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59.37% Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve / Chapter 190: CH_6.19 (190)

Chương 190: CH_6.19 (190)

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———

.

"I can die?"

That sounded needlessly ominous to Takuma, but the surprise lasted only a few seconds. There were a hundred different things that could kill him, and there were plenty of shinobi who knew how to mask their chakra.

"How so?" he asked.

"Are you aware of chakra exhaustion?" asked Daiki.

"When a shinobi uses up all of their chakra… which leads to death. Does that have something to do with the risk of death associated with chakra masking?" asked Takuma.

Chakra was akin to the life force, and using it all up was a well-documented cause of death among shinobi. There was a reason why chakra management was so crucial among shinobi, as running out of chakra literally spelled death, even if they defeated their enemies.

Daiki continued, "There's the traditional chakra exhaustion or Type-1 chakra exhaustion—when you use up all your chakra and there's not a drop left in your body and you die. But there's another type of chakra exhaustion, Type-2 chakra exhaustion. That passive mixing of chakra by the body is essential for keeping your body alive. If, for any reason, that passive mixing is cut off, you are immediately under the threat of death.

"Your organs start to fail. Your heart slows down, your lungs can't filter air, the kidneys can't clear toxins from your blood, your brain starts to shut down, and the sensory organs stop communicating. It's hazardous. One moment, you're healthy, the next moment, you are in a worse condition than a hundred-year-old man under round-the-clock care."

"And we are trying to limit that passive chakra mixing," Takuma commented.

"Indeed. We shinobi who train to utilize chakra are different from civilians. Our bodies naturally produce excessive amounts of that passively mixed chakra. We can limit that flow because we have an excess of it, but if you push it too far and accidentally cut the flow—which is not difficult to do—you push yourself into a high risk of dying by Type-2 chakra exhaustion," said Daiki.

"I have a question," said Takuma. "Let's say I accidentally cut the passive mixing of chakra. What if I then actively mix chakra and manually circulate that?"

"Excellent question. The problem here is that when you cut the passive mixing, you then become unable to mix chakra actively. I haven't done it, so I don't know the sensation, but someone with the experience told me that it's akin to tripping a fuse. You simply lose the ability to mix the two energies. You could be completely rested with full tanks of both energies, but once you cut that connection, you will be unable to do anything with those full tanks."

Takuma hummed. He focused inside, and it was as easy as a thought to command his Physical and Spiritual Energies to mix and have a gush of chakra flowing through the chakra pathway network. It was an uncomfortable thought to lose something that seemed so natural.

"The fact we know all of this and that you said you talked to someone with experience—meaning they lived to tell the tale means that there's something more to it," Takuma asked Daiki.

"That there is," Daiki smiled. "If you cut off the passive mixing of chakra, it resumes after some time. However, that time varies from person to person. It could be a few safe seconds or a couple of minutes, but you're dead by that time. And it's not constant— one day, your passive production could kick start within a quarter of a minute, but another day, you're struggling for two minutes without a peep.

"That's why it's dangerous. There's never any surety in it."

Takuma breathed out. He thanked himself that he delayed learning chakra masking. If he were in the village, he would've picked up a guide scroll to learn at his own pace because he couldn't have taken time off his already hectic schedule to learn from a teacher. Now, with all the free time he had at Camp Banana, Takuma could learn directly from someone experienced like Daiki.

"That's why Hajime wasn't worried and laughed. He doesn't have to risk his life to detect chakra signatures, but you have to put yourself at risk to hide from him," said Daiki. "Most don't progress after attaining a basic level of proficiency because of the fear that if they push it further, they're putting themselves under greater risk—true, but if you want to be great, you embrace that risk."

Daiki smiled as though the prospect of living on the edge of life and death was thrilling to him.

Takuma gulped.

It was true, then it was a very dangerous way of thinking.

"Before I teach you the trick, a few other things to remember," said Daiki. "It should be obvious, but you can't actively mix chakra while trying to limit the passive mix— that defeats the purpose of it all. The more chakra you have in your body, the louder you're to a sensory-nin.

"Second, it's unhealthy to limit the passive mix. We have an excess amount, but our bodies have adapted to that amount as our natural, and you're essentially doing something unnatural to your body. Limit your chakra for too long regularly; you will feel sick, tired, and weak. So, no overdoing it in training."

"Aye, aye, sir," said Takuma.

"Let's head back home to start and hope you don't die."

Takuma laughed.

As they turned back to move to their home, they encountered a small entourage of Hidden Steam shinobi walking towards them. They were immediately recognizable as everyone was dressed in Hidden Steam colors. A middle-aged man led the group. The group's body language suggested that the man was an important personage, or at least higher-ranking than others.

