The formula for the medicinal vat was one of Ebizō's secret prescriptions. It was designed to stimulate cellular vitality and enhance the body's sensitivity to other chakra attributes.
While soaking in the vat, Shiraishi's cells frantically absorbed and expelled the medicinal power within. After each session, the liquid inside the vat became turbid and foul-smelling—the result of impurities being forced out of his body during the process.
After his very first soak, Shiraishi could already feel a fundamental change in his chakra circulation. Ebizō, on the other hand, looked on with visible heartache at the medicinal vat.
He had originally planned to change the mixture every few days. Instead, this kid nearly exhausted the medicinal efficacy in a single day.
That meant another refill.
And these materials were expensive.
"Brat, from now on, you're working to earn your keep," Ebizō said grimly.
To fund the continued preparation of the medicinal vats, Ebizō used his authority to acquire a batch of missions from ANBU—primarily assassination and capture tasks targeting rogue ninja active in the surrounding region.
"Three days. Finish them."
Shiraishi carried out the orders cleanly and efficiently. With his silver blade in hand, he hunted rogue ninja with overwhelming momentum, quickly capturing a number of unidentified foreign defectors and escorting them back to the village alive.
Every bit of the mission rewards went straight into replenishing the medicinal vats.
After repeated immersions, Shiraishi underwent a transformation bordering on rebirth. His cells and chakra pathways improved dramatically. As he sensed the changes within himself, his gratitude toward Ebizō only deepened.
Outside of missions, Shiraishi continued relentless combat training against the mud constructs.
At first, it was four constructs, each aligned with a single attribute. Later, they began combining attributes in pairs. Eventually, even three-attribute hybrid constructs appeared.
Through repeated brutal battles, Shiraishi's psychic force and blade techniques grew sharper. His speed increased, his perception became keener, and under Ebizō's personal guidance, his strength advanced at an astonishing pace.
The Scorching Sand River Valley, once the initial training ground, was eventually abandoned. For the next ten-plus days, master and disciple traversed the southern regions of the Land of Wind on foot.
During one encounter with a rogue ninja, Shiraishi unexpectedly obtained two cards.
One white. One blue.
Shiraishi chose to read the white card first.
As his chakra reserves had already increased significantly, the reading process accelerated noticeably. The progress bar filled rapidly, and he soon unlocked an initial skill:
Bubble.
This was a foundational skill with numerous branching paths. Moreover, after this period of cultivation, Shiraishi's affinity with Water Release chakra had improved considerably. The moment Bubble was unlocked, its proficiency jumped directly to 2%.
The principle behind Bubble was similar to Fire Spark. After spending an entire night practicing hand seals and chakra circulation, Shiraishi tested it by releasing bubbles toward the distant desert.
The resulting explosion was violent enough to jolt Ebizō awake.
"Did you create that Water Release yourself?" Ebizō demanded.
Fully awake now, he stared as Shiraishi calmly recorded the theory and execution of Water Release: Bubble Technique into a scroll. For a moment, Ebizō felt as though reality itself had become unreliable.
He had accompanied Shiraishi the entire time.
This kid had no prior foundation in Water Release—yet he had directly executed a Water Release technique?
After obtaining Shiraishi's consent, Ebizō read through the scroll in detail. On the surface, the technique was not drastically different from standard Bubble-based Water Release used in Kirigakure. Still, Shiraishi insisted on classifying it as a C-rank ninjutsu.
And then Ebizō noticed the real issue.
The chakra consumption was extraordinarily low.
In the Land of Wind's harsh environment, Water Release techniques normally consumed double—or even more—chakra. Yet Shiraishi's Bubble Technique maintained its output with minimal expenditure.
That was remarkable.
In Ebizō's understanding of history, only the Second Hokage of Konoha had achieved such efficiency with Water Release.
And now, another had appeared before his eyes.
Wait—
Wasn't the same true of Shiraishi's self-created Fire Release as well?
Although the otherworldly skill system had been localized to resemble ninjutsu, fundamental differences still existed—particularly in chakra efficiency. Under unfavorable environmental conditions, standard techniques required exponentially higher chakra costs, while Shiraishi's skills remained economical and stable.
In the shinobi world, techniques were rarely exchanged unless they were clan secrets or formal master–disciple transmissions. Even as Shiraishi's teacher, Ebizō still required his disciple's permission to study the technique.
Shiraishi had no objection.
On the contrary, he needed Ebizō's help to firmly establish his reputation as a prodigious research-type ninja.
Ebizō immediately formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Fire Spark Technique!"
A sharp explosion followed. Sparks erupted forward, scorching the ground ahead. The power was limited by the terrain, but the chakra cost was noticeably lower than standard Fire Release techniques.
At the genin or chūnin level, such efficiency might seem unimpressive.
But for a shinobi of Ebizō's caliber, the value of this technique was enormous.
From a single Wind attribute, Shiraishi had now expanded into Wind, Earth, and Water—a result inseparable from Ebizō's guidance. Naturally, the Bubble Technique scroll was handed over to Ebizō, ensuring that Shiraishi's future skill development via cards would have a legitimate explanation.
Obtaining the Bubble Technique ignited Ebizō's research obsession. He promptly ignored everything else and retreated into his tent to study this unconventional Water Release.
Watching his teacher disappear, Shiraishi quietly retrieved the second card—the blue one.
A strong intuition urged him to read it immediately.
He had a feeling this card's effect would far exceed expectations.
Judging by its color and patterns alone, it seemed to be an Earth Release–type ground-based skill. Based on past experience, it should have been a mid-tier offensive ability.
Yet the moment he held it, Shiraishi felt an inexplicable heaviness.
The progress bar is completed.
The blue card disintegrated into worthless fragments.
Inside the glasses system, the blue card slot unlocked—occupying a single, standalone initial skill node.
No branches. No evolutions.
This was the first time Shiraishi had encountered such a skill.
And yet, a powerful sense of anticipation welled up inside him.
The skill preview began to play.
A shinobi stood upon the ground, feet buried beneath layers of sand. From within the sand itself, vast streams of chakra were continuously drawn out and absorbed into the caster's body.
This technique—
Based on the fragmented terminology within the glasses' memory database, Shiraishi understood something clearly.
He had just hit the jackpot.
A true lucky draw.
He had obtained a powerful transformation-type skill with the highest compatibility possible for Sunagakure and the Land of Wind.
With this single technique, his greatest weakness—massive chakra consumption—would finally be resolved.
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