"Abbot, that is our secret art!
We were already against passing its knowledge to an outsider—
Now you want to let him pass it on to his disciples as well? We absolutely will not agree!"
Inside the main hall, a circle of elderly monks were furious.
Dilu stood there, eyes lowered, gaze resting lightly on the tip of his nose, calm and motionless.
The hall was a mess of voices.
After more than ten seconds of noisy argument, the crowd finally began to settle down.
This scene has been repeating for some time now.
Even before Dilu finalized the cooperation with Souma, these old monks strongly opposed it.
Stubborn.
Rigid.
Clinging to tradition.
At first, Dilu still felt impatient with them.
But now, he had already learned to be as calm as still water.
Arguing wouldn't change the result.
"Elder Hakuseki," Dilu finally said, "if I recall correctly, you once attempted to cultivate the Talisman of the Sage Clan, but failed in the end, yes?"
Being called by name made Hakuseki's face flush red.
He opened his mouth, but in the end just bowed his head in shame, saying nothing.
"Forgive me, I meant no offense," Dilu continued gently. "I only hope you'll take a look at this booklet."
He offered the notebook over with both hands.
Hakuseki accepted it and began reading.
After only a short while, his eyes widened slightly.
This is…
A summary of the cultivation method for the Talisman of the Sage Clan?
"The Talisman of the Sage Clan, in essence, is the fusion and application of a special energy with chakra. As long as one finds the correct method and can perceive this power, cultivation becomes possible…"
He muttered the words under his breath, mind drifting back to the faint, strange power he had once sensed during zazen.
So that's what it was!
Sitting in meditation to still the mind was not the end goal—
It had been a way to perceive that power.
He hadn't failed because of poor talent, but because he had never understood how to use it.
"Abbot, you've been studying this all this time?" Hakuseki asked, stunned.
"Heh, I don't have that kind of ability," Dilu shook his head with a wry smile. "Elder Hakuseki, don't blame me—this booklet was written by Yagyu Souma."
"Impossible!"
Hakuseki's expression changed drastically.
He was one of the core members of the opposition, always disapproving of Dilu's cooperation with Souma.
He's just a child, he had thought.
What could a brat possibly understand about the Talisman of the Sage Clan?
Being good at ninjutsu was one thing—
But barrier techniques? Sealing arts?
Even among jōnin, few mastered them completely.
With that mindset, he'd assumed Souma's "cooperation" was merely Konoha coveting the Fire Temple's secret arts.
In plain words: they believed more in their suspicions than in Dilu's reports.
Dilu hadn't thought too deeply about that back then, and it had created all this trouble afterward.
But now…
"That's because you all know far too little about Souma-kun," Dilu said solemnly.
"You've learned those two jutsu by now, haven't you?"
"Though Konoha is cunning, those two techniques are impressive," one ninja-monk said at last.
He belonged to the neutral camp.
He'd trained with the two techniques he'd obtained from Konoha.
He hadn't mastered them yet, but the more he practiced, the more impressed he became with their creator.
After praising them, he suddenly realized something—
"Wait… don't tell me—"
"Yes." Dilu nodded. "Those two techniques were created by Souma-kun himself. At first, I was just like you all… I didn't think his jutsu were anything special, but…"
He smiled bitterly.
"Konoha has produced outstanding geniuses for generations.
This generation is him."
Hakuseki wanted to retort, but when he looked back down at the booklet in his hands, the words stuck in his throat.
If those two jutsu—along with this notebook—really came from Yagyu Souma, then the conditions they'd discussed previously…
Were more than fair.
Given the boy's creative ability, the Fire Temple had given something up—
But there was no way to call it a loss.
"All of you have come into contact with the Talisman of the Sage Clan before," Dilu said. "Pass this booklet around and read it. Just be careful not to damage it, or we'll have to go to Konoha to repair it."
He specifically reminded them.
If these old monks' hands slipped, the loss would be for the entire Temple.
They glanced at one another, then reluctantly began to pass the booklet around.
After a long while, the main hall fell utterly silent.
Dilu had previously relayed Souma's conclusions, but those had sounded like conjecture and speculation. To them, it wasn't something to be trusted.
But this booklet was different.
The detailed notes, the recorded traits and phenomena—
Everything matched the sensations they'd experienced in cultivation.
And beyond that, the text even analyzed how to move from perception to actual refinement of that power.
Just those cultivation techniques alone were worth a fortune.
Even if Konoha was plotting something behind all this, it would still be worth it.
Several old monks couldn't help shedding tears.
"If I'd had this back then… how could I have failed to achieve the Talisman of the Sage Clan…"
They had all sensed natural energy before, but without any idea how to absorb or refine it, they just followed the rigid instructions in the technique and sat in meditation.
In the end, they got nothing.
If they'd had this booklet years ago, they were confident they could have succeeded.
Dilu said nothing for a long time.
Only when everyone's emotions had calmed did he speak again.
"All of you are veterans," he said quietly. "You know the pain of failing to master a secret art. If we clutch a secret only to never learn it ourselves… what meaning does that have?"
"But it's still a secret technique," Hakuseki said, torn. "Passing it on to outsiders is already hard to accept, let alone letting him teach it to whomever he recognizes…"
"You're trapped by greed and attachment," Dilu replied. "You see only what you're giving up, and ignore what you're receiving."
"If it weren't for his research, would we understand any of this now?"
"…No." Hakuseki shook his head honestly.
If they'd been able to figure this out themselves, they wouldn't still be stuck at their current bottleneck.
"Exactly."
"And Souma-kun also wrote that our Talisman of the Sage Clan is, in essence, just a way of using this kind of power. That means we can use it not only to fuel the Thousand-Armed Kill—but also try adapting other ancient demon-subduing arts to it."
Dilu's eyes were bright now.
"Do you understand its value?"
The old monks looked at each other.
This…
They truly hadn't thought that far.
Dilu sighed softly.
Perspective.
The difference in vision was simply too vast.
If he hadn't met Souma, he'd never have thought about those dusty old "useless" techniques.
But after witnessing Souma's ability to turn trash into treasure, Dilu's own thinking had opened up.
Compared to a single jutsu, ways of thinking were even more precious.
Hakuseki stood stunned for several seconds.
Finally, he understood.
Souma's return gift was not some simple ninjutsu—
It was an already-mature, fully-systemized power framework.
From here on, they could refine their ancient secret arts on their own.
In other words, Souma probably didn't even care about their techniques.
What he valued was purely this type of power.
But then again—
It wasn't as if the Fire Temple had discovered it on their own.
They were, in truth, entering a cooperative relationship.
"Abbot, I have no objections," Hakuseki said at last. "But as for those he passes it on to—
I believe they should be limited to Konoha shinobi only. And each time, the Fire Temple must be notified."
"That is only natural," Dilu replied.
"He already wrote this clearly in his letter—and even took the trouble to explain the details of his cooperation with the Aburame clan."
He handed the letter over.
After reading it, no one had anything more to say.
The monks slowly dispersed.
Dilu reclaimed the notebook, sat alone in the main hall, and let out a long, heavy sigh.
The elders hadn't agreed solely because of Souma's talent—
They'd agreed because they had also personally benefited.
Greed, anger, and delusion—
Even monks are not exempt from such worldly defilements.
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