Several days later.
Konohamaru crawled out of the dark, abandoned corner where he'd been hiding, covered from head to toe in black soot and dirt.
"I did it! I finally did it!" Overwhelmed with emotion, Konohamaru shouted triumphantly at the sky.
He finally succeeded!
With the help of the advanced scientific ninja tool known as Lightning Smokes, he successfully mastered Asuma's Ash Pile Burning!
Then, by reverse-engineering the technique, he engineered an entirely new Fire Release ninjutsu—
Fire Release: Ash Chicken Burning!
It was a technique that belonged exclusively to him, Konohamaru.
He would exhale a thick cloud of smoke filled with micro-sparks that crackled like Pop Rocks, yet never triggered a lethal explosion.
"I need to track down Naruto-niichan and Kakashi-sensei to start the next phase of training."
After howling at the sky, Konohamaru sat down on the dirt to catch his breath.
Then he scrambled back to his feet, fired up and ready to grind.
After all, he only completed phase one!
He hadn't even started the crucial step of actually gathering senjutsu chakra.
Just as Konohamaru prepared to head out, he crashed straight into Ebisu, who had been frantically searching the village for him ever since he vanished days ago.
"Konohamaru-kun! Where have you been?! How did you get this filthy? come back with me and wash up. You need to stop hanging around those delinquents..."
Ebisu whipped a handkerchief out of nowhere and started scrubbing Konohamaru's soot-stained face.
"No, Ebisu-sensei. I have to keep training Sage Mode! Grandpa is dead, and Uncle Asuma is dead too. If I don't hurry up and get stronger, you might be the next one in the ground!" Konohamaru shook his head, his eyes burning with absolute determination.
"..."
'I'm going to die too?'
Ebisu's hand froze mid-wipe.
Wait, how did Konohamaru reach that morbid conclusion?
Why was Ebisu automatically next on the chopping block?
Why not Uzumaki Naruto?
Hold on!
The first two people Konohamaru mentioned were Lord Third and Asuma.
They were his direct family.
In other words, Konohamaru desperately sought power to protect those closest to his heart.
The reason Ebisu was next on the list instead of Uzumaki Naruto was because Ebisu held a higher place in Konohamaru's hierarchy of loved ones!
Hell yeah!
"W-Wah! Konohamaru-kun, I will never betray the faith you've placed in me!" Ebisu wiped a single dramatic tear from behind his sunglasses and clenched his fist.
"Very well. I won't stop you from training, but I must supervise the entire process! I trust Kakashi, but Uzumaki Naruto barely understands the jutsu he uses himself. There's a very real chance he'll teach you something catastrophically wrong. I need to be there to stop him in time!"
"Uh... alright." Konohamaru had no choice but to agree.
Thinking about it logically, Naruto's S-rank mission was to spread the Sage Mode training method across the entire shinobi world. Ebisu would learn the dirty details sooner or later anyway.
...
And so, the two of them tracked Kakashi and Naruto down.
The duo was still hanging out at the same spot outside the village.
Compared to a few days ago, however, they had pitched actual tents by the riverbank.
Anyone out of the loop would assume they were on a leisurely camping trip. In reality, they were guarding the 'research' site.
"Naruto-niichan! Kakashi-sensei! I successfully developed it!" Konohamaru sprinted over, waving his arms.
"Really?" Kakashi looked genuinely surprised.
Konohamaru really was a genius!
He actually pulled it off?
"Konohamaru, now that you've successfully finalized the jutsu, I can finally relax. However, I need to clear the air. When I stopped you earlier, I wasn't trying to sabotage your training. I actually thought of an alternative method, but you bolted so fast I didn't get the chance to pitch it."
Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out a highly suspicious silicone tool.
"This toy was one of the inspirations behind my Purple Electricity. It's a specialty item sold by the Bottle-kun store. Once you calibrate it to a safe electrical current, you can use it directly. All you need to do is cast Lord Third's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique on this object. Then you achieve the exact same automated effect as my Purple Electricity."
Kakashi waved the silicone tool in his hand and sighed. "But I suppose it's useless now."
"No." Konohamaru shook his head. "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto-niichan mission is to spread Sage Mode throughout the entire shinobi world so everyone has the power to protect themselves. I might not need that tool, but other people can definitely use it."
"You have a point. Though other people might not possess the chakra control to learn the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique." Kakashi realized Konohamaru was right and tucked the silicone tool away safely.
"Alright, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto-niichan! Let me show you the new ninjutsu I developed!" Konohamaru rubbed his hands together, eager to flex his hard work.
"Let's see it!" Naruto crouched on top of a boulder, watching expectantly.
Kakashi and Ebisu stood flanking the kid.
Konohamaru began prepping his chakra for the demonstration.
Ebisu suddenly sensed something was horribly wrong. He rushed forward and grabbed Konohamaru by the shoulders, his face pale with terror.
"Konohamaru-kun, what exactly are you trying to do?!"
"Demonstrate Sage Mode! Oh, right, Ebisu-sensei, you still don't know about the Sage Mode shortcut, do you? Let me break it down..."
Konohamaru quickly explained the core mechanics of Naruto's degenerate Sage Mode hack and why he needed to execute this specific Fire Release jutsu to trigger it.
"What?! A method that absurdly shameless actually exists?!" Ebisu stared in utter shock.
Was he caught in a genjutsu?
The noble, prestigious Sage Mode actually relied on a degenerate physical shortcut?
What was the difference between this and turning a godlike waifu into a cheap sex toy?!
"Wait, Konohamaru-kun! How can you personally test something so dangerous?! You carry Lord Third's only direct bloodline!" After recovering from the psychological damage, Ebisu immediately tried to shut the demonstration down.
"Huh? No, Ebisu-sensei, I was going to—"
"Say no more! Let me take the hit!"
Ebisu tilted his chin forty-five degrees toward the sky, striking the heroic posture of a man ready to sacrifice his life.
"As the loyal retainer entrusted with Lord Third's orphaned grandson, I must live up to his expectations! For your sake, I will devote myself completely, even unto death!"
"Are you sure?"
Konohamaru really wanted to clarify that he planned to use a shadow clone for the demonstration, and that the actual training involved clones too.
But seeing Ebisu's tear-jerking sincerity, Konohamaru couldn't bring himself to ruin the moment.
Besides, even if he used a shadow clone, the sensory feedback would still return to the main body upon detonation.
That was the entire mechanical foundation of Naruto's Sage Mode hack.
"I would walk through fire and boiling water for you, Konohamaru-kun." Ebisu nodded with absolute resolve.
"Alright, then. I'm counting on you."
Seeing Ebisu insist so fiercely, Konohamaru stopped arguing. He already finalized the jutsu's output and safely tested it on shadow clones before coming here.
There wouldn't be any lethal complications.
It probably wouldn't cause Ebisu-sensei any permanent damage either.
The two of them moved to opposite sides of the clearing and squared up.
"Ebisu-sensei, here I come!"
"Fire Release: Ash Chicken Burning!"
Konohamaru locked onto Ebisu's... target area, inhaled deeply, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
The gray cloud crackled with countless tiny sparks.
The instant the smoke made contact with Ebisu, it clung tight to the target zone and instantly incinerated the fabric covering the outside!