"This is your reward."
Early the next morning, Dodai came to visit Tamura Hao. The moment they met, he launched into a long explanation.
The village was formally commending Tamura Hao for exposing a spy and recovering ten billion ryō in village assets—funds that were meant for military procurement. Losing them would have caused catastrophic damage to Kumogakure.
As such, the village awarded him:
One million ryō as a bonus
One S-rank mission record
And confirmation that a powerful jōnin would be assigned to personally guide him
At first, Tamura Hao was slightly dazed.
But he quickly understood.
This was the Third Raikage's arrangement—a public explanation that legitimized yesterday's events and justified the village's future treatment of him.
"Thank you to the Raikage-sama and Lord Dodai for the recognition,"
Tamura Hao said solemnly.
"This is what I should do as a citizen of Kumogakure. If I discover spies again in the future, I will never let them go."
As a pure-blooded, upright Cloud ninja, Tamura Hao declared himself irreconcilable with spies.
"Your loyalty is commendable," Dodai nodded.
"But situations like this are dangerous."
"Those spies are not ordinary people. If you encounter anything similar again, do not act rashly."
"Report it immediately."
"I understand. I won't act recklessly again,"
Tamura Hao replied obediently.
Dodai offered a few more words of encouragement before leaving.
Only after closing the door did Tamura Hao subtly scan his surroundings.
He knew Dodai had been acting to some extent.
As Danzo Shimura's former spy, there was a high chance he'd already been under surveillance.
Because of his low status and strength, he had never been able to contact Danzo directly—only his assigned handler.
The old man had been that handler.
Now the old man was dead.
But Danzo would certainly send someone new—especially now that Tamura Hao had demonstrated such astonishing value.
"A powerful jōnin…"
Sitting on the sofa, Tamura Hao mulled over Dodai's words.
His plan had worked.
He had successfully secured a jōnin instructor—but Dodai hadn't said who.
"It shouldn't be A."
A was strong, but he didn't specialize in swordsmanship.
And swordsmanship was critical.
The problem was that almost everyone in Kumogakure used a blade—it was hard to narrow down.
Still, Tamura Hao was certain of two things:
The person would be trusted by the Third Raikage
The person would be proficient in sword techniques
Given his special identity, the Raikage wouldn't feel at ease unless a trusted confidant handled him.
And Tamura Hao valued swordsmanship deeply.
Because in the future, his true enemies would be the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Against them, ninjutsu was nothing more than a battery charger.
Genjutsu was completely useless.
Only taijutsu and kenjutsu could truly deal damage.
Which meant—
Training the body and the blade was non-negotiable.
"Train."
Unable to deduce more, Tamura Hao stopped thinking.
He sat at his desk and extended two chakra threads from his fingers, wrapping them around two steel pens, writing rapidly across manuscript paper.
This was his writing method.
It was also his chakra control training.
And his way of practicing split focus.
Ever since mastering chakra threads, he'd used this method consistently.
After exhausting physical training, he would write like this—because chakra-thread control didn't require bodily movement.
With graduation only half a month away, and jōnin training soon to follow, he needed to pre-write several months' worth of manuscripts.
Only then could he focus fully on cultivation.
More importantly—
He needed to master his purified chakra as quickly as possible and convert this advantage into concrete strength.
Improved chakra control was incredibly valuable.
Even without ninjutsu, it enabled powerful techniques—such as monstrous strength.
Strictly speaking, monstrous strength wasn't a jutsu at all.
It was a chakra control technique, just like tree-walking or water-walking.
And it came in two forms:
Enhancing the body through fine chakra control to increase explosive power
This was the foundation of high-level taijutsu
Releasing chakra outward to cause large-scale destruction
Tsunade's Heaven-Shattering Kick
Sakura's Cherry Blossom Impact
Without chakra stimulation, raw force would only leave a hole.
It wouldn't pulverize an entire area.
Tamura Hao focused on the first type.
His chakra reserves were too small to waste on large-scale release.
That was why he specialized in swordsmanship—using the blade's edge to amplify damage and extend attack range.
If he could integrate monstrous-strength techniques into his kenjutsu, his combat power would skyrocket.
While his right hand wrote with chakra threads—
His left hand held a long miaodao, extended straight out from his arm.
The blade was aligned with his forearm.
At the tip of the blade rested another miaodao—shorter, but identical in style.
This was wrist and arm training.
These weapons were custom-forged at staggering cost.
They followed the traditional miaodao design and were made from:
Chakra-conductive metal
Several rare alloys
Total cost: four hundred million ryō
Of that, three hundred and fifty million was for chakra metal alone.
The rest—materials and craftsmanship—barely reached fifty million.
Chakra metal was obscenely expensive.
Painfully so.
Later, Asuma Sarutobi's trench knives would cost more than his own life.
And those were tiny.
Compared to them, Tamura Hao's weapons were monstrous.
If they were made entirely of chakra metal, the price would have started at ten billion ryō.
These swords were his chosen weapons.
He named them:
Big Meow
Little Meow
The larger blade had:
Blade length: 1.2 meters
Handle: 40 cm
Total length: 1.6 meters
Weight: 10 kg
The smaller blade:
Blade length: 90 cm
Handle: 30 cm
Total length: 1.2 meters
Weight: 5 kg
Both were heavy—but manageable with his current physique.
Naruto-world ninja were often mocked as "glass cannons," but in reality, their physical strength and explosiveness were terrifying.
They only seemed fragile when compared to high-level ninjutsu.
Rock Lee's daily weights were absurdly heavy.
Zabuza Momochi could wield the Executioner's Blade while using Body Flicker for silent assassination.
Same for Samehada, Kubikiribōchō, and the massive swords used by Root operatives who once clashed with a young Shisui Uchiha.
In comparison—
Tamura Hao's miaodao were actually on the smaller side.
He chose long blades for one reason:
Distance.
The farther he was from an enemy, the more reaction time he had against hidden ninjutsu or secret techniques.
With limited chakra, he could never become a long-range spellcaster.
His path was that of a warrior.
Which meant—
He had to be wary of every dirty trick a ninja could pull.