Planning

After calming down, Chiba carefully considered the path he should take.

If he were on his own, Chiba felt he would need to develop in a balanced way, making sure that no area became a weakness.

In the Ninja World, he would always encounter all kinds of different enemies. Having an obvious weakness was as good as asking to die.

But if he joined Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato's team, that was another matter.

They could make up for one another's shortcomings.

After all, no one had limitless energy. It was simply impossible to master ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, weapons, scouting, medical skills, and defense all at once.

By having each person specialize in one or two areas, they could fully bring out their greatest strengths.

The first thing Chiba wondered was what kind of value he could bring to the team.

Although the members of their squad had only just begun learning ninjutsu, they had already started to show signs of their fearsome potential.

There was no need to mention Nagato. In the future, he would undoubtedly become a top-tier expert in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu, and his scouting abilities would be formidable as well.

Yahiko, meanwhile, had a powerful physique, three chakra natures, and enough stamina to give him a massive chakra reserve. All of this would surely give him tremendous destructive power. In an environment like the Land of Rain, especially, Water Style consumed very little chakra, so he could easily become a walking artillery battery.

Konan's Wind and Earth affinities were also highly destructive. Given her natural mental talent, she could certainly learn powerful genjutsu, too.

Judging from all that, even if Chiba really did gain multiple chakra natures, there might not be any need for him to focus on offensive firepower. Their team already had more than enough damage dealers.

Besides, he currently had only one chakra nature. Under the circumstances, developing offensive ninjutsu was practically a dead end.

By contrast, Chiba suddenly felt that he could focus on other areas, such as defense and support.

As far as Chiba was concerned, only a few Earth Style techniques in all of Naruto had left a strong impression on him.

The most memorable, without a doubt, were the Third Tsuchikage's Light-Weight Rock Technique and Added-Weight Rock Technique.

By manipulating gravity, the Third Tsuchikage could fly and move at high speed, or greatly increase the force of his attacks. In the final battle, he even used the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique to propel a small meteor several kilometers across.

Without a doubt, this was a top-tier support technique that excelled in every respect.

But Chiba understood that he had no chance of learning a technique like that right now, and that mastering it would surely be extremely difficult.

Still, that didn't stop him from using it as a reference. He could explore other Earth Style abilities to develop his own support techniques.

And if he got the chance in the future, he could still try to find a way to get his hands on the technique.

Then there was Kakuzu's Earth Release: Earth Spear.

In Kakuzu's hands, this technique, which hardened the skin with Earth Style to increase defense, had proved quite impressive.

It made his body as hard as diamond and greatly increased his physical strength.

If Kakashi hadn't ambushed him with Chidori, even Naruto and the others' attacks wouldn't have been able to break through his defenses.

This technique could also serve as a major point of reference for Chiba.

He didn't know whether he would be able to learn it in the future, but he could still develop in the same direction on his own.

Even if he couldn't match the power of Kakuzu's original technique, anything he managed to develop would strengthen his defenses.

There was also the Second Tsuchikage's ability to become invisible.

By using Earth Style to conceal his chakra, one could keep others from sensing him.

To be honest, this was the technique Chiba wanted most.

With it, he could attack or retreat as the situation demanded. It was ideal for both assassination and escape.

If things went south, he could simply use Earth Style to burrow underground. Unless he ran into one of those monsters from the late stages of the story, no one would be able to find him.

And if he got the chance, he might even use the technique to sneak into the major ninja villages and steal secret technique records or something. Just thinking about it filled Chiba with anticipation.

This could absolutely be one of his main areas of focus. If he couldn't learn the technique, he would train on his own and develop it as far as he could. After all, his current enemies were unlikely to be too powerful. He would be satisfied if he could develop the technique enough to fool an ordinary jonin.

There were surely many similar techniques in the Ninja World, even if they were weaker. Once he became stronger, he could gradually learn more and improve his skills.

After going over all the techniques that seemed promising, Qiangu realized that Earth affinity really did seem most useful for defense and support.

Those paths of development also fit his idea of his role on the team.

As for powerful Earth Style attacks, there didn't seem to be anything particularly impressive.

Chiba quickly settled on a goal. In the early stages, he would focus on developing his defenses and concealment abilities. Later, once he learned nature transformation, he would look for ways to develop more uses for Earth Style.

He could also learn a little Medical Ninjutsu—not much, just enough to treat basic injuries. Once he mastered it, he could even patch himself up during a fight.

After finally making up his mind, Chiba realized that his development path wasn't so bad after all.

At least specializing in Earth Style should make it harder to die.

If he ran into a powerful enemy, he could use Earth Style to sneak away underground. Even if he couldn't escape, he could at least take a few more hits while waiting for backup. Against weaker opponents, he could slowly wear them down with his durability and endurance. At worst, neither side would be able to do anything to the other.

Hmm. It would be even better if he learned a few techniques that could restrain and annoy his opponents.

As Chiba thought it over, his brow finally relaxed. He no longer felt so down about having only one chakra nature.

His tactics might be a little underhanded, but at least they would keep him alive. In such a cruel world, surviving was the greatest victory of all.

Besides, this role would let him contribute to the team more effectively and make up for their weaknesses.

With that, they would have artillery, control, a tank, healing, and scouting. It was practically perfect.

Although he still felt a little disappointed about not having multiple chakra natures, Chiba had managed to get his mindset back on track.

There was no such thing as the strongest ninjutsu, only the most suitable. There was no reason he couldn't become powerful with Earth Style alone.

Chiba kept encouraging himself.

But just as Chiba was full of confidence and ready to learn a few more powerful techniques and work hard, Jiraiya struck him down again.

To be precise, it wasn't just him. Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato had all suffered the same blow.