As for Hinata, Souma didn't bring her up.
Neji didn't bother either. He still didn't think much of the main family; his current compromise was only temporary.
Souma said goodbye to Neji.
Leaving the Hyūga compound, he headed to the Hokage Building—
His flak jacket and Special Jōnin ID had finally been issued!
The Third Hokage asked him about his recent situation, especially how the Guard Squad was shaping up.
Souma barely had time for any of that lately. Most of the training was being handled by ninjas from the major clans themselves.
Yamato would help occasionally.
But still—
Just getting those four clans to pitch in this enthusiastically was already a huge deal.
Especially the Aburame. Word had gotten around that the Parasitic Rot Bugs had evolved again, and their numbers in the Forest of Death had skyrocketed…
You could tell how hard the Aburame were investing in Souma.
"Oh, right, Souma. Now that you're a Special Jōnin, you can apply for a special post—say, officially tied to the research institute. That way you won't need to take many missions," the Third said, handing over his identification. "Of course, if you want to go on missions, that's fine too."
"I'll stick with a squad re-assignment," Souma said, shaking his head.
Research alone…
It was fine in itself. But a lot of combat experience simply couldn't be gained in a lab.
Take Hyūga Hiashi, for example.
He looked powerful enough, but in their match today, Souma only needed to push into Overlimit and use tenketsu strikes to force Hiashi into using Rotation.
Yes, part of it was Hiashi underestimating him.
But it also proved his actual combat experience was lacking.
The ninja world's future was going to be chaotic.
If Souma holed up in the institute, there'd be no way to become a true powerhouse.
Besides—
Tenten and Sasa still needed him.
Souma turned down the Third's kind offer.
Leaving the Hokage Building, he grabbed a quick meal and called Kasa out to join him.
Moonlight Kasa had changed quite a bit over this period.
She was still quiet in front of crowds, but her eyes were sharper now—like a real swordswoman.
And she had a new blade at her waist.
"Nice sword," Souma remarked.
"It's an old family blade. No one in the clan was using it, and since I'm learning Lightning Release Sword Style from Kakashi-sensei, they handed it to me," Kasa explained. She looked up at him. "You have chakra metal now?"
"…What?"
"You've been asking around about chakra metal lately, haven't you?"
"Uh, how'd you know that?"
Souma was surprised.
It was true—he'd been thinking of stockpiling more chakra metal. Researching ninja tools always meant burning through materials, and chakra-forged tools were even more demanding.
For now…
He'd scraped together some himself, and the village was supporting him too. That would barely be enough in the short term.
But nobody ever complained about having too much chakra metal.
Kasa lowered her voice.
"Our clan has some stored away. If your side can forge a really good blade, they might be willing to sell you some."
"That's your clan's idea?!"
Souma was genuinely shocked.
The Moonlight clan…
He hadn't expected them to be this well-off.
"Kinda. Uh… if you had a really good kenjutsu or something, they'd be even happier," Kasa added quietly.
"About that… I asked you before to help introduce me to Hayate-senpai. How'd that go?"
"Basically done. But he wants to know what exactly you plan to research. We can't just toss out Moonlight secret sword styles for free. There has to be a clear direction," Kasa said, passing on Hayate's thoughts.
Souma understood instantly.
He gave a confident smile.
"Let's eat first. After lunch, take me to your clan. I'll talk to Hayate-senpai properly."
"Okay."
They finished lunch, then Kasa led him to the Moonlight family grounds.
The clan wasn't large.
But—
They had their own sword dojo. Souma had trained here with Kasa before.
This time, she brought him there again.
"Kasa, why aren't you training? Skipping your—cough, Souma?"
Moonlight Hayate coughed a few times, then looked Souma up and down, dropping the matter of Kasa running off from morning practice.
He nodded and made a slight gesture of invitation.
A thirteen-year-old Special Jōnin was more than enough reason for him to treat Souma as an equal.
If anything—
Hayate had a trace of respect for him.
Inside the dojo, Kasa quickly excused herself to "go train," leaving Souma and Hayate alone.
"Kasa's already told me," Hayate said, coughing again. "You want to invite me to your research institute?"
His complexion was pale.
Every spring, his health deteriorated. He looked fragile, almost sickly.
No wonder he'd lost to Baki.
Souma studied him quietly, then nodded.
"Yes. Your body isn't in great shape. I don't think frequent missions are suitable. It'd be better for you to focus on recuperation—and that gives you time to study swordsmanship at the institute."
"What swordsmanship, exactly?" Hayate asked. "Do you expect our clan to supply sword techniques? Or do you have something of your own? No offense—this concerns my family."
Souma nodded.
"Of course it's me providing the theories. I'm inviting everyone to help develop and refine them. If your clan is willing to contribute knowledge, the institute will compensate you generously."
"What ideas do you have?" Hayate was curious despite himself.
He knew Souma was creative, but most of what he'd heard were about taijutsu and hybrid ninja-arts, not swordsmanship.
"I'll show you. You can tell me what you think."
"Alright."
Hayate nodded.
Souma drew White Fox in a flash.
Hayate's eyes lit up.
"Iai from the Land of Iron?"
"Right. I picked it up during a previous mission from a samurai of the Land of Iron," Souma said.
Then he stepped forward, blade flashing down toward Hayate.
