A Sudden Attack

Issui had spent almost two years at the Konoha Ninja Academy and learned a great deal, not just from experience but from living and studying as a ninja in this world. It was as though he had returned to his previous life, attending classes and studying with his classmates—and, of course, skipping class and going online.

In the blink of an eye, the new year was approaching, and this body would turn eight after the year ended. In his previous life, eight-year-olds were still enjoying their parents' care, but children in the ninja world had to train and study as ninja. Those who were talented and hardworking already possessed decent strength. Although they were still weak, they were doing well for their age, and they would become the village's pillars and heroes in the future. Children who lacked talent and were greedy for fun, on the other hand, were destined to become great cannon-fodder-class "talents."

Issui was a good boy, both talented and hardworking, and his strength had already reached the Genin level. In his previous life, merely seeing anime characters "jumping up and down" through the forest had made Issui think they were inhuman. Now that he possessed even greater power than that, he found it simply incredible. Others might practice the Three Basic Techniques to master them, but Issui did it for fun. That was right, it really was fun.

The Shadow Clone Technique (not the Clone Technique, which only produced afterimages rather than physical bodies; Issui knew the Shadow Clone Technique because he had tried forming the hand seals for many Ninjutsu in his previous life) could create an exact copy of himself. Then the two of them (all right, one was a Shadow Clone) could fight, discuss beautiful women, and study Ninjutsu. It was a very practical Ninjutsu.

The Transformation Technique was even more fun. Say there was someone you couldn't stand, Sasuke for example. We could transform into a complete stinker of a Sasuke: tell him to go left, and he wouldn't dare go right; tell him to climb a mountain of blades, and he wouldn't dare descend into a sea of fire; tell him to bark like a puppy, and he wouldn't dare bray like a donkey; tell him to... (Personally, though this method was satisfying, it was pure self-harm. Keep it up long enough, and you might develop mental problems. Still, Naruto's "amazing, powerful S-rank" Sexy Transformation Technique was worth fantasizing about when there was time...).

The Substitution Technique, that *perverse Ninjutsu, was a basic technique one absolutely had to master. After an enemy had finally built up power for a strike, all you had to do was casually perform a little Substitution Technique, and their plans would be completely ruined. It was a classic Ninjutsu and one of the techniques ninja used most often.

Lately, Issui's chakra had reached something of a bottleneck. No matter how he refined it, he no longer felt the enormous gains he once had, and it would not improve so quickly in the short term. So Issui turned his attention to precise chakra control. The classic tree-climbing and Water Walking exercises from the original story became his main training methods. To keep others from watching him train, he had to find a way to practice in the woods near the village. This had troubled him for quite a while, since leaving the village to train required registration, so Issui had no choice but to ask Uncle Hyuga Hiashi for help.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

"Come in."

Hyuga Hiashi frowned at the door. When it opened and he saw Issui standing nervously outside, his brow immediately relaxed. He asked kindly, "Issui, what is it? Come in and sit down. Why are you standing there in the doorway?"

"It's all right. I'm fine standing. I just have a small request. I hope I'm not disturbing you?" Issui asked respectfully. Although Issui considered this uncle somewhat snobbish, in the two years since Issui had joined the Hyuga Clan, he had treated him quite well, even if his face was a little expressionless. He also did his utmost to teach Issui whenever he had questions about his usual training. In short, to sum it all up, Uncle Hyuga was a good man.

"Why so formal? We're family. Whatever it is, just say it. As long as it's something I can do, I'll definitely help you." Hyuga Hiashi knew that Issui's solemn manner meant he must have a difficult request. But was there anything in Konoha that he, Hiashi, couldn't do? Not to brag, but there was almost nothing that could stump him. Keeping a low profile all this time didn't mean he bowed his head to others.

"Then I'll say it. Actually, lately I've felt that I've already reached the strength of a Genin, and my chakra training has hit a bottleneck. So I wanted to leave the village and practice precise chakra control in the nearby forest. Only in a quiet place like that can I quickly master the techniques for refining chakra, but as for leaving the village..." Issui spoke slowly, watching Uncle Hiashi's expression from time to time.

"Well... all right. Going somewhere quiet to train is one way to improve your strength, and the wild beasts in the forest will be good practice for your Ninjutsu. But don't go too far. If anything happens, you can come back quickly," Hiashi said gravely. He hadn't expected Issui to have reached Genin strength already, much less hit a bottleneck. He probably wasn't far from becoming a Jonin. Although he was no genius like Kakashi or Itachi, reaching this level in peacetime was already very impressive.

Hiashi took out a sheet of white paper, wrote "Hyuga Hiashi" on it, and handed it to Issui.

Issui happily took it, thanked him, and left as Hiashi bid him a warm farewell.

Hiashi's note really did work. When Kotetsu and Genma, who were guarding the gate, saw Hiashi's name on the paper, they promptly let Issui leave. They also greeted him warmly and told him to watch out for the wild beasts in the forest and not go too far.

After leaving the village and walking another three or four hundred meters, Issui stopped. There happened to be a small lake nearby, with a good-sized clearing around it. It was a good place to train, and Issui immediately began practicing tree climbing.

At first, Issui fell after taking only a few steps up the tree, leaving him in miserable pain. After dozens of attempts, however, he gradually got the feel for it. Apparently, his comprehension was decent.

The environment in the Naruto world really was nice. Training under these conditions did have its benefits; at the very least, it refreshed the mind. The fresh air could always bring a sudden burst of inspiration.

