"You understand all this so well—why don't you just take over?"
Jiraiya grumbled. "I'll sit in the Forest of Death every day extracting senjutsu chakra for those damn kikaichū."
"I still need to prepare the ANBU training units," Souma replied calmly.
"This curriculum is adapted from the ANBU training outline. The difference isn't that big."
"Oh? Let me see that too!"
Jiraiya's eyes lit up.
This kid really had substance.
That previous teaching manual alone had already given him a lot to think about.
Souma didn't refuse. He handed over the second outline.
After reading it, Jiraiya finally relaxed.
Now he understood Souma's plan for ANBU training.
Dual-track development—
Elite specialization paired with large-scale coordination training.
A small number of elite squads would be cultivated intensively, while the rest would focus on teamwork rather than raw individual strength.
It was a solid approach.
Even though ANBU itself was already an elite force, stratifying it further still made sense.
On the battlefield, not everyone could be a hero.
Most people needed to function as part of a system.
That had always been the case for ANBU—
The only issue before was that individual combat ability sometimes fell short.
This particular outline wasn't perfectly suited to Jiraiya's own training responsibilities, but—
It was still immensely useful.
Jiraiya pulled out a pen and began scribbling notes.
Souma, meanwhile, returned to pondering his own ninjutsu.
A few days earlier, he'd received a wave of feedback enhancement from Mind Reversal Technique, and he could feel subtle changes in his mental strength.
So recently, he'd been focused on Yin Seal applications.
He already had a rough idea.
Yin Seal sounded impossibly complex, but in essence it was simple—
You built a "reservoir" beside the chakra network.
The original version was constructed on the forehead because it was one of the body's main chakra convergence points.
Chakra extraction and synthesis inevitably passed through it.
For most people, a single reservoir was sufficient.
But for senjutsu chakra users, the requirements were completely different.
Senjutsu chakra was extremely dangerous.
Storing it in the fragile head—
Was basically stuffing an unstable bomb into your skull.
But—
What if he built multiple smaller reservoirs?
Each major chakra node could host one.
Individually small, but together forming a complete system.
Luckily, Souma already possessed deep knowledge of chakra points and meridians.
He picked up pen and paper and began writing, pausing often to think.
Jiraiya hadn't planned on watching—but one glance was enough to hook him.
Yin Seal?!
Holy hell!
Tsunade had actually taught this technique to Souma—and the kid had already figured something out?!
Jiraiya read a little more and nearly stopped breathing.
This wasn't just chakra storage.
Souma was clearly planning to store something else.
Senjutsu chakra.
Jiraiya swallowed hard.
"You're planning to use Yin Seal to store senjutsu chakra?"
"Yes."
Souma explained his idea in detail.
Jiraiya alternated between sudden understanding and deep frowns—until he suddenly slapped his thigh in frustration.
"Damn it!"
Souma blinked. "…What?"
Jiraiya shook his head violently.
After a moment, he finally asked:
"Souma… how long have you had this technique?"
He did some quick mental math.
From the time Souma met Tsunade until now, it'd been about a week at most.
Even if Tsunade had given him Yin Seal on day one—
That still meant he'd gone from theory to modification to execution in seven days.
This was insane.
Souma thought for a moment.
"Two or three days, I think. I don't remember exactly.
This technique isn't that difficult—I already had most of the groundwork."
"…"
Jiraiya fell silent.
Two.
Or three.
Days.
That meant—
In just a few days, Souma had modified Yin Seal into a version tailored to himself.
Jiraiya stared blankly.
Was he just bad?
Or was Souma a monster?
After a long moment, he exhaled slowly.
No.
You don't compare yourself to Souma.
That way lay madness.
"Souma," Jiraiya said seriously, "what do I need to trade to learn this?"
He understood Souma's true objective.
Stored senjutsu chakra.
If this worked, then anyone who'd mastered Sage Mode could potentially enter it with a single hand sign.
He had to learn it.
Souma shook his head.
"First, ask Tsunade. Second, let me finish testing it.
If it fails, there's no point learning it."
He began extracting and refining senjutsu chakra, guiding it into the reservoirs.
Jiraiya sat on edge.
He wanted Souma to succeed.
And yet—
If Souma really succeeded, and Jiraiya couldn't replicate it…
That would be humiliating.
"Sigh…"
While he was brooding, someone peeked in from outside.
Jiraiya recognized her—Tenten, Souma's teammate.
Great.
An audience.
Jiraiya quietly stepped outside, closed the door, and gestured for silence.
"Souma's cultivating right now. Is it urgent?"
"If he's training, I'll come back later."
Tenten's face reddened slightly.
"It should be fine—he usually doesn't take long."
"Oh, right. That's true. Souma never trains for long."
She blinked. "Jiraiya-sama, you know him well."
Jiraiya hesitated… then nodded silently.
Then—
"Come in, Tenten. I'm done."
"…?"
Jiraiya stared.
"Already?!"
"Yes. But it failed… a little."
Souma wasn't being modest.
He'd only managed to store half of the senjutsu chakra he'd intended.
Mainly because he'd only used chakra nodes he could precisely control.
Further expansion would require more experimentation.
Jiraiya didn't understand and hurried to console him.
Tenten, however, sensed something off and tried to hint—
But Jiraiya kept talking.
"Every technique requires refinement. True success never comes in just a day or two—"
Then he paused.
"…What kind of failure are we talking about?"
Souma answered honestly.
"I expected the combined nodes to match the original Yin Seal's capacity.
In practice, it was less than half."
"…"
Jiraiya nearly spat blood.
That's failure?!
That's a breakthrough, damn it!
Even storing a fraction of senjutsu chakra ahead of time was revolutionary.
Jiraiya coughed.
"I'll talk to Tsunade. If she agrees, we'll revisit this."
"Safe travels."
Jiraiya left quickly.
Face could wait.
Ninjutsu couldn't.
After he left, Tenten said softly, "Congratulations."
"For what?"
"You're still officially a special jōnin, but you're already on equal footing with jōnin elites… even the Sannin."
There was a hint of envy—but more pride.
Souma smiled. "That doesn't matter. Come inside—did the ninja tool I asked for get finished?"
"Yes."
She released a strange puppet-like device from a sealing scroll.
It resembled a mechanical hand.
"What is this for?" she asked, puzzled.
"On its own, nothing. It needs Sharingan and chakra threads."
Souma assembled it.
Then he pulled out a sealed vial.
Tenten covered her mouth.
"A Sharingan?!"
"Danzo's," Souma said calmly. "The Third and Tsunade know."
He placed it into the glass sphere and injected nutrient fluid.
Tenten's craftsmanship was flawless.
Connections sealed seamlessly.
Chakra flowed in.
The Sharingan slowly rotated—
Then stopped.
"Did it… work?" Tenten whispered.
"Halfway."
He could simulate a standard three-tomoe state—
But Mangekyō neural signals were different.
"Maybe Kakashi-sensei?" Tenten suggested.
"I was thinking the same. Thank you."
As he packed up, she asked softly:
"Can I join the ANBU training?"
Souma smiled. "Of course—but honestly, you won't gain much from it."
He handed her the training outline.
She read it—and slowly nodded.
"…You're right."
"There'll be an elite round later. Try then.
For now, your growth path is already full."
Not everyone belonged in ANBU.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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