Chapter 56: Your Thoughts Are Dangerous

Chapter 56: Your Ideas Are Dangerous

"Chiba, did you return to the village with Kakashi?"

Might Guy’s eyes shone brightly.

"Guy-sensei, we got back yesterday."

Chiba walked over to greet him.

Guy gave a light cough and said, "You guys keep practicing first. I need to have a word with Chiba."

Neji, who had been somewhat fatigued, increased his speed in front of Chiba and soon vanished beyond his line of sight.

"Neji! As long as you practice diligently, you can surpass your own limits!"

Might Guy shouted passionately.

"Guy-sensei, I'll do my best too!"

Rock Lee roared, then likewise accelerated, leaving Mami to sigh softly before quickly following their pace.

Chiba found it somewhat amusing.

"How are Lee and the others doing with their training?"

"Heh, they have a preliminary grasp of the transcendent state. Mami still has a long way to go, but it can't be helped—girls are generally a bit weaker in this aspect."

Might Guy muttered on and on.

Chiba listened from the side, offering suggestions from time to time, though...

To Might Guy, these suggestions were of little practical use.

Knowledge comes from practice.

Guy’s path differed from Chiba's, which was why he had felt he couldn't teach Chiba. Events had proven that Kakashi was indeed a much more suitable mentor.

Guy looked Chiba up and down, then praised admiringly, "I haven't seen you for a while, and your physique seems much sturdier. You've grown a lot taller and broader than before."

"It's just age, I suppose—going through a growth spurt. It usually starts happening after turning twelve..."

Chiba suddenly paused, his eyes lighting up.

That was right.

During this period, his physique had indeed become much stronger than before, with noticeable increases in height and muscle mass. He had always assumed it was simply due to natural growth.

However, could it be the effect of the fifth pattern?

An enhancement to physical baseline strength?

"Is that so? Well, true enough, a ninja's body usually undergoes rapid growth right after graduation. It seems graduating at twelve has its own significance."

Might Guy muttered thoughtfully to himself.

After pondering for a moment, he suddenly looked up at Chiba and nodded, "Once you get a bit stronger, I'll teach you a jutsu."

"The Eight Gates Dun Jia?"

"You know about it? Ah, Kakashi must have mentioned it to you then. That's right, that very jutsu."

Guy did not deny it.

Aside from the Eight Gates, most of his taijutsu were relatively simple and not worth passing on to Chiba.

Therefore, only that remained.

"Then I'll thank you in advance, Guy-sensei."

Chiba did not refuse.

Of course he wanted to learn the Eight Gates.

Even without practicing it in depth, gaining insight into its specific mysteries would be beneficial.

"Don't mention it. I just figured that if it's you, you might actually be able to solve some of the problems associated with the Eight Gates."

Guy went back to his own affairs.

Everyone was busy, especially jounin instructors.

He was pouring his heart and soul into looking after his three disciples.

***

Chiba felt a sense of sentimentality.

After running for two hours, he headed to Tenten's house.

She was currently researching ninja tools.

With Chiba's sensory abilities, he easily detected the Anbu operatives hiding in the vicinity of Tenten's home.

He was not surprised.

The Four Great Ninja Tools were of monumental importance.

If any accident occurred, Konoha would not look good externally. Allowing Tenten to hold onto them for research was already a considerable concession granted by the Third Hokage.

"Chiba, are you looking for Tenten?"

Tenten's mother beamed with a bright smile the moment she saw him.

Chiba waved his hand and said, "No need, Auntie, I was just passing by. Also, this book is related to ninja tools; please pass it to her."

"Won't you come inside for a sit-down?"

"No, thank you."

Chiba handed over the book and bolted away.

Tenten's mother's gaze...

Was far too peculiar.

Researching ninja tools was not a task of a single day or two, nor was it something Tenten could accomplish with her current level of knowledge; she needed further study.

Chiba had no intention of getting entangled in that.

However, he needed to consider another matter—

What should he research next?

The fifth pattern had brought back the luster to the Bodhi seed.

That was the first tier of transformation.

Could gathering another five patterns trigger a second round of changes?

Chiba was quite curious.

Therefore, he had been pondering lately which jutsu to modify for the sixth pattern.

After turning it over in his mind, he felt there was only one candidate—

The Rasengan!

Chiba had no desire to transform it into Naruto-style colored spheres, nor did he possess that kind of capability.

Instead.

He was considering...

Whether it was possible to apply the principles of the Rasengan to taijutsu.

Chiba had previously emulated the Strength of a Hundred technique to create an explosive nin-taijutsu, but it had limited utility for him.

For ordinary ninjas.

Controlling, condensing, and discharging chakra without harming oneself was entirely too difficult. Most who could manage it could simply learn conventional ninjutsu directly, rather than taking a roundabout approach.

Thus, that technique remained imperfect.

However.

If swirling chakra could be driven directly into an opponent's body, wouldn't that achieve an effect similar to the Gentle Fist?

Techniques like the Body Pathway Derangement fell into this category.

It was worth a try.

The entire afternoon was spent experimenting with this concept.

By evening—

"Trying out a new jutsu again?"

"Kakashi-sensei."

Chiba bowed in greeting, then went right back to pondering his technique.

Kakashi observed for a short while.

This technique...

Seemed to be nothing more than ordinary taijutsu.

After some thought, Chiba stopped and asked, "Kakashi-sensei, you know the Shadow Clone Technique, right?"

"Mm. Do you want to learn it?"

"Yes. For this taijutsu, I need to accurately gauge the destructive power inflicted by the chakra. The Shadow Clone Technique is an excellent choice."

Chiba nodded.

Kakashi jumped down from the tree and began reciting the hand seals aloud.

Chiba listened very intently.

Once finished, he began forming the seals, and shortly afterward, a clone materialized beside him.

Kakashi was not surprised.

Had Chiba failed to accomplish it, he would have found that strange.

Immediately following that, the boy resumed his practice.

Time slipped away bit by bit until the sky was completely dark, prompting Chiba to exhale a slow breath.

At this moment, beads of cold sweat covered his forehead.

"Let's go. I'll treat you to ramen."

Kakashi stood up. "Are you trying to incorporate the Rasengan into taijutsu?"

"Mm."

As they walked, Chiba explained his thoughts.

Kakashi fell into deep thought.

Directly driving in swirling chakra...

"It's extremely difficult for chakra to directly disrupt a person's body unless you possess the Byakugan, allowing you to see the chakra pathway system and tenketsu."

What made the Hyuga clan a prominent noble family?

It was precisely the Byakugan and the Gentle Fist.

In a sense, Chiba's idea was already approaching the Gentle Fist, and once successfully developed, this nin-taijutsu might even prove more tyrannical than the Gentle Fist itself.

"Or, concentrate it into a single point."

After pondering for a moment, Kakashi offered an alternative approach.

Then, recalling Chiba's chakra needles, comprehension dawned upon him—

Piercing the surface at a single point before injecting the chakra?

That certainly constituted a viable method.

"Yes, that's what I was thinking as well. Furthermore, based on my research, although human tenketsu are very small, most are located in roughly consistent positions, and a portion of them are relatively easy to target."

"..."

Kakashi held his book with absolute composure, yet he had not turned a single page in a long time.

After a long silence, he gazed into the distance.

"Your ideas are quite dangerous."

"Actually, the Hyuga clan has nothing to fear. Even ordinary people know the general locations of the tenketsu; it's just that the vast majority lack the ability to locate and strike them, and even if they could, it wouldn't be as convenient as the Byakugan."

At this point, Chiba let out a faint sigh. "The Caged Bird curse strengthened the Hyuga, but it also made them exceptionally weak."