More terrifying than Asuma

The experiments continued for several days.

After repeating the experiments dozens of times, Zou Hyuga was utterly listless, almost drained dry.

These lab mice were like little goblins, wearing him down relentlessly.

After cleaning up the waste from his experiments, Zou Hyuga left the basement. Only after eating and drinking did he recover some of his energy.

Lying on the couch, Zou Hyuga began reflecting on what he had learned from the experiments.

First came the name. He decided to call that strange chakra natural chakra.

It was chakra similar to natural energy, but much gentler in nature. It existed throughout the bodies of every living creature in the shinobi world, yet he seemed to be the only person who could easily manipulate it and channel it into other creatures.

Once it was channeled into another creature, most of the natural chakra remained inside the target, while a small portion turned into natural energy and was expelled.

This ability was unique to him, and the specific reason behind it had something to do with the black markings.

Once he understood this, he began conducting more advanced experiments on the lab mice and discovered that his chakra could enhance them to a certain extent.

Their physical constitution, chakra reserves, and reaction speed all improved across the board.

For a time, it reminded Zou Hyuga of the Cursed Seal Orochimaru was researching, as well as the Sage Mode of the Three Great Sage Lands.

In other words, he could help the lab mice enter Sage Mode.

But they usually died abruptly before even five minutes had passed.

Even when Zou Hyuga deliberately reduced the amount of natural chakra he channeled into them, the result was the same. Sudden death was only a matter of time.

This also dashed Zou Hyuga's idea of channeling chakra into Oto Uchiha to help her enter Sage Mode.

Perhaps he could find answers by visiting the sages of the various sage lands.

But the same problem remained: he had no way to contact them, and he did not want to put himself in danger.

The Three Great Immortals had lived for a thousand years, silently watching the shinobi system take shape and occasionally choosing representatives.

Zou Hyuga would never believe they did so without an ulterior motive.

While Zou Hyuga was considering what to do next, he suddenly sensed movement outside his house and immediately activated his Byakugan.

"Oto Uchiha? What's she doing here?"

Zou Hyuga frowned, deactivated his Byakugan, and opened the door.

There stood Oto Uchiha in fitted training clothes, sweat from her workout still on her face.

Entering the Hyuga Clan Compound as a member of the Uchiha Clan must have earned her plenty of dirty looks.

"Zou, why haven't you left the house in three days?"

Oto Uchiha looked Zou Hyuga over. Only after confirming that he was all right did she pat her chest and say, "Even if you got promoted to chunin, surely it couldn't have hit you this hard."

"I'm not, I didn't..." Zou Hyuga tried to launch into a triple denial.

"All right, I really am upset about being promoted to chunin. I haven't slept in three days."

I can't explain the natural chakra business in detail yet. I'll use that excuse to brush her off for now.

"That still doesn't mean you should shut yourself away at home..."

Oto Uchiha glanced at Zou Hyuga, unsurprised.

"What if I told you I was conducting experiments that would change the shinobi world? Would you believe me?" Zou Hyuga asked, putting on an air of mystery.

"Of course I would." Oto Uchiha stuck out her tongue. "But before that, can we go pick up a mission? Otherwise, I'm worried we'll both die on our next one."

"Don't just casually say something so depressing..."

Zou Hyuga sighed helplessly. He was telling the truth, yet nobody believed him.

"All right, all right, let's go to the Mission Center..."

Oto Uchiha tugged at the hem of Zou Hyuga's clothes and ran toward the Mission Center.

She could no longer stand being in the Hyuga Clan Compound. Everyone there gave her dirty looks, yet she could not say anything about it.

Upon reaching the Mission Center, Zou Hyuga immediately spotted a familiar head of white hair and pulled Oto Uchiha far out of the way.

The person standing there was not the older white-haired Jiraiya, but the younger white-haired Kakashi.

That guy had every buff stacked right now. He was absolutely not someone Zou Hyuga could afford to provoke.

Although he would no longer abandon his teammates for a mission as he had before, he was still decidedly difficult to get along with.

I'd better not bring trouble down on myself.

"What are you doing?" Oto Uchiha asked in confusion as he dragged her along.

"That guy is Kakashi, the youngest jonin in the village."

Zou Hyuga pointed at Kakashi, then added, "He's even more terrifying than Asuma. We absolutely cannot provoke him."

"Asuma?!" Oto Uchiha covered her mouth and backed away several steps.

According to Zou Hyuga, Asuma was the chief culprit behind the destruction of their wonderful lives as genin.

If this guy was even more terrifying, wouldn't provoking him mean they would become jonin?

"So we have to avoid him." Zou Hyuga held a finger upright against his lips.

Oto Uchiha nodded. Becoming a chunin was painful enough. She absolutely could not take another step up.

They waited for a long time.

Kakashi continued wandering around the Mission Center, his gaze unfocused.

Killing Rin Nohara with his own hands had dealt him a devastating blow. For a time, he had even thought of taking his own life.

Yet he had miraculously survived that battlefield where the Mist Ninja had surrounded him. When he woke, he found himself surrounded by the bodies of Mist Ninja who had died for no apparent reason.

Unable to make sense of what had happened, he could only return to Konoha like a walking corpse, carrying Rin Nohara's belongings.

After burying Rin Nohara's belongings beside Obito, he had nothing to do and wandered over to the Mission Center.

Naturally, Kakashi noticed the two people lurking outside the Mission Center. They reminded him of the days when he went on missions with Obito and Rin.

They had pulled him out of the shadow of his father's suicide.

But barely any time had passed before Obito and Rin died, one after the other. He had lost his precious teammates.

The only people left to comfort him were Guy, whose head was filled with nothing but youth, and Minato-sensei, who always wore a smile.

But their comfort could not put his heart at ease.

Only after wandering around did Kakashi remember that he could not accept missions alone, so he hurried out of the Mission Center.

If I can't take on a job at the Mission Center, I'll go to Lord Third.

A shinobi who can't complete a mission is trash.

A shinobi who doesn't even value his comrades is worse than trash.

But I don't have any comrades anymore. All I have left are missions.

Perhaps this was what it meant to be a shinobi. Perhaps this was his fate as Kakashi Hatake.

The moment Kakashi left, Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha popped out.

Even a landlord's household had no grain to spare. If they did not go on missions, they would not starve, but they would be very poor.

Buying weapons and equipment such as Explosive Tags, as well as researching ninjutsu, all required money.

And because they only took D-Rank Missions to ensure their safety, they were desperately short of it.

Even though every mission outside the village brought additional sources of income, such as bounties and spoils of war.

He shot a fierce glare at the chunin who had previously informed him of his promotion.

Zou Hyuga began selecting suitable D-Rank Missions. He would not even glance at the C-Rank Missions.

Just then, Zou Hyuga noticed a special request at the Mission Center, and his eyes lit up.

It was a job opening. Aside from the low pay, it perfectly met his needs, as though it had been tailor-made for him.

"Seeking one chunin tutor. Requirements as follows..."