"Who are they?" Takuma whispered to Daiki.

He was aware that there was a small group of Hidden Steam shinobi in Camp Banana for 'coordination.' But it was plenty clear that Hidden Leaf was in charge of all missions that came to Camp Banana. The Hidden Steam group had some say and power— but not much.

"That's Tokubetsu Jonin Benzou," Daiki whispered back. "He's the highest-ranking Hidden Steam shinobi in Camp Banana and the one in charge of the Hidden Steam shinobi here."

"So a big shot," Takuma said.

As they passed by each other, Takuma's eyes met with Benzou. Takuma sent a respectful nod to Benzou, which the older man returned. The interaction ended as they passed by each other.

"He looked stressed," said Daiki.

"Who won't be after getting that kind of news," Takuma assumed Benzou, who was stationed at Camp Banana so close to the gold mine, would be stressed about the presence of five jonin in his territory.

Takuma said,

"Well, I hope he and the other higher-ups make the right decision."

———

.

Iori smiled at the sun shining bright in the sky. It was a rare day that the sun had risen so brightly, so Iori had pushed a table out in the open as she worked on her seals with the sunrays warming her. The near-constant overcast sky was depressing, so she greatly appreciated every moment of sunshine she could get.

Iori hummed to herself as she worked.

"You're in a good mood."

She looked up to see Takuma walking towards her.

"Ugh, just looking at you makes me tired," she said. He wore weighted gear every second of the day, and Iori couldn't imagine herself lugging that around all day long, even though she spent most of her time making seals in her room.

"And I can't imagine myself sitting in one place all day long," Takuma replied as she sat on the ground beside her.

Iori was working, but she didn't mind some company. She could make explosive tags in her sleep after creating thousands, if not tens of thousands of them. Having a conversation partner wasn't a bad thing right now.

"That ink is expensive, isn't it," said Takuma.

Iori glanced down at her inkpot of the special chakra ink used for fuinjutsu. The chakra ink was a base for creating seal-specific inks by adding other ingredients. There was also an ink slab on her table on which she had mixed a blend specially designed for explosive tags. There was an entire population of fuin-nin who seldom touched a brush to make seals and entirely focused on making chakra ink and developing ink blends for a variety of seals.

"It is expensive," she said.

"You know, I always wondered about this. I was wondering if you could answer my query," he said. "I use Grade-1 explosive tags, but whenever I go into a weapons store, there are so many different types of explosive tags—but all of them are Grade-1. I noticed all of them have different patterns. What's the deal with that?"

Iori laughed, "They're not patterns; they're called formulas. Do you buy your explosive tags randomly every time you need more?"

"No, I chose the kind my teacher recommended."

"That's one way to do it. Maybe that's why you didn't notice," Iori's hand moved on the tag paper as she drew the formula in a swift and unbroken manner without a hint of hesitations in her brush strokes. "A seal can be broken down into three basic components: the seal formula, ink blend, and the fuin-nin putting together a seal. These three basic components decide how the final seal will turn out."

She turned to look at the spread of explosive tags she had created and picked up one where the ink had dried. "Here, look at this. Do you have an explosive tag on you?" Iori gave the explosive tag to Takuma.

"Always," Takuma took an explosive tag from his pouch and held the two tags beside each other.

"Notice the difference?" she asked.

"Yeah, the patterns— the formulas are different," he said.

"Correct. There are dozens of different formulas that could be used to make an explosion tag. Every one of them results in an explosion, but they all achieve it in a different way, and that's where the difference lies— if you burn both of those, you will notice the difference in detonation time, explosion direction, and concentration— and there are other factors like durability against tamper, success rate, and shelf life.

"And then there's the fuin-nin side of things that don't concern the shinobi using the tag. The time it takes to complete a seal, its sensitivity to chakra, and the actual functionality." She pointed at the tag she had given to Takuma. "That tag is going into an emergency cache deep in the battlefield. The formula used has a long shelf life; that tag will last for a year before it starts deteriorating and becomes a dud. It will explode just like any other tag, but because we can't access emergency caches every month, that tag needs to last long for it to be useful in the cache."

"Wow," Takuma gazed at the two tags in his hands. "There's a lot to it, isn't there."

"There is. Half of it, you don't need to know, but every shinobi should be aware of the important half. Like a shelf-life option— if you know how long the tag will last, you will know when to replace it."

"Where do I learn all of this?"

"Just ask the shop to give you the catalog. Every tag on sale will be listed there, along with all the necessary information. That tag must be your teacher's preference, but you can choose your own."

