Chapter 63: Child, do you know the Will of Fire?

Hiashi left.

His arrival seemed solely intended to drop those words, a mere display of the Hyuga clan's presence.

Yet, Chiba felt quite certain—

At this very moment, the interior of the Hyuga clan was likely embroiled in debates so fierce their council room was on the verge of exploding.

Such a rigid, aristocratic family would hardly sit idly by while a sudden threat to their standing emerged out of nowhere. How could a bunch of old fossils simply accept it?

To put it bluntly, Hiashi was panicking.

A faint smile touched the corners of Chiba's lips.

Recently, he certainly hadn't lacked collaboration opportunities.

Whether concerning the Fire Temple or ninja tools, a mountain of research projects waited for his attention, leaving him with scarcely a moment to spare.

Take right now, for instance.

To ensure that chatting with Hiashi wouldn't constitute wasted time, he had left a Shadow Clone inside his room to continue working uninterrupted.

He often wished he could stretch a single day into two.

Returning indoors, Chiba glanced at his Shadow Clone and deliberated for a long moment...

Then, picking up a book, he began sketching out an entirely different barrier ninjutsu technique.

"???"

The Shadow Clone looked at him, then down at itself.

"Our minds cannot synchronize in real-time. Working on the exact same thing simultaneously would only cause interference. We might as well divide and conquer."

"Fine by me."

The Shadow Clone accepted the logic.

With the labor split between them, progress accelerated considerably.

By afternoon, the design for the Fire Temple's barrier was complete.

With a brief moment of leisure, Chiba finally sat down to read.

Asuma and Dilu once again "happened to pass by."

Hesitant to knock, they seemed wary of disturbing him.

"Asuma-san, Master Dilu, I'm finished here. Would you like to come in and take a look?"

「Oh, we were just... Wait, you're finished already?」

Dilu had intended to state his purpose for visiting, but midway through his sentence, the implication of Chiba's words registered—

The barrier was complete!

So soon?

Dilu was overwhelmed with joy.

Their primary reason for coming was the barrier; everything else was secondary. With the main objective accomplished, they could turn their attention to other matters.

"Please, come on in."

"It's a bit messy inside. I haven't had time to clear away the drafts."

Chiba turned and led the way inside.

Asuma followed, his mood inevitably complicated.

Were it not for that height and the handsome yet youthful features, he never would have believed that the person before him was merely a twelve or thirteen-year-old child.

He was simply too extraordinary.

Asuma trailed behind him into the room, where he was greeted by drafts scattered across the entire floor.

Nearby, a Shadow Clone was busy writing and sketching away.

"Weren't you finished?"

Dilu asked, looking somewhat puzzled.

"Ah, thanks to your inspiration, I came up with an optimization scheme for another barrier technique. He is currently working on the design and refinement."

"..."

Dilu's expression became indescribable.

The Fire Temple had spent who knows how many years researching the Sealing Iron Wall, yet had barely managed to craft that single barrier.

This boy, however, had only studied it for a few days.

And already he was redesigning it, claiming to be "inspired"...

Just who exactly was the abbot of the Fire Temple here?

Dilu let out a long, heavy sigh.

"Ahem, Dilu, perhaps you should check the quality of this barrier first."

Sighs and reflections could wait for later.

Asuma mentally complained to himself.

Every jounin who dealt with Chiba ended up with this exact expression; perhaps Might Guy was the only truly straightforward one.

Guy had admitted long ago that he had nothing left to teach Chiba.

What was the saying? True intelligence often appears foolish.

Jolted back to reality by Asuma, Dilu stopped wallowing in the profound shock of comparison and managed to steady his emotions.

Chiba handed him the stack of design drafts.

"I'm going outside for a smoke."

Offering an apologetic smile, Asuma walked toward the door.

The stack of design sheets was thick.

Dilu did not dare to be careless, reviewing them page by meticulous page, occasionally pausing to ask Chiba questions about parts he found obscure.

