Three months passed in a flash.
During this time, Uchiha Hikaru did not continue pushing to increase the chakra within his body. After the brutal training he endured previously, his chakra reserves had already reached a terrifying level—far beyond the standard of even elite Jonin.
Instead, he shifted his focus entirely to ninjutsu, attempting to integrate Sage Art with Fire Style and Earth Style techniques.
Deep within an old forestry zone once belonging to Konoha—now completely cleared—only the thick, stubborn roots of ancient trees remained where a forest once stood.
Most of the shinobi proficient in Earth Style techniques were currently working on large-scale infrastructure: cross-sea bridges, defensive structures, and even a new outer wall around the expanding Hidden Leaf Village. With the rapid influx of population over recent years, Konoha's existing territory was reaching its limit. If the rate continued, saturation might occur within five years. Two months ago, the village council approved the plan unanimously.
Hikaru raised his hands, three fingers bent and stacked, index fingers touching at the tips, thumbs curled inward.
Sage Chakra aligned with his fire nature surged through his network of chakra pathways.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame."
A massive stream of flame erupted from Hikaru's mouth, but unlike ordinary orange-gold fire, this one burned dark blue, glowing eerily like a starless night sky igniting the earth.
The instant the flames struck the ground and scattered tree stumps, they expanded violently, sweeping outward until blue fire engulfed the entire forestry zone. The blue flames burned fast, carbonizing every exposed surface. Within seconds, the blaze vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind only scorched black earth.
Hikaru walked forward and sliced open a stump's surface with a kunai. The interior, too, had been charred solid. He crushed it lightly between his fingers.
"Perfect."
They were not reduced to ash—instead, they carbonized instantly, burning away all oxygen and suffocating themselves in seconds. It aligned exactly with his intended chakra transformation.
The dark-blue flame did not possess overwhelming temperature, but its adhesion was frighteningly strong, delivering maximum destruction within moments. It was the refined nature of his Fire Style chakra.
But combining it with Senjutsu chakra required near-perfect control.
Now, Hikaru had mastered that balance completely, even capable of maintaining Sage Mode continuously without visible physical transformation—true perfect Sage Mode.
He turned to leave.
"Yamato, bring a team and collect all this charcoal. Deliver it to the Ministry of Commerce. Winter's coming—sell the batch to Sunagakure or Amegakure."
"Then replant the area using Wood Release. Saplings only."
Yamato and a group of workers stepped out from behind the stumps.
"I understand…"
"Everyone, move out! Begin operations!"
When Yamato looked up, he paused mid-instruction, voice lifting in disbelief.
"Huh? Only saplings?"
"That's right," Hikaru replied with a faint smile. "Even you don't have enough chakra to regrow an entire forest instantly. Saplings are enough—we have time. And don't forget to fertilize with Orochimaru's new blend."
Hikaru waved casually and vanished instantly.
He reappeared in the office of the Ninja Association, directly on top of a desk where he had placed a Flying Thunder God mark months before. Sitting down, he immediately began handling documents.
Flying Thunder God had proven unbelievably practical. Hikaru had spent over a month mastering it completely. For anyone else it would have taken years—but to Tobirama, even Hikaru's speed was unbearable.
"I CREATED that jutsu! How do you master it so fast!?"
"No—no! I'll invent something even harder! Just you wait!"
And since then, Tobirama had locked himself away researching space-time ninjutsu, considering a technique that would allow teleportation even without marked seals.
To this day, there had been no news from his seclusion.
Hikaru lifted a stack of documents. A letter at the top caught his eye—signed by Jiraiya, who had been taking Naruto on a training journey for nearly half a year.
"A letter from Jiraiya… I wonder how Naruto's training is progressing."
He opened it.
[Hikaru, recently, with the cooperation of certain… difficult upper-level officials in the Hidden Cloud, I acquired lease rights to 10% of the commercial storefronts in Kumogakure. But you know early commercial expansion requires heavy capital investment. Once again, I request 2 million ryō initial funds from Konoha, and then 20 million ryō per month for three years. This figure may rise depending on market growth.]
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. Jiraiya making business moves was already surprising—but then something pink caught his attention along the edge of the paper. He touched it.
Smooth. Fine powder.
Foundation.
He exhaled slowly.
"Oh, come on… you wrote this while drinking with women, didn't you?"
He stared at the letter, suspicion creeping in.
"Are you trying to embezzle funds for pleasure, old man?"
At the same moment, far away in a tavern in Kumogakure, Jiraiya sneezed violently.
"A-CHOO!"
"Hm~? Jiraiya-sama, are you alright?" purred a woman in a tight purple dress, heavy makeup perfectly blended, body pressed against his arm.
"Is someone missing you?"
"Haha! Lady Rai, what are you saying?" Jiraiya grinned shamelessly. "I dedicate myself fully to Konoha. I wouldn't dream of any woman missing me."
"But if someone were missing me… she'd be right here, wouldn't she? Sharing important secrets~"
Lady Rai giggled, hips shifting playfully as her shoulders trembled with laughter.
"Oh? Truly loyal to Konoha, then?"
"Then I wish us a very pleasant cooperation~"
...
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Bonus Chapter at 100 Power Stone
Second Bonus Chapter - 200 Power Stones
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