Chapter 286: A-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll Reward!
Jiraiya's thoughts on the "battle wager" were put aside for the moment.
"Shisui, Hyūga-kun, escort Jiraiya-sama and Kakashi-kun back to the camp."
Nara Keisuke called out to his two teammates, not forgetting to instruct the two medical-nin as well.
"Shizune, Nohara-san, please take good care of the two of them along the way. If anything happens, contact me immediately."
Jiraiya had broken a few ribs during the fight.
Even though shinobi have constitutions far superior to ordinary people and have the assistance of medical-nin, injuries of this bone-breaking severity could not be healed instantly.
As for Hatake Kakashi-kun, having just undergone the Three-Tails chakra sealing, he was in the most critical need of rest.
Upon receiving Nara Keisuke's orders, Uchiha Shisui and the others prepared to leave immediately.
Before departing, Jiraiya didn't forget to wave goodbye to Nara Keisuke.
"Lord Nara! I'll be back!"
Nara Keisuke simply waved back, saying nothing, and watched the group gradually move away.
'I just hope that once you're recovered, you'll take it seriously and not get knocked out by one punch like this time!'
The cooldown period for an A-Rank battle mission was a full three months.
If Jiraiya didn't enter his stronger form—the peak state of "Sage Mode stacked with the two Sage Toads"—in the next battle, Nara Keisuke wouldn't be able to acquire his Secret Ninja Scroll again!
'Though, even so, Sage Jiraiya is truly a formidable opponent! I can't afford to mess up...'
Nara Keisuke silently began to contemplate his battle plan against Jiraiya.
After contemplating and confirming the general combat strategy, Nara Keisuke summoned his system panel.
He had just hit Jiraiya with a Monstrous Strength punch that sent him into existential doubt, and in the process, harvested the Sannin's secret scroll.
'Will there be Mount Myōboku's Senjutsu inheritance inside an A-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll?'
Nara Keisuke took a deep breath and mentally clicked on the scroll icon on the panel.
'It must be Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode!'
[Opening…]
[Content of this A-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll: Technique]
[A-Rank Technique: Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon]
[Technique Description: A frenzied attack like a storm! A mountain of god-speed needles!]
[Technique Effect: No hand seals required. Focus Sage Chakra into the hair roots and follicles, significantly increasing the number and activity of keratinized cells, and hardening the hair to give it the hardness of steel needle senbon. Aiming the hair toward the target, this technique allows for unrestricted, super-speed continuous fire as long as the Sage Chakra is not exhausted.]
[Technique Evaluation: Sticking needles is momentarily satisfying; sticking needles continuously is permanently satisfying.]
'It's Senjutsu! But not entirely Senjutsu!'
Nara Keisuke's eyes first lit up, then darkened upon seeing the A-Rank technique on the panel.
'I want Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode! What the heck is this Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon?!'
Nara Keisuke was extremely frustrated at the moment.
The ninjutsu Jiraiya had mastered were varied and unique.
If he had opened a different type of A-Rank ninjutsu, Nara Keisuke's mood wouldn't have been so sour.
But it just had to be a Senjutsu!
And it just had to be the Senjutsu he didn't want!
'Forget it. It's opened now. There's no way to put it back and re-open it…'
Nara Keisuke took several deep breaths, finally managing to dispel his mounting irritation.
'Let's first examine the details of this Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon technique!'
Nara Keisuke possessed a very thorough understanding of Jiraiya's abilities.
In his memory, Jiraiya considered the Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon to be the ninjutsu with the fastest attack speed and widest attack range among all his techniques.
In other words, Jiraiya placed considerable importance on the Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon.
However…
'This Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon can actually be divided into two versions: the Sage Art version and the Yang Release version.'
Nara Keisuke focused his thoughts on the contents of the Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon scroll, gaining a deeper understanding of the technique.
'The only difference between the Senjutsu and the Yang Release versions is probably the characteristic of unrestricted continuous fire…'
A series of "hair ninjutsu" mastered by Jiraiya flashed through Nara Keisuke's mind.
From Needle Jizō to Wild Lion's Mane Technique, and then to Hair Needle Senbon.
Ninjutsu like these that involved cell proliferation and hardening should undoubtedly be classified under the "Yang Release" category.
In fact, besides Jiraiya, other shinobi in Konoha also possessed the ability to control hair.
None other than the "Butterfly Akimichi" of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio!
The Akimichi Clan's advanced secret technique, Body Expansion Jutsu: Needle Bomb, involved a certain degree of ability to control and harden hair.
'I initially thought I got a junk Senjutsu, but now it seems that Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon still holds significant research value!'
Nara Keisuke's internal depression completely disappeared.
'More accurately, Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon is a fusion of Sage Chakra and Yang Release secret techniques!'
'Its attack speed and range are worthless to me.'