Naturally, Chiba answered each query patiently.

"You really are..."

Dilu nearly praised him as a genius, but thinking that the boy was probably thoroughly sick of such compliments, he choked the second half of the sentence back down his throat.

He pressed his palms together in a bow. "Many thanks, young benefactor!"

"Think nothing of it. I help you with your design, and you provide me with the Sealing Iron Wall technique. It's a fair trade; neither of us is taking advantage of the other."

Chiba shook his head with a smile.

The Sealing Iron Wall was indeed an exquisite piece of work.

It possessed the ability to accurately identify specific types of chakra, and he had already conceived a brilliant application for it—

Medical scanning!

By recording a patient's personal chakra signature and performing a full-body scan, the exact source of an ailment could be instantly pinpointed.

As it happened, the Telescope Technique was capable of recording chakra signatures.

Combining the two would create something truly flawless.

At that very moment, Chiba's Shadow Clone was working on developing this very application.

"Even so..."

"By the way, Master Dilu, how did your tests go?"

"Just as you said, practicing Zen meditation in different environments yields entirely different results, even varying across different spots within the Forest of Death."

At this mention, Dilu became immensely excited.

Chiba was not surprised.

As expected.

The core energy nature of "Talent of the Sage" was, in essence, a blend of natural energy and chakra.

It was only in the subsequent finer details that things differed.

One still had to figure those out through personal experimentation.

Chiba mused for a moment before speaking, "When you return, Master, you might want to encourage the monk-ninjas to experiment more. Who knows, some with the right aptitude might actually master it."

"Indeed we shall!"

Dilu nodded solemnly.

"Also, are the subjugation techniques previously used by the Fire Temple still around? Their underlying principles should be similar."

"Many of them were lost long ago."

Dilu shook his head.

The Fire Temple had once fallen into decline before rising to prominence again after the sages created the Thousand-Hand Murk.

"What a pity."

Chiba sighed.

"Benefactor, although ours is a business transaction, your feedback is of paramount importance to the Fire Temple. I am willing to teach you the Thousand-Hand Murk!"

"That won't be necessary. My interest lies in this category of power; the knowledge and Zen meditation techniques you've taught me are already enough."

Chiba shook his head, but then added, "If you are willing to help, Master, please help me secure the authorization to impart it."

"Impart it to others?"

Dilu fell into hesitation, weighing the feasibility of such a request in his mind.

"I won't teach it indiscriminately, but at least the comrades and teachers I recognize should have the opportunity to learn the techniques I've improved, shouldn't they?"

"This... Very well, I will speak on your behalf when I return."

Dilu nodded.

Chiba's request was not unreasonable.

Besides, even if they were willing to permit its teaching, not everyone possessed the aptitude to master the Talent of the Sage.

It came with a distinct threshold.

Having made up his mind, Dilu outlined the structure and procedures of the Fire Temple—

The entire bureaucratic process would likely take half a month or so to sort out.

Chiba was in no hurry.

The Talent of the Sage was indeed troublesome; even for him, mastering it would likely take a fair amount of time, not to mention the subsequent trial-and-error required for improvements...

Teaching it to others would demand at least half a year of effort.

And that was assuming it was him.

Anyone else would undoubtedly require far longer.

Furthermore, his main body might not even have the time to deal with these matters in the near future, leaving him to rely on his Shadow Clone to comprehend and perceive natural energy.

Dilu carefully gathered the stack of documents.

Meanwhile, Chiba set about tidying up the scrap paper.

These drafts needed to be destroyed, and with Asuma right outside, the trouble of starting a fire was saved.

The flames burned brightly, scattering ashes into the air.

Dilu had already departed in a hurry, while Asuma stood quietly in the courtyard smoking a cigarette, watching the dancing flames.

Finally, he spoke in a low voice: "Kid, do you know about the Will of Fire?"

"What?"

"Wherever the leaves dance, the fire will burn... How do you interpret those words?"