"Lord Hokage, this is the preliminary blueprint Tenten and I designed. We'd like to try forging it."
"Hahaha, as expected of young geniuses," the Third Hokage said with a smile, taking the scroll. "Since you've drawn it, go ahead and test it."
He studied the design for a while, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
This blueprint…
"This isn't your original plan, is it?"
The Third knew Yagyu Souma far too well.
This kid never submitted just one design.
He always created multiple versions that escalated in complexity.
What lay before him—
It was clearly the cheapest, most basic version.
"Yeah," Souma admitted. "But it's the most practical. If I follow my real idea, we'd need a huge amount of chakra iron. Does Konoha actually have that much?"
He didn't bother hiding it.
The Third cleared his throat, considering for a moment.
"There are some."
"…?"
Souma was briefly speechless.
"Ahem—what I gave you earlier was my personal chakra iron," the Third added, face reddening slightly. "The village stockpile is another matter."
Souma rolled his eyes and let out a short laugh.
The Third smiled too.
"Try this version first. If it succeeds, we'll talk about the high-grade version."
"Alright."
Souma nodded.
The high-grade version required rare materials—
but the payoff would be enormous.
The Third understood that.
Souma understood that.
Stored chakra could come from ordinary shinobi…
Or from a tailed beast.
If it was the latter—
"By the way," the Third continued, "have Kakashi lead your squad. There happens to be a mission as well. And recently, Craftsmen Ninja Village sent an official letter of apology."
"Yes, sir."
Souma left the Hokage's office, his heart burning with excitement.
Downstairs, Tenten was waiting anxiously.
"Well?"
"It's approved."
Souma nodded heavily.
One mind had limits.
With the Hokage's authorization, the plan could move to Konoha's ninja tool factory.
Once they had the facilities and materials, they could produce a first batch, test multiple variations, and iterate step by step.
As for Tenten—
What mattered was her training and growth, not that she hammered every single prototype herself.
If she tried to personally forge each item, she'd wear herself out—and it wasn't necessary.
Souma himself didn't cling to every idea he came up with. Sometimes he passed concepts to others to develop.
He'd get fewer direct benefits from it, but he could free his time and energy to focus on more important creations.
Tenten was no different.
Souma led her out of the Hokage building.
Once they reached a quiet corner, he took out a mirror.
He formed hand seals, wiped the surface—
An image appeared.
On the other side, Moonlight Kazane was practicing sword swings. From the surroundings, she was clearly at the Moonlight clan compound.
"Kazane's at home," Souma said. "You go get her. I'll find Kakashi-sensei."
"Huh?"
Tenten blinked.
"Why are we bringing them?"
"We haven't taken a mission in a long time."
"…Oh!"
Realization dawned on her face.
A trip to the ninja tool factory, plus a mission along the way—
The Third was clearly padding their squad's mission record.
Souma shifted the mirror's viewpoint.
Before long, Kakashi appeared in the reflection.
His location was—
"…Huh?"
Souma was slightly surprised.
Kakashi was currently observing his shadow clone.
Not that surprising, really.
With Kakashi's patrol habits and observational skill, noticing Deilu, Asuma, and Souma's recent odd behavior was simple.
And with Souma's personality—
Leaving a shadow clone sitting motionless in the Forest of Death?
Even an average chunin would find that suspicious.
Souma thought for a moment—
Then dispelled the clone.
The next instant—
His vision went dark.
A crushing wave of exhaustion tore through his mind.
He nearly blacked out on the spot.
Fortunately, his spiritual strength was high enough to withstand the backlash.
"Whew…"
No wonder the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique was a forbidden jutsu.
Only a freak like Naruto could handle multiple clones working for a long time before being dispelled.
Ashura's chakra reincarnation…
Souma was genuinely jealous.
But that kind of power was unrealistic for a normal person.
And behind it all lurked a not-quite-dead Sage of Six Paths.
Way too risky.
In the Forest of Death—
Kakashi stared at the empty spot where the clone had vanished.
It was there one second—
gone the next.
"What the hell is this kid doing…?"
He thought of Deilu.
Could it be…
Did Deilu really teach him the Sage Talent?
"…I'll just ask him."
Kakashi lowered his headband, covering his Sharingan, and left the forest for Konoha.
Once back in the village, he quickly spotted Souma.
"You were waiting for me?"
"Yeah."
Souma relayed the Hokage's mission.
Kakashi couldn't help a wry smile.
"Lord Third… honestly…"
The mission was simple.
They'd go to the ninja tool factory, then escort a shipment back—
a standard C-rank.
The real objective—
It was to make Team Kakashi's mission record look good on paper.
Kakashi nearly laughed out loud.
"Well, we haven't taken a mission in a while. A trip sounds fine."
"That's what I thought too," Souma said. "Besides, we'll need your help with the new ninja tool."
"You actually finished it? Ah… so this trip is to forge it, then."
Kakashi's visible eye lit up.
Souma had mentioned the tool before.
Kakashi had been excited then—wanting to see the real thing as soon as possible.
He hadn't expected that in just over two months, Souma and Tenten had already put a prototype together.
"Impressive," Kakashi murmured.
"Oh, and what exactly were you doing with that shadow clone?" he asked, finally voicing the question that had been bothering him.
Souma smiled.
"I thought you wanted to find the answer yourself."
"I'm not that bored."
"Sage Talent," Souma said quietly.
Kakashi's single eye widened.
Good grief.
He had really gotten it from the Fire Temple?
Just what kind of deal had he struck with Deilu?
Kakashi clicked his tongue inwardly.
"You… learned it?"
"Mm. I did," Souma replied. "But honestly, I picked it up too fast. It feels… strange."
"Heh."
Kakashi gave him a side-eye.
Such a blatant humblebrag.
But Souma wasn't trying to show off.
Natural energy wasn't like ordinary chakra.
It wasn't something you could just absorb because you had good chakra control or strong mental power.
Even a genius like Minato had only managed a half-finished version.
Orochimaru had gone all the way to Ryūchi Cave and still failed to learn Sage Mode.
Jiraiya needed the help of two toad sages just to barely access it.
The threshold was insanely high.
Yet Souma had easily absorbed all the natural energy his clone had taken in.
The strangest part—
The Sage Talent didn't feel exactly like Sage Mode or Sage Chakra.
It felt more like something… woven into the body itself.
It resembled ancient exorcism arts more than anything.
A power somewhere between natural energy and sage chakra.
In truth, Souma had a suspicion—
His ability to take in natural energy so easily might be related to the Bodhi Seed glowing again.
Every change it brought had given him some benefit.
This time, the benefit might be physical transformation.
But for now, it was only a theory.
He had no solid data to prove it.
"Let's go," Kakashi said, exhaling. "Tenten and the others are waiting."
He sounded tired.
Too tired to keep reacting to Souma's "monstrous growth curve."
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