The vial contained a mixture of scorching powder blended with a specially prepared medicinal agent.
Scorching powder was typically used on the battlefield—to incinerate corpses or as a core ingredient in explosive tags. It contained substances of extreme destructive potency.
Shiraishi had chosen to inject this violently explosive energy directly into his arm for one purpose only—
To test the chakra nature transformation.
Within his arm, cells began to rupture one after another. The sensation was an overwhelming mix of searing heat and annihilation, as if his flesh were being burned away from the inside. Cold sweat poured down his body. When his arm moved involuntarily, a trace of terrifying high-temperature energy leaked outward.
Jogaki Shikasa grew pale with fear.
"This is insane… You have to stop!"
"No…" Shiraishi gasped, teeth clenched.
"I can't stop. Even if I fail, I have to keep going."
The scorching energy continued to ravage his arm. All of this—for a sliver of hope. A nearly negligible possibility of awakening a second chakra nature.
Whether the number of chakra natures a person possessed was determined at birth or could be acquired later remained an unresolved question. But one thing was certain: if, after a certain age, no new attribute manifested, then one's potential had likely reached its limit.
Shiraishi refused to believe that his limit was confined to Wind Release alone.
Regarding chakra nature transformation, he had decided to conduct an extremely dangerous experiment—one that forcibly enhanced his arm's adaptability to Fire Release through external stimulation.
With his arm tightly wrapped, Shiraishi entered the Oasis Ring and soon spotted Granny Chiyo, fishing as usual. Compared to her initial coldness, her attitude toward him had softened noticeably.
"Your arm is injured?" she asked.
"Training injury," Shiraishi replied simply.
Chiyo didn't press further. She merely allowed him to enter Ebizō's study to continue reading.
Today was the tenth day—the day agreed upon by Shiraishi and Ebizō.
The night before, Ebizō had stayed up late responding to Shiraishi's questions. Compared to the early days of pure praise, their discussions had gradually grown heated—bordering on outright disagreement.
Over ten days, they had sorted out more than a thousand key points, along with dense layers of written exchanges. The thick stack of papers bore witness to Shiraishi's relentless effort and Ebizō's tireless guidance.
Yet on certain issues, Shiraishi's thinking was stubborn—so stubborn that it drove Ebizō to stamp his feet in frustration.
At the center of their standoff lay one topic:
Chakra nature transformation.
The night before, their discussion had focused on whether stimulating cells with external substances could trigger the awakening of a new chakra nature. Ebizō had firmly opposed the idea.
Foreign energy could devour Shiraishi's body—and his brilliant mind—at any moment.
From Shiraishi's perspective, a nation's geography and climate influenced the dominant chakra attributes of its shinobi. Except for fertile Konoha, most villages' chakra distributions aligned closely with their environments.
His deductions suggested a link between cellular traits and natural energy in the air.
Thus emerged his hypothesis:
By flooding the body with attribute-specific chakra or substances to stimulate cellular adaptation, it might be possible to cultivate a new chakra nature.
This was the crux of their argument.
Ebizō believed this method was not development—it was exploitation, a violent squeezing of one's limits.
The scorching powder and the deep-sea mercury Shiraishi had sought earlier were both part of this experimental direction—though each followed a different methodology.
Injecting attribute-laden substances directly into the body, forcing them to merge with one's cells, and relying on sheer willpower to suppress the resulting chaos—
It was bold. Admirable, even.
But it blatantly crossed the ethical line of the shinobi world.
This was human experimentation.
In the past, others had proposed similar theories. Every attempt had ended in failure. And Shiraishi's method—injecting violently reactive substances directly into living tissue—was the sort of madness only deranged scientists would dare attempt.
Even they wouldn't test it on themselves.
Human experimentation had long been Konoha's favorite pretext for condemning other nations, as it styled itself the most "civilized" of the Five Great Villages.
Ebizō felt increasingly uneasy.
Especially after Chiyo mentioned Shiraishi's abnormal arm earlier that day.
The old man rushed into the study at once.
"Show me your arm."
Shiraishi, who had just placed a biography of Ebizō's youth back on the shelf, did not comply.
Seeing the boy's silence, Ebizō stepped forward and personally pulled away the wrappings.
The sight beneath made his vision swim.
Large patches of blackened, necrotic tissue.
"You—! Sister! Come quickly!"
Chiyo rushed in and froze at the sight. As she began emergency treatment, she finally learned of Shiraishi's terrifying experiment—and his reckless resolve.
The experiment had failed.
The forced injection of explosive material had directly destroyed the cells in his arm. If Ebizō had arrived even a little later, Shiraishi's arm would have been permanently ruined.
Faced with the bewildered gazes of the two greatest elders of Sunagakure, Shiraishi spoke calmly.
"For a ninja with limited potential like me, only this kind of full-scale stimulation gives a chance to awaken a second chakra nature."
For civilian-born shinobi, the ceiling was often fixed early in life. With age, most would peak as nothing more than ordinary jōnin.
Ebizō and Chiyo heard the ambition—and unwillingness to accept fate—hidden in his words.
They exchanged a glance.
After a long silence, Ebizō made his decision.
"Your potential should not be used this way," he said sternly. "And this method is far too dangerous. If someone with weaker will—or slower help—attempted it, the result would be lifelong paralysis!"
Though he valued Shiraishi deeply, Ebizō was genuinely angry.
Once Chiyo finished treatment, Ebizō personally threw Shiraishi out of the study.
Yet despite his harsh actions, his gaze toward the boy had grown warmer.
In Shiraishi, Ebizō saw the shadow of his own youth.
"Assessment passed," Ebizō said flatly.
"You are now my disciple. From this point on, you will obey my instructions. You are forbidden from using such dangerous methods again."
Hearing those words, something stirred deep within Shiraishi.
Years ago, Ebizō had once had a close companion—exceptionally talented, but limited by chakra nature. That man had attempted to forcibly awaken a second attribute… and died far from home.
It was Ebizō's greatest regret.
To carry on his fallen companion's ideal, Ebizō had devoted his life to studying chakra nature transformation. In the end, he became the only shinobi in Sunagakure to master four chakra attributes, as well as its most learned scholar.
What Shiraishi did not know was this—
Even without these reckless actions, Ebizō would have treasured him.
His persistence, curiosity, and research talent alone were more than enough.
And did Shiraishi truly believe his actions could deceive two elders like Ebizō and Chiyo?
"I still have many materials and notes I haven't organized," Shiraishi said hesitantly.
Ebizō's attitude didn't change. He chuckled.
"That can wait. Get ready—I'm going to teach you how to climb trees."
"I already learned that," Shiraishi replied. "And water walking."
That stopped Ebizō short.
The old man closed his eyes, thought for a moment—
Then smiled.
Then we'll have him train that.
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