"Naruto is always full of surprises, isn't he?"
A string of mistakes…
that somehow leads to a successful technique.
That was Naruto.
Kakashi's feelings were complicated.
In a way, Naruto had just created a new jutsu.
It was just this jutsu…
It had the flavor of a self-destruct truck.
"Can this technique even be used?" Kakashi asked.
"No one else can," Souma said. "But Naruto definitely can."
"…Right. Of course."
Kakashi quickly understood why.
The Uzumaki clan.
Naruto's body had been special since he was small.
He ate expired food all the time and, at most, got a stomachache—then recovered quickly.
With that kind of recovery, he could use a self-harming technique.
Still—
"Any way you put it, it's in the forbidden category. Better not overuse it," Souma said.
"What a pain…"
Kakashi sighed.
Naruto absolutely had talent—at least in terms of chakra reserves, he was monstrous.
That was why he could brute-force a technique like this.
But his atrocious chakra control meant learning proper ninjutsu would be much harder.
"Kakashi-sensei, I wish you a smooth teaching career," Souma said politely.
"…"
Kakashi squinted at him wordlessly.
Naruto's difficulty level as a student was clearly top tier.
He could already see his future.
Souma waved and headed home.
It had been his first true battle using his sword, and he could tell there was still room for refinement.
Beyond raw strength and vibration, he could consider adding chaotic, spiral chakra flows into the blade.
Of course, that would require trade-offs.
"Write it down and test it later."
Souma took out his notebook.
A good memory was no match for a bad pen.
No matter what, write first, refine later.
While Souma was walking home and scribbling notes, Naruto and Iruka had gone to Konoha Hospital.
"Senpai, should we use medical ninjutsu?"
"T–This injury…"
Iruka stared nervously at Yakushi Kabuto and Baicao, afraid they'd say Naruto was seriously hurt.
After all, that arm had been bleeding pretty heavily. It looked bad.
Baicao paused, then finished his assessment:
"…If he'd come any later, it probably would've healed on its own. No need to waste chakra. Better just take him to the river to wash his hand."
"Huh?"
Iruka's eyes went wide.
Naruto hadn't been hurt?
No—
He'd healed.
Back on the street, Naruto walked side by side with Iruka.
"I told you, my injuries are no big deal. When I was little, I got hurt worse than this sometimes, and I healed really fast."
"…"
Iruka's emotions were all over the place.
In the past, even though he'd tried his best to become a good teacher and shake off his own bias, he'd never really paid attention to Naruto.
He had never truly looked at the details of Naruto's life.
"Naruto, I'm sorry. In the past, I—"
"Hehehe, Iruka-sensei, I beat Mizuki today. That means I can be a real ninja now, right?"
Naruto looked up, face full of pride.
Iruka ruffled his hair, then took off his own forehead protector and tied it onto Naruto.
"Naruto, you're already a full-fledged ninja."
"Awesome!!"
"Souma-kun? Souma, are you home?"
"Mmph."
Souma opened the door, toothbrush still in his mouth.
"What's up?"
"You're okay from yesterday, right?" Tenten asked, nervously twisting her sleeve. "After I went back, I realized… you're always living alone. If something dangerous happened…"
"Pfft—pfft. I'm fine. What could happen to me? It all turned out to just be a misunderstanding."
Souma rinsed his mouth and didn't explain further.
The situation with Naruto was already obvious—
The Third was using him as bait and testing his true nature.
As Tenzo had said—
Stealing the Book of Creation was much better than stealing the Scroll of Seals.
The Scroll of Seals was packed with forbidden techniques.
The Book of Creation mostly held various experimental jutsu…
The difference in severity was obvious.
Tenten's shoulders finally relaxed a bit.
She knew Souma was downplaying it.
If he wasn't explaining, it meant everything was under control—and over.
No need to worry further.
"By the way, I heard something…" she said. "Is Kakashi-sensei going to lead another team?"
Souma blinked.
"…I didn't tell you?"
"No!" Tenten shouted.
"Oh. Well, it's not too late to tell you now."
Then he fell quiet.
Tenten puffed her cheeks, looking like she wanted to cry but forcing herself not to.
She looked at him.
