Chapter 20: Future Teammates

Chapter 20: Future Teammates

Chiba’s thoughts stirred his emotions deeply. After a long pause, he exhaled slowly, calming himself. Now was not the time to be excited.

The Bodhi fruit was indeed useful, but to truly reap its benefits, one still had to work hard, never settling for mere fleeting advantages.

Recalling his battle with Kai, Chiba felt no arrogance at all—facing someone with superior strength like Kai required careful calculation, let alone a figure like Uchiha Madara.

He was still too weak.

Flipping out the window, he grabbed the medicine kit he had brought and headed home.

Training!

Observing from the shadows, the Third Hokage breathed a sigh of relief. The current situation was unlike before, when wars raged and geniuses emerged one after another. His greatest worry with a prodigy like Chiba was that the boy might become overconfident in his youth.

But now, he seemed steady and grounded. Despite having created two or three ninjutsu and medicinal formulas, he remained humble and eager to improve.

Truly rare.

Yet the boy was too clever. The Third Hokage had already rewarded him with full access to the archives’ restricted texts, and now he had created and contributed a strengthening medicinal bath…

What reward could he offer?

The Third Hokage was deeply troubled. It would seem unfair to offer nothing, but who would then be willing to share secret techniques? Yet the boy wasn’t even a genin; promoting him wasn’t an option.

After much thought, he decided to call Kakashi over.

“Kakashi, you’ve probably heard about the medicinal bath formula, right?”

“I have, though regrettably it’s impossible to buy,” Kakashi nodded. He had glanced at the long line of buyers earlier and had quickly abandoned the idea of purchasing one, instead opting for a normal stroll and training.

But what did this have to do with him?

Kakashi was somewhat puzzled.

“Haha, I have two copies here. The reason I called you is because I’m stumped about what to give as a reward. Money probably won’t tempt him. I’m truly at a loss.”

The Third Hokage spoke frankly.

With the formula in hand and support from the medical corps and hospital, combined with alliances with the Nara and Akimichi clans, this venture was assured to be highly profitable.

Money was simply ‘uninteresting’ to a kid like Chiba.

Kakashi considered, then said, “He’s been learning swordsmanship recently. Lord Hokage, you could show him the second Hokage’s swordsmanship notes. I’m sure he’d be pleased.”

“Oh? He’s interested in swordsmanship as well?”

The Third Hokage was genuinely surprised. Though he possessed the art of telescopic vision, it wasn’t surveillance; he couldn’t watch Chiba’s daily activities all day.

More often, he glanced briefly before turning his attention elsewhere.

Hearing Kakashi’s suggestion, he said immediately, “If Chiba’s interested, there’s no harm in giving him swordsmanship. I see your point.”

The Third Hokage pondered for a moment, then chuckled and patted his head.

“I’m getting old. My mind isn’t as quick as the young ones’. Indeed, giving him the fully developed sword techniques might actually stifle Chiba’s inventive spirit.”

“Yes, that’s what I meant as well,” Kakashi nodded.

For most, the best sword style would be something like the Crescent Moon Dance, but for Chiba—who had devised the prototype of the Rasengan on his own—his intellect was exceptional.

With a solid foundation and theoretical knowledge, Chiba could naturally develop the sword style best suited to him.

“By the way, the team divisions are in a couple of days. You can help escort him over, and take a look yourself—don’t let your swordsmanship skills go to waste.”

The Third Hokage thought for a moment, then handed over the second Hokage’s swordsmanship notes to Kakashi, who accepted them with a nod.

“Oh, and take these two packages of medicinal herbs as well. They’re not much use to an old-timer like me, but they will benefit you. If you don’t need them, you can pass them on to future students.”

“Lord Hokage, although I agree to give it a try, if they don’t pass my assessment, I will still have them repeat the course,” Kakashi said seriously.

This was a matter of principle.

The Third Hokage had no objection.

He was entrusting the future to Kakashi precisely because of his intelligence and principles, hoping Kakashi would teach Chiba well; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

Two days was neither long nor short.

The effects of the medicinal bath were soon put to the test, and the next day, Chiba’s residence became a bustling hub—since medicine from the hospital was hard to obtain, everyone wanted to buy the formula from him.

Chiba had no choice but to hide.

Fortunately, as a ninja-in-training, concealing one’s presence was a required skill, and he had learned it well enough that none of the crowd blocking the area noticed him slipping out a window.

Just as he landed—

“Chiba-kun, you… *sob sob*!”

“Quiet, come on, let’s go.”

Chiba quickly covered Tsukikage’s mouth.

Tsukikage pointed at herself repeatedly, signaling she wouldn’t make any more noise before he let her go, though she still couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Chiba was speechless and led her away from the house.

Yesterday, she had looked timid, yet today she was already crouching outside his window—her boldness had advanced too quickly!

He glanced at Tsukikage in surprise.

“Chiba-kun, I mean no harm. I just heard you were surrounded and wanted to check on you.”

“It’s nothing. By the way, what did you mean by ‘please take care of me’ yesterday?”

Chiba scrutinized her.

“Uh, well, I forgot to mention yesterday—I originally had other plans, but my father said the day before that I might be in your group, so I should get used to it. So…”

Tsukikage nervously fiddled with the edge of her clothes.

Ah, understood.

Chiba realized that her coming to buy medicine and ask questions was secondary—her real intention was to get to know him. Such a clumsy attempt at conversation…

Hm.

Better not to expose it.

Chiba looked at her and said, “There’s still some time before the team division, right? How do you already know about it?”

“Not really. My father didn’t say who the team leader would be, only that the Hokage values you highly. Since there’s a division coming, it’s best not to be strangers. So, I… I’m sorry!”

Tsukikage bowed repeatedly, apologizing profusely.

“It’s nothing. I’m glad to meet you. Come on, this isn’t the place to talk.”

Now that the ice was broken, Chiba felt less bothered. After waving it off and thinking for a moment, he decided to stop overthinking and focus on training to strengthen himself.

“I’m going to train. Want to join?”

He jumped down from the tree and headed toward his usual training spot.

“Yes… yes!” Tsukikage followed behind.

After running a while, they met Tenten. She hadn’t intended to train with Chiba, but seeing Tsukikage there…

The group exercising just grew by one more.

Rock Lee had also wanted to join, but after watching for a while, he couldn’t bear the heavy atmosphere between Tenten and Tsukikage and quietly took a different path.

(End of chapter)