Chapter 210: The Third Raikage's S-Rank Secret Scroll Reward!
The Five-Tails, Kokuō, galloped back to the Konoha camp. After their initial shock, the Konoha shinobi, upon seeing the Tailed Beast for a second time, demonstrated their excellent, big-hearted quality.
"Everyone!" Nara Keisuke stood atop Kokuō's head, the Flame Uchiwa in his right hand and the Large Sealing Scroll on his back. He looked down at the ninja below and announced the result of the battle.
"As you'd expect, I have brought back victory!"
The makeshift camp was silent for a beat. Then, a heaven-shaking roar of cheers erupted from the throats of the less-than-one-hundred surviving ninja.
"Lord Nara! Banzai!"
"Shadow of Darkness! Banzai!"
Minato Namikaze watched Keisuke, who was so easily receiving the respect and adoration of everyone, and a faint trace of envy flashed in his blue eyes. It's not that the one who becomes Hokage is acknowledged by everyone. It's that the one who is acknowledged by everyone can become Hokage! The gap in strength between myself and Keisuke... it's only getting wider. He sighed internally, but his ability to regulate his emotions was strong. He quickly corrected his mindset. 'A genius has his way of fighting, and I have mine. As long as I can finish developing that Spiral... Flash... Gale... Ball... my offensive options won't be so lacking anymore.'
Like Minato, the hidden Uchiha Kagami also felt a sense of awe at Keisuke's reputation. But the Uchiha have always respected strength. His heart was filled only with admiration, not jealousy. 'The village is in good hands with such an outstanding successor...'
As the cheers died down, Nara Shikaku flew out from the crowd on a shadow beast, hovering near Keisuke. As much as he wanted to try and pet the Five-Tails, after careful consideration, he decided it was a matter that required a long-term plan.
"Clan Head," Shikaku said, getting straight to business. "Your subordinate, Hyūga Retsu, and I have just finished scouting the surrounding area and have gathered all the survivors we could find. Do we need to continue..."
"Shikaku-san," Keisuke said, sitting cross-legged on Kokuō's head, and waving a hand at his new Chief of Staff. "I'll leave all these troublesome battlefield chores to you. With you in charge, I can rest easy."
Long before Keisuke had ever set foot on a battlefield, Shikaku had been distinguishing himself on the front lines. His intellect and strategic mind had been famous in Konoha since the Second Great Ninja War. If not for that, he never would have so easily taken over the position of Jonin Class Leader when Nara Shikano retired. That was not a seat just any ninja could sit in.
Shikaku sighed. He had anticipated this. But what could he do? His new clan head was just that strong.
"Clan Head, we need to establish a new camp, care for the wounded, send a full report back to the village, search for more survivors..." Shikaku rattled off a long list of tasks.
"Mhm, mhm, I'll leave it all to you, Shikaku-san." Keisuke patted Kokuō's neck. "Also, as you can see, Kokuō is a bit too big, and his chakra signature is too obvious. It's not a good idea for him to stay with the main army. I'm going to take him to a hot spring—ah, I mean, we're going to rest. If anything comes up, just contact my clone."
With that, Keisuke created a new Shadow Doppelganger and had it stay with Shikaku to "help" with the chores.
"How troublesome..." the doppelganger said, speaking Shikaku's mind.
The man himself could only sigh and reply, "Understood."
The Land of Hot Water was famous for its hot springs. Keisuke, using a map from the village, guided Kokuō to a large, natural spring. The Tailed Beast leaped in with a splash, letting out a groan of pure pleasure. Keisuke used his Earth Style to build a temporary shelter nearby, left a clone to stand guard, and then went to join Kokuō in the water.
While soaking, he took the opportunity to inspect the S-rank scroll he had just acquired. 'The Third Raikage's scroll... I wonder what I'll get.'
His own reserve of S-rank jutsu was already very rich, but he would never complain about getting more. He paddled over to Kokuō's side and, for good luck, rubbed its wet, white fur. With his "metaphysical luck" buffed, he opened the scroll.
[Opening...]
[Contents of this S-Rank Shinobi Secret Scroll: Technique]
[S-Rank Technique: Kirin]
[Description: The roar of an angry god! A strike that shakes the heavens!]
[Effect: Uses special means to form a cumulonimbus cloud, then uses the friction within the cloud to generate powerful lightning. The user then uses their own chakra to take complete control of the natural energy, guiding the natural lightning strike and transforming it into the shape of a Kirin to instantly annihilate the enemy.]
[Evaluation: Draw upon the power of the thunder element!]
'Kirin?!' Keisuke's eyes shot open, his mind reeling. 'You can get a jutsu that hasn't even been invented yet?!'
He knew perfectly well who the true developer of Kirin was—Uchiha Sasuke. And at this point in the timeline, Sasuke hadn't even been born. This technique shouldn't exist yet.
'But then... when I got the Dark Spiral Annihilation Sphere, I should have realized this was possible. It's a jutsu I created, but I still got it from a scroll.'
He submerged himself in the hot water, his head the only thing sticking out. 'Unfortunately, Kirin is a Lightning Release jutsu. It's useless to me. Though, Tsunade-hime could use it... she has a lightning affinity. I'll see if she wants it later.'
He idly paged through the scroll's contents. Even if he couldn't use it, every S-rank jutsu had its unique points. His research into the Wood Style scrolls, for example, had given him the key to creating his Shadow Rashōmon.
But as he read the description, he realized he had missed something.
'Wait a minute! This is 'Kirin,' not 'Lightning Release: Kirin'. It doesn't require its own lightning chakra? 'Take complete control of the natural energy'... This is a pseudo-Sage Art?!'
He was shocked all over again. To be honest, he had never thought much of Kirin. The jutsu Sasuke developed, while having a high-difficulty rank and an exaggerated description, had been a massive letdown. It couldn't even break through Itachi's half-dead, first-stage Susanoo. It was all bark and no bite.
But as he finished reading the full scroll, his opinion did a complete 180.
"It's perfect!"
"Hm?" Kokuō opened its eyes and looked at him. It had felt Keisuke pat it twice, and now he was muttering to himself.
"Kokuō," Keisuke said, looking at the beast, an idea suddenly flashing in his mind. Sasuke had to use massive fire jutsu to create the hot air updrafts needed to form a storm cloud. But he... he had the Five-Tails. "You can use your Boil Release to create steam, right?"
"Yes," Kokuō replied, not caring about Keisuke's strange pose. It was a Tailed Beast, not a great white deer. "But I can't control it as precisely as you can."
"That's not a problem." Keisuke clenched his fist. "Kokuō, can you use your steam to create a massive cumulonimbus cloud?"
"I... think so?" Kokuō recalled. "When I've used my Boil Release in the past, the sky did seem to change, and storm clouds would appear..."
"That's it!" Keisuke grinned, slamming his fist into his open palm. "Kokuō, let's go experiment with a new ninjutsu! Our very own combination jutsu!"
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