He was dressed like he was about to go running again.
She followed behind him.
"So what about us?" she asked.
"A new leader will come. You know him, actually."
"I know him?" Tenten blinked and mentally ran through all the jōnin she knew.
Then it hit her.
"That ANBU squad captain… Tenzo?"
"Mm."
Souma nodded.
Tenten pouted.
Only Souma knew these things.
She and Kazusa hadn't been told anything beforehand.
No—
she was actually the last to know.
Kazusa had told her this morning.
She understood that for ninja, this kind of team reshuffle was inevitable.
But knowing that didn't make parting any easier.
Souma didn't turn around to comfort her.
He just ran.
After a few laps, he took a break and said, "Our team won't be reorganized for a little while yet. So during this time, we should train as much as we can."
"Mm."
"Oh, and in a few days, I'll need your help on a project."
Souma figured he should keep her busy.
When people have too much time, they overthink.
When they're busy, they don't.
Tenten tilted her head. "The ninja tools we talked about before?"
"That's one project. But the one I need help on is something else."
Souma shook his head.
"The Fourth Hokage had two signature moves. One was his Rasengan. The other was the source of his nickname, the 'Yellow Flash'—Flying Thunder God."
"Flying… Thunder God?"
Tenten thought for a long time, then shook her head.
Never heard of it.
"It's a space-time ninjutsu. Interested?"
"Way too interested!" Tenten grabbed his hand, her twin buns bouncing. "Souma, you have to let me join!"
"Relax. There aren't many people in Konoha with any talent for space-time techniques."
Souma patted her shoulder.
Tenten's talent for space-time wasn't top-tier, but it was definitely higher than those three—Raido, Genma, Iwashi.
As for Souma himself—
He'd finished reading the Flying Thunder God scroll yesterday and grasped the basic principles.
He'd even done some experiments in private.
He couldn't say he had no aptitude for space-time jutsu, but it wasn't enough to fully control and cast Flying Thunder God yet.
Still—
He believed in the Bodhi Seed.
Tenten followed him happily, and soon he handed her a thin notebook.
"Since you're interested in space-time ninjutsu, read this when you can. I filtered the fourth's notes, so it's not that thick."
"You call this not thick???"
Her confidence didn't last long.
She opened the first page and discovered it was all… indexes.
Her eyes went blank.
Until Souma took out another notebook—
also an index, but twice as thick as hers, with titles she didn't recognize at all.
Books like:
The Function and Analysis of Formula Scripts
So he had filtered it.
"If there's something you don't understand, go borrow the books from the Hokage Building. Just mention Flying Thunder God, and the Third will approve it," Souma said.
"Got it."
Tenten left.
Souma actually had time to rest and read that day.
But he still had to check on the giant ants.
The colony had settled in.
Yesterday, ANBU had delivered food, and Souma had infused them with another wave of Sage Chakra.
Sage Chakra transformation was a long-term project.
The change wouldn't be visible any time soon, but Souma was sure the giant ants would eventually "evolve."
The kikaichū were changing too.
Several of the massive kikaichū had, after two generations, developed intelligence surpassing typical species.
The downside—
They'd grown even larger.
So large that the old "parasitic" method might no longer work.
For the Aburame clan, figuring out how to use these future "sage-form" kikaichū would be a headache.
He'd taken a walk around the area, swapped out his shadow clone, then gone home to rest.
He needed to conserve his energy.
Asuma had already come to see him.
Tomorrow was team assignments.
The day after that—team tests.
Souma had shared his idea.
Asuma had been very supportive.
Against Shikamaru, there was no need for elaborate tactics.
Crushing him with sheer power was the best approach.
He spent the next two days reading and researching.
He also refined his mental techniques into detailed written instructions and submitted them to the Third.
From beginning to end, Haichi had misunderstood one thing.
Souma didn't need to hide his techniques.
On the contrary, the more foundational skills others mastered, the more he benefited.
If the Yamanaka clan wanted to learn…
He couldn't be happier.
Two days later, Souma got up as usual, washed, went out for a run, and came back to read.
Halfway through a page, he suddenly realized—
He'd forgotten something.
"…Wasn't I supposed to help Asuma with his test today?"
