Failing his very first mission outside the village did not feel good.
Although a teammate's betrayal was part of the reason, the fundamental problem was that he was not strong enough. If he were strong enough, many problems would cease to be problems.
That way of thinking was not entirely right, but he could hardly expect his enemies to be merciful. If he could not change their thinking, he could only change his own strength. Once he was strong enough, his thinking would become everyone else's thinking too.
Leaving behind a shadow clone, Shinsei used Earth Release and burrowed all the way down to his little base.
He switched on the lights. The spacious hall was unusually quiet, and traces of his last Lightning Release: Chidori practice still marked the surrounding walls.
Taking out paper and a pen, he sat at the table to sort through his strengths and his future development.
More importantly, he needed to review the shortcomings exposed in this battle.
He had always lacked a sense of security, but in the twelve years since transmigrating into the Naruto world, he had never faced much of a threat himself. So he often asked himself whether he was overthinking things, whether anyone was actually targeting him.
But after something went wrong on his very first mission outside the village, Shinsei understood completely. He had not been thinking too much before, but too little. If he had done a little more beforehand, this mission would never have left him in such a sorry state, nearly costing him his life.
First, he lacked combat experience. Looking back now, there had often been better ways to fight, but his limited experience had kept him from choosing the right approach immediately. When fighting Tarō Kakumoto, for instance, both sides had used offensive ninjutsu, leaving him unable to dodge the incoming rocks. Fortunately, he had been cautious and covered his body in flowing water-nature chakra, so he had not suffered serious injuries.
As for ninjutsu, his arsenal was incomplete. He had no reconnaissance ninjutsu, which meant that after the team's reconnaissance ninja betrayed them, he had failed to notice the enemies even when they were right in his face. That needed an urgent solution.
His Water Release Ninjutsu, such as the advanced Water Release: Water Severing Wave, still took too long to activate. Although he had simplified it to just three hand seals, that nearly one-second interval gave enemies enough time to react, and his future enemies would only grow stronger. Water Release: Water Severing Wave had enough power, but if it could not hit anyone, it would only waste chakra.
Water Release: Kirin, a technique he had begun designing long ago, combined offense and defense, and he had taken sufficient precautions to keep it secret. It had not disappointed him. He had survived this time largely thanks to it. But its weaknesses were also obvious: it depended too heavily on the environment, and using it without a water source required too much chakra. With his current reserves, he could use it at most once per battle. Some aspects of its structure also needed adjustment and optimization to make Water Release: Kirin more flexible.
The Ninjutsu Without Hand Seals, Water Release: Water Sword, had originally been intended as a standard technique to use alongside taijutsu, but its performance this time had been poor. In truth, that was also related to his taijutsu. Against experienced jonin, the flaws in his taijutsu were magnified without limit. A new version of the Ninjutsu Without Hand Seals was already under development. If it succeeded, it would no longer fail to cut even a single shuriken in two.
Then there was speed. Neither his movement speed nor his attack speed could set him apart from others. Although that was largely limited by the rate of his physical development, a ninja still had to do things differently from everyone else. Next, he needed to intensify his research into the body-stimulating aspects of Lightning Release: Chidori.
Kakashi had probably held something back about how Chidori enhanced physical speed. He wondered whether he could ask for guidance through his connection with Team 7.
Shinsei wrote and sketched on the white paper, considering and reviewing his development.
Practice really was the standard by which everything had to be tested. He needed to speed up his ninjutsu development next.
He created two shadow clones, one to develop the third version of the Ninjutsu Without Hand Seals and the other to develop Water Release: Kirin.
Unfortunately, the Lightning Release Ninjutsu he needed to develop all depended on the physical body, so he could not leave that to his shadow clones.
He had long known that shadow clones could develop ninjutsu, but they could only work on simple operations. After all, they were not real people, and he was not as single-minded as Naruto. Two clones were his limit.
The next day, he slept in and did not get up until noon.
