"Mm. Dry leaves do catch fire easily."
"…"
That was… not the answer Asuma expected.
He didn't believe Souma didn't understand the metaphor —
but then he realized he was being ridiculous.
No matter how brilliant the boy was, Souma was still twelve.
How could he truly grasp the weight behind the Will of Fire?
And besides—
What Asuma was thinking about wasn't the Will of Fire at all.
It was The King.
His fingers subconsciously brushed the lighter in his pocket.
Memories resurfaced—
brought back to him because of Deilu.
Souma had never experienced some things.
It was already impressive enough that he understood teamwork.
Expecting him to shoulder philosophies forged through decades of hardship was unreasonable.
Asuma rose, ready to take his leave—
But Souma suddenly spoke again.
"I don't really understand the Will of Fire," he said calmly.
"But plants that want to grow need roots, stems, and a healthy environment before they can ever produce lush leaves."
"…Ha."
Asuma chuckled at first.
Then I froze.
His thoughts spiraled.
Roots. Stems. Environment.
"And what do you think the root represents?" Asuma asked before he could stop himself.
"The root?" Souma blinked.
"Obviously the root system. Without roots, nothing can sprout or grow."
Asuma stared at him—
Then I realized.
He had let a question slip out from far deeper inside himself.
But the answer Souma gave…
was right.
A tree without roots cannot grow.
A village without a foundation cannot stand.
Danzo's philosophy, so absolute, so single-minded—
was nothing but taking a fragment of truth and claiming it was the whole.
Asuma let out a quiet laugh and reached out, wanting to ruffle Souma's hair on instinct—
"Hey. Touching someone's head is rude," Souma said immediately.
"Especially a smart person's head."
"Ahahaha— Sorry, sorry. I'll treat you to dinner next time."
Asuma waved as he left.
He had more questions now than when he arrived…
Yet somehow, his heart felt lighter.
Souma watched him go and finally exhaled.
Konoha really does have torchbearers everywhere…
How strange.
Whatever. The Will of Fire has nothing to do with me. I should focus on training instead.
Souma returned to his room.
After a brief exchange with his shadow clone, the clone dispersed—
then reformed and headed straight for the Forest of Death.
Deilu had mentioned that the natural-energy resonance was strongest at Entrance 37.
Souma made a mental note:
Thank you, Deilu. Thank you, Asuma.
As for himself—
to keep the clone active longer, he channeled a massive amount of his chakra into it.
Seven-tenths, to be exact.
Leaving his real body at only thirty percent of its usual stamina and reserves.
Recoverable, but not ideal.
Training ninjutsu or barrier arts was impossible in this state.
After thinking for a moment, Souma decided to check on Tenten's progress instead.
It had been a while; she should've improved by now.
Tenten's home was nearby.
Isolated, with a wide yard filled with forges, tools, anvils—everything a weaponsmith needed.
A cart sat by the entrance—used for transporting weapons and supplies.
A thin trail of smoke rose from the backyard chimney.
She's forging at this hour?
That wasn't normal.
Tenten's family typically worked in the morning or midday.
Had she started experimenting?
Souma quickened his pace.
Clang— Clang— Clang…
The rhythmic ring of metal echoed through the yard.
He peeked over the fence—
Sure enough, it was Tenten, swinging a hammer with full focus, sweat dripping from her brow.
A bell chimed softly.
"Who's there?"
Souma hopped inside with a grin.
"It's me. Didn't expect you to set traps now. I nearly missed that one."
"Souma! You— I thought you were busy these days!"
She looked surprised first, then puzzled.
Kakashi had mentioned Souma was negotiating with the Fire Temple, and would be occupied for a while.
"It just wrapped up," Souma replied simply.
Tenten understood enough from that.
"Ah— so the deal went through. No wonder you finally have time."
"Don't worry about me. I just wanted to check your progress. Chakra weapons are rare—we need to work fast."
"Yes! I've finished the books and have been training my forging technique nonstop."
She hammered the glowing metal again.
Judging by the shape, it was a blade.
Souma stayed silent.
Forging was one field he genuinely wasn't an expert in.
Even in his past life, all he knew were surface-level concepts from videos.
As for ninja-world metallurgy? Pure guesswork.
Silence was safer.
"Honestly," Tenten continued between strikes,
"I'd been overthinking it. My dad said forging isn't something you figure out by thinking—you learn by doing."
Her arms tensed, her hammer fell rhythmically.
"The good news is— I can fully activate the Overlimit State with my hands now."
"Good. Everyone grows differently. You're on the right track."
"I also have some ideas about that chakra tool you mentioned," she said, eyes brightening.
"Oh? Let's hear it."
"I studied it more. Achieving the infinite-slot armor design is basically impossible—no one in Konoha has that level of craftsmanship."
Souma nodded.
That was expected.
"But," she continued, "if we're only aiming for storage— that part is possible."
Souma smiled.
"Exactly. That's what I planned too. If storage is all we need, we can start testing immediately."
Tenten hit the metal one last time, then set it aside.
Wiping her forehead, she grabbed a notebook and handed it to him.
Page after page was filled with sketches, calculations, and written notes.
At the very back—
a full blueprint.
Souma scanned it.
He wasn't a blacksmith, but after reading so many books recently, he could tell—
The structure wasn't bad.
But the sealing scripts—
They were messy, mismatched, and several were impractical.
"You keep forging," Souma said, taking out a pencil.
"I'll refine this blueprint. Tomorrow, we'll ask the Third Hokage to let us forge a prototype."
"So fast?!"
Tenten's eyes widened.
"Fast? The village has been stuck on four chakra tools for ages. If we don't move now, someone else will beat us to it."
Souma sat on a stone stool and began redrawing the blueprint from scratch.
Tenten scratched her cheek.
"But… where do we get materials? Those aren't cheap…"
"From the village, obviously," Souma answered matter-of-factly.
"You think we're paying out of pocket? My chakra iron is for weapons, not experiments."
After everything he'd contributed, the village owed him far more than some metal.
And if the Third refused—
Souma's lips curved slightly.
There was always Danzo.
At least in weapon development, they were aligned.
"I—"
"No need," he interrupted gently.
"I'll handle the Hokage. You study the blueprint. You'll be the one forging it, after all."
Tenten took the paper—
And froze.
This wasn't a correction.
It was an entirely new design.
At a glance, it looked similar—
but every detail was rebuilt from the ground up.
"Souma… why change it so much?"
"Your idea was good," Souma said calmly.
"But you overlooked one thing."
"What thing?"
"The cost is too high. And it's a terrible practice model."
He tapped the paper.
"A first prototype doesn't need perfection. With expensive materials, we'll only slow down production. Chakra tools need to be accessible, not luxury items."
"But then… how do we store chakra without special materials?"
Souma raised a brow.
"Shadow clones."
Tenten blinked—
Then her eyes lit up in realization.
Of course!
The only reason she insisted on chakra iron was to handle the chakra storage medium.
But if a shadow clone acted as the medium—
There was no need for rare metals at all.
Just a functional absorption seal and a conversion path.
Difficulty—
Instantly lowered.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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