He froze for a few seconds.
Asuma had said "morning," which meant…
He was already late.
Souma stared at the book for a moment longer.
Then I decided to finish the chapter first.
The Forest of Death wasn't far.
If he left before noon, he'd make it.
If Kakashi could be late…
Why couldn't he?
Souma headed out, reading as he walked, strolling leisurely toward the Forest of Death.
As he neared the edge, he looked up and saw someone standing at a crossroads.
Kakashi looked back.
"Aren't you helping Asuma with his test today?" Kakashi asked.
"Kakashi-sensei, aren't you also giving an exam today?" Souma replied.
"…"
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Go together?" Kakashi asked.
"Hehe. We can walk together, sensei. But we're not running the same test," Souma said.
You had to watch your phrasing around Kakashi.
Agree too casually and you'd be playing into one of his word traps.
Kakashi squinted.
The two walked in single file, heading for the Forest of Death.
To be honest, Kakashi felt a little nervous.
Naruto's strength wasn't what it had been.
If Kakashi took that crude new technique head-on, he would be injured.
Souma, on the other hand, was different.
The older Ino–Shika–Chō trio were terrifying, but the new generation…
Well.
Not that Souma looked down on Shikamaru's team, but their teamwork was still underdeveloped.
For example—
Souma could already sense that Ino wasn't with her teammates at all.
She was with Naruto and Sasuke.
"At this age, they'd rather chase romance than training," Kakashi muttered.
"I wouldn't," Souma said.
"Hehe. You really don't notice Tenten's eyes?" Kakashi asked, full of disdain.
Souma choked.
After a few seconds, he said, "Why are we arguing about this when today is for torturing juniors?"
"Good point."
Kakashi nodded.
Then the two of them used Body Flicker and sped forward.
"Forehead girl!"
"Pig Ino!"
The two girls were at each other's throats again.
The two boys on each side just sat there in silence, full of resentment.
"Damn it, why isn't our teacher here yet?" Naruto yelled.
Shikamaru sat with his chin in his palm.
"I'm just wondering if it's possible we all have the same instructor for our test."
"If we test together, don't get in the way of my performance," Naruto said proudly.
Chōji was busy eating and didn't care either way.
Shikamaru sighed and prayed that they wouldn't be tested together.
One giant narcissist.
One self-proclaimed genius…
That was not a group he wanted to share a teacher with.
Right then—
"Same test? You're thinking way too highly of yourselves."
A voice rang out.
Everyone turned toward it in unison.
There, not much taller than them but already wearing a brand-new jōnin flak jacket that looked a little out of place, stood a young ninja.
They all recognized him instantly.
The legend of the Academy—
Yagyū Souma.
"Souma-senpai?" Shikamaru froze.
From the way he sounded, Souma was clearly in charge of one of their team tests.
Souma raised a hand.
"Team 10, with me."
"Huh? What about us?" Naruto shouted.
"Your sensei is over there," Souma said, pointing not far away.
A ninja stood beneath a tree, book in hand, looking perfectly relaxed.
"Hey, sensei, you're late again!" Naruto yelled.
"Ah, I got stopped at the crossroads today by an old student," Kakashi replied lazily.
"…"
Souma gave him a long, speechless look, then flickered away.
Shikamaru and the others quickly followed.
When they'd moved some distance off, Souma stopped.
Shikamaru stared at him nervously.
He understood one thing very clearly—
The boy in front of them didn't look much older, but his strength was terrifying.
"Kakashi-sensei will probably do that bell-snatching thing. We're not going to play around with those pointless gimmicks."
Souma smiled as he swept his gaze over the three of them.
"I'm only a year older than you, so we can barely count as peers, right?"
Shikamaru could already sense this wasn't going to end well.
Chōji and Ino were completely oblivious. Ino, in particular, looked like her mind was somewhere else.
Souma chuckled.
"Asuma-senpai entrusted your test to me, so I'll be blunt. Your mission is simple—"
"Defeat me."
"Senpai, that's not fair!" Shikamaru blurted.
Defeat him?
That was completely impossible!
"Fair?" Souma's smile faded. "Do you think the enemy cares about fairness?"
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/pikachu614