"Souma, you've got mail!"
"Thank you, Asuma-senpai."
Souma bowed politely.
A jōnin personally delivered a message — that was giving face.
He unsealed the envelope and scanned through its contents.
A long breath left his lungs.
So the negotiations with Fire Temple had gone well.
Perfect.
"Looks like things turned out in our favor," Asuma said with a small laugh.
"Mhm. Thanks to you running back and forth."
"Hahaha— don't give me credit. I was just the messenger. I never said anything extra."
Souma shook his head, amused. Then he pulled out a notebook, flipping to a specific page.
"You didn't feel like reading the previous notes, but the Fire Temple's reply says I can now teach the techniques I discovered to those approved by both sides."
Souma handed Asuma the letter.
Asuma hadn't planned to look.
But the moment his eyes drifted across the first sentence—
they couldn't look away.
Extracting and synthesizing a new form of chakra…?
What—??
He knew Souma had theories, but theories were just theories. They needed testing, time, failure, refinement.
Yet in this short period…
Souma had already mastered the new chakra.
Unbelievable.
Asuma raised his head, stunned.
"My collaboration with Aburame hinges on this special chakra," Souma explained.
Asuma opened his mouth but found no words. A quiet sigh escaped him.
"To meet a genius like you… it's really—"
"I just like observing and thinking more than others."
"Hahaha, don't worry. I'm not jealous of a kid. It just… really hurts the pride sometimes."
He shook his head, half-defeated, half-admiring.
"But research aside — don't forget the Chūnin Exams. And you still remember our deal, right?"
"Of course," Souma nodded.
A substitute exam-taker? That was easy. Future Shikamaru might be a headache, but current Shikamaru was still manageable.
Absolute strength made "smart types" suffer the most.
But the Chūnin Exams themselves…
Souma had been pondering a question recently.
When exactly did Orochimaru begin plotting to kill the Kazekage?
From the original timeline, Orochimaru ambushed him — with Kimimaro and Kabuto assisting — and the Fourth Kazekage died almost instantly.
But the fact that the Kazekage agreed to meet Orochimaru alone implied something else—
they'd already been collaborating.
Otherwise, such a clean assassination would've been impossible.
So what were they planning together?
Originally, it was the Konoha Crush Plan, but Souma's appearance had changed too much already.
Would their target shift?
Would the Chūnin Exams be altered?
Would the Kazekage… come for him?
Souma frowned slightly.
Total speculation.
No proof.
Running to the Third Hokage with this half-baked guess would only make him look paranoid.
"Souma?"
"Sorry, I spaced out. What did you say?"
"I heard you were working on swordsmanship recently. Just so happens I specialize in close-range cutting techniques."
Asuma held up his twin trench knives.
"Wanna have a look?"
Souma's eyes lit up.
Feiyan…? Flying Swallow?
"Of course!"
"Hahaha— then I'm honored. Let's go outside, it's cramped in here."
Asuma didn't intend to teach him. No— if he "taught," Souma would surpass him in three days.
Better to call it demonstration.
Exchange.
He knew what awaited him eventually—
The student surpassed the master.
And soon.
But he didn't expect "soon" to mean minutes.
"Watch closely."
Asuma flicked away the last bit of cigarette, both trench knives in hand.
Whoosh—!
His figure blurred as he flashed to Souma's flank, fist cutting toward him.
Souma twisted away, but the real danger wasn't the weapon—
it was the invisible wind chakra blade wrapping around it.
Branches behind him were sliced clean off.
Souma's eyes sharpened.
The range extended farther than expected.
No time to think.
Another flurry came for him— left, right, feints, reversals—
the rhythm unpredictable, the cutting arcs impossible to gauge by sight alone.
In just a few breaths, Souma opened his full-limit mode and pushed his sensory perception to the maximum.
Speed like this—
You couldn't dodge by reacting to Asuma's movement.
You had to pre-read the wind blades themselves.
"Here comes the real one!"
Asuma barked, twisting mid-step.
His trench knife expanded with a sudden burst—
the wind blade growing several times longer.
Souma's expression grimmed.
Chakra erupted beneath his feet—
BOOM!
Using the explosion as propulsion, he accelerated with a flash of Shunshin, slipping past the deadly arc.
"As expected!"
Asuma grinned, withdrawing his blades.
"I hid a trump card. Didn't expect you to have one too."
"If you used full speed, I still wouldn't dodge that last swing."
Souma wiped sweat from his brow.
That one really made his heart stop.
"Hahaha."
Asuma flicked away the empty cigarette holder.
"So? You see it now?"
"…Range."
Souma nodded.
Just one word, but it struck straight at Flying Swallow's essence—
The unfathomable, ever-shifting attack range.
And second:
the rhythm — the kill timing.
"You little…"
Asuma stared at him with a strange mixture of pain and awe.
He sighed.
"Good thing… I still have one more trick."
"Your one-hand style?"
"…How did you— WHY do you know that?!"
Asuma froze.
Eyes wide.
My soul is shaken.
Souma smiled slightly.
Dual blades were about unpredictable range.
If Asuma said he had a hidden variant, logically it meant:
A heavier, destructive single-blade form using chakra nature transformation.
"Dual blades prioritize speed and unreachable range," Souma analyzed.
"A single blade should focus on power—and nature transformation."
He extended a hand.
"May I borrow your trench knife?"
Asuma stiffened.
Slowly.
Reluctantly.
He handed it over.
Souma grasped the hilt, replaying Asuma's moves in his mind, then recalling True One-Cut, and then—
He swung once.
CLANG—!!
Asuma raised his left knife to block, but the moment the blades touched—
A shocking force tore up his arm.
Not physical strength.
No—
Souma's body was strong but not monstrous.
He staggered back three steps, eyes widening.
"…An explosion."
"And vibration," Souma added calmly.
He couldn't produce wind blades or lightning's piercing oscillation, but—
He could manually vibrate his chakra.
And then detonate it in a concentrated instant.
Explosion alone would scatter force.
Vibration alone would lack bite.
Together—
They became a monstrous cutting power.
Asuma inhaled sharply.
"This kid… This kid is terrifying."
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