"This is a whole lot more interesting than I thought it would be," Takuma said. "What about the ink blend? How does that come into play?"

Iori held up her ink pot. "This is chakra ink—ink infused with chakra. You use this as a base and add other ingredients to make a blend suited for a purpose. You can't use the blend for an explosive tag to create a storage seal. Good quality increases shelf life and reduces the chances of pulling a dud. A tag cheaper than its contemporaries almost always means they are using a lower-quality blend.

"This base chakra ink is not cheap, and you have to add other ingredients on top of that. I'm telling you, the real money is in selling this stuff. If I had the money, I would open a chakra ink factory. But it costs too much to enter the competition— the Hyuga crushes anyone who dares enter the market."

Takuma stared at the ink pot for a moment.

"Yes, I remember now. It wasn't my department, but I do remember there being cases of ink theft," he said.

"Police Force, right. Yeah, this stuff can sell for a lot if you're able to get a hand on it. I have a liter of it hidden in my bedroom," Iori winked.

Both of them laughed.

"And I assume the third component is a fuin-nin's skill," said Takuma.

"Yup, you can have the greatest formula and the highest quality blend, it's all useless if you don't have the skill for it," she said.

"No wonder you guys make bank," said Takuma.

"I'm still waiting to make bank," Iori sighed.

Takuma stood up and patted her on the shoulder.

"You will make it one day. I believe in you. Don't forget the little old me when you become a lady of vast riches."

Iori laughed, "Thanks. You going?"

"Yeah, that's it for today. I'll see you later, alright?" Takuma said as he walked away while waving.

Iori watched Takuma and sighed. Just watching him walk away was tiring.

———

.

 

"Did she find out?" asked Takuma.

"If she did, she didn't say anything," replied 'Takuma.'

Takuma stared at his water clone, impressed with what he had just accomplished. Iori just had an entire conversation with a water clone without realizing she was talking to one. He was hiding behind the house as he couldn't be away from the water clone lest it would return to water, which was a limitation he was completely fine with— there was only one could ask from a C-rank jutsu.

"So, what did you talk about?" asked Takuma.

"We got into a conversation about fuinjutsu and fuin-nin," the clone replied.

Takuma listened to the clone carefully, not intending to miss out on any information. Unlike the Shadow Clone Jutsu, the Water Clone Jutsu lacked the information-transfer-on-jutsu-release feature. Which was why the Water Clone Jutsu couldn't be used for reconnaissance missions or for the cheat-like training exploit.

"And that's about it," the clone told Takuma everything about their conversation.

"Alright, I will remember it," Takuma nodded before releasing the jutsu. The clone turned into a water splashed wide on the ground.

Takuma stretched his arms up above his head and decided to head back home. When he reached the building, he noticed one of the Hidden Leaf shinobi with a handful of letters. He immediately broke into a jog.

"Hey, is there anything for me? I'm Takuma."

"Takuma, Takuma… found it, yeah, there's one," said the man.

"Nice. Thank you," Takuma said as he opened the letter on the spot.

It was from Maruboshi.

A smile appeared on Takuma's face as he read his teacher's neat and flowing brush calligraphy. The first two paragraphs were routine. He chuckled at how formal Maruboshi sounded in writing. As Takuma read further—

"Huh…"

The Hidden Leaf shinobi looked up at Takuma, whose expression had flipped from joy to grave solemnity.

"Is something wrong?"

Takuma didn't reply because he didn't hear it.

All his attention was focused on the one line he had just read.

[—The Uchiha Clan has accused Shimura Danzo of Bloodline Theft—]

.

———

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The link is in the synopsis!


Chương 191: CH_6.20 (191)

Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @

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The link is also in the synopsis

———

.

In the early morning, with dew still fresh on leaves and mist lingering in the air, Takuma stood in the small farm field that had been overtaken by weeds from the lack of care. Slowly and deliberately, he practiced his hook kick. But his body moved on its own as his mind was elsewhere.

Yesterday, he had received Maruboshi's letter and had found the earth-shattering news.

The Uchiha Clan had accused Shimura Danzo of Bloodline Theft.

The letter was fairly short, without extensive information regarding the incident, but Takuma could fill in the gap.

Maruboshi had said that Uchiha had recently lost a clan member, and their eyes had gone missing. The news floating around didn't mention the shinobi's name, but Maruboshi discovered that the Uchiha clan had recently lost Jonin Uchiha Shisui. Even without Maruboshi's deduction, Takuma would've assumed the dead to be Uchiha Shisui.

It meant that Shisui had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan.

