Naruto: I have Ten Skill Bars

"Eh!!!"

Shigure's eyes narrowed with undisguised scorn as he looked at Hayate.

He hadn't expected him to be that kind of person. Was it really necessary to act so suave while doing something so shady?

And if he remembered correctly—this guy already had a girlfriend!

Thinking of that, Shigure grinned mischievously.

"Brother Hayate, don't you already have a girlfriend?"

Caught off guard, Hayate blinked in confusion. "Huh? Yeah, so what?"

What's wrong with having a girlfriend at my age? his expression seemed to say.

Shigure's grin deepened. "Well, what do you think would happen if your girlfriend found out... you were peeping on the women's bathhouse?"

A bead of cold sweat ran down Hayate's cheek.

Shigure leaned in with a gleam in his eye. "You wouldn't want her to find out, right? So... how about we make a deal?"

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you planning, kid?!"

Hayate instinctively stepped back, arms crossed defensively as he looked at Shigure with growing alarm.

What kind of child is this?!

"All I want is for Brother Hayate to teach me the Shadow Clone Technique," Shigure said, rubbing his hands together like a scheming villain. "Then maybe I didn't hear anything just now."

Hayate exhaled in relief—at least it wasn't something worse.

Still, teaching Shadow Clone to a kid? That was a bit much.

"Shadow Clone, huh? Wait until you graduate."

"Brother Hayate, if you refuse, I might just..."

"Oh! Right! I just remembered—I have a mission! Gotta run. You keep training! Don't slack off!"

Swish!

He vanished in an instant, fleeing like a gust of wind.

"You could at least teach me the Body Flicker Technique!" Shigure shouted after him.

But Hayate was long gone, leaving nothing behind—not even a trace.

Shigure sighed in resignation.

"Man... even blackmail doesn't work?"

Of course, he had no intention of actually exposing Hayate. The guy had helped him a lot already. Ratting him out now would just be plain ungrateful.

"Forget it."

"There's always next time."

Sooner or later, he'd learn both the Shadow Clone and the Body Flicker Techniques. For now, though, the real issue was still the amount of chakra he could produce.

But today—his focus was on something else: the Transparent Escape Technique.

The Tōton no Jutsu allowed a user to become invisible, even masking their chakra signature.

If Hayate hadn't been written out of the story so early in the original timeline, with his skill in this technique, it would've been nearly impossible to detect him.

Complete invisibility. Even suppressed chakra flow.

Only someone with a Byakugan could see through it.

Indeed, the true counter to Tōton was likely the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan. It could trace chakra directly, even through stealth techniques like this.

Shigure began focusing his chakra, raising one hand slowly and watching in awe as it faded from sight—bit by bit.

"This bloodline limit... it's not weak at all. Too bad it's hard countered by the Byakugan."

Even perfect invisibility meant little if someone could see your chakra system directly.

Still, it was an impressive ability.

And in the right hands, it could be lethal.

Still...

Although he wasn't planning to pick a fight with the Hyuga Clan, if he ever did run into them… he'd be at a serious disadvantage.

Shigure glanced at his other hand—where the wooden sword, now wrapped in Transparent Release chakra, faded from view.

"If I cover an object with Tōton chakra, even if it doesn't belong to my body, it turns invisible too."

He paused, a new thought forming.

"What about ninjutsu?"

If he could combine Transparent Release with a ninjutsu attack… Wouldn't that make it undetectable—and nearly impossible to defend against?

The idea was too tempting not to try.

He moved into position and prepared to use his only offensive jutsu: Rangō, a release-type technique.

(TN: This technique name is likely a mistranslation or an OC jutsu—treated here as a wind-based release or nature-type for clarity.)

As he formed the hand seals, chakra gathered in his throat, and with a breath, he unleashed a moderate blast of energy—he had intentionally held back the power.

But this time, Shigure tried to overlay the chakra with Transparent Release.

Instant failure.

The technique fizzled mid-cast, the chakra destabilized—and nearly rebounded back into his own chakra network.

"That was close!"

He took a moment to steady his breath, trying to calm his turbulent chakra.

Looks like developing combination techniques isn't something you can do on a whim.

One wrong move, and you might just injure—or even kill—yourself.

Thinking back on it, the jutsu he tried to combine was a wind-style nature transformation, while Transparent Release altered the chakra for a different effect. Performing two simultaneous chakra nature changes…

That was something far beyond his current level of control.

The fact he hadn't been injured by the backlash was already a stroke of luck.

"Is Transparent Release only good for turning things invisible?"

That would make the Kekkei Genkai too limited in combat.

Chakra generally should only undergo one type of transformation at a time. So if that's the case, it could only be used with non-elemental ninjutsu.

"Non-elemental…"

Shigure's eyes lit up. "What about the Rasengan?"

The Rasengan was a pure chakra technique. In theory, it should be compatible!

But then he sighed.

Easier said than done.

Not to mention the development issues of the Rasengan, it also made a loud, swirling sound when formed. Imagine trying to sneak attack with something that sounds like a blender in your hand.

Surprise attack? More like surprise alert.

He frowned—until another idea hit him.

"...Hidden weapons!"

Quickly, he pulled a kunai from his pouch.

Channeling Tōton chakra into it, the weapon shimmered—and then disappeared entirely.

But Shigure could still feel the kunai in his palm.

"Yes! If it doesn't work with ninjutsu, then use it with tools! That's the real value!"

Hidden weapons were all about the element of surprise. If he could cloak them in Transparent Release, they'd become nearly impossible to dodge.

Unless the opponent had extremely sharp senses or a dojutsu like the Byakugan, even a skilled ninja might not notice the incoming attack.

Ordinary jōnin probably wouldn't stand a chance.

He threw the cloaked kunai at a nearby tree. Thunk! It embedded itself with precision—and only three seconds later did it reappear, as the chakra effect wore off.

A satisfied smile spread across Shigure's face.

"If I want to perfect this technique, I'll need to train in throwing accuracy."

Konoha-style kenjutsu gave him a strong advantage in close-quarters combat. Rangō could serve as a medium-range harassment technique. And now, with transparent weapons, he had a true surprise tool for sneak attacks.

For opponents of the same level, this combination could be overwhelming.

He might even hold his own against a Chūnin—or maybe even a Jōnin.

"Transparent Release plus hidden weapons... This really is a powerful combo."

"And once I learn Shadow Clone and combine it with my Transparent Release—then I'll really be a ghost on the battlefield. My enemies won't know what hit them!"

…

TN:

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