Chiba nodded solemnly and reached out to steadily take the scroll.
Almost the moment his fingertips touched the scroll, the familiar system prompt sounded in his mind right on cue.
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the rare collection item: “Sealing Jutsu: Breath Concealment Seal”.]
[Reward obtained: Top-tier Sealing Jutsu Talent, Exclusive Talent: Breath Concealment.]
[Talent: Breath Concealment: When actively activated, it can completely conceal all of one’s own aura fluctuations, reduce personal presence in all aspects, and cause movements and sounds to vanish without a trace.]
…
A surge of wild joy instantly welled up in Chiba’s heart.
A top-tier Sealing Jutsu Talent meant that from now on, he would be able to grasp all Sealing Jutsus, Barrier Jutsus, and secret forbidden techniques by analogy, learning them instantly, with the threshold for cultivation effectively reduced to zero.
And this exclusive Breath Concealment talent was nothing short of monstrous; it didn’t just mask life force, but comprehensively concealed all traces of aura and suppressed his presence.
It was truly a top-tier talent for stealth, assassination, and lying in wait.
With this talent, he actually didn’t need to rely on the scroll’s Sealing Jutsu to mask his own anomalies anymore.
However, he had to bury this thought deep in his heart; he absolutely could not reveal even the slightest bit of it.
Elder Makuma and Uncle Tie Mu had gone to great lengths, so he would accept it graciously.
At worst, once he had fully mastered this Sealing Jutsu in the future, he could simply remove it himself; it wouldn’t affect his own trump cards in the slightest.
“Uncle Tie Mu, go outside and guard the courtyard, and keep an eye on Minato while you’re at it.”
Elder Makuma waved his hand at Uncle Tie Mu, his expression stern: “I will now cast the Sealing Jutsu on Chiba.”
“Understood.”
Uncle Tie Mu didn’t ask any further questions.
He stood up, walked out of the living room, entered the courtyard, and started chatting with Minato, who was waiting outside.
Inside the room, the faint light of the jutsu flickered, and everything was silent.
A full ten minutes later, Elder Makuma walked out of the room with a calm-looking Chiba; the sealing mark had been successfully completed.
Elder Makuma looked at the two young men before him and earnestly advised them once more: “For the next few years, you must calm your hearts and grow in a low-profile manner.”
“Before your strength is fully solidified and you possess enough ability to protect yourselves, you must never easily reveal your talents or unleash your full power. The waters in Konoha run too deep; revealing your brilliance too early will only invite disaster.”
“Keeping a low profile and exercising restraint is always the best amulet for the weak. Do you understand?”
“Yes! We will keep it firmly in mind!”
Chiba and Minato both bowed in response, their attitudes upright and sincere.
Seeing that both were steady-minded and willing to listen to advice, Elder Makuma was very satisfied.
He then called for Uncle Tie Mu, and they left Chiba’s courtyard together.
“Strange, I keep feeling like you’ve changed into a different person, but I can’t tell exactly what has changed.”
“Hehe.”
Chiba revealed a mysterious smile and explained softly: “It’s very simple. My strength broke through too quickly today, and the change in my aura was too obvious. Elder Makuma was worried I would be targeted by someone with ulterior motives, so he specifically cast a Breath Concealment seal on me to help mask the abnormal aura on my body.”
“So that’s it!”
Minato instantly understood, and a wave of warmth surged in his heart.
Chiba’s willingness to openly share such core secrets with him was a sign of ultimate trust.
He immediately looked solemn and said earnestly: “Don’t worry, Chiba. I will definitely keep this secret; I won’t leak a single word to anyone!”
“Haha, of course I trust you, otherwise I wouldn’t have told you.”
Chiba laughed heartily and took the opportunity to change the subject: “Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. I’ve been busy all day and I’m hungry. Let’s hurry up and make dinner!”
“Alright! Coming right up!”
The two walked into the house side by side and began working busily.
An hour later, dinner was finished.
After Minato said his goodbyes and left, the courtyard became completely quiet.
Chiba walked into his bedroom alone, closed the doors and windows, took out the two Ninjutsu scrolls gifted by Elder Makuma and Uncle Tie Mu, sat cross-legged, and began to read and comprehend them with a calm mind.
With the blessing of his top-tier talent, he had almost no bottlenecks in learning Ninjutsu.
