The Uchiha coup failed to cause much upheaval in Konoha.
Shikatoki’s life soon settled back into a steady routine.
Every morning, he trained with Minato.
He attended the Academy in the morning, went to study fūinjutsu under Mito Uzumaki at noon, and spent his evenings learning more about chakra and researching the Skill Editor.
After his battle with Kakaku Uchiha, Shikatoki had become painfully aware of his shortcomings.
He lacked a true one-hit-kill technique.
His methods of attack were too limited.
And most importantly, he had almost no means of launching a direct offensive.
His chakra reserves were also insufficient.
He wasn’t particularly worried about offensive techniques.
The next few years would probably be among the most peaceful years Konoha would ever experience.
What Shikatoki truly needed to solve was his lack of chakra.
That problem had troubled him for a long time.
After all, chakra reserves were largely determined by birth.
Although they would increase as he grew older, the overall difference wouldn’t be enormous.
In the Naruto world, there were only a handful of ways to drastically increase one’s available chakra through external means.
Become a Jinchūriki and use a Tailed Beast’s chakra.
Transplant Hashirama cells.
Or use the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Inside a barbecue restaurant in Konoha, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and Shikatoki Nara sat together.
“Hey, brat.”
Tsunade glanced casually at Shikatoki.
“It’s been more than a year already.
You’ve practically become the little tyrant of the Ninja Academy.
Why do you still walk around looking so miserable all the time?”
Jiraiya stared at him in shock.
“Shikatoki is that impressive?
I was so strong back then, and even I never became the Academy’s number-one boss!”
Orochimaru chuckled.
“Heh.”
Minato merely smiled awkwardly.
At this point, forget students from their own year.
Even older students would take a detour when they saw Shikatoki coming.
His list of victims covered an astonishingly wide range.
The only exception was Ri Uchiha.
After a few months, the skies cleared, the rain stopped, and Ri once again decided that he was invincible.
Shikatoki greatly admired that indomitable spirit.
Ri had contributed a great deal of valuable experimental data as a result.
“Let me ask you something.”
Shikatoki looked around at the others.
“If I wanted to rapidly increase my total chakra reserves, what should I do?”
He was hoping one of them might have an answer.
Jiraiya scratched his head.
“Huh?
Just wait until you grow up.”
He shrugged.
“I’ve always felt like I have plenty of chakra.”
Shikatoki stared at him.
What a useless question.
Of the three of them, not a single one suffered from low chakra reserves.
Tsunade was a Senju.
There was no way she would have little chakra.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru might both have been born as civilians, but anyone who had watched Naruto knew how freely those two threw ninjutsu around.
If Kakashi used ninjutsu at that rate, he would have collapsed from chakra exhaustion ages ago.
“Forget I asked.”
“Hehe.”
Orochimaru suddenly spoke.
“I’ve heard that Shikatoki-kun is doing quite well with fūinjutsu.”
Shikatoki nodded.
“I’m not bad at it.”
Even he hadn’t expected it.
His natural talent for ninjutsu and taijutsu was mediocre, yet his aptitude for fūinjutsu was surprisingly good.
To Shikatoki, ordinary ninjutsu felt like learning something completely unfamiliar.
Fūinjutsu, on the other hand, felt more like mathematics.
As long as he followed a complete formula correctly, there would be no mistakes.
The key wasn’t innovation.
It was maintaining stable and precise execution.
Just like mathematics.
As long as you weren’t careless and followed the formula, you would eventually arrive at the answer.
“In that case,” Orochimaru said, “if you’re confident in your chakra control, perhaps you could try senjutsu.”
Jiraiya’s previously casual expression instantly became serious.
“No.”
“Shikatoki is only seven years old.”
“Orochimaru, do you have any idea how dangerous senjutsu is?”
Tsunade also put down her cup.
“The difficulty and danger of senjutsu aren’t suitable for Shikatoki at his current age.”
Senjutsu.
It was an energy system that had existed long before chakra itself appeared in the world.
However, what shinobi called senjutsu was somewhat different.
For shinobi, senjutsu essentially involved absorbing natural energy and combining it with their own chakra to create senjutsu chakra.
Upon entering Sage Mode, a shinobi’s offensive power, defensive ability, sensory perception, and other capabilities would all be enhanced across the board.
Naturally, such enormous benefits came with equally enormous difficulty and danger.
In the original story, those who failed while learning the senjutsu of Mount Myōboku could turn to stone.
Even incomplete practitioners could develop toad-like physical traits.
Ryūchi Cave was even more extreme.
The White Snake Sage directly injected senjutsu chakra with its fangs, and the resulting transformation involved full-body serpentine changes.
Throughout the history of the Naruto world, only a handful of individuals had truly mastered senjutsu.
That alone demonstrated how difficult and dangerous it was.
“I still think I can try.”
Shikatoki looked expectantly at the three of them.
“Is there any route you’d recommend?”
These three were connected to the three great summoning sanctuaries—
Ryūchi Cave, Mount Myōboku, and Shikkotsu Forest.
All three possessed methods of learning senjutsu.
Shikatoki had originally hoped he might be able to freeload his way into one of them.
Instead, all three shook their heads.
Jiraiya spoke first.
“Letting you learn senjutsu now would be the same as harming you.”
Tsunade added,
“Shikkotsu Forest’s senjutsu is far too dangerous.
Even my granduncle failed.”
Orochimaru, however, spoke differently.
“Ryūchi Cave isn’t a good choice either, Shikatoki-kun.”
He looked at Shikatoki thoughtfully.
“Perhaps you should try developing senjutsu of your own.”
“Your talent…
and especially the way you think beyond conventional boundaries…
are extremely rare.”
“Perhaps you really could create a form of senjutsu that belongs entirely to you.”
