Evening.
After a full day of training, the new generation of the Ino–Shika–Cho trio each headed home.
Meanwhile, Akira had already left for the Forest of Death to meet up with Kurenai Yuhi and Anko Mitarashi.
Nearly exhausted to the point of collapse, Shikamaru Nara sat lazily in the hallway of his home, leaning against the wooden wall without a care for appearances.
He told his father, Shikaku Nara, about what had happened that afternoon.
"Akira really said all that?" Shikaku asked in astonishment.
He hadn't expected that after only recently coming into contact with the Shadow Secret Techniques, Akira had not only developed the Shadow Humanoid Technique, but also gained such profound insight into the Nara Clan's shadow arts.
Those bold ideas were incredibly imaginative.
Truly eye-opening.
"Yeah…" Shikamaru nodded.
Curious, he asked, "Dad, do you think it's possible?"
"It's definitely possible…" Shikaku replied with a smile. "But there's no need to rush."
"Next, I'll gather all the strategists of the Nara Clan and try developing this type of shadow technique together."
At that point, he couldn't help sighing emotionally:
"If only Akira belonged to the Nara Clan…"
In truth, the Nara Clan had spent over a century trying to further develop their shadow techniques.
But not everyone was a monster like Akira Ren, someone who defied common sense.
Developing techniques like these wasn't something that could be achieved overnight.
Still, the ideas and direction Akira provided were genuinely inspiring.
Worth studying.
Moreover, the Shadow Humanoid Technique he shared with the Nara Clan had already given Shikaku and several clan elders many new ideas.
Perhaps it could be expanded even further.
"If it were Akira Ren," Shikamaru said with a nod, "turning those crazy ideas into reality probably wouldn't even be difficult."
They had personally witnessed Akira Ren's terrifying talent.
In just a few days, he had mastered every secret technique of the Nara Clan and even created entirely new shadow techniques.
Honestly, it was a bit demoralizing.
Yet somehow, he was the kind of person you couldn't even feel jealous of.
Because the gap was simply too large.
Someone like that was destined for greatness—far beyond what the word "genius" could describe.
One day, he would undoubtedly stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world alongside figures like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
"Akira has changed so much…" Shikamaru sighed emotionally. "No wonder you pushed through all objections and handed our clan's secret techniques to him."
He was full of admiration for his father's foresight.
Although they had allowed Akira to learn the Nara Clan's secret arts, the rewards they received in return were equally enormous.
"This was more like an accidental blessing," Shikaku said, patting Shikamaru on the shoulder with a smile. "Only sincerity earns sincerity in return."
"If the Ino–Shika–Cho families hadn't maintained a good relationship with the Chiya family over the years…"
"And if you three hadn't grown up close to him…"
"Honestly, even if we wanted to offer our techniques, he might not have cared for them."
After all, Akira possessed the bloodline of the Senju Clan.
Just his Wood Release alone—the same ability as the First Hokage—combined with the backing of Lady Tsunade, the famous Princess of Konoha, and the legacy of the Senju Clan…
It was only a matter of time before he stood atop the ninja world.
Shikaku naturally understood just how terrifying Akira Ren's potential truly was.
Not only was he Tsunade's disciple, but he also wielded Hashirama's Wood Release.
At Training Ground Three, he had effortlessly crushed an entire ANBU squad—including the "Copy Ninja," Kakashi Hatake—without seriously injuring any of them, subduing them one by one for a complete victory.
Even the Third Hokage in his prime couldn't have done something like that.
Without question, ten-year-old Akira already possessed strength comparable to—or even surpassing—a Kage.
Under such circumstances, Shikaku wasn't worried about Akira learning the clan's secret techniques, so long as he didn't spread them carelessly.
Frankly speaking, Akira had already mastered even the S-rank Spirit Transformation Technique.
Shikaku doubted the boy even cared much about the techniques of the Ino–Shika–Cho clans.
After all, many of the jutsu and forbidden techniques developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, were probably preserved in Tsunade's possession.
Especially considering the tremendous growth of Ino Yamanaka over the past two years—and the unbelievable progress she made in just a few days after Akira Ren's return—it was impossible not to notice.
If Akira was willing to guide the younger generation of the Ino–Shika–Cho clans, such an opportunity was unimaginably precious.
And over the past few days, the dramatic improvement in Shikamaru and Choji Akimichi's strength had already proven that point.
Moreover, ever since Konoha's founding, the Second Hokage had compiled and organized the secret techniques of all major clans.
The secret arts of the Ino–Shika–Cho clans weren't truly secrets to Konoha's upper leadership.
It was simply that Tobirama had once made an agreement with the clans: aside from the Hokage themselves, outsiders were forbidden from learning these techniques.
As someone with pure Hokage lineage and monstrous potential, Akira Ren's future achievements were beyond imagination even if he never became Hokage.
And anyone paying attention could tell what kind of relationship he had with Ino Yamanaka.
There was a high chance he would one day become the Yamanaka family's son-in-law.
Even Inoichi Yamanaka himself was practically beaming with delight, not the least bit bothered that his precious daughter was being "taken away."
In fact, he probably wished it would happen sooner.
Given the inseparable relationship between the Ino–Shika–Cho clans, forming ties with a future powerhouse of immeasurable potential was naturally of enormous benefit to families like theirs.
Under those circumstances, Shikaku naturally wouldn't selfishly hoard their techniques.
Of course, none of them knew that Akira had long since obtained the secret arts of the Ino–Shika–Cho clans from Danzo Shimura.
The reason he had spoken the way he did earlier was merely to prepare the clans mentally.
Unexpectedly, even Akira hadn't anticipated that Shikaku and the others would be so decisive.
They had immediately handed over the techniques of all three clans to him.
"Oh right, Dad…"
Thinking about the Shadow Humanoid Technique he still hadn't fully mastered, Shikamaru scratched his head helplessly.
"Have you mastered that shadow clone thing yet?"
"Of course."
At that moment, Shikaku smiled and rapidly formed hand seals.
A pitch-black shadow suddenly rose upright from beneath his feet.
And at a visible speed, it expanded like a balloon.
In the blink of an eye, the once-flat, paper-thin shadow transformed into a three-dimensional shadow clone.
"Shadow Sewing Technique!"
As Shikaku shouted—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless thread-like black shadows burst from the shadow clone's hands like lightning.
Like tangible objects, they pierced straight through several large trees in the courtyard.
It was scalp-numbingly terrifying.
"Honestly, the Shadow Humanoid Technique developed by Akira is incredibly practical…" Shikaku sighed while watching the scene.
"The key point is that it doesn't merely turn shadows into solid entities."
"It can be controlled like a puppet by the user…"
"But it can also possess a degree of intelligence and combat ability like a true Shadow Clone, assisting the user independently while even using other shadow secret techniques."
What made it even more terrifying—
Was that although it had a physical form, it simultaneously didn't.
Ordinary physical attacks couldn't kill a shadow clone.
Even if torn to pieces, it would rapidly regenerate.
Unless the user himself was killed—or the chakra allocated to the shadow clone was completely exhausted—it would never disappear.
The only options were trapping or sealing it.
Just the technique Akira returned to the Nara Clan alone was already beyond imagination.
Others might not know.
But as head of the Nara Clan, Shikaku understood very clearly:
For years, the Nara Clan had been trying to develop shadow techniques similar to shadow clones, yet had made little progress.
And yet, after only a few days of studying their clan's techniques—
Akira had already beaten them to it.
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