Chapter 37: I Told Him to Practice, Not to Invent His Own Style!

"Hayate, it seems the Moonlight Clan is about to make a name for itself across the ninja world."

The Third Hokage's words left Gekkō Hayate slightly bewildered.

Famous across the ninja world? What's he talking about?

"Take a look."

As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi gently pushed the crystal ball toward Hayate.

Hayate peered into the crystal ball. What it showed was the scene unfolding at one of Konoha's training grounds—Shigure was in the middle of a battle against three Chūnin.

Not only had Shigure taken the initiative, but he was also handling all three enemies at once.

And he wasn't just holding his ground—he was dominating the fight with nothing but a single ninja sword.

His swordsmanship was so sharp and precise that even Hayate was left stunned.

With one sweeping strike, Shigure cut clean through a rising Earth Style wall.

In a single blow, he smashed through one of the earth-style Chūnin's defenses and practically dismantled him.

Then, without wasting even half a second, he pivoted and fluidly deflected every single shuriken launched at him from behind, as if he had eyes on his back.

With a sudden burst of speed, he closed the distance between himself and another Chūnin with terrifying velocity.

It was purely a feat of taijutsu acceleration—raw physical burst, honed to perfection.

If his opponents hadn't relied on the Body Flicker Technique, they wouldn't have been able to dodge him at all.

Even then, Shigure's sense of timing was razor-sharp—enough to make even Hayate's expression stiffen.

One Chūnin tried to escape to the left using the flicker technique, but Shigure had already anticipated it—his true target was the one on the right.

Mid-movement, he forcefully twisted his trajectory and charged straight toward the other enemy.

That ninja had already finished preparing his jutsu—an enormous Fire Style technique roared toward Shigure.

Flames surged violently, yet Shigure spun like a windmill, his sword carving a path through the inferno.

He broke straight through the center of the flames.

And in the blink of an eye, he was already in front of the Chūnin.

His blade hovered diagonally at the ninja's throat—if he had gone even a centimeter further, it would've pierced clean through his neck.

After dispatching two Chūnin in rapid succession, the last one barely held on for a few brief exchanges before collapsing under the pressure.

"...This..."

Even Gekkō Hayate himself couldn't have taken on two Chūnin so effortlessly.

And he knew one more thing.

Shigure had already mastered the art of Transparent Escape—if he had actually used it during the battle, the fight would've ended even faster.

With Shigure's terrifying speed, precision, and mastery of kenjutsu, he didn't even need a second blade.

His single-sword style—blended with stealth and finesse—was unstoppable.

Those Chūnin never had a chance.

"Amazing..."

Hiruzen chuckled, his eyes narrowing as he turned to Hayate.

"This kid Shigure has talent in swordsmanship that's truly one in a million. Tell me, Hayate—did you teach him this?"

Hayate waved his hands in a panic, shaking his head quickly.

"No, no! Definitely not!"

"I could never teach a style like that—I'm nowhere near that level!"

If Gekkō Hayate hadn't taught it, then there was only one conclusion left.

Shigure had developed it all on his own.

"I see," the Third Hokage nodded. "You've never seen that style from him before, have you?"

"No," Hayate confirmed.

"Then it's all but certain—he created that sword style during the short time you were away from the village."

Hearing Hiruzen's conclusion, Hayate was left speechless.

I told him to practice swordsmanship daily... I never told him to invent his own style!

And yet, Shigure had combined kenjutsu with elemental chakra to create a technique the likes of which had never been seen in Konoha before.

Has his swordsmanship talent really reached that level...?

"Go bring Shigure here. I want to see him with my own eyes."

The Third Hokage gave the order calmly.

Gekkō Hayate nodded without hesitation and rushed out of the Hokage's office.

He couldn't hide the urgency in his steps. Was that really Shigure just now?

...

Konoha Training Ground

Shigure calmly sheathed his ninja sword, a faint smile playing on his lips as he looked at the three Chūnin before him—who now wore rather complicated expressions.

"Thank you."

The simple words caught the three Chūnin completely off guard. They had expected him to mock or humiliate them, but instead, he bowed his head slightly in gratitude.

They didn't understand why he was thanking them—but for Shigure, the reason was clear.

System prompt received.

[Analyzing power amplification of Breathing Sword Style...]

[Calculation complete.]

[Breathing Sword Style]

→ Power of elemental chakra release increased. Escape-type (elemental burst) techniques boosted to 300% of their original strength.

Three hundred percent.

Even just lightly channeling chakra while swinging his sword now released a completely different level of force.

[Analysis complete.]

[Congratulations. New skill unlocked: Body Flicker Technique.]

So even the Body Flicker has been acquired... Not bad.

Shigure felt quite satisfied. The battle had yielded more than expected.

He needed to practice the Body Flicker Technique well—it would become a key part of his style. It was a shame the Chūnin had backed down; otherwise, he could've continued to pressure them and possibly copied more ninjutsu.

Ideally, he wanted to acquire all five basic chakra natures.

Once he had Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water—he could fully integrate them into his sword techniques.

But now, no matter how much he provoked them, it wouldn't work.

They had seen the difference in strength and weren't foolish enough to fight him again. Any further move would just bring them more embarrassment—or injury.

"Shigure!"

"Shigure!"

A panting figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

Shigure turned in surprise. "Brother Hayate? You're back?"

"Yeah! I just got back!"

The nearby ninjas watched in silence as Special Jōnin Gekkō Hayate appeared out of nowhere and called Shigure by name. Their eyes flickered with curiosity—and something else.

Hayate didn't like the attention. Without waiting for any explanation, he grabbed Shigure and pulled him away from the field.

Once they were out of sight of the crowd, he finally spoke.

"The Third Hokage wants to see you."

The Hokage?

Shigure blinked. He hadn't expected things to escalate this far.

All I did was spar with a few Chūnin... Sure, I might've gone a bit overboard—but still, it was just Genin vs Genin... right?

Then again, in order to gather enough data for his sword calculations, he had fought all the Genin and Chūnin on the field...

"That sword technique you used earlier..." Hayate asked as they walked. "Did you...create it yourself?"

Shigure paused for a moment.

"...Yeah. I did."

Hayate blinked.

"...When did you learn the Escape Technique?"

He wasn't even going to touch on the swordplay yet. The question about elemental chakra came first.

"This? It's from a scroll my parents left behind. I've been practicing for three years before I finally mastered it."

"I see..."

Hayate was silent for a few seconds, studying the boy in front of him.

"And how exactly... did you come up with the idea to combine elemental release with sword techniques?"

Shigure replied without hesitation, "Simple. I just used the sword technique and added the Escape Technique to it."

Hayate froze.

"...Simple? That's what you call simple?!"

...

TN:

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