Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve-Chapter 10.3 (369)

Takuma was back at Yamanaka Inenpachi's clinic.

"I'm interested in this research," said Inenpachi.

He already knew the iryo-nin had decided to take on the research because he would've politely declined over a phone call if he didn't want to.

"I'd like to preface this by saying we don't know if there'll be a positive outcome. We can set a target and work towards it, but there's no guarantee we'll succeed. Research is about asking a concise question and finding the answer, which could very well be not to our liking."

Takuma nodded in understanding. He was aware that all of the time and effort could go to waste, but he so desperately wanted the Shadow Clone Jutsu to be the booster he needed it to be. Without it, he didn't know how he would get stronger at the required pace.

"Seeing that you agreed, you think it's possible," said Takuma.

Inenpachi nodded. "Are you familiar with chakra-assisted growth?"

Chakra-assisted growth was the phenomenon where training growth would be boosted by chakra. If someone was training to be stronger, the person's chakra would stimulate growth in the desired direction. It was the primary reason shinobi exceeded human limits and gained supernatural physical prowess.

"Is it the same with the mind?" Takuma leaned forward in his chair. If chakra-assisted growth could be applied to mental faculties and he could boost his memory, thought and sensory processing capabilities, it would be huge for every aspect of his life.

"The mind and brain are much more complex than the body. If we could produce similar results to physical gains, my clan would've already taken over the world by now," Inenpachi answered. "However, the brain is already capable of so much more than most people think. We just need to make it available to you and I believe that chakra-assisted growth can be the answer to your problem."

"Okay, how are going to do it?" asked Takuma.

"First, we need to understand the problem. You're using shadow clones in a way that they weren't supposed to. They were created so a shinobi could create temporary help or send a riskless scout into a dangerous situation. They weren't supposed to be used for training like you are doing," said Inenpachi.

"It's a waste not to."

"I understand. However, you're an edge case because of how extreme you are. Shadow clones can be used for an entire day, and it wouldn't be a problem because the brain can sufficiently handle memory consolidation and emotional processing during sleep. Maybe you'd be fine for a few days, perhaps even for a week, but when you start pushing consistently high loads for weeks and months without a break, you're putting an amount of stress that piles up without any chance to recover."

"So, it was my fault."

"Absolutely. Tell me, did you feel unstable and fluctuating emotions?" asked Inenpachi.

Takuma nodded. He had been massively irritated when Okahachi was missing, and he felt every failure to find him would bother him for a few days. He hadn't thought much of it back then, but looking back at it, he was all over the place. He thanked himself for not doing anything stupid at Maizuru Quarters.

"That should've been the sign you were overworking your brain. Our initial goal will be to reach a place where your brain can handle a clone's memories and experience who has been up the same number of hours as you."

"Wait. I said that I'd soon be able to create more clones. I need to be able to work with them," said Takuma.

"I'm not saying that wouldn't be possible, but we need to keep our scope limited to have a better chance at success. We don't have much research to build upon, so in my opinion, this approach would be wise," Inenpachi explained the logic calmly as though it was normal.

Takuma wasn't satisfied, but he also wasn't an expert in the field. Inenpachi seemed so professional and confident in his words that he didn't even feel he could convince him to expand the scope.

"Alright, I'll rely on you for matters of research," Takuma nodded with a sigh as he settled into his chair. "What do you need for me to do?"

"There are some non-negotiables you must do for this to be fruitful," Inenpachi said seriously. "First, I'll dictate how many hours you can use a clone daily; you must not overshoot it under any circumstances. Consistency in data is essential for any good research. Second, you would need to come in at least once or twice a week so I can monitor the state of your mind."

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"What if I'm busy with work? My job requires me to travel often," said Takuma. He was leaving the village with Krait for a few days to investigate the strange chakra signature.

"Of course, I understand those circumstances. I only want regular records so we can monitor changes."

"It'll be high on the list of my priority," Takuma assured him. "Anything else?"

"Yes, one final thing, but it's perhaps the most important thing."

"What is it?"

"You need at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. Your mind and body do most of the restoration and recovery while it sleeps, so you must give it that time to do its job."

Takuma's facial muscles twitched at the demand. He hadn't slept more than six and a half hours since he had started training with Maruboshi during his academy days. His time at the hospital was the only exception, and even then, he only slept an hour more. Now, he was a busy ANBU-nin with a heavy workload and was asked to sleep at least eight hours daily.

