Chakra, All-Killing Ash Bones!

The next day, at the Ninja Academy.

Inside the school building, before the sixth-year Elite Class, Furuya Daisuke pushed open the door and entered.

The kids who had been messing around in the classroom instantly fell silent, sitting properly in their seats.

Furuya Daisuke, holding a stack of test papers, walked steadily to the podium, clearly intending to conduct a mock theory exam.

Sure enough!

The next moment, Furuya Daisuke's deep voice rang out.

"Today, we're having a test!"

Hearing this, the students below erupted into an uproar.

Furuya Daisuke shot a sharp glare around the room, and wherever his gaze passed, everyone immediately shut their mouths.

One by one, they were like ducks with their necks wrung, their voices cut off abruptly.

"What's this? Looks like someone's missing?"

Furuya Daisuke took a rough glance—all his usual students were there, but he felt something was off...

Suddenly! A look of realization dawned on Furuya Daisuke's face.

That six-year-old brat wasn't here?!

"Good grief, late on the very first day of class!" Furuya Daisuke's face darkened, and the bloodlust radiating from him exploded instantly.

Everyone ducked their heads into their books, playing ostrich.

Sitting in the front row, Rin's face was full of conflict, but in the end, she steeled herself and slowly raised her small hand.

"D-Daisuke-sensei..."

"Hm?" Furuya Daisuke narrowed his eyes and looked over.

Seeing it was Rin, usually a well-behaved student, his sharp gaze softened a bit.

But that didn't mean Furuya Daisuke wasn't angry!

When that brat finally showed up, he'd make sure the kid learned why flowers were so red!!

"Th-this is something Tōka-kun asked me to pass on." Rin handed up a letter.

Yesterday after school, Tōka had suddenly approached her and told her that if the teacher asked about him the next day, she should give this to him.

Rin had a gentle nature and was friendly to everyone, so she naturally didn't refuse Tōka's request.

Furuya Daisuke snatched the letter with a snap, flicking his finger to unfold it.

He scanned it at lightning speed...

And saw...

A few lines of neat writing, youthful yet not lacking in boldness, the brushwork still immature but the spirit intact, arranged in order:

Beyond the mountain, a tower of books; within the school, a tower of halls. Teacher lectures on without rest, when will the bell ever call? Spittle flies, everyone dozes, waiting for the ring to bolt free. The scenery outside the window is endless, but alas, I'm a caged bird. Textbooks and materials all packed, allow this kid to study alone.

Holy crap, what literary talent!!

Furuya Daisuke's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but silently praise in his heart.

Then, he suddenly snapped back to reality, and his face grew even darker.

"Ptooey, ptooey... that bastard!!"

The veins on Furuya Daisuke's forehead writhed like green worms, making everyone's scalps crawl.

He crushed the letter into powder with one hand, his knuckles cracking audibly.

For a moment, the entire classroom was dead silent, not daring to breathe.

"Starting now, the exam!!"

Furuya Daisuke decided to report Tōka's "misdeeds" to the Third Hokage—a brat who skipped class on the very first day.

Even the Third Hokage wouldn't have the face to let Tōka stay in school anymore!

Even if, hypothetically, Tōka could continue attending, as long as he wasn't in Furuya Daisuke's class, he couldn't care less!

Furuya Daisuke temporarily set aside Tōka's truancy, planning to settle accounts later.

In a certain forest on the outskirts of Konoha, Tōka was running through the woods with dark circles under his eyes, looking extremely excited.

That's right, he had genuinely been too thrilled to sleep all night.

After obtaining the Chakra extraction method at the Ninja Academy yesterday, he had spent the entire night in excitement, not sleeping a wink.

Feeling the faint energy mass inside his body, Tōka couldn't stop grinning, all the way until now.

Until the muscle spasms in his face finally stopped.

In short, joy turned to sorrow.

"Let me try this first." Tōka walked beneath a large tree and extended a small palm.

No hand seals were needed; Chakra gathered directly in his palm.

Thought was the guide, will was the priority.

Creak, creak...

A strange sound like bones growing echoed.

From the center of Tōka's small palm, a gray-white bone resembling withered wood sprouted.

Less than two inches long, thinner than a pinky finger.

Yet it exuded a sense of time's decay, life's end, and extreme danger.

Even the sky and earth felt a chill of terror facing that short, tiny bone!

"All-Killing Ash Bones!!"

Tōka shouted low, and with a fierce palm strike, he pressed it into the large tree.

The seemingly dead, gray-white bone, brittle enough to shatter on touch, plunged straight into the tree.

"Fly through time and space, scatter, and rot along with the bones!"

As Tōka's words fell, the entire tree, centered on where the bone had pierced, turned into flakes of paper.

A dead, decaying aura enveloped the whole tree.

Crack, crack, crack!!

In less than a minute, a tree that would take three people to encircle withered and collapsed into shreds of paper.

Turning to ash...

A gentle breeze blew, and it vanished between heaven and earth.

Dust returns to dust, ashes to ashes; life must end in death, spirit must fade.

