While Tamura Hao was soaking in the medicinal bath, far away in Konohagakure, Shimura Danzo had already received intelligence regarding the boy's unusual behavior.
The report had been delivered via a summoned creature—fast and discreet.
"Identified a spy who embezzled Kumogakure's funds for purchasing war supplies.
Received praise and rewards from the Third Raikage.
Became the student of the Raikage's nephew.
Has grown close to the Raikage's son."
Danzo stared at the concise report, sinking into thought. After a long moment, he recalled the prematurely mature child from years ago.
"I remember that boy had a childhood companion—a girl."
His impression of those two had been deep.
Their raw cultivation talent had been mediocre, but their minds were far too mature for their age—perfect material for spies.
Combined with the boy's single Lightning affinity, Danzo had arranged for him to be sent to Kumogakure.
At the time, it had merely been a casual move—a disposable chess piece meant to replace another agent nearing death.
Yet somehow, that minor piece had grown frighteningly well on its own.
"These are their files."
A masked Root operative presented two dossiers. Danzo accepted them and flipped them open.
The top file bore a black-and-white photograph of a young boy.
Name: Tamura Ri-Tian.
This was Tamura Hao's registered name in this world.
Originally, he had no surname. After learning their son had been recruited by Danzo's organization, his parents had hastily adopted "Tamura", modeled after Danzo's own clan name.
Such fabricated surnames, however, carried no official standing.
In this era, surnames symbolized heritage and status—not something commoners could claim freely.
Staring at the name, Danzo couldn't help but think of his old companion, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He reminisced briefly about their younger days on missions together before casually flipping through the file.
There was little worth noting.
The boy's talent lay almost entirely in his early mental development. His cultivation aptitude was unimpressive—especially so.
The girl, on the other hand, showed strong potential in medical ninjutsu. Given time, she might even approach Tsunade's current level—an extremely rare asset.
Still, Danzo valued her intelligence-gathering ability even more.
In war, information was king.
Root existed precisely for that purpose.
A single high-value piece of intelligence could outweigh an entire jōnin.
Konoha did not lack elite shinobi. If anything, it had too many.
"Raise his clearance level to B-rank."
Danzo closed the file and issued the order.
What had once been a disposable pawn had proven its worth.
Its value had increased—and its rank would rise accordingly.
"Yes."
The masked operative acknowledged and retrieved the files.
"Have our people there contact the boy.
I want intelligence on Kumogakure's upcoming war plans—and their progress on tailed beast utilization."
Danzo paused briefly before continuing.
The Second Shinobi World War was approaching. All the great villages were preparing—but the spark had yet to ignite.
Kumogakure was a purely martial village, dominated by hardline hawks. Their leadership favored aggressive expansion and plunder, and over the years they had seized numerous secret techniques and talents.
If not for the betrayal of the Gold and Silver Brothers during the First War—crippling their strength—the previous conflict would not have ended so easily.
Kumogakure's stance would be decisive.
And then there were the tailed beasts.
Danzo had personally witnessed the Nine-Tails' devastation. A single Tailed Beast Bomb could erase battlefields.
Once unleashed, such power would be catastrophic to any side.
Meanwhile, after the medicinal bath's effects had fully permeated his body, Tamura Hao was lifted out and treated by a medical-nin, who accelerated the healing of his fractured bones.
"…Is this human?"
Barely sitting upright, Tamura Hao examined a fragment of tooth he'd found at the bottom of the tub.
"One of the primary ingredients," A replied calmly, "is bone taken from the Kaguya Clan."
Only the Kaguya possessed skeletal strength that surpassed normal biological limits.
Using their bones as medicine produced extraordinary results.
"Humans really are supreme medicinal ingredients."
Tamura Hao sighed—not in disgust, but contemplation.
Humans were merely one form of life among many. If beasts and summons could be refined into medicine, why not humans—especially those with bloodline limits?
In a world ruled by kekkei genkai and lineage, such materials far surpassed ordinary beasts.
Perhaps only the creatures of the Three Great Sage Regions could compare.
If necessary, he wouldn't even mind eating bone ash with rice.
In a world this desperate, only the strong possessed dignity.
The weak didn't even rank as dogs.
"This is my understanding of Lightning Release, along with several practical nintaijutsu."
Fukuroi handed over a prepared scroll.
"You can study it for now. Ask me if you have questions next time."
"I'll add mine as well."
A produced another scroll.
"It includes Liger Bomb and its advanced form, Liger Bomb: Lightning Dance.
Battles change in an instant—sometimes there's no time to draw a blade.
Having another option never hurts."
Both techniques relied on hand-blade combat.
Nintaijutsu consumed far less chakra than ranged ninjutsu, and the basic Liger Bomb cost no more than a D-rank technique.
With some improvement to his chakra reserves—and after mastering Lightning nature transformation—Tamura Hao could eventually use it.
"Thank you. I'll study them carefully."
Tamura Hao was genuinely moved.
His gamble had paid off spectacularly.
"By the way," he added, unsealing a compartment in his armor,
"would you like these two ninja swords? They were my first commission.
They don't quite fit my current style."
The blades were standard Kumogakure ninja swords—about a meter long.
Perfectly suited for A or Fukuroi.
Fukuroi tested one, channeling chakra into it. Lightning flared brilliantly along the blade.
"…Excellent sword."
The chakra flow was smooth and powerful—far superior to his previous weapon.
High-grade chakra-conductive metal had clearly been used.
A rare masterpiece.
A tested the other sword, clearly tempted.
Though his clan specialized in hand-blades, having a proper weapon only expanded one's options.
"This is too valuable."
Fukuroi returned the blade solemnly.
"A weapon like this is worth hundreds of millions of ryō.
I can't accept it."
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