Combination

Konoha's 60th year was a very delicate time.

In three years, when Konoha reached its 63rd year, the Child of Destiny would graduate, and the story of Naruto would begin.

Before transmigrating, Lin Ke had read plenty of Naruto fanfiction. Everyone else transmigrated early—only he had arrived late.

Uzumaki Naruto was already nine this year, while he was only seven, two years younger than the protagonist. In another three years, Naruto would be graduating while he had not even enrolled yet.

His original plan had been to enter the Ninja Academy, tag along behind Konohamaru until the end, and wait for the Child of Destiny to save the world. After all, when the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up.

Without a cheat, bloodline, or extraordinary talent, in a world that placed such extreme importance on talent and lineage, what did being a transmigrator matter? As long as he could live steadily and safely, that was enough.

Now that he had a cheat in the form of mutated ninjutsu, he had started to entertain some other ideas.

Not saving the world or defeating the Ōtsutsuki, but at least climbing higher—gaining greater power, higher status, better security for his own life, and living more easily and freely.

So he had to be as fast as possible.

Enter the Ninja Academy sooner, graduate sooner, attain a higher position sooner, sooner...

"Time waits for no one."

Lin Ke stood up. His formerly relaxed mood instantly tightened. There were only a dozen or so days left until the Ninja Academy's next admissions period, so he could not slack off.

He would use the Substitution Technique a few more times to see what effect it had, then try practicing the Body Binding Technique.

As for Earth Release: Underground Headhunter Technique, any ninjutsu with an X Release prefix involved chakra nature transformation. There was no way he could handle that yet, so he should not bite off more than he could chew.

There was not much time left. He needed to familiarize himself with ninjutsu, find a way to pass the Ninja Academy entrance exam, and then graduate early.

He hurriedly left Ichiraku Ramen, planning to return home for his scroll before heading to the Training Grounds.

Konoha had more than fifty Training Grounds scattered throughout the village. Apart from Training Ground Zero, which had now become a restricted area, and some large Training Grounds on the outskirts that were normally locked, all the others were open to anyone.

They made it convenient to find a quiet place to practice ninjutsu alone. Even if the destructive power was a little greater, it was not much of a problem. The village handled routine repairs, which counted as a hidden benefit for ninja.

As soon as he reached the area near his apartment, he saw an orange figure being carried away by a chunin in a green vest—

It was not an uncommon sight.

Lin Ke had no idea how many times he had seen Uzumaki Naruto being hauled away after pulling pranks, skipping class, or simply wrecking something. Even knowing that Naruto was the protagonist and the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, he had not the slightest desire to go ingratiate himself with him.

He even kept his gaze under tight control, looking only once before turning away.

By the time he got home, his stamina had mostly recovered. He slung the scroll, which was clearly a little too large for him, over his back and ran toward the nearest Training Grounds. "As expected..."

"It works."

Lin Ke held the long blade with a subtle expression. During his earlier practice, he had tried using the Clone Technique and Transformation Jutsu at the same time, and something remarkable had happened.

After transforming his left arm into a long blade and gripping it in his right hand, he could not only use it to attack, but also erase any damage it had sustained once he released the technique.

What an incredibly convenient combo.

Since the weapon he held was his own limb, he could control it with ease. Though it was too long for him—even longer than his body—he did not feel at all as though he would accidentally hurt himself while swinging it.

"Whoosh!" The long blade cut through the air. He looked fairly skilled as he swung it, but in truth, he knew nothing about swordsmanship. The only reason he could turn it into a blade was because his father had once owned one. He did not know where it had gone afterward; it probably had not been preserved as an heirloom.

"Crack—thud!"

The severed tree fell to the ground. Then, a stone some distance away was also cut in two with a crack, sending fragments flying everywhere.

It was about as sharp as he remembered.

Lin Ke looked at the completely unscathed blade. At the very least, it was much tougher than his body. If he encountered an attack he could not block—

Could he not just use the Clone Technique then?

He smiled helplessly. It seemed transforming into something tough was not as useful as transforming into something more lethal. After all, the Clone Technique's forced damage-erasing effect would still be there when it was released.

"But what is the threshold for erasing damage?"

Lin Ke decided to conduct a small test. He had tried it in his room earlier: a minor cut from a kunai would disappear completely, though the pain lingered briefly.

"Clang! Screech—"

He picked up a kunai and jabbed it at the long blade. Amid a teeth-grating sound, the blade bent slightly.

After all, it was not some special ninja tool. It was merely a fairly sharp sword.

"No pain."

He reached a conclusion: objects transformed by the Transformation Jutsu had no sensation. Whether they cut something, were struck, smashed, or bent, there was no pain whatsoever.

"First, release the Transformation Jutsu."

Lin Ke voluntarily dispelled the Transformation Jutsu. The distorted long blade on the ground reverted into a distorted arm, and a wave of intense pain hit him, making him collapse onto the ground.

"Clack, clack..." His entire body trembled from the pain, his teeth knocking together.

The Transformation Jutsu did not erase damage. It even reproduced, exactly as it was, any damage suffered after the transformation upon the body's restoration.

"Poof!"

The Clone Technique was released, and the nerves that had been constantly sounding the alarm through pain suddenly went blank. His emotions became abruptly disconnected.

"From now on, I absolutely have to use the Transformation Jutsu and Clone Technique together."

Lin Ke still felt lingering fear. The pain from bent bones, muscles, and tendons was far worse than the pain of breaking a bone from a fall or training. It was absolutely beyond what he could endure.

Fortunately, the Clone Technique's effect had covered for him. Otherwise, he might have passed out directly from the overwhelming pain.

In the end, he still did not test every threshold for the Clone Technique's damage-erasing ability. The reason was simple: it hurt too much.

There was a limit to how much pain humans could endure. It was not simply a matter of having enough willpower. If the limit was exceeded all at once, one could very well die immediately.

After all, plenty of people had died from pain.

"Not much stamina left."

After several rounds of testing, Lin Ke's stamina had once again fallen below half. This session of familiarizing himself with ninjutsu was coming to an end.

Both movement and chakra refinement consumed stamina. When a person's stamina was exhausted through normal exercise, they would feel hungry and sleepy. The body would automatically sound an alarm to prevent excessive depletion. Once it went too far, death from overwork was no joke.

However, chakra refinement could easily make one overlook the body's warnings and cross the danger line. Thus, a ninja's foremost duty was to properly control the distribution of stamina and chakra refinement.

This had also given rise to one rule in the world of Naruto: when chakra was exhausted, a person could die.