He ignored the goosebumps on his arms and continued to kick forth.

Takuma realized that he was the reason why the Uchiha clan had accused Danzo of the bloodline theft. His letter to Mikoto had been largely focused on Danzo as the biggest threat to the Uchiha clan. It had been particularly harsh on the man to ensure that Mikoto would understand that the clan needed to beware of the man and his diabolical machinations.

Despite the restlessness in his heart that had kept sleep away from him last night, Takuma was glad that the Uchiha clan had taken the step. Their very public accusation would bring the spotlight on Danzo, binding his hands to an extent, preventing him from making drastic moves behind the scenes—moves like dooming the Uchiha clan.

His letter had definitely thrown Shisui and Itachi under the bus, but in Takuma's view, it had to be done. By revealing their backdoor dealings, he had made it so that the two would suffer the ire of their clan, for they had betrayed the clan even if it was for the good of the clan and village—Shisui was already dead, and people's opinion mellowed out when judging the dead, but Itachi was still alive. Takuma couldn't say what steps the Uchiha clan would take against Itachi.

Takuma couldn't ease his restlessness by throwing himself into training. The anxiety overflowed in his heart. He stopped kicking and sat on the ground with his head between his hands.

His letter to Mikoto wasn't well thought of. He was aware of the radical consequences his letter could cause, and he had deliberately ignored everything so that Mikoto would know what was coming so she could at least protect herself.

By revealing that one of the village elders like Shimura Danzo, who was openly known for his Anti-Uchiha position, had gone ahead and stolen an eye or a pair of eyes from Uchiha Shisui—a pair of the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan—the Uchiha clan which was already dissatisfied with the village, they could be pushed over the edge and outright launch their coup against the Hidden Leaf.

Not to mention, now that the Uchiha knew that Shisui and Itachi had already communicated the clan's plans to overthrow the current administration to the 'enemy,' they would be wound up tighter than ever, ready to pounce at anything that smelled slightly as a danger to the clan.

Takuma knew that he had poured fuel all over the village and had thrown a match into the mess to light the fires of unrest all over the Hidden Leaf.

He didn't regret his letter to Mikoto, but the thoughts of 'What-If' plagued his mind. He had lost hours on end simply worrying, filled with anxiety, about the gravity of his actions. He had sought to protect Mikoto from a horrifying future that he knew was coming, but in doing so, he might have pushed her into another future drowning deep in danger.

'What have I—'

"Is everything alright?"

Takuma flinched and jumped up to his feet on pure instinct. He was so deep into his thoughts that he didn't notice someone walk behind him. With chakra flowing through his left arm and the right hand in his weapons pouch, he turned to face the voice, ready to attack whoever it was.

A few steps away from him stood Tokubetsu Jonin Benzou from Hidden Steam.

"Easy there, no need to be so jumpy," Benzou stepped back, his hands raised in defense while showing that he didn't mean any harm.

Takuma immediately eased up and went into an apology. "I'm sorry about that. You took me by surprise," he said. "How may I help you, Tokubetsu Jonin Benzou?"

"I noticed you and came to see if something was wrong," said Benzou. "May I sit with you?"

Takuma hesitated. There was a delicate balance in how Takuma needed to interact with Benzou. He needed to be respectful as Benzou was a Tokubetsu Jonin, but he couldn't be too reverential as Benzou wasn't Hidden Leaf shinobi as such, he didn't have any authority over Takuma.

"Please," Takuma motioned, and the two sat down together.

"May I ask what troubles you?" asked Benzou.

"Some trouble at home," said Takuma.

"Family?"

"I'm an orphan, sir."

"Well, hello, fellow orphan," Benzou smiled.

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Takuma.

"Thank you, but it's been too long."

Takuma nodded. "What brings you here, sir? Early morning training?"

Benzou chuckled. "It's a fault of mine, but I'm not an early riser. I couldn't sleep last night and thought perhaps an early morning walk would do me some good."

Takuma could wholeheartedly relate. "Something stressing you, sir? Is it the gold mine situation?"

Benzou glanced at Takuma for a moment before nodding.

"It was my first time seeing the gold mines. I was surprised by the large pit," said Takuma.

"Hmm, did your team bring back the news?" Benzou asked, surprised.

"Yes, sir."

"What a coincidence."

Takuma gave a brief smile before saying, "If I'm not overstepping my boundaries, may I ask what the leadership's current position is towards the jonin occupying the gold mines? They don't tell genin like us much."

"We want to take back the mines, but we don't have the resources to defend it. Because of its value, there's no doubt the enemy would attack it again. By simply attempting to take over, we risk losing people and then more while defending the mine from subsequent attacks," said Benzou.

