CH_74

Kotetsu and Izumo were standing off to the side, which Tōji preferred—he liked the edges of crowds.

As he approached, he overheard Izumo talking about his latest idea—

The two of them often ate a sweet treat called mizuame—some kind of maltose syrup, a thick, glue-like liquid.

Kamizuki Izumo, like most ordinary shinobi, came from a clan with no secret techniques. He'd specialized in taijutsu at the Academy, and currently only knew a few low-level Water Release jutsu. His idea was to replace the "water" in Water Release techniques with mizuame syrup.

Tōji naturally knew that Izumo was the one and only "Mizuame Release" user in all of Naruto.

The idea instantly sparked something in him. 『Should I borrow my classmate's idea?』

He considered it—he was basically in the same situation as Izumo. Or maybe slightly better off.

『At least Izumo could secure his spot as one of the "Gatekeeper Duo" with just his Mizuame Release techniques.』

『Alright—time to join their conversation!』

Having made up his mind, Tōji took the initiative to greet them. "Morning, Kotetsu, Izumo. What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh, it's you, Tōji. Long time no see!" Gan Kotetsu had always worn a cloth strip tied around his face since childhood.

"Morning, Tōji. We just had some mizuame this morning, and it gave me an idea. Since the inauguration hasn't started yet, I was telling Kotetsu about the possibility of creating a sticky liquid like mizuame with Water Release jutsu." Izumo didn't hold back at all.

『Good—you're both fine inheritors of the Will of Fire.』

Tōji wasn't about to miss this chance. Even if the technique wasn't anything spectacular, he wanted to get his hands on it. "What a coincidence—I know Water Release too. I think your idea has real potential. Want to discuss it together?"

"I think there's a small chance it could work—but the ceremony's starting in a few minutes." Kotetsu was a bit of a mood-killer—for both Izumo and Tōji.

"Alright, let's wait until after the ceremony, then find a place to chat." Tōji quickly made a "plan" with Izumo.

A new idea had suddenly struck him—

『Like Kakashi developing Purple Lightning. The mizuame nature transformation isn't all that powerful, but in most cases, it's a pure positive gain.』

『It's really worth researching.』

『By the same logic—Earth Release could also have a clay nature development!』

『Other Earth Release users usually focus on mud, rock, gravity, or hardness.』

Tōji's mind kept wandering. 『Wood Release is out of the question, though.』

Wood Release—throughout the entire history of the shinobi world, only Hashirama Senju had ever "awakened" it. That meant Wood Release wasn't a stable hereditary Kekkei Genkai.

It was more likely not inheritable at all—just that Hashirama happened to be Ashura's reincarnation, and happened to have both Water and Earth nature affinities. Something unknown must have triggered Ashura's power to awaken, which in turn "awakened" Wood Release. Add Sage chakra to that, and Wood Release became world-conquering.

Though Tōji was also naturally born with Water and Earth affinities, he clearly didn't have Ashura's power.

He was considering creating his own "Kekkei Genkai" style secret techniques.

『Could 「Mizuame Release」 and 「Clay Release」 be combined?』

Tōji had suddenly been opened up to a whole new world by Kamizuki Izumo—and fell into his signature "zone-out mode."

"Hey, Tōji! Why are you spacing out all of a sudden?" Kotetsu and Izumo had noticed this classic quirk of their peculiar classmate.

"Huh? Oh, sorry—I was just blown away by Izumo's brilliant idea." Tōji covered his embarrassment with an exaggerated compliment.