"Don't worry, the three clans will fully support the institute," Nara Shikaku said.
He finished with the business talk, then couldn't resist adding with a lazy smile, "Though there's something I'm very curious about."
"Please ask," Souma replied, face straight and serious.
But Shikaku just lifted his teacup, took a sip, and said:
"You took the Akimichi clan's secret pills, traded for the Yamanaka clan's mental secret art, and you're deeply involved with the Aburame's kikaichū and those giant ants."
"Mm?" Souma blinked.
"But you skipped right over the Nara clan. What's that supposed to mean? Are you looking down on us?" Shikaku asked, clearly joking.
Souma wasn't dense enough to take it literally, but he still answered honestly.
"How could I? It's just—first, I can't use nature transformation. Second, your Shadow Imitation Technique is already close to perfect."
"'Close to perfect' meaning… there's still room for improvement?" Shikaku asked.
He'd only been teasing.
But when he heard Souma's wording, his interest spiked instantly.
The Nara clan had never stopped refining their shadow techniques, evolving from simple shadow manipulation to the current, highly sophisticated battle arts.
"For the techniques themselves, I don't really have suggestions," Souma said first, putting some armor on his back. "My specialty is chakra control and taijutsu, so my ideas are mostly in those two directions."
"The first one I get," Shikaku said. "But not everyone can use chakra with your precision. As for the second—how is taijutsu supposed to improve our shadow ninjutsu?"
Chakra control was one of those things.
Some people just had it. Others… didn't.
You could improve with effort, but only so much.
Taijutsu, though?
That was new.
Shikaku leaned forward, clearly intrigued.
"Shadow Imitation forces the enemy to mirror your movements, right?" Souma asked.
"That's right."
"I've watched Shikamaru fight. Most of the time, he uses traps, terrain, and team coordination to turn the technique into killing power," Souma said. "You probably also have more advanced killing variants of the shadow techniques, but…"
He trailed off on purpose.
Then lifted his right hand, reaching backward to draw his White Fox blade from the left side of his waist, behind his body.
Shikaku was a smart man.
He got the point instantly.
Asymmetry.
Even if the enemy's movements matched yours exactly, your setup didn't have to.
The positioning of weapons and tools could be different—that was the simplest angle.
And Souma mentioning taijutsu made it even clearer:
Even with the same movements, the power and destructive force didn't have to be the same.
Overlimit State, for example.
Shikaku's eyes narrowed slightly.
That… is a good angle.
They'd always focused on improving the jutsu itself.
They'd never really considered that they could also boost overall strength by improving the body backing that jutsu.
"You really do know every clan's techniques inside and out, huh?" Shikaku chuckled.
Souma shook his head.
"Not really. Once you understand one thing, everything else follows. Any ninja whose damage output is lacking can work from the taijutsu angle. It's the simplest technique there is."
And also the hardest.
Because taijutsu had no shortcuts.
Even with bath formulas, Souma could only provide support—never a direct replacement for training.
"If you're interested, I can give you the Overlimit State technique," Souma added with a smile.
"What do you want?" Shikaku asked. He thought for a moment, then his eyes narrowed with teasing intent. "If it's chakra metal, we Nara really don't have any."
"I know. That's why I'm not here for chakra metal. I want people from your clan to join my institute."
"What kind of research?" Shikaku's lazy look faded a bit.
He'd thought Souma was just tossing ideas around.
But he clearly wasn't.
"Medicinal herb cultivation," Souma said. "And I want to see if we can dig up anyone with Wood Release talent—to explore Wood Release and medicinal cultivation together."
"…"
That was a big topic.
Shikaku rubbed his temple.
Wood Release was a bona fide kekkei genkai.
He thought for a moment, then said:
"As far as I know, only Tenzo has combat-level Wood Release in the village. But if you're talking about plant growth rather than battle…"
"You have candidates?" Souma asked.
"There are," Shikaku nodded. "The Senju didn't really vanish. They intermarried and dropped the surname, eventually merging fully into Konoha. Otherwise the village couldn't have grown so strong."
He gave a few examples.
Like the Windmori family.
"As far as I've heard, a girl from the Windmori family can already use crude Wood Release. But in terms of combat…"
He didn't finish, but the implication was clear.
If she were battle-capable, the Windmori wouldn't be obscure nobodies.
Souma continued the discussion with him.
Herb cultivation research…
Shikaku was interested.
As long as Souma wasn't trying to scam manpower—borrow people and send them to do something completely different—this could be worthwhile.
He made sure of the details and realized:
Souma basically wanted to bring in crossbreeding and selective breeding concepts from another world and test them on ninja herbs, seeds, and trees.
