Chapter 39: Five Patterns, the Bodhi Seed Transforms Again

"You’re only arriving now? We’re nearly exhausted!"

"Sorry, sorry. I was discussing a jutsu idea with Master Kitayama, and he insisted I stay for dinner before leaving. The trade-off was that... besides some rejects, I managed to get a few perfectly good military ration pills." Chiba lifted his basket.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Rejects?" The standard of the Konoha Medical Unit was consistently high; it was rare to see substandard ration pills. Could it be that they were passing off inferior goods as quality ones?

"Well, the new pills aren't fully perfected yet, so there’s a larger accumulation of rejects. I picked out the better ones to bring over," Chiba explained.

Tenten didn't hesitate, grabbing one and tossing it into her mouth. She was utterly drained; there wasn't a shred of physical energy left in her body to refine chakra. Kazesa wasn't much better off. If they hadn't been waiting for Chiba to show up, they both likely would have fallen asleep already.

After they finished the pills, Chiba pulled three sealed bowls from the bottom of the basket. "Ichiraku Ramen, takeout."

"Yes!" Tenten and Kazesa cheered.

Kakashi, still wearing his mask, took a bowl and a pair of chopsticks, only to notice everyone else staring at him. "Why are you all looking at me?"

"No, nothing!" Tenten quickly lowered her head to eat. But she was so curious! What did Master Kakashi look like under that mask?

Only Chiba was indifferent. Having seen the anime, he already had a general idea of what Kakashi looked like. He glanced at the masked jonin. "Master, would you like to go somewhere else to eat?"

"No need," Kakashi replied, shaking his head.

Tenten and Kazesa’s eyes lit up. Their focus was more intense than it had ever been. A moment later, Kakashi pushed his mask up. But he didn't push it all the way up—he lifted it just halfway and began to eat with such blinding speed that it left Tenten and Kazesa speechless. Chiba, however, just smiled silently. This guy didn't necessarily care for being mysterious; he probably just enjoyed teasing them.

***

Kakashi was still the same old Kakashi, wicked to the core.

"Geez, what was that? Anyway, Chiba, you mentioned earlier that you were thinking of a jutsu for them—is it a medical ninjutsu?" Tenten asked between bites. With them away from the dining table, their manners had become a bit more relaxed.

"Not quite. It’s a reverse application of absorption barriers. I’m trying to see if I can simplify medical ninjutsu," Chiba said. "It won't be of much help to medical ninjas on the battlefield, but it will be quite useful in the operating room."

"I see." Kakashi possessed a deep well of knowledge and understood immediately. This kid’s way of thinking was always different from the norm. While others were still pondering how to apply a technique to combat, Chiba had already taken a detour to consider medical surgery.

It was natural that Kakashi couldn't fully relate. If Chiba were a typical ninja, he might prioritize combat-oriented jutsu, as raising one’s own strength was the golden rule. But for Chiba, creating transmissible jutsu could also lead to growth, and it might even be more powerful than creating a jutsu solely for his own use.

Just like now.

Another mark had appeared on his Bodhi seed. Two were for spiritual power amplification, one for sensory enhancement, and one for recovery capacity. The fifth mark had just been born; its size and depth were currently only average among the five. As for its effects, he was still exploring them.

Once the rations and lunch were delivered, Chiba checked on their training progress. Tenten and Kazesa were reluctant to talk about it and pushed him away, refusing to let him watch. Chiba had no choice but to return to his old routine—physical training and testing the effects of his enhancements.

By evening, Chiba was lying on the ground, exhausted. "The fifth mark should also be for recovery. The overlap with the fourth mark makes the effect significantly stronger than before." This recovery applied not just to physical stamina, but also to spiritual energy. He hadn't tested it on actual wounds yet; after all, he wasn't about to cut himself just to see what happened.

Since Tenten and Kazesa needed to train their ninjutsu, taking on C-rank missions was out of the question. After resting for two days, they took on a few D-rank missions to rack up stats while continuing their training. During this time, Chiba kept an eye on the progress of the improved Sealing Barrier Formation and the Joint Barrier. The improved sealing formation was already being promoted among elite chunin and above. As for the latter, according to Kitayama, it was nearing completion and undergoing final testing. The result of these two achievements was that Chiba's fifth mark had grown longer and deeper.

Not only that, the markings on the Bodhi seed began to emit faint glows: two white, one pale yellow, and two blue. With the accumulation of five marks, it had undergone another change, though Chiba hadn't yet experienced any tangible increase in power from this specific evolution.

"Whatever, as long as it's getting stronger, continuing in this direction is definitely the right path." Chiba stopped fretting over the small details.

***

The current conclusion he’d reached was a huge boon for him: as long as the idea was his, even if someone else perfected it, he would still receive amplification and feedback. However, the pattern wasn't one jutsu per mark, but rather based on categories—much like his absorption barrier, which had developed two abilities but was ultimately classified as one derivative. The same applied to his chakra threads.

"Why isn't there one for the 'Limit State'?" Chiba pondered for a long time before heading out to find Rock Lee. At this time of day, Lee would surely still be training.

Sure enough, he found Lee in the usual forest. Lee hadn't mastered it yet. To be precise, his success rate was inconsistent; he was still in the exploratory and consolidation phase.

"As expected, it's too difficult to reach a certain scale of popularization." Guy and Kakashi could certainly learn it, but... what would be the point? Whether they could even trigger a single mark was a question in itself.

The only way out was to research a "budget version"! And so, Chiba ran off to the Konoha Hospital again.

For over ten days, their team spent their time doing missions, training, and researching. Chiba's appearances during missions became less frequent. Tenten and Kazesa were worried, but they knew Chiba was researching a specific, vital jutsu. Even if they had the time to check on him, they knew they had to show restraint.

After much waiting, Chiba finally appeared, carrying his familiar notebook. "How has your training been lately?"

"Not bad. We’ve finished the nature transformation training. Master Kakashi says we just need to work on practical application now, and we’ve been learning new jutsu," Tenten said proudly.

"That's pretty fast, isn't it?" Chiba chuckled, and her expression immediately stiffened.

Kakashi glanced at the notebook. "A new jutsu?"

"It’s that taijutsu from before. I’ve named it 'Limit State.' It was probably too difficult for ordinary people, so I’ve spent the last half-month lowering the difficulty. There shouldn't be any problems this time."