(Sorry, the webnovel timer messed up my drafts... here is the correct Chapters.)
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That little exchange gave Kazuki something to think about.
He even started wondering if his team captain, Fox, might actually be from the Yamanaka clan. After all, when Fox's mask melted during the previous battle, Kazuki had caught a clear glimpse of the face underneath.
But he didn't dwell on it. Male or female, Yamanaka or not—it didn't matter. What mattered now was getting stronger. As for things like forming his own squad someday... he'd worry about that later.
"I based my guess on who would benefit most if a war broke out between Konoha and Sunagakure," Kazuki said calmly.
It was just speculation, really. The setup had been far too sloppy and unsubtle.
"Indeed. Those attackers were Iwagakure shinobi." Yamanaka Inoichi gave a faint smile, already having gathered the intel he'd wanted.
The Iwa-nin probably hadn't expected that Inoichi himself would be leading this mission.
Kazuki was a bit surprised—but on reflection, it made sense. Iwagakure had always been the odd one out among the Five Great Nations. You couldn't apply normal logic to them.
And the Yamanaka were the interrogation specialists of Konoha. Their methods were a bit rough, even dangerous—so their Mind Transfer Jutsu was reserved for when other methods failed.
The whole ambush incident quickly passed. Kazuki felt pretty good about it—taking out enemy ninja meant another slight bump in his chakra reserves.
But what really pleased him was the Shadow Clone upgrade. It was hell to grind, but the payoff was massive. His upgraded technique was powerful and versatile.
Kazuki and Kakashi continued to hang back with Fox's team. The prisoner exchange with Sunagakure hadn't concluded yet.
"Captain, how many spare masks do you keep on you?" Kazuki asked during their downtime, still practicing his ninjutsu.
"Regulations require us to carry three," Fox replied casually, as if the whole mask-melting incident hadn't happened.
Kakashi, for his part, hadn't noticed anything. He'd been too focused—busy killing an Iwa jōnin during the ambush.
Kazuki didn't press the issue and instead turned to chat with Kakashi. He'd been progressing in chakra nature transformation, especially lightning release, and Kakashi was the best person to ask.
Kakashi's mastery of various jutsu was legendary, thanks to his Sharingan and his time in ANBU—he'd earned the title "Copy Ninja."
Though still shy of his father, Sakumo the White Fang, Kakashi was undoubtedly elite—soon to become the Sixth Hokage.
Of all the jutsu Kakashi had copied, lightning-style was definitely his specialty.
But Chidori, his signature move, required a Sharingan. It was too fast to use safely otherwise. Once perfected, it evolved into Raikiri—the Lightning Cutter.
Besides that, Kakashi had other lightning-style techniques. Kazuki was hoping to learn some tips for developing his own.
"For beginners, try starting with Lightning Style: Thunderball," Kakashi advised sincerely.
It was a basic lightning technique with room to grow. A skilled user could manifest multiple spheres, but even one was a solid start.
Kazuki gave it a shot. Moments later, a crackling orb hovered by his side—then shot forward and exploded inside a tree trunk, splitting it in two.
"This jutsu can scale if you pump in more chakra, but there's rarely a need to," Kakashi added, ever the efficient teacher.
Kazuki nodded. He remembered seeing others use Thunderball—some created a ridiculous number of them.
[Lightning Release: Thunderball – 1/500]
A new proficiency bar popped up in his system. He wasn't surprised anymore—anytime he got a new jutsu or skill, a new tracker appeared. He even had ones for "Beast Taming" and "Talk no Jutsu"...
Not that those had seen much progress.
Especially Talk no Jutsu—he barely had a measly 1 out of 500. Talking a ninja into surrendering was way harder than it looked.
Kazuki assigned a shadow clone to grind Thunderball while his main body practiced other jutsu. Great Fireball Technique was still on the daily grind list.
He was very curious to see what "Super Fireball" might look like if it evolved.
Later, the convoy arrived at a wide plain—the designated exchange point. Kazuki and his group stayed in the rear guard, as before.
That suited him just fine. It gave him more time to train.
With new techniques acquired, Kazuki added Thunderball and Great Fire Dragon Technique to his rotation. His training schedule was now so full it felt like he was bursting.
Nara Kazuki: I can't fit any more. Seriously. I'm full.
Once the exchange was done, the mission concluded.
On the way back, Kazuki noticed Inoichi looking unusually thoughtful. Something else must've happened behind the scenes—but that wasn't Kazuki's problem right now.
Once they returned to Konoha, Kazuki was granted a seven-day break. There weren't many missions requiring ANBU involvement at the moment.
He took full advantage of the downtime.
Every day, he ground proficiency like a man possessed. In addition to his daily Fireball quota, his main focus was on Great Fire Dragon and Thunderball. He couldn't wait to see what these techniques would become once they evolved.