Sonic Body Refinement

"Father-in-law!"

Stepping forward lightly and kneeling beside the middle-aged man, Shimura Keiko greeted him respectfully.

Indeed, this man was her father-in-law, the current clan head of the Shimura Clan, known by the title Shadow of Shinobi—Shimura Danzō!

Without a word, Shimura Danzō perused the Body Strengthening Technique cultivation method before him while simultaneously attempting to practice it.

As early as three years ago, when that son of his had taught that E-Rank Body Strengthening Technique to Shimura Keiko, he had obtained a copy from this daughter-in-law. Over the past few years, he had often practiced it in his spare time.

Although it didn't offer much improvement to himself, it was better than nothing, helping to regulate his body and recover from hidden injuries.

With this foundation, cultivating the D-Rank Body Strengthening Technique now was considerably easier, and he quickly grasped the basics.

Before long, a faint sound like muffled thunder emanated from within Shimura Danzō's body—it was the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound Body Refining Method pioneered by Shimura Kentei.

Of course, the name was merely grandiose; in reality, it involved using Chakra to manipulate the vocal cords, emitting special sound waves to vibrate the various organs inside the body.

The sound waves came in three types: normal sound waves, infrasound waves, and ultrasonic waves.

Ultrasonic waves could shatter solids, while infrasound waves used resonance to damage soft tissues, such as the internal organs of the human body. In fact, some people's motion sickness symptoms were related to infrasound waves.

"A decent secret technique!"

After practicing with the Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound for a while, Shimura Danzō gave it a favorable evaluation.

Although cultivating for such a short time yielded negligible improvement to himself—almost to the point of being dismissible—as long as one persisted over the long term, practicing for several years would inevitably greatly enhance physical fitness. The rate of improvement wouldn't be inferior to those taijutsu-type shinobi who trained relentlessly year-round.

Moreover, this was a rare secret technique capable of strengthening the body's overall constitution, even training the fragile internal organs. Its value, development difficulty, and risk far exceeded those of ordinary ninjutsu.

From this perspective, that son of his was nothing short of a prodigy.

If not for the fact that the boy's face bore a five-tenths resemblance to his own, he would have doubted whether the child was truly his.

"What's he doing down there?"

Raising his eyes to look at his daughter-in-law, Shimura Keiko, beside him, he was curious about what exactly gave that son of his the confidence to trounce all the graduates.

After all, this year's Ninja Academy graduates numbered a full three hundred, all of whom had at least reached the level of a Genin. Some geniuses from shinobi clans even possessed strength on par with a Chunin.

Even a Jonin lacking large-scale ninjutsu would have to temporarily avoid such a formation. That son of his had decent physical strength, but it was merely decent.

"Kentei is down there crafting a suit of armor—a very astonishing suit of armor. I guarantee it will surprise you, Father-in-law!"

Smiling as she replied, Shimura Keiko was quite looking forward to her young man's suit of armor.

Though she had already seen the complete set of blueprints, they weren't the real thing, and she imagined it would be even more stunning when finished.

"With a suit of armor, he can indeed boost his strength a bit!"

Nodding slightly, Shimura Danzō understood that this was likely that son's trump card.

As for the word "astonishing" his daughter-in-law had used, he didn't take it to heart. A suit of armor—no matter how astonishing, how astonishing could it really be?

Having come through the Warring States Period, what sights hadn't he seen?

In fact, he had owned a suit of armor in his youth, but such things had long been phased out of mainstream shinobi use, and few employed them anymore.

As for that son of his, he was still quite reassured and satisfied. After all, not everyone could, at the age of six, write those Yellow Volumes based on historical texts and biographical novels they'd read. With his son so precocious, what else was there to worry about?

"Make a copy and organize this Body Strengthening secret technique as soon as possible!"

Having said that, Shimura Danzō stood up and walked away.

"Father-in-law, if you have the time, I hope you can come to the Ninja Academy in five days. Kentei would certainly be very happy to have you watch his graduation ceremony—one that belongs solely to him!"

Seeing her father-in-law about to leave, Keiko quickly spoke up.

This was a good opportunity to mend the relationship between father and son, one not to be missed.

Pausing in his step, Shimura Danzō said nothing and continued walking away.

"Did he agree or not?"

Tugging at her hair, Keiko found the relationship between her young man and his father quite headache-inducing.

Being the young mistress of the Shimura Clan wasn't easy!

"Forget it, I won't dwell on it!"

Unable to figure it out, Shimura Keiko decisively gave up, then noticed an old scroll had been left on the low table.

"This is... the emblem of the Death Rhyme Clan from the Land of Rice Fields!"

Picking up the scroll and looking at the strange pattern on it, Keiko quickly matched it to a shinobi clan emblem she had seen in records—it was indeed the emblem of the Death Rhyme Clan from the Land of Rice Fields.

"So Father-in-law does care about that brat after all!"

Suppressing a smile, Keiko understood that this was surely a ninjutsu Inheritance Scroll that her father-in-law had specially obtained from the Death Rhyme Clan.

"I've heard that shinobi of the Death Rhyme Clan don't need hand seals; they can release sound ninjutsu using certain musical instrument ninja tools. I wonder what the principle behind that is."

Curious, Keiko unrolled the ninjutsu scroll and read through the sound ninjutsu recorded within.

This was a complete secret technique inheritance from the Death Rhyme Clan, and it was very thorough—clearly, her father-in-law had put considerable effort into this.