Tōka plopped down on the ground, his fair face growing even paler in that moment.

Even though the All-Killing Ash Bones was no longer than a pinky, it had drained all his Chakra.

It wasn't just the consumption of Chakra; the mental strain was terrifying.

Waves of dizziness hit him, and his vision seemed covered by a pair of large hands, darkening.

Perhaps because he hadn't rested well last night, or perhaps because Tōka's own strength was insufficient to fully wield the All-Killing Ash Bones.

Using this technique now left him completely drained.

At this moment, Tōka only wanted to collapse and sleep, not think about any problem; sleeping became the most important thing.

But he knew he had to persevere.

All-Killing Ash Bones: a technique that alters the composition of bone structure, turning it into a hardened weapon.

Usually, sharp bones are shot from the palm, and anyone pierced by them will gradually disintegrate.

"Anyone hit by this move, even with Yang Release healing, is beyond saving."

Tōka looked at his hands with excitement in his eyes. He had thought he hadn't inherited any abilities from his mother.

At this moment, it felt like rising from hell to heaven.

"Even the bodies of the dead resurrected by Impure World Reincarnation will crumble." Tōka grinned, the smile reaching the depths of his eyes.

A hundred years of life, who can be eternal? The sunset of an era, terror palpable, is but a moment in time.

Time decays, all within the Ash Bones.

A figure suddenly appeared in Tōka's mind—Kimimaro!

"The Kaguya Clan's Shikotsumyaku likely derives from the All-Killing Ash Bones." Tōka murmured to himself.

In other words, could the All-Killing Ash Bones also create other techniques?

When Kaguya Otsutsuki used the All-Killing Ash Bones in battle, her moves were too simple and direct, even crude.

Moreover, she needed to generate the Ash Bones behind her before shooting them from her palm.

Doing it that way seemed foolish to Tōka—wasn't it like telling the enemy, 'I'm about to unleash my ultimate move, better dodge now'?

Tōka shook his head, casting aside the stray thoughts.

"I can think about techniques later; for now, the most important thing is Chakra volume."

One step at a time, one bite at a time.

His physique was quite good, but he lacked training. His Chakra was just beginning to cultivate, so a small amount was normal.

Besides, Tōka only had the body of a six-year-old now.

"Decided, I'll start with taijutsu training!"

Konoha's taijutsu is broadly divided into two types: Gentle Fist and Steel Fist!

Tōka didn't possess the Byakugan, so Gentle Fist was directly ruled out. That left only one master of Steel Fist!

"Can't escape a green jumpsuit, huh?"

Thinking of that "godlike" existence, Tōka couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

"The Eight Inner Gates is a technique that kills a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own."

Though its power was immense, the aftereffects were no small matter.

Tōka possessed All-Killing Ash Bones—touch and you crumble. It seemed there was no need to learn that forbidden jutsu of trading life for life.

"Without training into a burly frame with eight-pack abs, pulling off the Eight Inner Gates is simply unrealistic."

Youth? Sweat?

Screw that, might as well sleep...

Tōka wasn't enthusiastic about taijutsu training. He was the relatively "lazy" type.

Lazy in body, not in personality.

In other words, Tōka's motto was: if you can use your brain, never lift a finger!

"Ahh~~, what a troublesome art taijutsu is!"

A strong taijutsu user wasn't necessarily a true powerhouse, but every true powerhouse was formidable in taijutsu.

Tōka let out a turbid breath and slowly stood up.

After resting for half a day, he felt he'd recovered a bit.

Tōka decided he still needed to find Might Duy. Whether or not he trained in the Eight Inner Gates, he had to properly cultivate the basics of taijutsu.

At the very least, he had to unlock his body's potential. He wasn't aiming to open all eight gates and one-shot Uchiha Madara.

He only sought to keep taijutsu from becoming a weakness that others could exploit.

Moreover, mastering taijutsu would let him better utilize his ability—All-Killing Ash Bones.

The Third War was imminent. Who knew if that old man, the Third Hokage, might stab him in the back?

The thought flashed by. No time like the present.

"Where would Might Duy be at this hour?" With that question in mind, Tōka wandered idly through the forest.

Swoosh, swoosh!!

The moment Tōka's footsteps faded, two black shadows dropped down beside the decaying tree.

The tree had vanished, leaving an incongruous empty patch of ground.

One of them wore a cat-faced animal mask. He approached the clearing, crouched down, and examined the bare earth.

But then—

The pupil exposed through the cat mask suddenly contracted!

"Completely gone?!" the Cat-Faced Anbu exclaimed. He couldn't find any trace of the tree's roots!

It was as if it had never existed—not a single shred of evidence that it had ever been there!

"In an instant, he made a whole tree disappear? What kind of ability is that?" The other Dog-Faced Anbu muttered, stroking his chin.

"The Hokage-sama was right to have us watch this brat!"

"You keep tailing him. I'll report to the Third-sama."

"Got it. Go and come back fast!"

"Watch yourself."