After lunch, Shinsei strolled out to visit his grandfather.
"Shinsei!" a sweet female voice called.
Without turning around, Shinsei knew it was Ino.
Sure enough, a petite, soft body rushed over and hugged his arm.
"I haven't seen you in days. You went there, right?" Ino seemed a little excited.
"Yeah." Shinsei nodded. Although joining the Anbu was supposed to be confidential, the secrecy measures were far too lax. It seemed as though everyone knew.
"Want to go on a date?" Ino invited him openly, leaving Shinsei rather embarrassed. He was only twelve. If she tried again in a few years, he certainly would not refuse.
"Well, um..." Shinsei thought about how to turn her down. "Sorry. Although I'd look forward to a date with you, I'm going to visit my grandfather."
"Oh, I see." Ino swung her ponytail. "Can I come along?"
"Sorry, Ino. My grandfather doesn't really like strangers."
Watching Shinsei walk away, Ino felt a little disappointed, but then she jumped up and pumped her fist. Shinsei had just said he looked forward to a date with her! I'll definitely win you over next time!
After Shinsei rounded the street corner, Hinata peeked out and silently watched him. She lowered her head, scuffed her toes against the ground, and twirled the long hair she had been growing out around her fingertips.
"Cough, cough..."
Shinsei helped his grandfather into a chair, and the old man waved for him to sit down.
Grandfather and grandson began chatting. Mostly, Shinsei recounted recent events, including his teammate's betrayal during the mission, telling the old man every detail.
Shinsei had begun discussing all kinds of matters in Konoha with the old man long ago.
"Stay alert, Shinsei." The old man sighed. "You're a rare genius. Some people don't want the Senju bloodline to grow strong again."
"Danzo?"
"Mainly him, but it's hard to say about the Third, either. Danzo couldn't do all this without his indulgence. You need to be careful." The old man coughed, then continued, "The Third's body won't hold out for many more years. Things will be much better once the Fifth takes over."
"Besides Tsunade and Jiraiya, are there any other candidates for Fifth Hokage?" Shinsei did not know whether Konoha had any other hidden powerhouses.
"No. There may be some old fellows with enough strength, but they lack the prestige. The Fifth will be either Jiraiya or Tsunade."
"Why did Tsunade leave Konoha back then?"
"At the time, we guessed the biggest reasons were the death of her younger brother, Nawaki, and the decline of the Senju Clan."
"But isn't it normal for people to die in war? Would Tsunade leave Konoha over that?"
"Hmph!" The old man sneered. "Of course it wasn't an ordinary death. The cause was unclear, and someone had even removed his internal organs!"
Nawaki's death was indeed shrouded in mystery. If the enemy had done it, no one had claimed credit. More importantly, there was the removal of his organs. If that was connected to the human experiments involving Hashirama Senju's cells, it was hard not to grow suspicious.
"Was it Danzo?" Shinsei had his suspicions. Danzo's arm really did contain Hashirama Senju's cells, and by now, he should have Uchiha Sharingan as well.
"Shinsei!" The old man looked at him gravely. "Don't investigate these things. That isn't something you should be doing. Be cautious, and wait patiently until you've grown!"
"I understand!" Shinsei nodded. That was what he wanted to do as well.
Notification of the outcome did not arrive until the morning of the third day.
The squad members met in the Hokage Building.
A wooden box sat on Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk. Inside was Goat's head.
It was Shinsei's first time seeing Goat's true face: an ordinary man's face filled with terror.
The result of his betrayal was to be sold out without hesitation by his master. While silently cursing that he deserved it, Shinsei gained a deeper understanding of Danzo's character and became even more wary.
The Third gave a lengthy speech about the Will of Fire, then announced the outcome.
First, they would not be held accountable for failing to hunt down Tarō Kakumoto, and the squad members would be credited with completing an S-rank mission.
Second, each member would be rewarded with one ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals.