Shikaku didn't understand the technical theory.
But the Nara were experts in medicinal crops.
If this project succeeded, the clan would share the credit—and maybe even "catch" a Bodhi Seed pattern in the process.
And it cost them nothing.
That was the advantage of having a great village at your back.
After a long pause, Shikaku nodded.
"It's peacetime. Our manpower isn't that strained. We can collaborate on this with you," he said.
"Then it's settled. What about Akimichi and Yamanaka?" Souma asked.
"I'll speak to them. And who knows, you might get some extra surprises out of it," Shikaku replied with a faint smile.
"I'll look forward to it," Souma said, getting up to leave.
Just like Chōza had said—
With his relationship to the three clans, getting Shikaku on board basically meant the whole trio was locked in.
But—
Shikaku stopped him at the gate.
"Shikamaru can be listed under your institute," he said.
"…That's not necessary, is it?" Souma asked.
"It is," Shikaku said firmly. "I don't doubt his resolve. I doubt his work ethic."
"So?"
"If he has to stand next to you all day, he'll definitely be more motivated," Shikaku said flatly.
"…"
So this was forcing Shikamaru to grind.
Souma complained silently.
But thinking it over, adding Shikamaru to the institute had no downside.
If there was a downside—
It was that his ties to Ino–Shika–Chō and the Aburame might become so strong that, if Shikamaru ever ran for Hokage, his odds would be frighteningly high.
The only one who'd really hate that would be Danzō in his "Sixth Hokage candidate" daydreams.
But with Souma around, there was no way Danzō was getting that hat anyway.
His teacher was Kakashi.
The Fifth-plus-two-point-five era was stable.
Leaving the Nara compound, Souma felt much calmer.
With the research institute as his base, as long as he didn't go insane and start doing human experiments, he'd be tied firmly into the village's web of interests.
No one could easily move against him.
Even Danzō would have to sneak.
He pulled out his notebook and added another name to one page labeled "Roster"—
Nara Shikamaru.
"So many kids," Souma muttered. "There'll be some people from the clans and security forces, sure, but as a research team, this lineup is still pretty young."
He started thinking about other suitable candidates.
After some brainstorming, he came up with one—
Moonlight Hayate.
The man was literally named "Gale," and then died right before Shippūden.
Irony at its peak.
Honestly, a sickly guy like that really shouldn't be out swinging a sword on the front lines.
Much better to come to the institute and burn out the last of his talent in research.
And besides—
Souma already had someone on the inside.
That day, he went to visit Kazusa "for sword practice."
With that excuse, he smoothly entered the Moonlight household.
After giving Kazusa some pointers, he got to the real reason he'd come.
Kazusa…
Agreed almost instantly.
Not only that—
She sold out Uzuki Yugao as a bonus.
"I know another sword expert," Kazusa said, lowering her voice. "The kind who created her own sword style. Interested?"
Souma gave her a strange look.
"Well?"
"Uh, I just have one question," he said.
"Go on," Kazusa leaned in, grinning.
"You're not afraid your uncle and that person will team up to beat you senseless?" Souma asked.
"Eh? You already know who it is?" Kazusa froze, then realized what his words implied.
Souma nodded.
"I've been around the Hokage Tower and ANBU offices a lot lately. You pick up things."
"As long as you say yes, I'll help you!" Kazusa promised.
"I'm in," Souma said.
Souma left the Moonlight residence in a very good mood.
Just like Kazusa said—
Uzuki Yugao had created Shadows of the Hazy Moon. Her talent in kenjutsu was unquestionable.
With a "mole" on the inside, why wouldn't he recruit her?
As for "poaching" talent…
They were all working for Konoha in the end.
He was sure the Third would understand.
Souma was completely justified in his own mind.
After that, he went to the medical corps and invited his teacher Kitayama Saki and Baicao.
Both gave him the same answer—
They'd "think about it."
Souma understood.
They weren't worried about pride anymore.
They were worried about time.
The hospital was busy.
Joining the institute, even part-time, would eat away at their schedule.
He didn't push them.
He just wanted to plant the seed.
If it sprouted, great. If not, no loss.
By the time he was done with all that, the basic framework was complete.
Souma sent a message to the Third to officially register his roster, then went home and opened up the Yamanaka mental cultivation scroll.
He studied it for a bit.
After a few minutes, his brows wrinkled.
"How to say this…"
There were a lot of words on the scroll.
But when you boiled it down, it was actually quite simple—
They'd discovered that concentrating mental energy while using their secret techniques, over many years, led to spiritual growth.
It was a classic experiential method.
They knew that doing A eventually led to B.
As for why—
They hadn't cared enough to dig deeper.