'The most crucial part of this Senjutsu is the technique for activating and augmenting human cells using Sage Chakra!'
Nara Keisuke wanted to obtain Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode data to deduce a "Sage Mode" exclusively for himself using the toads' Senjutsu.
And he wasn't researching "Sage Mode" to laboriously absorb natural energy, condense Sage Chakra, and then gain a combat power boost that was calculated in minutes, like Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, or later, Naruto Uzumaki.
Permanent Sage Mode was Nara Keisuke's true goal!
Just like the Sage Clan Guidance Technique and the Sage Clan Breathing Method, daily movement and breathing would allow one to maintain the practice of natural energy.
Moreover, Nara Keisuke had already developed the prototype of "Permanent Sage Mode"—the Yang Release Chakra Mode!
'This ended up being a serendipitous gain.'
'The current Yang Release Chakra Mode is not yet perfect. Its most ideal form is a permanent Sage Mode!'
'The fusion of Sage Chakra and Yang Release Chakra Mode was already my long-term plan.'
'Now that I have obtained the A-Rank technique Sage Art: Hair Needle Senbon, I can extract the technique for augmenting human cells using Sage Chakra from it, preparing for the future.'
'But the most important question… is still how to gather and refine Sage Chakra!'
Nara Keisuke paused, his gaze seemingly traversing space-time, landing directly upon the underground research institute in Kikyo Castle.
'The Sage Chakra synthesis experiment, huh…'
Time flowed like a gentle stream.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
The minor issues with Iwagakure and Kumogakure were resolved, the Two-Tails was successfully "abducted," and the Three-Tails sealing was complete.
Nara Keisuke, now free of major duties, dedicated more of his mind (and his clones) to his own research plans.
Leveraging the pre-arranged markings of the Flying Thunder God: Shadow Flow Blade and the Chakra Crystals that were back in his possession, Nara Keisuke increased the frequency of his visits to Kikyo Castle.
After days of cultivation, the cellular samples he had left in the underground laboratory had grown to a decent scale.
Unfortunately, the Sage Chakra synthesis experiment was extremely dangerous, with too great an invasive threat to human cells.
Even a slight mistake could result in the natural energy completely petrifying the cells.
It would be difficult to see results from the Sage Chakra research in the short term.
In stark contrast to the challenging Sage Chakra synthesis experiment was the smooth progress of the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai research.
With his experience in researching Scorch Release, Aegis Release, and Blaze Release, and a large batch of Wood Release ninjutsu scrolls from Hashirama Senju as reference, Nara Keisuke's Wood Release research deepened daily.
He might soon succeed in figuring out the precise Water and Earth chakra ratio for Wood Release.
On the Land of Hot Water front, there were no active battles.
Samui, who had been "abducted" from Kumogakure, had successfully learned "tree climbing," "wall scaling," and "water walking."
This "little golden silk cat" had considerable talent for chakra control.
And the three ninjutsu Nara Keisuke had previously given Samui—Hemostasis Technique and Mist Servant Technique—had already been successfully mastered, and she was currently learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Samui's chakra affinities were Fire, Yin, and Yang.
Nara Keisuke did not plan to teach Samui too much ninjutsu for the time being.
Her most urgent task was still to gain the recognition of the Two-Tails, Matatabi.
As long as her chakra reserves caught up, he wouldn't need to worry too much about other aspects.
Within Nara Keisuke's own ninjutsu research projects, he had also completed a few "small goals."
Things like the fusion of Shadow Vise Technique and the Self-Cursing Seal Jutsu, or the Aegis Release version of the Shadow Armor Technique.
However, no major breakthroughs had occurred.
Nara Keisuke did, however, complete his second self-imposed S-Rank family mission: the task of submitting a research scroll on an Elemental Kekkei Genkai to the clan (Clan Head).
For his last S-Rank mission, Nara Keisuke had submitted the Lava Release Chakra Production Method (Magma Version).
Considering that he possessed three versions of Lava Release—Magma, Limestone, and Rubber—Nara Keisuke had originally planned to submit the Rubber version Lava Release scroll this time.
After all, the last Lava Release (Magma) had granted him the S-Rank technique Lava Release: Scorch Field, and Nara Keisuke wanted to see if Lava Release (Rubber) would grant him some kind of "Gear Five: Gum-Gum Bajrang Gun"...
However, the lazy system seemed to have categorized all three Lava Release versions as one, not allowing Nara Keisuke to exploit the loophole.
He was forced to choose the next best option and submitted another Elemental Kekkei Genkai: Swift Release.
Perhaps due to the unique nature of Swift Release, the content of this S-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll was not a ninjutsu, but a…
Ninja Taijutsu.
Would you like to know the contents of the S-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll Nara Keisuke received for the Swift Release mission?
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