Naruto: The Hidden Shadow Style

Konoha likely had no real reason or need to monitor someone like Haseo. If they ever wanted to, though, it wouldn't have been hard at all.

Haseo had neither ill intent nor had he done anything wrong, so he wasn't afraid of being watched. Still, having such a private and secure personal space was ultimately a good thing.

Everyone has their own little secrets and plans—better kept under wraps.

Inside Katsuyu's body was an expansive space bearing traces of many human constructions and artifacts. Judging by their age, most were extremely ancient...

Of course, these must have been built by ninjas who arrived here long ago.

Haseo stored Senju's research materials here; the contract scroll previously brought in by Katsuyu was also placed in this location.

Possibly due to how the barrier was designed, this enclosed space wasn't dark at all, but instead filled with a soft ambient glow.

Overall, this place was spacious and vast. Haseo suspected there were other similar spaces hidden inside Shikkotsu Forest, but Katsuyu hadn't opened them up to him—not yet, anyway.

Since he still had time, Haseo immediately opened one of the boxes and began going through its contents. This definitely couldn't be seen as unauthorized use. Since Sansho had entrusted him with the custody of these items, she naturally allowed him access to them. It went without saying.

Surprisingly, much of what Haseo saw weren't records of powerful ninjutsu, but rather focused on chakra applications, research, and methods for developing jutsu from scratch... There were no formidable techniques, but that didn't make them any less valuable in Haseo's eyes—in fact, quite the opposite. Compared to scrolls detailing mighty jutsu, he found these foundational insights even more valuable—essentially a blueprint on how to become a powerful ninja.

A single jutsu, no matter how strong, was just one technique. What Haseo now held in his hands was essentially a complete blueprint—a systematic and multidimensional guide—on "how to become a powerful ninja."

Then, Haseo successively opened several more boxes, gradually uncovering the most valuable portion—the notes, procedures, experiences, and reflections left behind by Tobirama Senju, a renowned ninja (and jutsu-obsessed genius), known as the Second Hokage.

The most suitable jutsu for a ninja to use was always one tailor-made by himself. Therefore, gaining insight into the thinking of the Second Hokage felt absolutely invaluable to Haseo.

As he happily immersed himself in reading, time slipped away unnoticed. Eventually, Haseo could only return to Konoha and wait until the next day for another opportunity to come back.

At this moment, he actually hoped the Uchiha clan would stir up some trouble again. That way, the Third Hokage could keep bickering with those extremist Uchiha hotheads and stay in Konoha longer—giving Haseo more time to enjoy his reading.

The Third Hokage wouldn't leave the village quickly, so for now, Haseo temporarily started living a life somewhat similar to Jiraiya's later experiences—constantly appearing back and forth between the village and the hidden realm. The difference, however,, was that whereas Jiraiya pursued Sage Art, Haseo studied the Senju records.

After thoroughly reading a portion of the records, Haseo finally took another action... He brought a thick notebook into the Shikkotsu Forest and started scribbling and sketching in it.

Objectively speaking, spending too much time interacting with things left behind by the Second Hokage—or someone like him—was never good. Haseo at this time and Orochimaru in the future served as prime examples.

The time spent inside the Shikkotsu Forest seemed quiet and monotonous, but Haseo thoroughly enjoyed himself. More often than not, the one keeping him company wasn't another human—it was Katsuyu.

"Lord Haseo… Are you developing a new ninja technique?"

Using a wooden box as a desk, Haseo sat cross-legged beside it, his hands resting on the lid as he sketched and jotted notes furiously, while Katsuyu perched on top of the box. Its antennae hovered over where Haseo was writing, rotating slightly several times before it finally asked.

Technically speaking, Katsuyu didn't even have eyes, so Haseo had no idea how it "saw" what he had written. But then again, Katsuyu was a ninja beast rather than an ordinary mollusk, so its ability to read wasn't surprising at all.

"You could say I'm developing techniques, but more accurately, I'm still only in the design phase on paper... What I've got here is barely off the ground," Haseo replied with a smile.

"Even so, based purely on what you've written down, I feel these techniques' power levels would be impossible for your body to endure—even if they were successfully designed... There's absolutely no doubt about it; they're all kinjutsu (forbidden techniques)," Katsuyu warned.

What it meant was that the design specifications Haseo set were far too high. Don't forget—he was currently still in a "convalescent" stage, his body unable to handle excessive chakra at all, let alone techniques that demanded pushing one's chakra reserves to their absolute limits, risking death.

Most of the time, "forbidden techniques" weren't named forbidden because their power overwhelmed control—they were called forbidden because using them placed enormous physical burdens upon ninja, often resulting in the caster's death with the slightest mistake.

For example, the Second Hokage's Water Release: Rising Water Slicer was an S-rank technique immensely powerful, yet not considered a kinjutsu. Meanwhile, his Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was A-ranked but created shadow clones that consumed extreme amounts of chakra all at once—an instant process often ending fatally—which is why it's classified as a kinjutsu.

The ninja techniques Haseo was currently designing possessed both overwhelming strength and a guaranteed fatality rate—for himself—thus clearly qualifying them as forbidden.

"Also, you're attempting too many different things—ninja techniques, ninja taijutsu, even genjutsu. Perhaps you should focus better," Katsuyu continued. It wasn't unusual for a young ninja like him to be fascinated by developing original techniques, but it was important not to act recklessly out of mere curiosity... The problem lay in the fact that Haseo aimed at everything simultaneously, wanting complete coverage.

Wanting too much simply wasn't a good thing.

"These ideas and designs all stem from my own characteristics. Take what you called Ninja Taijutsu, for example—it's essentially just an advanced development of my Water Release: Dazong Lu technique. The core idea hasn't changed at all from before, and the same goes for the other techniques. Right now, I definitely can't withstand the power of such techniques. But I'm not expecting instant success either—these techniques might not even become usable within three or five years... By then, my physical condition should have improved.

Besides, what I'm writing down now are merely 'design specifications,' which may not necessarily translate into actual achievable standards," said Haseo.

He sure sounded calm enough.

However, Katsuyu felt that even if all of Haseo's techniques were successfully developed, they still wouldn't match up with his claimed growth potential. Even elite ninja wouldn't be able to handle such powerful jutsu unless... Haseo learned senjutsu (Sage Techniques) first.

One thing Katsuyu was absolutely certain about: If this work Haseo was doing had been assigned by a client (Party A), he would consider himself successful as long as he barely met the design specs, maybe even cutting corners. But if he had set these goals for himself, the final results would never fall short of the design targets... Otherwise, he'd naturally regard it as a failure.

You can't really fool yourself, so there's a real chance Haseo could end up dead by his own kinjutsu.

The Second Hokage—still causing trouble even in death.

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