There was no desire to do anything — nor any time. Evening fell over the village, and with every step, it grew quieter: the noise of the training grounds faded, the streets emptied, even the wind seemed lazy. Tokara, Tsubaki, and I exchanged glances and silently went our separate ways home.
Despite the fatigue, there was a feeling of fulfilled duty inside. Missions of rank C were rarely entrusted to geniuses, especially newcomers like us. Even more so when the missions were risky. So this was a lucky opportunity — and, as it seemed to me, we handled it well.
Four days passed.
Nothing special happened — usual training, boring assignments inside the village, patrols. But today, finally, two events came at once.
First, my friend Gai finally received permission to return to active duty. You could see in him how much he had missed action. He returned with his old sparkle in his eyes and energy, as if not a single day had passed.
Second — I received a letter. That very envelope with the Research Department's symbol. Inside lay a neatly folded sheet, stamped and officially certified. The report on the boar carcass.
I quickly broke the seal and unfolded the paper.
"Subject was autopsied. Inside, traces of interference were found, presumably experimental in nature. Areas of the brain and internal organs were surgically modified. Source of impact: unidentified.
Possible purpose — enhancement of physical aggression and endurance of the subject.
Threat level: local, potentially repeatable.
Recommended — increased patrols around the northern outskirts.
Report accepted. Military points awarded to the team."
I wasn't particularly concerned about the experiment information — at least, not yet. What's the use of guessing who and why tampered with the boar's brain, if it's not my jurisdiction anyway? I wasn't given more data or assigned tasks, which means… it's not my concern. But military points — that's a different matter.
Six points.
That's a lot. Especially in my position. Considering the previous four, I already had a total of ten. And that — if I remember correctly — was enough to acquire one full-fledged rank D technique from the closed catalog.
Without hesitation, I grabbed my bag and rushed straight to the Konoha library.
The sun was just rising, the streets still bathed in the soft light of the lanterns. I almost flew across the rooftops, not hiding and not sparing chakra. Such an opportunity — it's not something that happens every day. And I understood perfectly: the sooner I get the new technique, the faster I can master it, while others will still be stuck digging through their reports.
I landed in front of the entrance and, after passing the check, headed straight to the inner department — to the very counter where shinobi registered their entry.
Behind the counter sat a woman in a vest, with a narrow face. She barely glanced at me and tilted her head back.
"Name?" — she asked without even looking away from the register.
"Kotetsu Hagane," I replied sharply, trying to keep my voice steady, though I was a bit shaky inside from impatience. "I have accumulated ten military points and want to exchange them for access to techniques."
The woman behind the counter — an older shinobi with neatly tied hair and an expression as if she had already seen hundreds like me — silently nodded and turned to a small terminal. Her fingers quickly drummed the keys. My card appeared on the screen, and she paused for a second, verifying the data.
"So… Kotetsu Hagane. Confirmed, 10 points. With your amount, you only have access to rank D techniques," she said without even looking at me.
"I understand that," I nodded, keeping my eyes on the panel.
She continued explaining:
"The department itself has no techniques. Here are only brief descriptions of their properties, application areas, and cost in military points. This is a reference terminal, not a training hall.
If you choose one — you approach with the name. After verifying points, you will be issued a scroll for study. Everything is by procedure."
I looked at the screen. Yes, as expected — everything was strict and dry. No extra information, no details on the execution of techniques. Only basic parameters: type, rank, purpose, and price.
"Basically, just as I thought," I muttered. "Everything here is quite strict…"
"Security," the staff shrugged. "Some still try to get access to others' techniques. We can't allow leaks."
"Alright, thank you," I replied, stepping back and heading deeper into the building — into the technical library.
The hall was spacious, with tall wooden shelves and the smell of old scrolls, paper, and varnish. There were no screens or terminals here, only catalogs and rows of neatly arranged scrolls with brief descriptions of allowable techniques. Entry to each section was controlled — by rank and clearance. I had access only to the "Rank D Techniques" section, and I headed there immediately.
At first glance — a pile of scrolls, but upon closer inspection, it quickly became clear: most of them were mediocre. Those aimed either at beginners or those unable to invent anything themselves.
I began flipping through.
"Fuin: Seal-Lock" —
The simplest fuinjutsu. Locks a box or door until you remove the seal yourself or ten minutes after activation.
If it weren't for the time limit, it would be quite useful. Although maybe it's easy to hack?
"Fuin: Repulsion Seal" —
A seal that weakly repels on contact.
Weakly — the keyword. Judging by the description, a normal shoulder shove would work better. Even as a distraction — barely.
"Sound of Steps from the Left" —
A genjutsu creating the illusion of footsteps from one direction.
The illusion works once. And if the enemy is even a little focused — the effect is almost zero. Though in fog or at night, it could serve as a decent distraction.
I sighed and moved to the next shelf. Almost everything was the same type of tricks: push away, confuse, make slip, temporarily stop. All of them somehow… shallow, superficial.
"Techniques for the sake of technique," I muttered under my breath, flipping another scroll.
Almost all of them could be repeated by yourself if you feel chakra well and studied the basics. Some even resembled modifications of each other, as if someone just changed the angle of application and gave it a new name.
So I began making mental notes for the future — techniques that could probably be simulated on your own without spending points. Some were so simple that with enough chakra control and persistence — they would be even cleaner and more precise than in the scroll.
None of this particularly interested me…
Except one.
Fuinjutsu.
Although I was studying fuinjutsu, my arsenal didn't have a single technique except for sealing and explosion techniques, which weren't considered separate techniques.
This was a gap.
If I could find a fuin that would give me at least a basic understanding of building a barrier or sealing — it could push me forward.
Flipping through another scroll, I came across an entry:
"Light String Construction" — a rank D fuinjutsu technique designed to create a restraining barrier under the target's feet.
Inside it, the target cannot use acceleration, substitution techniques, or explosive jumps — chakra is suppressed along the barrier's contour. It forms almost instantly but requires close approach to the enemy.
The technique can be enhanced by combined application of several shinobi, making it unusually flexible for its rank. The barrier can be destroyed by a strong chakra burst from inside or by external influence.
I paused for a couple of seconds, rereading the line.
Now this was getting closer to the point.
It's not some genius technique, but among all the non-elemental moves I'm finding here, this is probably the best. At least, that's how it seems to me.
If I lure an enemy into a trap with pre-prepared explosive seals… It might work. And work well.
I traced my finger over the technique's title and nodded slightly to myself. Such a technique could seriously help in battle.
And, folding the scroll neatly, I headed toward the library exit.
"Oh wow, you were there quite a while," the librarian remarked when I approached the counter. "There's no limit on choice, of course, but there's only the title and description. Don't know what you could do there."
"Yeah, I was choosing for a while," I scratched my head, feeling a little embarrassed. "Had to read everything carefully to not miss anything."
"So what did you pick?" she asked with a smile, looking at me curiously.
"This one," I said, "Light String Construction."
"Hm, not the most common technique for rank D," she muttered. "If you can master it — it will be a good trump card for you."
I smiled, feeling I had made the right choice. This was exactly what I needed.
"Thank you," I said, watching as she started deducting points and handed me the scroll.
"Now you can finally get to know the technique," I thought, taking the scroll with the description from her hands.
"You'll have half an hour, then you have to leave the library. The study area — you know where it is?" she asked.
"Yes, behind the tables," I replied, heading there.
"It's 11:12 now, so you have until 11:42 to quickly get acquainted."