"Sizzle..."
The sound of white paper touching flame softly rose in the upstairs room of the quiet Japanese-style wooden house.
"Hiss!"
Then, beneath the bright white light, a small flame flared up and gradually crawled over the scroll covered in black writing and various patterns. In an instant, it became a blaze that devoured the scroll.
"Sizzle..."
After the scroll had burned away, the flames that sought to lick at the hand holding it were extinguished by the water that surged from his fingertips.
Then the last unstable factor has been eliminated. No matter what happens next, they won't be able to find evidence that I stole a Forbidden Jutsu.
Even if they suspect me, it won't matter.
Still, I need to give careful thought to where I'll practice this Forbidden Jutsu.
Shaking the ashes from his hand, Chiba narrowed his eyes slightly, a sharp gleam flashing within them.
At that moment, everything on the Forbidden Jutsu scroll had already been deeply etched into his mind. He could begin training tomorrow.
The Forbidden Jutsu scroll itself had become a pile of ash on the tabletop.
By then, Chiba had begun carefully considering the issues surrounding the practice of this Forbidden Jutsu. The first was naturally the matter of the location. Although this Forbidden Jutsu did not require the day-after-day physical training of the Eight Gates to strengthen one's body sufficiently to practice it—
This Forbidden Jutsu could be said to rely mainly on Chakra. All he needed was a quiet place where he could meditate.
However, since it was a stolen Forbidden Jutsu, that quiet place for meditation had to be somewhere secluded and convenient.
First, he would be taking leave. The village was closed off, and with most of it demolished, only a temporary commercial street remained to wander