Special Talent

Chiba, who had been wallowing in despair, suddenly regained his spirit upon hearing Jiraiya's words.

"Master Jiraiya, what do you mean by 'not quite right'?"

As he spoke, a flicker of intense anticipation ignited in Chiba's eyes.

Could it be that he possessed some special talent he wasn't aware of?

Jiraiya frowned, reached out, and picked up a fragment of the shattered Chakra Test Paper.

"Look here. Do you see anything?"

Chiba focused his gaze and immediately made a new discovery.

"This is..."

In one corner of the fragment, there was a faint, barely noticeable damp mark.

"Does this mean I also possess the Water attribute?"

A look of surprise and joy couldn't help but wash over Chiba's face.

Had this happened earlier, he wouldn't have been this excited even if he had suddenly gained three attributes.

But now, after experiencing the despair of having only a single attribute, he suddenly felt that two attributes were actually quite good—at the very least, far better than a pure single attribute.

Upon hearing Chiba's question, Jiraiya shook his head gently.

"I wouldn't put it that way. Your situation... well, it's a bit special."

"Special how?"

"Generally speaking, even among those with the same type of innate attribute, everyone has varying degrees of strength. But usually, as long as it is an innate attribute, there is a limit to how weak it can be. This is the first time I've seen someone display it as weakly as you—so weak that the sensitivity of the Chakra Test Paper could barely even detect it."

At this point, Jiraiya frowned again.

"Hmm, judging by the performance, it doesn't look like an innate attribute at all. Instead, it looks more like a trace of an acquired attribute that some ninjas gain through massive amounts of ninjutsu training or other coincidental means."

Chiba was speechless for a moment. He had already roughly guessed where this tiny bit of extra talent came from; if nothing else, this body only possessed the Earth attribute before he arrived.

"In other words... it's useless, right?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Indeed. Such a weak attribute is basically useless in combat; it can hardly provide any ninjutsu enhancement for you."

Just as Chiba fell back into despair, Jiraiya shook his head once more.

"Of course, I wouldn't say it's completely useless. In some respects, it is still quite helpful."

"Oh? What kind of use?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated to explain in detail. Let me start by talking about how typical ninjutsu-oriented ninjas increase their strength."

Chiba looked at Jiraiya in confusion, wondering how this could possibly relate to a ninja's attributes.

Jiraiya gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking: "First, you must understand that most ninjas in the Ninja World actually have only a single attribute. But does having a single attribute mean one cannot become strong? Not necessarily."

"Usually, for a single-attribute ninjutsu ninja to be promoted to Jonin, there are only two ways. One is to constantly improve the quality of their own chakra while developing deeper applications of techniques within their own attribute to increase their power."

"The other way is through hard work: developing a second attribute on their own."

Hearing this, Chiba suddenly remembered something.

He recalled that Yamato had once said while teaching Naruto that ordinary single-attribute ninjas needed to develop a second attribute if they wanted to be promoted to Jonin.

"Simply put, you can think of talent as your body's adaptability to a corresponding attribute. It is not set in stone."

In fact, talent and attributes were very complex, but Jiraiya hoped to keep it simple so Chiba could grasp it quickly, which was why he used this analogy.

"Even if you don't have that talent at the start, you can still gradually reshape your body through long-term, continuous release of a certain type of ninjutsu, eventually achieving an effect no less than an innate attribute."

"So, I can also gradually develop this ability myself?"

"Exactly. Although your attribute is pitifully small, it still counts as having completed the process of going from nothing to something. Don't underestimate this; according to the progress of other ninjas training to this point, you've at least saved yourself several years of bitter toil."

"In short, if it would have taken you ten years to develop a second attribute to a sufficient level, now it might only take seven."

Well, Chiba finally understood what kind of freakish talent he had.

To put it simply, he was the weakest of the weak, and the weak of the weakest.

Compared to those other single-attribute ninjas, he had undoubtedly taken a step forward and completed the entry-level development of a second attribute. But compared to those with dual or even triple attributes, he was still trash.

He needed at least seven years to finish developing his second attribute, while multi-attribute ninjas would have already developed new abilities in that same amount of time.

Falling behind by one step meant falling behind in every step; such a massive gap was not something that could be easily closed.

The more Chiba thought about it, the bleaker his future seemed.

There is no harm without comparison. If he were surrounded by ordinary ninjas, he might have been able to find some sense of superiority, but the people around him were clearly geniuses.

Thinking of how Yahiko and the others would eventually leave him far behind in the dust, Chiba couldn't help but feel distressed.

No, he couldn't just sit here and wait for his doom.

Soon, Chiba calmed down and began to re-evaluate his own role.

Since this path was a dead end, perhaps he could...