Chapter 65: Prototype Approved. Now It's Time to Abuse Village Resources.

"Lord Hokage, this is the prototype design Tenten and I drew up together. We'd like to move forward with testing."

Hiruzen chuckled warmly as he took the scroll from Garou, unrolling it across his desk.

"Well, well, two young prodigies at work again. If you've come this far, then by all means… go give it a shot."

He studied the diagram for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly as he scanned its intricacies.

"This isn't your original concept, is it?" he asked, tone sharp yet knowing.

Garou offered a slight smile.

"Of course not. But this version is the most practical."

"If we followed the ideal blueprint, it would require massive amounts of chakra-infused iron. Do we even have enough of that lying around?"

Hiruzen's expression tightened. He cleared his throat.

"Well… we do have some reserves."

"…Really?"

Garou looked at him, unimpressed.

The Third coughed again and mumbled, "Ahem, those were the village's reserves. What I gave you last time came from my… personal collection. It's not exactly the same thing."

Garou rolled his eyes and gave a dry laugh.

Hiruzen grinned sheepishly.

"Alright. Get this version tested first. If it performs well, we'll consider funding your full-scale model."

"Got it."

Garou nodded, satisfied.

He hadn't expected the Hokage to go all-in on the first draft anyway.

After all, chakra-infused iron could be used to store standard chakra… or tailed beast chakra.

And that, of course, changed everything.

"Oh, and one more thing. Have Kakashi lead your team. There's a minor mission that needs completing. Also, the Artisan Village sent over a formal letter of apology."

"Understood."

Garou left the Hokage's office, adrenaline rising.

As he exited, he spotted Tenten waiting below, pacing with anticipation.

"Well?" she asked.

"We're greenlit."

He gave her a firm nod, and her eyes lit up.

With the Hokage's approval, they could now request access to Konoha's equipment factory. There, they'd have access to real tools, better materials, and engineers to run multiple tests for refinement.

Tenten's actual forging skill wouldn't be the bottleneck anymore.

Her role was shifting, less blacksmith, more lead designer. Like Garou himself, she didn't need to do everything solo. Their real value was in the blueprint, the vision.

Garou led her to a quiet alley and pulled out a chakra-sensitive mirror.

With a quick sequence of seals and a wipe across the glass, an image shimmered to life.

In it, Kasumi was seen practicing kenjutsu in what appeared to be her clan's training grounds.

"She's home," Garou muttered. "You go inform Kasumi. I'll find Kakashi-sensei."

"Huh?" Tenten blinked. "Why are we gathering everyone?"

"It's been a while since we took on a mission."

"…Oh!"

Her expression cleared immediately. Of course, the mission. This wasn't just about tools. This was also about team stats.

Hiruzen was doing them a favor, packing in a minor escort mission so their records didn't look stagnant.

As Tenten darted off, Garou switched focus in the mirror, scanning until he found Kakashi.

But… something was odd.

Garou's eyes narrowed. The Copy Ninja was standing in the Forest of Death, watching his shadow clone.

He found it.

Garou wasn't surprised.

Kakashi was too perceptive not to notice something strange, especially when Garou, someone who hated wasting time, had deliberately placed a clone alone in the wilderness doing nothing but meditating.

With a sigh, Garou dispelled the clone.

Instantly, a wave of crushing exhaustion hit him.

His vision darkened momentarily, and his knees buckled, but he steadied himself.

'So this is what people mean when they say Multiple Shadow Clones are dangerous.'

No wonder it was considered a forbidden jutsu. Only someone like Naruto, with that absurd reservoir of chakra from the Nine Tails and the reincarnated chakra of Asura, could casually make dozens of clones.

'If only I had that kind of chakra,' Garou thought wistfully.

Back in the forest, Kakashi blinked as the clone vanished.

'He is gone?!' Kakashi pushed his headband down to hide his Sharingan and made his way back to the village.

It didn't take long to find Garou again.

"You were waiting for me?"

"Yep," Garou replied, already pulling out the mission brief. "Sensei, we've been assigned a mission by Lord Third. It's a delivery run to the equipment factory. Low-risk, C-rank."

"But more importantly, this'll let us field test the new chakra tool prototype."

Kakashi sighed. "The Hokage really knows how to dress up favors, doesn't he?"

The mission was clearly more about boosting their team's record than anything else.

Still, it was convenient.

Plus, new chakra weapons caught his attention.

"Wait… so you two actually built it?"

Garou nodded. "Prototype's ready. This trip will let us manufacture and fine-tune it."

Kakashi's visible eye gleamed with excitement. He remembered Garou's pitch weeks ago and had been itching to see it realized.

"Right," he said, then his tone shifted. "That clone of yours… what were you doing, exactly?"

Garou chuckled.

"Honestly, Sensei, I thought you'd want to figure it out yourself."

"I'm not that curious."

"Gift of the Sages," Garou said simply.

Kakashi froze. "…Come again?"

"Gift of the Sages," he repeated.

Kakashi's visible eye widened.

"…You mastered it?"

Garou nodded. "Yeah. Though… it felt a little too easy. Kind of weird, actually."

Kakashi stared.

"…You know how that sounds, right?"

"It's not bragging."

And it wasn't.

Unlike chakra, natural energy was finicky. You couldn't brute-force it with talent or even chakra control. Even prodigies like Minato hadn't truly cracked it. Orochimaru had tried and failed. Even Jiraiya could only use Sage Mode with help.

Yet here was Garou… learning it with a single shadow clone and a few days of sitting in a forest.

No external summons. No sacred grounds. No toad oil.

Just meditation.

"This Gift of the Sages," he explained, "isn't quite the same as Sage Mode or even Sage Chakra. It's more like an internal mutation, a symbiosis with natural energy, stabilized inside the body."

Kakashi said nothing, but listened intently.

"I think it's a remnant of older techniques, like the exorcism arts monks used before chakra became mainstream. A kind of hybrid. That's why I could absorb the clone's stored natural energy so easily."

He also suspected his body was adapting, maybe due to the Bodhi Seed.

Every time it reacted, something changed. This time, it might've enhanced his affinity with nature energy.

Garou smirked. "Let's go. Tenten and Kasumi are probably already waiting."

Kakashi gave a long sigh. He wasn't sure if he felt proud, impressed, or just plain tired.

Probably all three.

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