Earth Dragon Hiding Technique

Earth Dragon Hiding Technique

As everyone knew, ninjutsu was divided into six ranks according to learning difficulty.

S-Ranked Secret Techniques, Forbidden Techniques, and A-rank, ultra-high-difficulty ninjutsu were beyond the reach of ordinary ninja.

B-rank was jonin difficulty, C-rank was chunin difficulty, D-rank was genin difficulty, and E-rank was Ninja Academy difficulty.

Beyond that, there were Kekkei Genkai and special secret arts. Since their learning requirements were unusual and could not be measured, they were not included in the ninjutsu difficulty rankings.

Normally, the higher the learning difficulty of a ninjutsu, the more chakra it consumed. It also demanded stronger physical fitness and stricter requirements for chakra nature transformation and shape transformation.

The C-rank Earth Release: Earth Dragon Hiding Technique had a relatively low chakra cost even among Earth Release Ninjutsu of the same rank—

But it still consumed more chakra than the D-rank Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, and was slightly more difficult as well.

Good thing the ninjutsu I cast differs from the original version... Lin Ke thought with some relief as he carefully studied the Earth Release: Earth Dragon Hiding Technique scroll.

A considerable portion of it actually explained what posture was best for digging through dirt. It was rather disillusioning.

With his chakra control, chunin-level ninjutsu was no challenge at all. After all, Medical Ninjutsu had a minimum requirement of jonin level. Medical Ninja Bai Cao believed that as long as he possessed enough chakra, he could become a Medical Ninja.

After studying the Ninjutsu Scroll for a while, Lin Ke had thoroughly mastered the entire process of casting Earth Release: Earth Dragon Hiding Technique. He stood in an empty clearing.

He refined chakra, formed hand seals, and released it—

Just as with the ninjutsu he had cast before, the chakra for a standard Earth Dragon Hiding Technique instantly vanished from within his body before it could even leave him.

Then, the ground before him trembled slightly. Countless yellow-brown particles rose from the earth and swiftly assembled in midair. A translucent monster appeared before him, with wings on its back, distinct scales, and a body that looked and felt like stone. Its bright yellow eyes gradually filled with life.

Why did this... somehow look so familiar?

Wasn't this the Earth Dragon, a wild monster from a game in my previous life?! Earth Dragon Hiding Technique—did that mean the Earth Dragon could turn invisible? While Lin Ke stood there in a daze, a young consciousness entered his mind, expressing a vague sense of affection.

At the same time, the stone-textured creature floating before him flapped its wings and landed on his shoulder—

This thing was only about the size of a crow!

It could turn invisible, fly, and consume chakra to spit rocks as attacks. As a Summoned Beast, it was pretty impressive, but wasn't it a little too small?!

Lin Ke sensed the details of the Earth Dragon's abilities, then stroked the little fellow that affectionately rubbed against his cheek. Its little head felt remarkably rough. The game monster looked oddly cute in an ugly way after shrinking so much, which was rather amusing.

It looked like, just as with the Transformation Jutsu, he would need to use more chakra to increase its size and strength...

About thirty seconds later, the little Earth Dragon flapped its wings once and turned into dust, falling onto the back of his vest.

My brand-new vest! His heart ached slightly. The standard-issue vest was free the first time, but he would have to pay for a second one. He had not even fought yet, and it was already battle-damaged. How could that be acceptable?

Lin Ke took off his vest and dusted it clean. Once he had put it back on, he calmed himself and began to think—

First, one standard unit of Earth Dragon Hiding Technique consumed roughly 10% of his current chakra. The cost was absolutely enormous. Of all the techniques he had mastered, it consumed the most chakra, without exception. (Specifically, one standard unit.)

Even the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique consumed a little less.

Second, although it was also a summoning-type technique like the Substitution Technique, Earth Dragon Hiding Technique was stable and versatile. Both invisibility and flight could provide enormous advantages in ninja battles. It was absolutely worth developing further.

If he could spend more chakra to break through its size limit, just like the Transformation Jutsu, perhaps he could ride on a dragon's back and attack in the future. That would be a dimensionality-reducing strike against most ninja.

He just did not know how strong its attacks were. That required testing.

Finally—

Should I go home, change clothes, wash my vest, and then go eat...

Lin Ke looked at his shoulder, now stained yellow-brown, and rubbed it with his hand. Clearly, the dirt stuck to it could not simply be wiped away.

The thought of being unable to show off in his vest while eating barbecue made him feel as though he was getting a raw deal.

Forget it. I'll finish testing the ninjutsu first. He sighed inwardly and refined chakra again. This time, he refined around 20% of his chakra, intending to double the chakra investment and see the results.

If the result was too poor, he could temporarily give up on it. He simply did not have enough chakra to spare. In battle, a crow-sized Earth Dragon would definitely be less useful than casting the Substitution Technique one more time—the one-minute version.

He formed hand seals and released it—

The exact same effects appeared. Yellow-brown particles rose from the ground—probably dust—and flew into the air, forming an Earth Dragon about the size of an adult mutt.

The chakra investment was more cost-effective than he had expected. Going from crow-sized to the size of a mutt only cost one additional standard unit of chakra for Earth Dragon Hiding Technique.

It was just that after growing from a tiny thing, the Earth Dragon no longer looked ugly-cute. It simply looked a little ugly...

A feeling of grievance traveled through their mental connection.

?!

Lin Ke froze, realizing that the Earth Dragon before him actually possessed self-awareness. Had his ninjutsu created a life? But were the differently sized Earth Dragons summoned this time and last time the same consciousness?

The Earth Dragon quickly conveyed an affirmative thought.

This little guy is much smarter than I imagined...

Lin Ke licked his lips. Thanks to the high collar of his Konoha vest, the dust from earlier had not hit his face. Perhaps this technique had even more value.

A Summoned Beast that could communicate with him mentally, possessed a certain level of intelligence, could fly, and could turn invisible...

Its intelligence-gathering value alone was already incredibly, incredibly high!

Its only drawback was that it did not last very long...

As regret arose in his heart, Lin Ke discovered in surprise that the Earth Dragon vaguely expressed that it could continue existing as long as he kept supplying it with chakra.

He tentatively placed a hand on the Earth Dragon and slowly, steadily fed chakra into it. Only after he had poured in the full amount of chakra required for one standard Earth Dragon Hiding Technique did he stop and catch his breath.

More than half his chakra had now been consumed. Correspondingly, once half his stamina was gone, fatigue and aching muscles began to set in. His body unconsciously felt heavier.

"Next comes the testing..."

Lin Ke kept time in his mind as he thought.