Maki's chakra control—and her comprehension of techniques—were already among the best of her peers. What she lacked was nothing more than an outstanding mentor.
Pakura had spoken to Shiraishi yesterday. She was preparing to return to Kikyō Mountain and intended to take both Maki and Jogaki Shikasa with her, focusing especially on strengthening Maki's training.
Even with Pakura watching over them, Shiraishi couldn't fully relax. That was why he had briefly considered using the opportunity of the Fourth Kazekage accepting disciples to push both of them toward Rasa.
But the thought lasted only a moment before he abandoned it.
Maki's bond with Pakura had long surpassed that of a normal teacher and student—it was closer to family. Shiraishi couldn't bring himself to make her uncomfortable for his own peace of mind.
Aside from that, Pakura had given Shiraishi a scroll.
Inside were her personal insights from her youth while learning basic Fire Release. In truth, Scorch Release was formed by the fusion of Wind and Fire chakra, so Pakura possessed a uniquely deep understanding of Fire Release.
This scroll was extremely valuable.
It wasn't something one could find in an ordinary library or archive. Pakura had given it to him after learning about his failed deal with the Arakawa clan. Though furious on his behalf, this was likely the only way she could help him.
Feeling the warmth of the scroll in his hands, Shiraishi completely dismissed the idea of separating Maki from Pakura. He turned his focus back to scanning the library's contents.
The storage capacity of his glasses was astonishing.
After an entire day of scanning, he had used barely one percent of the total space.
With a simple keyword search, a projection instantly displayed massive amounts of related information. Compared to flipping through books one by one, the retrieval function was absurdly efficient.
After politely returning the access pass, the librarian looked at Shiraishi with curiosity.
This child had spent the entire afternoon merely reading book titles—never opening a single volume.
"If you're looking for something specific, I can help you search," the librarian offered.
"Not for now," Shiraishi replied politely. "Thank you for your concern."
At the Jogaki family workshop, Shikasa's father was still struggling with the modification of Deep-Sea Mithril. The process was grueling—the technical difficulty was simply too high, and failures were frequent.
"Stone… your arm is really okay now?" Shikasa asked nervously.
The memory of Shiraishi injecting scorching powder—nearly burning his entire arm—had left Shikasa shaken. More than fear, it made his heart ache. This companion of his was truly risking everything just to grow stronger.
"It's fine," Shiraishi replied calmly. "The test just failed."
Because of the scorching powder's failure, Shiraishi wasn't in a rush regarding the Deep-Sea Mithril weapon. Today's visit was mainly to reinforce his silver blade.
After prolonged use, the blade was covered in wear marks and felt close to breaking. Shiraishi handed it over to Jogaki Hayato and made his request.
"Uncle, could you add some Deep-Sea Mithril to the blade? I want to improve its hardness and toughness."
"That's no problem," Hayato said, visibly relieved.
One of Deep-Sea Mithril's main applications in the shinobi world was precisely this—enhancing weapons. As long as it wasn't forged into a standalone weapon, it was safe.
To be honest, Shiraishi's previous request had been far too abstract. The difficulty level was on an entirely different scale.
The Jogaki craftsmanship lived up to its reputation.
After more than two hours of careful refinement, a brand-new silver longsword was placed before Shiraishi.
The moment he grasped the hilt, his entire aura shifted.
Hayato smiled. "Satisfied?"
"Thank you."
As Shiraishi paid, Shikasa looked at him with concern.
"Don't take the Arakawa matter to heart. They're one of the three Sand Release lineages. Even the Council of Elders doesn't dare to offend them—they've always been arrogant."
After scanning all the books in Sunagakure's library, Shiraishi had already looked up everything about the Arakawa clan. Their history and background were no mystery to him.
Watching Shiraishi walk away, Hayato suddenly turned to his son.
"How's your Psychic training coming along?"
At the mention of the self-created Psychic technique, Shikasa's face twisted in pain.
Mental strength was brutally hard to improve. At present, he could only manage basic projection. Still, even that alone had pushed his puppet control to an entirely new level.
Since Shiraishi's Psychic had been officially submitted and proven effective during the Quicksand Valley battle, Sunagakure's upper ranks had recognized its value. Several clans had begun studying it seriously.
For the Jogaki family, telekinesis synergized extremely well with puppetry. And since Hayato wasn't a rigid patriarch, he pushed Shikasa relentlessly to train it.
"You'll soon be heading to Kikyō Mountain with Pakura," Hayato said.
"The more you master now, the better your chances of surviving the battlefield."
"I understand, Father."
When Shiraishi returned home, he found the house spotless.
On his desk lay six large bundles.
Inside were clothes, daily necessities, and spare garments—everything carefully prepared by Maki.
Knowing he would be away from the village for some time, she had even packed a Sunagakure-style headscarf. There were also various medicines included.
After finishing everything, Maki had left him a note—full of everyday reminders and explanations of what each bundle contained.
Yet Shiraishi's attention wasn't on the words.
It was in her handwriting.
After packing up, Shiraishi arrived at Ebizō's residence.
Seeing him with six massive bundles strapped to his back, Ebizō burst out laughing.
"Why are you bringing so much? I never expected my disciple to have such… outstanding domestic support."
"Someone at home prepared it," Shiraishi replied simply.
Chiyo laughed heartily.
"Good, very good. Looks like little Shiraishi won't end up single for life, right, brother?"
Ebizō: "..."
The unexpected remark landed a critical hit on Ebizō, who had been single for decades.
The month-long training was about to begin.
Ebizō's guidance would focus on deeper development—starting with the problem of a second chakra nature. As preparation, he handed Shiraishi a chakra test paper.
"This will help confirm your current condition."
This was Shiraishi's first time using the chakra test paper. Previously, his attributes had been assessed through academic instruments operated by instructors.
The moment Shiraishi grasped the seemingly ordinary paper—
It began to change.
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