In his previous life, the Japanese placed considerable importance on protecting their country's forests, and cutting down trees privately was illegal. Thanks to their protection, Japan became a country with forest coverage of over 70 percent. In middle school, our geography teacher often used this fact to teach us that everyone had a duty to protect trees. Looking at the lush forests in the anime, they actually weren't much different from Japan's forests in reality. Of course, they weren't as exaggerated as in the anime, but trees really were everywhere you looked.

To get back to the point, the principle behind tree climbing was simple: precisely control chakra and distribute it evenly under the feet to create a grip.

It sounded simple, but doing it meant constantly controlling the flow of chakra energy through the body and its regulated output outside it. If you got excited and disrupted the direction of the chakra flow, you would immediately fall. Issui had already experienced that firsthand.

Sometimes, halfway up a tree, Issui would suddenly get excited (possibly thinking: Ah, I finally did it! It's so easy! A genius like me learned it on the first try! Beautiful women of the Naruto world, wait for me to conquer you!) and then, under the "wise" guidance of his "unbridled pride," fall from a height of around twenty meters (who told you to pick such a tall tree? You brought it on yourself). It was a pitiful sight. Even with a body strengthened by chakra, falling straight down from a height of twenty meters was no pleasant experience (of course it wasn't; why don't you try it?).

Issui felt he ought to offer a little advice to the folks with a fear of heights: never try to imitate this. Before you could experience the wonderful feeling of falling to your death or crippling yourself, the height alone would scare you to death.

Time passed quickly, and Issui had mastered the trick of tree climbing. By then, it was almost dark, so he had to hurry back. If he was much later, he probably wouldn't be able to get through the village gates.

Just then, a chill swept over him. An enemy?

Issui hurriedly rolled aside and looked around with wide eyes. Several Shuriken had appeared beside him, yet the enemy attacking him was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, this was a highly experienced ninja. Judging from the direction of the Shuriken, the enemy had been directly behind him. The enemy's concealment skills were outstanding. These thoughts passed through his mind in an instant. He couldn't dwell on them, or he could fall into the enemy's attack strategy at any moment.

He ruled out Konoha's ninja. Although Danzo was a little petty, Hyuga Hiashi was there, and the Hyuga Clan had good relations with Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, the Third, and the others in Konoha High Command. Even if Danzo wanted to act, he would have to consider the Hyuga Clan's retaliation. Although Issui wasn't very strong, he was a member of the Hyuga Clan, and everyone knew it.

That left a missing-nin on the run or a ninja from an enemy country. Although Konoha had scouting ninja all around it, they couldn't catch every single enemy without fail.

"Eye of Heaven-open!!!" At the critical moment, Issui immediately opened the third eye on his forehead. Without turning his head, he used the Eye of Heaven to look behind him. Sure enough, beneath the third tree back stood a ninja wearing a Forehead Protector with a winding symbol on it. A line had been scratched across the protector. So it was a missing-nin from Kusagakure. A missing-nin from Kusagakure, huh? From what he knew, Kusagakure had been a major battleground in the three Shinobi World Wars. Obito Uchiha had died in battle there (in fact, he was still alive and had triggered the Fourth Shinobi World War), and Kusagakure ninja had taken part in the battle of Kannabi Bridge. Kusagakure ninja were skilled at studying other countries' Ninjutsu and using diplomacy to maneuver among the great powers, grasping shifts in the situation early to protect themselves. They were also skilled at deciphering other ninja villages' Ninjutsu.

"Shadow Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, Shuriken..." Issui rapidly formed hand seals at a speed of three per second. Amid a puff of smoke, two Shuriken shot swiftly backward. Just as they were about to strike a tree trunk, a petite figure darted out from behind it.

"Tch, just a little rookie, and I got so worked up. A brat's a brat, all right. Your aim with Shuriken is terrible. Oh, and you're a brat with a Kekkei Genkai, too." Seeing the two Shuriken embedded in the trunk, the petite figure let her tension fade. Although her muscles were still taut, she was no longer as cautious as before.

So it was a woman. Her voice was nice, and presumably her looks weren't bad either. Judging by her shapely figure, she had a good body too. Ordinarily, Issui would have teased a beauty like her, but now he had no intention of chatting her up. His only thought was to kill this woman quickly!!!

Issui didn't attack. He merely acted frightened, his body trembling (let's all shake, shake, shake...), his face pale and his fingers quivering as he tried to find a weapon on his person.

Issui gradually got a clear look at the woman. She had long brown hair, and her large green eyes still showed occasional traces of her earlier panic and subsequent relaxation. She had a delicate oval face, charming dimples, and long, slender fingers. A tight black outfit outlined her alluring, perfect curves; any fuller and she would be fat, any slimmer and she would be thin. If she weren't an enemy, she would surely have been any man's perfect lover.

The woman saw Issui's fear and let her guard down completely. With a coquettish laugh, she walked toward him, but she failed to notice the danger already closing in behind her!!!

P.S. Can everyone guess what danger is behind the beautiful Grass Ninja missing-nin? (The key can be found in the attack Issui launched.)

Also: I may be going away for a day or two tomorrow, so I posted this chapter early. That means I posted two chapters on January 20, won't post on the 21st, and will resume on the 22nd. I have something to do on the 21st, so I'm taking a day off. Don't worry, everyone. I won't stop updating, and I won't abandon the story. With your support, I'll keep writing. For now, I'm planning on 500,000 to 1,000,000 characters.