How Is the Technique Development Going?

"Who is it?!"

The abrupt knock on the door drew a simultaneous response from all four of them.

"Me!"

A familiar voice quickly came from outside.

That voice... was that Asuma?

All four of them had the same thought upon hearing it.

"I'll get the door."

Chiba stepped forward and opened the front door. Outside, amid the snowy night, Asuma stood at the entrance carrying a large bag of things. Snowflakes seemed to be slowly drifting down from the sky.

"Oh, Asuma, come on in."

Seeing Asuma, Chiba hurriedly opened the door wider, stepping aside to let him in.

During this time, Asuma had been the most diligent about coming here in search of his free sky. Although he consciously avoided disturbing Chiba's training, they could still talk while he trained. Sometimes, one would be outside while the other was inside, chatting through the air.

Through those conversations, Chiba had discovered that while Asuma was a little rebellious now, he was genuinely a good guy. He possessed a maturity beyond his age. Chiba had also noticed that whenever there were many people around, Asuma was always the last to leave. He would take away any trash and other leftovers so as not to cause them trouble.

There had even been a few days when Chiba discovered that Asuma had washed the pots in the house.

The others had probably sensed Asuma's quiet maturity as well. Whenever Asuma came over, Hirohiko and Yukina would stay behind to chat with him, or perhaps... order him around?

In any case, Asuma had become very familiar with them, no less so than Kakashi and the others.

"Oh... my old man told me to bring this over."

As Chiba stepped aside, Asuma did not stand on ceremony. He walked in and casually stuffed the large