Swoosh, swoosh!!

The two black shadows suddenly leaped up and vanished into the shade of the trees. In moments, their presences faded without a trace.

As if they had never been there at all.

Directly under the Hokage's command, the Anbu—full name, Assassination and Tactical Special Squad.

Anbu members were elite ninja selected from the village.

Their duties mainly involved protecting the Kage and preventing foreign enemies from infiltrating the ninja village. Sometimes they also handled reconnaissance, assassination, and other tasks.

Due to the nature of their missions, Anbu members wore white animal masks while on duty.

And Konoha's White Fang, the god of slaughter Sakumo Hatake, was the captain of the Anbu!

In the forest, Tōka wandered aimlessly. If his memory served him right, Might Duy always lived in some forest outside Konoha.

The problem was, there were forests everywhere outside Konoha.

Searching for one person in such a vast woodland was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Eh? Got it!" As Tōka walked, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Wasn't Guy still in school? If he followed Guy after school let out, wouldn't that lead him straight to Might Duy?

After a moment's hesitation, faced with the green watermelon-head and taijutsu, Tōka ultimately chose the latter.

Being entangled by a man was an extremely troublesome matter, but lacking the strength to be entangled by a man was an extremely painful one.

Between two evils, choose the lesser. Tōka decided to find Might Duy first.

As for Guy?...

"When the time comes, a little scheme will do..." Tōka made up his mind, turned around, and headed down the mountain toward the school.

At this hour, the Ninja Academy hadn't dismissed class yet.

Tōka had completely forgotten about the letter page he'd given Rin yesterday.

At the Ninja Academy, most of the classroom was drenched in sweat.

Compared to a written exam, the vast majority would rather run ten laps on the training ground!

Furuya Daisuke sat with his arms crossed on the podium, needing to do nothing at all to intimidate the petty and cowardly.

His presence was overwhelming, his authority terrifying.

Many wanted to cheat, but most lacked the nerve.

The most restless, most "lively" student in the classroom was undoubtedly Obito.

He was clutching his head with both hands, rubbing it furiously, then suddenly deflated like a punctured ball after venting.

In the end, Obito sat with his hair a complete bird's nest, staring blankly at the empty test paper, once again entering a state of "possession."

"It's over, it's over, this is totally over."

"It knows me, but I don't know it."

"I'm gonna get a zero again..."

Suddenly!

Crack!

A crisp sound interrupted Obito's muttering.

It was Guy, sitting diagonally behind Obito, who had snapped another pen shaft from nervousness and excessive force.

Why "another"?

Because this guy had already broken his pen for the eighth time!

Guy's face turned pale, deathly white.

Damn... this was his last pen!

Those with the heart but not the courage were the majority; naturally, those with both heart and courage were not few either.

A long-faced kid in the back row of the classroom, shifty-eyed, looked left and right—it was none other than Sarutobi Asuma.

Given Asuma's status, Furuya Daisuke generally adopted a "turn a blind eye" approach to his behavior.

After all, cheating counted as a form of intelligence gathering for a ninja!

But still, kid, your cheating is just too hard to watch!!

Furuya Daisuke's eyelids twitched. How did that shrewd Third Hokage end up with such a dim-witted son?

Look at others, the Yamanaka clan's...

Forget it, that one's a secret technique, let's set that aside.

Even the little loli Kurenai Yuhi next to you knows to use genjutsu to cover herself.

Though such childish genjutsu was utterly useless against Furuya Daisuke.

Still, compared to Asuma's idiotic behavior, Furuya Daisuke was very satisfied with Kurenai's performance.

The students in the classroom each displayed their skills—ninjutsu, genjutsu, all kinds.

Suddenly!

Swish... bang!

The sliding wooden door was pulled open by a small hand, and Tōka stood expressionless at the entrance.

Crack! A crisp sound!

It wasn't Guy snapping a pen shaft, but Furuya Daisuke breaking off the armrest of his chair!!

"Brat, you dare show up again!!"

Furuya Daisuke felt a flame blazing in his chest, as if it would devour the entire classroom!

Tōka's first move was to check what the students were doing, then to locate Might Guy's seat.

That tight green jumpsuit paired with a watermelon head truly stood out like a crane among chickens.

Finally! He heard Furuya Daisuke's voice.

"Oh?" Tōka cast him a faint glance. "It's Teacher Daisuke!"

Bastard, so he only just noticed me now!

Furuya Daisuke's entire face flushed red. If Tōka didn't look so "frail and weak," he would have really wanted to engage in some good, solid physical collision!

"Tōka-kun, do you know what time it is right now?" Furuya Daisuke gritted his teeth, forcing the words out from between them.

Tōka tilted his head and thought for a moment. He really hadn't paid attention.

"What time?" he asked, expressionless.

"Class is about to end!!" Furuya Daisuke roared in fury.

"Is that so? How wonderful. I just got here and class is over." A hint of delight finally appeared on Tōka's expressionless little face.

Furuya Daisuke, "..."

Everyone, "..."