"How about seven?" Takuma tried to negotiate.

"Ideally, I'd want nine but I'm compromising with eight. I don't know a lot about you. Still, you seem to be the type who works and trains excessively, so I understand why you feel uncomfortable, but believe me, a good night's sleep will boost your productivity," Inenpachi said straightforwardly.

Takuma's face contorted, showing how uncomfortable he was at the prospect of adding an hour and a half of sleep to his schedule. That was the same as his morning training session. He groaned while staring at Inenpachi, hoping the iryo-nin would cut half an hour off, but when that never came, he sighed and nodded in defeat.

"Fine, I'll sleep."

———

.

It took Takuma and Krait six hours to reach the nearest Leaf post in a small town where two of the three reports by sensory-nin had been registered. The post was a small office with ten or so genin who served the nearby towns and villages; even their head was an old genin.

All of them, including the head, were stiff, scared of making any wrong moves. They hadn't been informed that two ANBU-nin would be visiting them. All of them were career genin who would either renew their contracts or become low-level bodyguards for some local businessman.

"So, where were these strange chakra signatures noticed?" Takuma asked.

"There's a large forest a few hours away from here called Taiheiyo Evergreen Forest. Our two reports were reported from our side of the forest, but the other report was registered on the other side," the head replied as he poured in orange squash for both of them.

Takuma and Krait looked at each other. Taiheiyo Evergreen Forest was a vast wild forest that spanned thousands of square kilometres. If the same chakra signature was felt on opposite sides of the forest, it either meant that the signature was strong or the animal was moving around, there were multiple of them, or all of the above.

"What did you find in their search?"

"We launched a few investigations. All of us went into the forest to find the source, but when we couldn't find anything after multiple attempts, we gave up. The same goes for other posts." The head looked unsure as he asked, "Is there something wrong in the forest?"

"That's what we are here to find out. Did you notice anything special?"

"If there was anything special, we didn't see it."

"Very well," Takuma said as he stood up with Krait to leave. "We'll look into it."

———

.

"So, how are we going to look into it?" Takuma asked Krait as they stood on the edge of the Taiheiyo Evergreen Forest. There were only two people. If the ten genin at the post couldn't find anything, how could they do any better, even if he used his Earth Release: Earth Tremor Sense Jutsu all day? "We should've requested for a sensory-nin..."

Because Krait was the lead on the case, it was his call. Takuma thought he would put in a request for one, but he never did.

"It's okay; we don't need one," Krait said as he removed one of his gloves while looking into the forest through his shades. "Campbell put me on this mission for a reason."

Takuma's eyes widened when he saw minuscule holes all over his hand.

He stepped closer to the forest and waved his hand for a bunch of whitish-green worms to spray out. They landed on the dirt and stayed still for a few seconds before digging underground.

"What do they do?" asked Takuma.

"They're called shoikaichu," he replied while asking Takuma to follow him into the forest. "They can sense chakra signatures. I'll spread them throughout the forest. We'll find some answers by tomorrow or the day after that at most."

And for the second time in his life, Takuma felt envious of the Aburame clan. Even though he didn't want hundreds or thousands of bugs using his body as a host, he couldn't help but envy the sheer versatility of their clan's insect-based hiden jutsu. They had been breeding various types of insects for generations and developed insects with various uses. He predicted that, given a few decades to a century, they would have insects who could do everything one desired and become one of the strongest clans in the world.

"Do you think it's one strong animal or a group of them?" Takuma asked as they jumped from one forest to another.

"We'd have more information if we could talk to the sensory-nin, but all of them are far and busy. However, the simplest answer is most often the correct one. Three reports over two years—it's probably a group that's growing through reproduction," Krait answered while continuing to spread the worms. They had already spread close to a thousand.

"Occam's Razor."

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's just hope that's true."

———

.

Two days later, they had an answer.

"...It's not an animal or a group," Krait said, his voice, which was usually calm, had a tone of doubt.

They stood at the edge of the forest. He had a handful of worms twice the size they were two days. They wriggled in his palm; they seemed to be communicating something to him.

Takuma glanced at his head, wondering if there was a worm in Krait's brain that allowed him to communicate with other worms. The thought of it sent a shiver down his spine.

"Then what is it?" asked Takuma.

Krait turned to him and said,

"It's a building."