Chapter 113: The Essence Lies in "Wrapping"
Early the next morning, the trio continued their journey.
As Haruko leaped between the treetops alongside Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi, he pondered the basics of Genjutsu he had learned the previous night.
Honestly, Haruko was not satisfied with his learning progress—it wasn't because Kurenai Yuhi hadn't taught him earnestly, but because Haruko lacked the foundation.
In the past, whenever he learned Ninjutsu, he could mimic most of it just by looking at it once; that was the foundation he had built from years of using the Five Elemental Ninjutsu.
However, Haruko had never used Genjutsu before, and all he could rely on was his excellent Chakra control.
As for how to disrupt an opponent's Chakra to make them hallucinate—a matter that was quite subjective and relied on intuition—Haruko still found it somewhat difficult to understand.
Over the course of the night, Haruko had only succeeded once in making Asuma fall for a minor Genjutsu, making him search for a long time for a lighter that was actually clutched in his own hand.
—And then he was dragged out by Asuma for sparring practice for half the day.
"By the way, Haruko, that... colorful sword style you used yesterday, who exactly did you learn it from?"
Asuma couldn't help but ask, unable to suppress his curiosity while maintaining high-speed leaps.
"That? If I said I learned it from a red-haired swordsman with a red mark on his forehead whom I saw in a dream, would you believe me, Senior?"
"...Do I look like a fool to you?" Asuma's mouth twitched.
"Since you don't believe me, Senior, then let's just say I figured it out on my own." Haruko shrugged.
"By the way, Asuma, Senior. Yesterday you said my sword style was a hodgepodge, and Kakashi-sensei said the same thing. Could you give me some specific pointers?"
"Hmm, well then, tell me first, how did you attach Chakra before?"
"I just poured it in directly and then changed its nature," Haruko answered truthfully.
Asuma shook his head upon hearing this: "That is a total waste! You usually only do that when you need to launch a slash."
He flipped out his Flying Swallow with his right hand and slowly injected his Chakra into the blade.
"The essence of a Chakra blade lies not in 'pouring, " but in 'wrapping." Look..."
Haruko could clearly see that the Chakra did not simply and crudely fill the entire blade; instead, it wrapped along the edge like a silk thread.
"See that? The benefit of wrapping it this way is that it consumes less, lasts longer, and—"
As Asuma passed a tree trunk, he swung lightly, and a branch as thick as a bucket was split in two, the cut as smooth as a mirror.
"—the power is also more concentrated."
Haruko's eyes lit up.
This was the proper way to use a Chakra blade!
His previous method of use was adapted from Shirakumo Hayama's Vacuum Sword; naturally, he had to inject more Chakra to launch the wind blades.
But using it for close combat was getting half the result with double the effort; being able to use it in actual combat was purely a case of overpowering with brute force.
"Let me try."
Haruko drew the ninja sword he had captured from the Hidden Mist and began to imitate Asuma's method.
Hum—
A thin layer of Chakra attached to the blade; if one looked closely, one could see sparks flickering.
"Is it like this?"
Haruko casually slashed at a passing boulder.
Swoosh—
Just like a hot knife through butter, a corner of the hard rock was neatly sliced off.
"..." Asuma almost swallowed his cigarette butt.
The whole bunch of "step-by-step" teaching words he had prepared were all stuck in his throat.
Even with a foundation, isn't this learning speed too exaggerated?
How long did he practice back in the day?
"Feels pretty good." Haruko nodded with satisfaction. "Can this 'wrapping' technique also be used on the body?"
"On the body?" Asuma was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized, "You mean Chakra enhancement?"
"Yes, that's what I mean."
Haruko had already started trying.
He wrapped the Chakra around his arm just like he had with the blade, and then—
Bang!
He swung his hand-blade, splitting the target stone in two—it wasn't as smooth as expected, and half the credit went to the Superhuman Strength Technique he had instinctively used.
Asuma was stunned.
Is this even human?
Just learned a technique, and he can immediately apply it to other things, and the power is so exaggerated.
"Alright, let's get moving," Asuma said irritably. "You can show off when we get to the Hidden Cloud Village; many people there know how to use similar Chakra enhancement."
Kurenai Yuhi, watching Asuma's deflated expression from the side, couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle, her gaze towards Haruko becoming increasingly amazed.
It was the same last night; he learned Genjutsu as soon as it was taught, and in just one night, he was able to make Asuma, a Jonin, fall for it.
This boy is simply an unreasonable monster.
...
After a long journey, the trio finally arrived at the Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning.
"It really lives up to its name as one of the Five Great Ninja Villages," Haruko exclaimed.
Although the style was completely different from Konoha, the grandeur of being built against the mountain was truly breathtaking.
While undergoing inspection at the Village entrance, Haruko noticed that the Kumogakure Ninjas' gazes towards them were not very friendly.
'That's true, the relationship between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village has never been very good."
However, this was an official diplomatic mission, and the Hidden Cloud Village still received them according to etiquette.
"Envoys of Konoha, the Raikage is already waiting."
A Kumogakure Jonin led them into the Raikage's building.
The handover process was simple; just hand over the invitation and wait for a reply.
"Um, Seniors. I'm going to wander around the Village, I won't be a third wheel."
Once they reached the inn, Haruko slipped away.
Leaving Asuma and Kurenai Yuhi to exchange glances, their old faces turning red.
...
Having disguised himself simply, Haruko walked down the street, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.
Many of the passersby were dark-skinned, muscular people, and most of the Ninjas were carrying various ninja swords.
Business first; Haruko ducked into the commercial district, but—
"chakra metal? You must be joking, customer. That is a controlled item; how could a small shop like ours have it?"
"If you want products made of chakra metal, we do have some, but the price is not cheap."
"Pure chakra metal? Are you kidding me? That's military supplies; don't even think about it."
After walking around, the answers Haruko got were all about the same.
chakra metal was indeed strictly controlled. On the market, one could only buy some finished equipment containing a small amount of chakra metal, and the prices were outrageously expensive; he didn't know if they were ripping him off.
'It seems the normal channels won't work."
Haruko rubbed his chin and thought.
Maybe there was a black market near the Village, but he was unfamiliar with the place and couldn't find it in the short term.
And even if he found it, the prices on the black market would only be more expensive.
'Then I'll just have to go through non-normal channels."
Haruko found a deserted place and quietly activated his Byakugan.
With his clairvoyant ability fully activated, he began to search the entire Village.
Soon, he found his target.
In a warehouse area on the north side of the Village, there was a heavily guarded building containing a large amount of metal goods.
Among them were many items emitting special Chakra fluctuations—that must be the chakra metal.
But...
'Wow, with guards at every corner and dense Barrier Ninjutsu, trying to rob it would probably result in me being wiped out by the Village. Let's look further..."
Following the warehouse's transport route, he found the source of the chakra metal—the mine.
But the defense there was equally tight.
A slightly more feasible option was to attack the transport team, but the risk was still too high, so it could only be used as a backup plan.
"Tsk, this is a bit troublesome... I need to change my approach."
Haruko put away his Byakugan and strolled slowly down the street.
Looking around, Haruko suddenly had a new idea.
The people of the Hidden Cloud Village particularly worshipped strength, especially having an almost fanatical pursuit of Taijutsu and sword skills.
He had seen several dojos along the way, and on the street, he could see Ninjas sparring, while the onlookers would cheer for spectacular moves.
"Make these muscle-heads voluntarily hand the stuff over."
Haruko turned and returned to the inn, a smile on his lips.
"I need to go change my disguise first."
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