Takuma was surprised. He truly didn't expect Benzou to answer, and he was simply making conversation. It seemed that the issue was bearing down on Benzou more than what Takuma was thinking.

He wanted to suggest that Hidden Leaf could help defend the mine, but he remembered the conversation he had with Kameko and Iori at the gold mines. There was a chance that the Hidden Steam feared that Hidden Leaf would want a cut.

"… Then how about you make it so that there's no need to defend the gold mines," said Takuma.

Benzou looked at Takuma in confusion. "What might you mean?"

"Destroy the infrastructure, fill up the holes, free the miners—make it so they can't pick up the shovel and start digging. Revert the entire operation to a state where the enemy will have to bring in manpower and investment to rebuild the infrastructure and reintroduce their labor into the mines to make it functional. And if they do try to rebuild, it will take time, and we can use that time to harass them and hinder their progress, wasting their time and resources," Takuma said nonchalantly.

"What!?" Benzou looked shocked. "How could we destroy the mine which provides the country with wealth?!"

Takuma shrugged. "It's not doing that right now. Right now, the gold mines are funding the enemy's war coffers while the Land of Hot Waters is not only not getting anything, but you are losing every day through opportunity cost. You can always rebuild after the war is over, but you cannot take back what the enemy has already stolen."

From where Takuma stood, the gold mine was a past asset that had turned into a current liability. To him, it was clear that the best course of action of the least pain was to destroy the liability. If the higher-ups couldn't balance the equation with the gold mine on it—then it was better if they took it out of the equation completely.

"You can even reduce the risk of fatality that comes with taking over the mine. The solution is already there," Takuma said.

Benzou stared at Takuma wordlessly.

Takuma continued, "There's an open valley which is a potential corridor into either territory. Use it as bait. Make it a decoy to lure away the troops from the gold mines, which are relatively close by, and when they're weak, hit the mine hard and fast so they don't know what hit them.

"It's the type of bait-and-switch I like," Takuma smiled.

Takuma looked at Benzou, and he could see the conflict on the man's face. He knew where it was coming from; his time as the leader of the Narcotics Taskforce and the politics of it all had taught him a lot.

He stood up to leave.

"I understand, sir, that this idea won't be accepted with open arms, and some might dislike you for suggesting it. But this is a war on your nation, sir. I believe it's your duty to try everything in your power, even if it means getting burned a little," said Takuma. "And you know…"

Benzou looked up.

Takuma smiled, "If this goes through well, you will be showered with praise, and your country will be grateful to you. It's simple risk and reward, sir…. I will take my leave now.

"Have a good day, sir."

———

.

Takuma sat on the floor of the living room of his house in Camp Banana. He groaned in discomfort as he followed the passive mix of chakra move through his body. It wasn't something he had ever felt before Daiki had taught him the trick. As he focused on the natural flow to reduce the mix, he felt uncomfortable—as though he was doing something extremely wrong.

"Is it supposed to feel like this?" Takuma asked Daiki, who was nearby doing the dumbbell press exercise.

"What does it feel like?"

"Like I'm doing something I shouldn't be."

"You are doing something you shouldn't be, my friend. Keep going," said Daiki.

Takuma grunted as he slowly tried to limit the passive mix. It was a difficult task as a moment of lapse would either have the flow return straight to normal or dip down into dangerous territory. He couldn't push harder because of the apparent death scenario through Type-2 chakra exhaustion.

It was very delicate work. He could tell that this would've been easier if his chakra control was better and how this could be used as an exercise to improve chakra control. A bad exercise as the risk to reward ratio was terrible.

"It becomes much easier after practice," said Daiki.

"I know, I'm not complaining."

"If you say so."

Takuma chuckled with hints of irritation. "Shit!" he yelled when he lost focus, and the passive flow went back to normal. He knew that he was nowhere close to being able to use chakra masking in the field. It took too much of his focus to keep it up.

Takuma stood up and stretched his legs. He wanted to take a break and see what his water clone was doing in his room.

They suddenly heard a shout from outside their house.

"Takuma! Daiki!"

The two looked at each other, knowing who it was.

Takuma stepped out of the front door and opened it to see Anko standing in front of the building with an umbrella to shield her from the drizzle that had been pouring for hours.

"What?" he asked.

"Get ready and meet me at the house near the t-section in ten minutes. Bring Daiki with you," said Anko. "Emergency meeting."

"What's it about?"

Takuma looked back to see Daiki towering behind him.

Anko replied,

"The gold mines."

.

———

Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.

The link is in the synopsis!


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