As for Root, the Hokage stated that similar incidents would not happen again, and that the Root ninja Aburame Torune and Yamanaka Fū would be placed on Konoha's wanted list.
Oh, wanted by Konoha. Isn't that just a slap on the wrist? Shinsei offered no opinion on the outcome. With Danzo's methods, those two would merely change their appearances and continue serving him, at most a little more covertly.
None of the others dwelled on the outcome either. They had probably expected it.
The Hokage led them to the room where the Scroll of Seals was kept. Looking at the several dangerous sealing barriers, Shinsei wondered how Naruto had managed to get his hands on it.
He looked over the list of ninjutsu in the Scroll of Seals: Four Symbols Seal, Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, Eight Gates Released Formation, Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, Reaper Death Seal, Flying Thunder God Technique...
Impure World Reincarnation was not on it. Of course, even if it had been, he would not have chosen it in front of the Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi would soon face Impure World Reincarnation during the Chunin Ninja Exams, and Shinsei did not want to invite trouble for himself.
After some thought, Shinsei still chose Lightning Release: Chidori. Aside from Impure World Reincarnation, he did not particularly need any of the techniques in the Scroll of Seals. His ninjutsu system was nearly complete, and most of the techniques in the scroll would not add much to his combat strength. He chose Chidori because he wanted to seek Kakashi's guidance to develop his own Lightning Release Ninjutsu, and because it also concerned the development of his Storm Release.
Once they had made their choices, Hiruzen Sarutobi fetched the corresponding techniques and distributed them to the four, warning them not to share them with one another.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave them all half a month off, mainly to allow their captain, Wood Kite, to recover. His right hand was missing from the wrist down, and the remaining arm had also been badly shocked by Shinsei's Lightning Release.
Shinsei sincerely admired his endurance in making it all the way back to Konoha from the mission site with a severed hand. Captain Wood Kite should qualify as the sort of person who endured everything that Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, spoke of.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Shinsei returned home and continued developing ninjutsu.
The mishap on his first mission outside the village had left a deep impression on him, making him constantly want to improve himself.
He also had an idea for developing reconnaissance ninjutsu.
Shinsei's chakra natures were water, earth, and lightning.
Of those, Water Release Ninjutsu was his specialty, so his new reconnaissance technique would also rely on Water Release.
Apart from Konoha's Tobirama Senju, the strongest practitioners of Water Release Ninjutsu were in the Village Hidden in the Mist in the Land of Water, and that village had a signature ninjutsu: the Hidden Mist Technique.
It used chakra to stir up water and create dense mist, filling the air while the caster assassinated targets within it.
Shinsei was not planning to learn the Hidden Mist Technique. Rather, it had given him an idea.
He would create dense mist, then distribute chakra throughout it, using the mist to conduct chakra and sensing everything inside through that dispersed chakra. Taking it a step further, he could even manipulate the chakra within the mist.
There were three difficulties.
First was creating the mist. Konoha had no records of the Hidden Mist Technique, so Shinsei would need to develop it from scratch.
Second was whether he could maintain an effective connection with the dispersed chakra. If it spread too far apart and he could no longer sense it, it would be useless.
Third was the enormous amount of chakra required. Simply creating mist would not help Shinsei. He needed to distribute chakra throughout it as he created it, and too little would not serve any sensory purpose. It would only work if the coverage was broad enough.
Once developed, this technique would be like weaving a vast chakra web, with Shinsei as the spider within that network. At the slightest disturbance, he would know immediately.
If he successfully developed it and could effectively manipulate the chakra within the mist, then Flying Thunder God also seemed poised to open its arms to Shinsei.
Days without work were wonderful.
After lunch, Shinsei wandered around Konoha.
He was not bored. He was looking for Team 7.
The members of Team 7 were still catching cats and dogs and clearing away trash.
"Hey! Need a hand?" Standing on a rooftop, Shinsei looked at Naruto and Sasuke fishing trash out beside a ditch, while Sakura bagged it nearby.