In just over ten minutes, he had fully grasped and integrated the hand seals, Chakra flow, and core principles of the two Ninjutsu scrolls.
Chiba slowly set down the scrolls, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his hands quickly moved to form hand seals.
“Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Jutsu!”
“Zzzzzzt—!”
A piercing crackle of electricity suddenly erupted, and azure lightning rapidly gathered in his palm.
A condensed lightning ball the size of a basketball hovered steadily in Chiba’s right palm, with tiny arcs of electricity leaping and dancing wildly.
The lightning glow was piercing, looking both dangerous and dazzling.
Ordinary Ninjas who used this jutsu would simply throw it after it condensed, relying on the explosion to damage the enemy.
But Chiba did not rush to attack.
Instead, he focused his mind inward, carefully perceiving the flow trajectory, oscillation frequency, and property changes of the Lightning Release Chakra.
He continuously fine-tuned the Chakra output and the rhythm of the flow, causing the lightning ball in his palm to change constantly.
At times it would be violently explosive with surging lightning, at times restrained and calm, waiting to be unleashed; at times it would shrink like a pellet, and at times it would expand like a giant wheel. New chapters come out on novelping dot com first.
After several minutes of continuous refinement, with most of his Chakra consumed, Chiba slowly stopped, precisely cutting off the Chakra supply and completely dissipating the violent lightning power.
“Huu—”
He exhaled a long breath of stale air, his eyes filled with joy and certainty.
“As expected of the Lightning Release attribute, which is the hardest to control in the Ninja World; the difficulty of fine control far exceeds that of the Water and Earth elements.”
“But with the blessing of top-tier Chakra Control and top-tier Lightning Affinity, in just a few minutes, I have practiced the Lightning Ball Jutsu to perfection, and my mastery has already reached a supernatural level.”
“Furthermore, my understanding of Lightning Release shape transformation has deepened significantly; I have even touched the threshold of nature transformation for Lightning Release.”
Chiba’s thoughts flew, and ambition quietly sprouted.
“After polishing it for a while longer, I can completely use this Lightning Ball Jutsu as a foundation to create my own unique Lightning Release Ninjutsu.”
Kakashi’s Chidori and Lightning Cutter series were all evolved from basic Lightning Release.
With his current talent, he could completely replicate them in advance, or even improve and develop stronger Lightning Release Ninjutsu.
“It’s not just Lightning Release; the Rasengan can also be scheduled in advance. Once my foundation is completely solid, I will start developing it!”
Immediately after, he became curious: “I wonder if the brand-new Ninjutsu I develop myself can be recorded by the system to trigger rewards?”
If not, it would be a pity.
If it could, he would be able to rely on his self-created Ninjutsu in the future to continuously obtain top-tier talent and attribute boosts.
“I won’t think about it for now. Once I develop a new jutsu, I’ll try it out for myself and find out.”
Suppressing these distracting thoughts, Chiba focused his mind.
“Now that my physique has greatly improved, my Chakra limit has also skyrocketed. It’s perfect to take this night to completely refine my Chakra and polish my reserves to the limit of my current physique.”
With his mind made up, he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and began to circulate the Senju Clan’s Chakra refinement technique.
Pure Chakra was rapidly absorbed and gathered from the world, washing through his meridians and filling his Dantian, not only quickly replenishing his consumption but also continuously raising the upper limit of his total Chakra.
Half an hour later, the training concluded.
Chiba opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance in his gaze, and then called up his personal attribute panel.
[Host: Chiba]
[Talents: Top-tier Water/Earth Affinity, Top-tier Lightning Affinity, Top-tier Chakra Control, Top-tier Ninjutsu Comprehension, Top-tier Sealing Jutsu Talent, Breath Concealment]
[Bloodline: Senju Bloodline (Extremely incomplete; influenced by physique improvement and top-tier Water/Earth affinity, currently undergoing continuous purification and replenishment)]
[Chakra Attributes: Water, Earth, Lightning]
[Physique: 21 (Standard for an ordinary adult Genin: 10)]
[Chakra: 210 (Passing standard for a Genin: 100)]
[Ninjutsu: Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall, Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, Water Release: Water Fang Blade, Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Jutsu, Contract Summoning Jutsu, Sealing Jutsu: Breath Concealment]