Of course, the scroll existed because someone had figured it out experimentally. Without the Yamanaka clan's insight and Mind Transfer Technique, no outsider would even think along these lines. And even if they did, they wouldn't have the technique to anchor it.
Souma didn't have that either.
"Difficult," he muttered. "But… guess I just have to put in the work and figure it out."
He had no choice.
Everyone guarded their secret arts jealously. The Yamanaka had already been generous sharing this much.
Souma knew he couldn't keep asking for more.
He'd have to cover the rest of the distance himself.
He stayed home for the entire afternoon, never stepping outside.
He tested mental perception.
Tried different ways of controlling his spiritual power.
None of it worked.
By evening, he thought of another route—
Mental synchronization.
The Yamanaka's method, boiled down, was basically concentrating all mental energy into one technique and hammering at the mind until it got stronger.
Perhaps that wasn't just strengthening mental power.
It might also be unlocking more of the brain's potential.
If that was the case, then a "mental resonance" technique—linking two minds and using one as a stimulus to train the other—could theoretically produce similar effects.
The problem was—
The control required would be insane.
And to even attempt mental synchronization, you'd first need to master some kind of mental probing and intrusion technique…
He stared at the scroll.
And now we're back where we started.
Souma could only shelve the idea.
"Forget it. Sleep first, think later," he sighed.
He dispelled his shadow clone.
A crushing wave of fatigue washed through his body.
He made no attempt to fight it.
He lay down, closed his eyes, and let sleep take him.
But with his eyes closed, the same questions chased each other around his head, and a new idea surfaced—
Natural energy.
Use a small amount of natural energy to continuously, gently stimulate the brain.
If it worked, it would prove that spiritual growth really did anchor in the brain.
And then, he'd have other options.
Of course, there was no way he'd spread that kind of thing widely anytime soon.
The spiritual domain was dangerous and mysterious.
If you overstimulated the brain, you might not die—but you'd almost certainly come out broken.
Orochimaru feared high-level genjutsu for a reason.
Spiritual damage.
Souma lay in bed, turning it over for a few seconds.
Then decided—
Tomorrow.
Life came first.
The next morning, fully rested, Souma headed straight for the Forest of Death and sat down in his usual training spot.
Up until now, it had always been his shadow clones that came here.
They could absorb natural energy and mix it into sage chakra—but they could never precisely direct the flow to stimulate his brain.
Now—
He started drawing in natural energy.
And carefully guided it toward his head.
The amount was tiny.
Even so—
With just that little bit, his head began to change.
His hair grew in odd, disordered ways.
The skin and muscles of his face twitched, as if they were about to morph into something like a curse mark state.
Souma freaked out and dispersed the natural energy immediately.
Only when those strange changes faded did he try again.
He kept at it all morning.
By noon, he'd found a balance point.
And for that, he had to thank the Bodhi Seed.
Without that incredibly fine-tuned sensory feedback, he'd never have found the needle-thread path natural energy demanded.
By dusk, he stopped training, his expression a little odd.
"I can't tell if my spiritual power actually grew," he muttered.
"But it does look like I accidentally created Sage Mode…"
Once he'd stored enough natural energy, he got a distinct feeling—
If he drew that energy out, mixed it into sage chakra, and let it flow through his whole body, he could enter a completely new state.
It had to be Sage Mode.
Souma hesitated.
Then I went home and tested it.
What he saw in the mirror was—
Sage Transformation.
Several fleshy, spiraling "topknots" emerged from his scalp, like little horned hair-buns of meat.
A point of light glowed faintly at his brow.
On his chest, there was the vague shadow of a "卍" symbol, like the Buddhist manji.
Overall, he looked…
A bit like a Buddha statue comes to life.
He stared for a long moment and fell into deep thought.
He'd never studied the Senju's Thousand-Hands Kill technique.
But his meditation posture for absorbing natural energy was from the Fire Temple.
"Has the Fire Temple ever produced a sage?" Souma wondered.
Given the Sage of Six Paths and the Toad Sages, it wasn't impossible that, before shinobi were formally organized, some monks or ascetics had used natural energy directly.
He might have accidentally hit the Fire Temple's own standard for sage transformation.
Unfortunately—
His Sage State dropped by itself in under thirty seconds.
But strangely—
Souma realized he still had some natural energy in his body.
Only the upper half—especially near his head—had been completely drained.
"Looks like I didn't store enough near the brain," he muttered.
"And… what kind of physique do I have now?"
He grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down his observations.
Speculating was pointless.
Tomorrow, he'd have Asuma take a report to Chiriku, and see if the Fire Temple had any records about this kind of transformation.
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