll in his hands and suddenly felt the urge to smoke.
This child is going to make me old…
He had long expected Souma might someday create something akin to a modified Gentle Fist,
but he did not expect that day to arrive so soon.
And this was only the preliminary version.
Still—
there was no rule saying only the Hyūga could develop Gentle Fist–type taijutsu.
"Third Hokage?"
"Souma," Hiruzen sighed, "this technique of yours… the difficulty level is quite high. Close to A+, yes?"
He stared at the scroll again.
He couldn't use it himself, but even imagining the chakra flow made the difficulty obvious.
To fully perform it would be absurdly hard.
"If fully realized, maybe around S-rank difficulty," Souma admitted. "But there's a simplified version too. You just condense chakra, drive it into the target's body, and make it detonate."
He pointed to the lower half of the scroll.
Hiruzen naturally noticed it.
His rough assessment: the pure explosive version was probably just reaching A-rank.
Gentle Fist: Spiral.
Gentle Fist: Burst.
Simple. Brutal.
Very Souma.
Hiruzen rolled the scroll up and looked at him.
"These two techniques have significant value."
"I'd like you to help me contact the Hyūga clan," Souma said.
"Mm? There's no need to worry about them. Gentle Fist may be their pride, but that doesn't mean others can't innovate."
And besides—
The principles of Souma's techniques were fundamentally different.
Hyūga Gentle Fist attacked chakra pathways and internal organs.
Souma's Spiral Gentle Fist borrowed from the principles of the Rasengan—
creating a chaotic internal vortex to shred flesh and organs from within.
"Oh," Souma added, "take a look at the second scroll."
"Second… ah."
Hiruzen blinked.
The shock from the first scroll had made him forget that Souma had actually brought two.
He unrolled the second one—
—and immediately inhaled sharply.
Even at over sixty years of life, having witnessed countless bizarre jutsu,
this made him genuinely pause.
Acupoint striking.
First a Gentle Fist variant,
and now acupoint mapping?
The Hyūga clan might actually faint.
He rubbed his forehead and carefully read through the contents.
So that was it.
According to Souma's notes, some tenketsu varied slightly between individuals,
but a subset had fixed positions.
These were the acupoints Souma was targeting.
"You went to the Medical Corps the other day because you were already considering these ideas, weren't you?"
Hiruzen lifted his pipe—
Even though there was no flame, the motion helped him maintain composure.
This child was too bright.
"No," Souma said truthfully. "I only thought medical knowledge would be useful. The idea came up while developing Limit Break Mode."
"That alone is impressive enough."
If Souma were a jōnin—or a war-era prodigy—Hiruzen wouldn't be so shocked.
But in this peaceful era?
Compare him to his peers:
Neji, a supposed genius, was still practicing taijutsu fundamentals and pondering traditional Hyūga forms.
A year younger than Souma, Uchiha Sasuke was studying desperately for early graduation.
The gap was growing into a canyon.
Hiruzen was silent for a long moment before remembering something else.
He pulled a file from a drawer.
"By the way, you established cooperation with the Fire Temple during your mission, yes?"
"They've sent representatives?" Souma's eyes brightened.
He had been itching to get his hands on Iron Wall Sealing and Sage Aptitude detection techniques.
"They've submitted formal partnering documents," Hiruzen said. "Review it. If it looks fine, sign it. Dilu will continue coordinating further matters."
Souma flipped through it.
No issues.
He signed immediately.
"As for the Hyūga," Souma continued, "please help me raise the topic. I want to exchange knowledge on Gentle Fist and chakra pathways."
"That will be… difficult," Hiruzen admitted. "But I'll bring it up."
"Please do."
Souma left the office afterward and visited the Hokage's private library, picking out a book on chakra-infused tools.
He had no intention of learning forging itself—
but if he didn't understand the theory, he couldn't design proper sealing arrays on tools.
Leaving the tower, he stopped by the hospital next.
Might Guy had already been discharged.
Good.
If he'd been forced to lie in that bed any longer, the man would have exploded from suppressed energy.
It also meant—
Souma no longer had to fear being dragged into Guy's training routine.
Life resumed its rhythm.
Training → Reading → Meals → Training.
From time to time, Tenten would find him to exchange books,
the two of them idly chatted a bit.
Moonlight Kasumi seemed to be training her swordsmanship nonstop.
Everyone was busy.
Their entire squad had effectively halted missions;
for at least one or two months, they wouldn't be dispatched.
Half a month passed quietly.
Forging-related knowledge was painfully scarce in the Leaf.
The village simply didn't have the tradition for crafting advanced chakra tools.
Weapons like the kunai "Swallow" were simple.
But creating something like the "Infinite Aperture Armguard"?
The theoretical and technological foundation was nearly nonexistent.
Souma spent most of those two weeks reading, experimenting, and jotting down concepts.
He had wanted to hide away and study further—
But Dilu arrived.
The Hyūga clan was still "discussing."
According to Neji, the Main Family held meetings constantly—
one or two hours every day.
Souma could only laugh.
He never placed his hopes on them.
By the time they finished their endless internal politics,
the tea would be cold and the matter irrelevant.
So he decided to lower the difficulty of his Gentle Fist variant once more.
For example—
Simplifying it to only the condensed impact without the vortex explosion.
Difficulty: B+.
Still high, but manageable for jōnin or anyone good at chakra control.
"That's low enough. I'll submit this version and go meet Dilu."
Souma handed the new scroll to Hiruzen,
then joined Dilu in a meeting room.
The monk sat extremely straight, his expression solemn.
Upon seeing Souma, he immediately stood, pressed his palms together, and bowed.
"Thank you for your patience, Souma-dono."
"Not at all. With how vast and established the Fire Temple is, it's only natural there are many matters to handle."
Souma returned the bow.
They both sat.
Hiruzen occupied the center seat.
Dilu took out a book and pushed it forward.
"Souma-dono, this contains the barrier formulas of our Fire Temple. Please treat it with utmost confidentiality."
"Don't worry. I'll read it right here."
"…"
There it was.
That familiar feeling.
The tone of someone who intended to just…
read the whole thing on the spot.
Dilu took a slow breath, offering internal prayers,
and forced down his unease.
Souma began reading seriously.
Halfway through, Souma's eyes suddenly sharpened.
This formula—
he had never seen anything like it.
A barrier specifically for detecting those with Sage aptitude?
He immediately pushed the book toward Dilu.
"Master Dilu, what is the function of this particular array?"
Dilu glanced at the page—
—and froze for several seconds.
Even though he had reviewed the material repeatedly over the past few days…
He hadn't expected Souma's question to be this precise.
A single, isolated array.
A single segment on a single page.
He thought for quite a while before answering.
"By itself, I cannot say. But combined with the formulas on this page, once activated, it allows one to distinguish those with Sage affinity."
"I see."
Souma reread the entire page thoroughly.
Recognition of a specific chakra type.
Extremely useful.
This formula definitely had the potential to become one of his future etched seals.
After a moment, he closed the book.
"Master Dilu, I've finished reading. Your sealing-barrier design is fairly advanced—quite difficult to modify."
"It doesn't matter," Dilu said warmly. "Souma-dono may take all the time he needs. Once the work is complete, simply deliver the design to the Fire Temple."
Souma waved a hand.
"No need. Just rest in the Leaf for two days. I'll study the formulas today and draw up a design diagram for you."
"???"
Dilu's entire expression went blank.
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