After all, while the Death Rhyme Clan wasn't a top-tier shinobi clan, it was still at a second-rate level. Obtaining their clan's inheritance scroll was no easy feat.

"This is what a real jutsu scroll looks like—way more concise than the junk you little brat write!"

Reading through the Inheritance Scroll in her hand and comparing it to her own little man's ridiculously oversized scrolls, Keiko felt that kid was a complete oddball.

Who writes over a million words just for a D-Rank secret technique manual? It takes days just to read through it once.

But before long, Keiko abruptly switched sides.

"What a load of garbage—my little man's writing is way better!"

She slammed the Death Rhyme Clan's Inheritance Scroll onto the table, feeling like this thing wasn't meant for human eyes. It was all vague and cryptic, and even with her level of ninjutsu skill, understanding it was a huge struggle.

"Madam, this is the intelligence I gathered for the young master. Please pass it on to him."

Just then, Shimura Genma walked in, handed a scroll to Shimura Keiko, and promptly turned to leave.

"Tsunade-senpai!"

Curious, she unrolled the intelligence scroll, and after reading its contents, Shimura Keiko was greatly surprised.

It was a report on Tsunade's whereabouts in the village, with several key points marked.

"What does that little brat want with Tsunade-senpai's intelligence?"

Her beautiful eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint flickering within.

She felt like her little man might be stepping out on her, giving her a green hat.

She didn't want to admit it, but Tsunade was indeed more alluring than herself. Even if her own looks weren't bad, her figure fell far short—their chests weren't even in the same league.

"Still awake at this hour? Careful you don't get dark circles under your eyes!"

Night fell, and Shimura Kentei, after a long day's work, emerged from the basement to find his fiancée still awake, even cheerfully polishing that Bright Silver Spear with a cloth.

This woman hadn't slept in two days—even a night owl wasn't this intense.

"Tsunade-senpai is beautiful, isn't she?"

Lifting the mirror-like spear blade, gazing at her own eyes reflected in it, Shimura Keiko smiled coldly.

"She's pretty enough, but what's that got to do with you?"

Shimura Kentei blinked in confusion, not understanding why this woman suddenly brought up that big fat cow Tsunade. They had no connection.

Shimura Keiko flung the intelligence scroll about Tsunade across the table and demanded, "What are you looking for Tsunade-senpai for?"

"Genma sent this intelligence? He works pretty fast!"

Catching the scroll and opening it, Shimura Kentei nodded in approval. That little bro might be a bit of a pain, but his efficiency was solid.

Back at the Ninja Academy, he'd told the kid to investigate Tsunade's whereabouts, and he'd gotten results this quickly.

As expected of an Elite Class graduate!

"Get serious! Answer the question!"

She pressed again, determined to get to the bottom of this today.

"I'm asking her to be my squad leader!"

Even more puzzled, Shimura Kentei didn't get what was wrong with this lady today—she was acting completely off.

"Why her? I'm a jonin now too—I'm qualified to be your squad leader!"

Growing more dissatisfied, Shimura Keiko really didn't like her little man getting close to other women, especially ones with bigger chests than hers.

"If you can get the Scroll of Seals out of that old man Hokage, I've got no problem with it!"

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. This woman was way overestimating herself. Did she really think she could compare to that big fat cow?

You two aren't even in the same dimension! Hitching a ride with that fat cow could save years of struggle!

"You're after the Forbidden Jutsu in the Scroll of Seals?"

Stunned, Keiko hadn't thought of that before. But now that she did, she realized Tsunade really was an excellent teacher—arguably the best of this generation, even surpassing that academic genius Orochimaru-senpai.

After all, she had the backing of the entire Senju Clan!

"To be precise, it's all of the Senju Clan's inheritance. And if I get a chance, I want to use Tsunade to get close to Mito-senpai and see if I can snag some of the Uzumaki Clan's Fuinjutsu techniques."

Shimura Kentei didn't hide this point, since his upcoming plans required this woman's cooperation. Better to lay it out early. But then he caught himself, leaned his head close to his fiancée's face until his nose nearly touched her delicate, fair one, and curled his lips into a sly grin.

"You're jealous!"

"I am not!"

"You're definitely jealous!"

"I am not!"

"You're one hundred percent jealous!"

"I'm going to bed!"

Unable to argue further, Shimura Keiko got up and headed back to her own room.

"Miss has grown up too, huh!"

He chuckled wickedly in reflection, then sat down to carefully examine the intelligence scroll in his hands. Based on a few key points marked within, he quickly locked onto an ideal location.

"Hopefully that fat sheep won't beat me to death!"

After refining the next phase of the plan in his mind, he rubbed his chin. He wasn't entirely confident—if something went wrong, it would be a disaster.

That fat sheep's fists were no joke!

"No, I need to find an accomplice to share the heat!"

His mind raced, searching for a suitable scapegoat. The first person who came to mind was his own father.

After all, he was the most famous Pot Kage in all of Naruto!

But he quickly dismissed that candidate. That old father of his wasn't someone he could order around, let alone for something like this.

If he actually brought it up to the old man, he'd probably be strung up and whipped with a Seven Wolves belt before the plan even got off the ground.

"Maybe I can enlist that senior!"

Another figure soon surfaced in his mind—a perfect tool of a scapegoat.

--

(If you, dear readers, find this book worth reading, please cast your precious votes. Your support is my greatest motivation!)