Hayate drew to meet it.
But—
He suddenly felt his blade dragged off-line.
A pulse of chakra had hooked his sword, subtly shifting the point of contact.
And then—
The chakra on Souma's blade surged and exploded. A tremendous impact traveled down Hayate's sword, nearly knocking it clean from his hand.
Such power—
Hayate couldn't help exclaiming, "That's an impressive sword style."
In that single strike—
There were two strange, sophisticated sword techniques intertwined. If he hadn't known in advance, he would've had almost no chance to block.
Even knowing, defending against it wouldn't be easy.
If this was the type of kenjutsu Souma wanted to research—
He was interested.
"You want me to help study this kind of sword style?" he asked.
"Exactly. To be precise, I've already finished the theory of these sword arts," Souma said. "What I need from you is help integrating them into existing sword styles and making them battle-ready."
If Hayate didn't understand at this point, he'd be unworthy of the title Special Jōnin.
But of course—
He was thinking about more than just Souma's swordsmanship.
Hayate thought in silence for a long time.
Finally, he said, "If that's the case, the Moonlight clan is willing to share our research with the institute as well."
"That's fantastic!"
Souma was genuinely delighted.
Research was all about numbers—
The more people involved, the better.
With Hayate "joining," there was no reason to say no.
"As for partners, we'll definitely favor anyone who works with us," Souma added. "I can't speak for the village, but there are a few jutsu I know your clan would benefit from."
He took the chance to pitch his own work.
Overlimit State.
Spiral Blade Force and Heavy Blade Style were core to his current studies, so he couldn't throw those around freely.
But Overlimit State—
That was exactly what the Moonlight clan needed.
Hayate had of course heard of it.
The jutsu was recorded in the Creation Scroll. There were only two ways to learn it:
From the scroll.
Or from Yagyū Souma directly.
"You're willing to teach us that?" Hayate asked.
"This is an exchange," Souma said. "Think of it as my special incentive for the very first collaborator."
Hayate considered for a moment, then nodded.
"Our clan does need it. In that case… the Moonlight family does have some chakra metal. If you need it…"
"We don't really need the chakra metal itself," Souma said. "More accurately, Tenten and I need forging experience with chakra metal."
"Then I'll commission the forging to you," Hayate said, eyes brightening.
On balance—
The Moonlight clan wouldn't be losing out. If anything, they were getting a great deal.
They'd gain Overlimit State and access to new sword arts.
Even if they shared their accumulated techniques, they'd still be gaining more than they gave.
Once the deal was settled, Souma pulled out his notebook and flipped to the pages on Heavy Blade Style and Spiral Blade Force, explaining them in detail to Hayate.
"Both Heavy Blade Style and Spiral Blade Force are about extending hybrid taijutsu principles into the sword," Souma said. "You treat the blade as an extension of your own body…"
"I see…"
Hayate's expression grew more focused.
He mulled it over for a long while. A faint blush of color even appeared on his normally pale face.
"I have a friend," he said finally, "who's quite skilled with the sword. I could introduce you two. Would it be possible for her to join the research as well?"
"That's fine," Souma said. "But… if I may ask, would this 'friend' happen to be the legendary ANBU swordswoman…"
He grinned meaningfully.
Hayate's face reddened further, making him look almost healthy.
He stammered for a bit, then finally nodded—
"But we're just friends."
"Hehe. Got it. I'll be going then."
Souma waved.
Hayate was left speechless.
But under that—
He felt quietly, deeply happy.
Maybe…
This was an opportunity.
Not just for the Moonlight clan—
But for him and Uzuki Yugao as well.
Leaving the dojo, Souma tilted his head toward the presence hiding nearby.
"How'd you spot me again?!" Kasa burst out.
"My sensing's good."
"…Whatever, that's not important. How'd it go?"
"It's done," Souma said calmly.
Kasa clenched a fist, joy breaking through her usual quiet expression.
"What about the other part?"
"My conditions were too good. I didn't even have to bring it up. He offered it himself—he wants Uzuki Yugao to join the institute's sword research."
"Eh? Hehehe… What kind of face did he make?" Kasa asked, grinning like a fox.
Souma gave her a look and chuckled.
"That's a secret."
In the next instant, his body flickered away.
By the time he reappeared, he was already some distance off.
"Oh, right—I'm officially a Special Jōnin now," he said as his voice drifted back. "Our squad's probably going to be restructured soon. Missions will start coming in. Don't slack on your training."
"Yes!"
Kasa straightened up.
Souma waved a hand in farewell and vanished into the streets.
Time was precious.
With the Moonlight family settled, he didn't have any other urgent recruitment targets. He decided to head back and focus on training.
At the very least, he needed to completely internalize Gentle Fist and Air Palm, and figure out a way to assist Gentle Fist with hand seals, making it accessible to ordinary people.
That would take time.
And lately, he had another class on his schedule—
Space–Time Ninjutsu.
Flying Thunder God was still out of reach; he needed more research. But Flying Thunder Formation and Summoning Technique were doable.
Now that the Parasitic Rot Bugs had completed their metamorphosis and produced an Insect King, he planned to combine the Aburame clan's contract with a dedicated summoning formula that targeted the Insect King.
That would be tricky.
It'd probably take him two or three days to get it right.
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