Orochimaru’s words struck Shikatoki like a revelation.
Shikatoki admitted that he wasn’t a genius.
But he had a cheat!
With the Skill Editor, as long as he proceeded carefully, there was always a chance he could succeed.
Senjutsu that didn’t originate from an animal summon— but belonged entirely to him.
Just thinking about it made Shikatoki’s heart race.
“I want to learn the fundamentals of senjutsu first.”
He smiled ingratiatingly at the three older shinobi.
“Big brothers, big sister…
have any of you studied it?”
Orochimaru took out a scroll.
“This contains the knowledge I gathered while researching senjutsu myself.”
“My research has been stagnant for quite some time, however, so you should treat it as reference material only.”
“Thank you, Big Bro Orochimaru!”
Shikatoki looked at Orochimaru as though he were closer than his own father.
Orochimaru before he completely lost his mind was simply too useful!
What did Orochimaru want in the future?
Research subjects?
Shikatoki could personally capture enemies for him to study!
Immortality?
If Shikatoki ever became strong enough, he’d capture Kaguya and let Orochimaru draw a couple of tubes of blood!
Tsunade hesitated for a moment.
Realising that she probably couldn’t stop Shikatoki anyway, she finally said,
“You could ask Grandma Mito.”
Shikatoki’s eyes lit up.
“That’s right!
How did I forget about her?”
Mito Uzumaki had lived through the Warring States Period.
She was bound to know at least something about senjutsu.
“Thanks for the advice, Big Sis Tsunade!”
Shikatoki enjoyed that meal more than usual.
Something that had troubled him for such a long time had suddenly gained a direction.
He could barely suppress the urge to begin researching immediately.
After the meal, Jiraiya left with Minato.
Tsunade turned towards Orochimaru.
“Orochimaru, you went a little too far.”
Orochimaru’s tone remained calm.
“I believe in Shikatoki-kun, Tsunade.”
“If you studied his modified Shadow Imitation Technique closely, you would discover a concept that goes beyond the framework of existing ninjutsu, along with an extraordinary level of control over Yin-nature chakra.”
Tsunade frowned slightly.
“With chakra control that strong, he should be well suited to medical ninjutsu.”
Orochimaru gave a faint smile.
“To tell the truth, if Shikatoki-kun hadn’t already become Lady Mito’s disciple, I would have wanted to take him as my own student.”
That was right.
After Shikatoki demonstrated his impressive talent for fūinjutsu, Mito Uzumaki had acted decisively.
She accepted Shikatoki as her disciple without hesitation.
However, she didn’t make him call her “Master.”
Instead, just like Tsunade, he called her “Grandma.”
Shikatoki naturally had no objection.
He might only be seven years old now, but in terms of seniority, he was already on the same level as Hiruzen Sarutobi.
When Shikaomi Nara heard the news, his grin nearly split his face apart.
The only ones who suffered were the other children of the Nara Clan.
These days, the moment their parents opened their mouths, it was always—
“Why can’t you learn more from Shikatoki Nara?!”
At the Senju Clan compound, Shikatoki ran inside without encountering the slightest obstruction.
“Grandma Mito!”
“Grandma Mito!”
Mito Uzumaki opened the door with a puzzled expression.
This was the first time she had ever seen Shikatoki so excited.
“What is it, little Shikatoki?”
“Didn’t I give you the day off today?”
“Weren’t you having a meal with Tsuna and the others?”
“Grandma Mito, can you teach me senjutsu?”
The moment Shikatoki spoke, Mito’s expression changed.
“Where did you learn about senjutsu?”
“Big Bro Orochimaru told me about it.”
“Little Shikatoki, senjutsu is extremely dangerous.”
“You’re still too young.”
Shikatoki knew that this was Mito’s gentle way of refusing him.
But he still wanted to push a little further.
“Grandma Mito, don’t worry.”
“Just like when I first started learning fūinjutsu, I only want to learn the fundamentals.”
“I’ll build up my knowledge little by little.”
“I won’t rush.”
Mito looked at Shikatoki’s sincere expression.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally nodded.
“Very well.”
“But whenever you practise senjutsu, you must do it in front of me.”
Ever since meeting Shikatoki Nara, Mito had realised that the boy had an unusually strong mind of his own.
Even when learning fūinjutsu, despite possessing excellent talent, Shikatoki had never become arrogant.
He continued progressing step by step without ever rushing ahead.
That was one of the main reasons Mito had eventually decided to accept him as her disciple.
“Thank you so much, Grandma Mito!”
Shikatoki could barely contain himself.
“Let’s start!”
Mito smiled helplessly.
“You truly can’t sit still, can you?”
“Fine.”
And just like that, Shikatoki added another subject to his already packed schedule— senjutsu.
During his studies, with Mito’s assistance, Shikatoki attempted to draw in natural energy.
Compared with chakra, natural energy had one fundamental problem.
Once it entered the human body, it couldn’t simply be stored safely within the body.
That caused the natural energy to run wild.
A single mistake could lead to all kinds of disasters.
If Mito hadn’t been beside him, Shikatoki had no idea how many times he might already have died.
That ever-present threat of death made him even more cautious toward senjutsu.
Aside from studying senjutsu, Shikatoki also began discussing the creation of the Rasengan with Minato— the man who would one day become its original creator.
When Shikatoki first proposed the idea, Minato was completely astonished.
He repeatedly called it a genius concept.
Shikatoki could only smile awkwardly.
The two then began a long-term effort to develop the Rasengan together.
Of course, Shikatoki still remembered the three-step training method Jiraiya had used to teach Naruto.
But once he actually tried it himself, he discovered something.
It was nowhere near as simple as it had looked.
Still, there was no denying that having that training method saved Shikatoki and Minato countless unnecessary detours.