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Like every squad of newly graduated Genin, Squad 10 started with the most basic D-rank missions.
Down at the river, Shizune and Kurenai wore bamboo baskets on their backs, wading through the water as they carefully searched for and scooped up floating debris and sunken trash.
Shinichi Higashino, who was supposed to be working alongside them, was currently sitting cross-legged in the shade of a tree on the riverbank.
The one working in the river with the two girls was merely one of his Shadow Clones.
Sitting on a large, flat rock not far away, Tsunade casually crossed her legs, holding a canned drink in one hand.
Her gaze swept over the two girls in the river, then landed back on Shinichi's real body on the shore, and she raised an eyebrow.
"I say, you brat. Are you just going to sit there and watch? You're letting two girls do all the heavy lifting in the river while you slack off over here?"
At that moment, Shinichi was entirely focused on his right hand, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fist.
With every contraction, the muscles in his forearm instantly tightened and bulged. Pale blue chakra surged frantically through specific chakra pathways, flickering visibly in the gaps between his muscles and blood vessels.
As he slowly opened his hand, the residual chakra dissolved into fine blue specks of light, dissipating through his fingers, and the bulging veins slowly subsided like a receding tide.
Tsunade watched for a moment before saying, "Are you trying to condense your chakra into your fist more stably and efficiently?"
"Yes, Tsunade-sensei," Shinichi nodded. "I'm trying to precisely, rapidly, and safely condense and maintain chakra in specific areas of my body that generate force, like my arms and fists."
"Ah, that." Tsunade swirled her canned drink, her tone casual. "I happen to know a little bit about that."
She said it lightly, but in reality, she knew far more than "a little bit."
The core of the monstrous strength she was famous for lay exactly in the extreme compression and condensation of massive amounts of chakra, focusing it precisely into a specific part of the body, and perfectly detonating it the instant it made contact with the target to produce devastating destructive power.
The prerequisite for learning monstrous strength was achieving an absurdly strict level of refined chakra control.
The difficulty lay in compressing and refining an amount of chakra massive enough to shatter mountains to its absolute limit, yet perfectly concealing it before the moment of impact, without allowing a single halo of light or ripple of fluctuation to leak out.
Only detonating that supremely suppressed power the exact moment the attack landed on the enemy—that was considered passing the threshold of monstrous strength.
To reach the point where every punch and kick—the condensation, concealment, and detonation of chakra—was controlled entirely at will, without the slightest hesitation or obvious sign of charging up...
Where that mountain-shattering, rock-splitting power felt like an everyday part of you, as natural as breathing... That was when you had truly mastered monstrous strength.
And Tsunade had long since honed this power to the absolute zenith, wielding it as freely and naturally as an instinct with every movement.
Now, looking at Shinichi's arm—veins bulging and light flickering erratically from his forceful attempt to condense chakra—she shook her head.
Perhaps out of a sense of responsibility as an instructor, or perhaps simply because, like many women, she couldn't stand seeing a man lazing around, Tsunade tilted her chin toward the river.
"Go on, get to work," Tsunade ordered. "Make your real body move too. Afterward, if I'm in a good mood, I might give you a pointer or two."
Hearing this, Shinichi stopped his experiment. He glanced at his Shadow Clone and two teammates busy in the river, then at Tsunade's seemingly casual but unquestionable expression, and nodded.
---
As the sun set, marking the end of the day's missions, Shinichi Higashino parted ways with the rest of Squad 10 at an intersection and walked home alone.
Passing by a familiar newsstand, he habitually bought the latest edition of the Weekly Current Events.
Walking slowly, he casually flipped it open. The front-page headline hit him like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly capturing all his attention.
[Once Every Three Years! The Grand Opening of the Bamboo Harvest Festival Approaches! The Daimyo Himself to Host the "Number One in the Land of Fire" Culinary Competition!]
The headline was bold and eye-catching. The accompanying photo showed a bustling, brilliantly illuminated scene from a past festival, packed with massive crowds.
The article went into great detail, introducing this most ancient and grand festival tradition of the Land of Fire, as well as a brand-new segment proposed and hosted by the current Daimyo himself—the "Number One in the Land of Fire" Culinary Competition.
According to the report, the competition was open to the entire Land of Fire, including all its affiliated towns and ninja villages. It welcomed anyone who believed their culinary skills were masterful, aiming to unearth folk delicacies and promote the Land of Fire's culinary culture.
The ultimate winner would receive the title and certification of "Land of Fire Master Chef," bestowed personally by the Daimyo, along with the opportunity to further their studies in the Daimyo's royal kitchen system or receive official backing to open their own high-end restaurant.
Shinichi's gaze lingered on the words Master Chef, personally bestowed by the Daimyo, and national attention for a long time. His footsteps unconsciously ground to a halt as he carefully read every single detail.
With a thought, a corner of his personal interface materialized in his mind, highlighting the description of the [Glutton] trait:
> [Glutton (Green): Your digestive system and metabolic efficiency have undergone a qualitative change. Not only can you consume food at an astonishing speed and capacity, but you also highly efficiently extract the energy and nutrients from it, gaining far greater pleasure and stamina recovery than ordinary people. At the same time, your perception of food has become exceptionally acute, allowing you to clearly distinguish the finest nuances in ingredient quality, heat control, and flavor balance.]
Compared to the white-quality [Foodie] trait, Glutton further enhanced his body's efficiency in absorbing and converting nutrients, while also adding an acute sense of taste.
Ultimately, the label of "eating a lot" wouldn't leave a deep enough or shocking enough impression on the public—unless he literally turned into a bottomless pit. But after acquiring the [Glutton] trait, Shinichi's appetite hadn't increased; it had actually decreased slightly.
This made Shinichi realize that this trait, upgraded from [Foodie], perhaps wasn't simply meant to give the world the impression that he "could eat a lot." Because a true foodie doesn't just "eat a lot"—they know how to eat and understand what they're eating.
Thinking this, Shinichi returned his gaze to the newspaper. His eyes flickered as a bold idea suddenly popped into his head.
If the First Hokage founding Konoha—thereby establishing the "One Country, One Village" system across the ninja world—could be considered creating a new era...
Then the Sage of Six Paths founding Ninshu—spreading the methods of cultivating and using chakra throughout the world—could be considered laying the foundation for how the entire world operated, turning the title of Sage of Six Paths and the profession of ninja into a universal consensus and custom that had lasted for a millennium.
What if I can also anchor the name "Shinichi Higashino" and the things I create into the cultural fabric and historical consensus of this world? Just like how the Sage of Six Paths anchored Ninshu into history, making it a cornerstone of human civilization and a logic by which the world operates.
Take it a step further: what if people unconsciously follow the traces of my existence in their daily lives—in their food, clothing, shelter, transportation, cultural customs, festivals, and even their everyday language?
What would happen then?