"You're only showing up now? We're practically dead over here!"
"Sorry, sorry. I discussed a new technique with Keiyama-sensei, and she basically forced me to stay and eat before leaving.
Downside is… other than a pile of rejects, I also brought some perfect batches of ration pills."
Souma lifted the basket in his hand.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"Rejects?"
Konoha's Medical Corps rarely produced faulty pills.
Unless… someone slapped the "defective" label on perfectly usable products?
Souma explained, "Yeah. They're not used to the new formula yet, so the failure rate's pretty high. I picked the more decent ones."
Tenten didn't wait for a second more—she popped one into her mouth.
Her chakra was nearly drained dry; Moonlight Kasa wasn't any better.
If not for waiting on Souma, both girls would've collapsed by now.
After distributing the ration pills, Souma pulled out three sealed bowls from the bottom of the basket.
"Ichiraku Ramen—Ichiraku's, to-go."
"Yesss!!"
Tenten and Kasa cheered.
Even Kakashi silently took a bowl and chopsticks.
Then… they all stared at him.
"…Why are you staring at me?" Kakashi asked.
"No—no reason!"
Tenten lowered her head and ate quickly.
But curiosity burned in her eyes.
They wanted to see Kakashi-sensei's face under the mask.
Only Souma didn't care—
he'd seen Kakashi's unmasked appearance in the anime back in his old world.
Kakashi glanced Souma's way.
"Sensei, shouldn't you eat somewhere else?"
"No need."
Kakashi calmly slid his mask upward.
—but only halfway.
Then he inhaled the ramen at an impossible speed.
Tenten and Kasa froze.
Souma quietly chuckled.
Same old Kakashi—
still taking joy in messing with kids.
Tenten clicked her tongue. "Hmph. Whatever.
Oh right, Souma—you said you made something for them? A medical jutsu?"
Souma shook his head.
"Not exactly. Just using the absorption barrier in reverse—seeing if it can simplify medical ninjutsu.
Not useful in battlefield treatment, but in surgery? Quite promising."
"I see," Kakashi murmured.
He understood immediately.
This kid… his thinking always zigzagged in ways normal shinobi wouldn't consider.
Most people would focus on combat applications.
But Souma? He'd extend the thought into hospital operating rooms.
If Souma were a normal ninja, he'd obsess over personal combat strength.
Instead, he kept creating techniques that everyone could use—and in turn, he grew stronger from them as well.
Just like now—
Another petal-like mark had bloomed on his Bodhi Seed.
He had five now:
Two amplifying mental power
One amplifying sensory ability
One boosting recovery
And the fifth… newly formed, its depth and size somewhere in the middle
The exact effect was still unknown.
After delivering food and pills, Souma asked about their progress.
Tenten and Kasa tried to dodge the question, then pushed him out of the training space so he wouldn't "distract" them.
Left with nothing else, Souma went to train alone—
and test the new enhancement.
By sunset, he was sprawled on the ground, exhausted.
"So the fifth mark is also recovery-related… and stacking with the fourth makes the effect insanely stronger."
It wasn't just physical recovery—
but mental stamina as well.
He hadn't tested injury recovery yet.
He wasn't going to stab himself for science.
Since the girls were training ninjutsu, C-rank missions were out of the question.
After two days' rest, they picked up some D-rank jobs to stay active and sharpen technique.
During this period, Souma kept an eye on two developments:
The improved Binding Formation
The collaborative medical barrier
The former had already begun spreading among elite chūnin.
The latter—Keiyama-sensei reported—was nearing final testing.
And these two successes caused something new:
The fifth mark on the Bodhi Seed deepened rapidly.
Not only that—
tiny motes of light appeared atop the etched marks:
Two white gleams
One pale yellow
Two blue streaks
As five marks accumulated, the Bodhi Seed shifted again.
But Souma couldn't yet sense what power had awakened.
"Whatever… as long as it makes me stronger, I'll figure out the details later."
One conclusion was certain:
Even if others refined the technique, as long as the original idea was his, Souma received the feedback and "growth."
However—
The growth wasn't based on the number of jutsu, but categories.
Like the absorption barrier—
even if he created multiple variations, they counted as one branch.
Same with chakra threads.
But…
"Why didn't the Limit State trigger a mark?"
Souma pondered for a long time.
Then headed out—
To find Rock Lee.
Sure enough, Lee was in the forest, training relentlessly.
He hadn't fully mastered the Limit State yet.
It was unstable, flickering on and off.
"Too hard," Souma thought.
"No way to popularize it widely."
Might Guy and Kakashi could learn it, sure.
But their Bodhi Seeds (if they even had one) wouldn't benefit.
There was only one solution—
Develop a "beggar's version" — a simplified, low-threshold variant.
And so Souma headed to the hospital again.
Ten days slipped by.
Their team alternated between D-rank missions, training, and research.
Souma, meanwhile, showed up less and less—
until finally, he arrived carrying his familiar notebook.
"How's your training going?"
"Pretty good! We finally finished nature transformation.
Kakashi-sensei says we only need practical applications now.
We've even started learning new jutsu!"
Tenten puffed out her chest proudly.
Souma chuckled.
Her smile stiffened.
Kakashi eyed the notebook.
"New technique?"
Souma nodded.
"That taijutsu from before—
I call it Limit State.
But it was too hard for ordinary people, so I've spent half a month simplifying it.
This time, it should be usable."
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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