"Garou, you've got mail!"
"Thank you, Asuma-sensei."
Garou bowed respectfully.
For a jōnin to deliver it personally. It was a show of genuine regard. He opened the letter and read silently for a moment before exhaling in relief.
"Looks like the results turned out favorable on Chiriku's end. That's a relief."
"So it all worked out, huh?" Asuma said with a grin.
"Yeah. It's thanks to you running around to make the connection."
"Hah! Don't give me that credit. I was just the messenger. I didn't say anything special."
Asuma chuckled.
Garou shook his head and pulled out his notebook, flipping to a marked page.
"You weren't interested in my earlier notes. But this letter officially confirms that I can now teach the techniques I've developed to individuals approved by both sides."
He handed the letter over to Asuma.
In truth, the value of Senjutsu Chakra far surpassed the so-called "Gift of the Sages."
Mastering that was the real goal.
Asuma looked like he was about to decline, but curiosity got the better of him. His eyes drifted across the contents, and then he froze.
'Extracting… and synthesizing… a new form of chakra?! What?!'
He remembered Garou mentioning this hypothesis before. Back then, it had sounded theoretical, speculative, like a distant dream.
'Yet in such a short time, he's actually done it? Unbelievable.'
Garou nodded slightly, as if reading his thoughts. "This is the chakra I've been using in my experiment with the Aburame Clan."
Asuma opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Several seconds passed before he finally exhaled in disbelief.
"To meet someone like you… man, what a time to be alive."
"I just observe and ask too many questions."
"Hah! I'm not the type to envy a kid. But I'll be honest, it stings a little."
Asuma grinned, then added quickly, "Anyway, research aside, don't forget the Chūnin Exams are coming up. And don't forget our agreement."
"Of course," Garou replied with a nod. "I remember."
Testing team 10 on your behalf, right?
Simple enough. He might not be able to predict future-Shikamaru, but the current one was still manageable.
After all, in the face of overwhelming power, even the sharpest strategist gets boxed in.
Still… the Chūnin Exams brought another thought to mind.
Garou had been pondering something lately.
When exactly did Orochimaru begin planning to assassinate the Kazekage?
From what he remembered of his past life, the attack had been swift and clean. Orochimaru, with Kabuto and Kimimaro, had eliminated the Fourth Kazekage and his elite guards in one decisive strike.
But the fact that the Kazekage agreed to meet Orochimaru at all suggested something deeper.
They had a prior arrangement.
Without trust, or at least aligned interests, that meeting never would've happened.
What was the foundation of that cooperation?
Originally, it was likely tied to the Konoha Crush.
But Garou's presence in the world may have already shifted the timeline.
What if, this time, he became the target of both Orochimaru and the Kazekage?
He had no concrete proof.
Just intuition.
And going directly to the Third Hokage with only a hunch? Unrealistic.
"Garou?"
"Ah, sorry, I spaced out for a second. What did you say?"
"I heard you've been working on your swordsmanship. I specialize in close-range, in-fighting blade work. Want a demonstration?"
Asuma pulled out his signature trench knives.
Garou's eyes gleamed with interest.
"Of course I do."
"Haha, glad to hear it. Let's take this outside, not enough room in here."
Garou knew this wasn't just a casual offer. It was a gift.
Asuma wasn't a formal instructor. He understood that Garou's perception and learning speed were absurd. A single demonstration could be broken down and reconstructed within hours, days at most.
So rather than call it training, Asuma called it sharing.
A professional courtesy.
He lit a cigarette and took a slow drag as they stepped into the open courtyard.
What's worse than teaching a student so well they surpass you?
Teaching one who turns around and starts teaching you a few days later.
Word around the hospital was that Garou's last instructor had already given up on keeping ahead of him.
So this was just laying the groundwork. An acknowledgment of the gap, disguised as camaraderie.
Smart thinking.
Asuma tightened his grip on the trench knives.
Whoosh!
A sharp movement split the air, and Asuma was suddenly beside Garou, his fist aimed straight at his head.
Garou twisted sideways.
The trench knife didn't connect, but the wind-infused chakra around it carved through the air like a blade, slicing cleanly through the tree branches behind him.
Garou glanced back, startled.
'That… reached farther than I expected!'
Before he could fully process it, Asuma followed with a flurry of strikes, left, right, spinning, unpredictable like twin swallows dancing in flight.
Garou had no room to breathe.
Within seconds, he activated his limit state. His perception surged to its maximum.
At this level of speed, raw movement wasn't enough. He had to read Asuma's attacks before they landed. The wind chakra's extension distorted distance. It made the real range deceptive.
"Watch closely!"
Asuma's voice cut through the wind as he spun mid-attack. His blades flared with chakra, expanding outward in a sweeping arc.
Garou's eyes narrowed.
In a blink, he released a concentrated burst of chakra under his feet.
Boom!
The explosion of force kicked up a gust of dust and propelled him backward. Combining the recoil with a Body Flicker Technique, he narrowly escaped the incoming strike.
"Damn, kid!"
Asuma pulled back, grinning. "I held back a bit, but I see you were hiding something too."
"If you'd gone full power from the start, I'm not sure I could've dodged that," Garou admitted, still catching his breath.
"Haha!" Asuma took a final drag and flicked away the cigarette.
"You get it now?"
"Range," Garou replied without hesitation.
That one word captured the essence of Flying Swallow. The unpredictability of chakra extension made it nearly impossible to anticipate.
The second component was rhythm, a fluid, ever-shifting pace and tempo.
"You're something else…" Asuma's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then, after a pause, he smiled wryly. "Alright. I've still got one more trick up my sleeve."
"Single-blade form, right?"
"…How'd you know?!"
Asuma froze.
It wasn't just Garou's future knowledge.
Even without it, the guess made sense. The dual-blade form focused on misdirection and range. A hidden technique had to emphasize something different.
A single blade meant control, probably elemental transformation or power-focused strikes.
"Twin blades are fast, deceptive, and variable," Garou said thoughtfully. "A single blade would need to emphasize focused force and nature transformation."
He extended a hand. "May I borrow your weapon?"
"…"
Asuma stood still for several seconds.
He had known this day would come.
Just not five minutes after his demonstration.
In silence, he handed Garou one of his trench knives.
Garou accepted it calmly. He recalled Asuma's technique, its movements, structure, and chakra control.
And then, he struck.
Clang!
Asuma blocked with his left blade.
The moment they clashed, his arm trembled.
Heavy? No… not brute strength.
Garou was strong, yes, but not that strong.
Asuma took a step back, processing the sensation.
A few seconds later, realization dawned.
"…It was an explosion."
"And vibration," Garou added.
He lacked Wind and Lightning Release. He couldn't use slicing wind like Asuma or vibration-enhanced strikes like Killer Bee.
But he could manually generate high-frequency tremors through raw chakra manipulation.
Alone, the effect was modest. But combined with a pinpointed burst of chakra at the moment of impact…
It became devastating.
Of course, it was also incredibly difficult to control.
___________________________
Update Schedule: 7 chapters per week
1 bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones
By voting with Power Stones, you can easily double the number of chapters released!