Strength Increases Again

A week after Gato was killed, the bridge connecting the Land of Waves to the mainland was finally completed.

From then on, the Land of Waves faced no further obstacles in trading with the towns and cities on the mainland.

"Goodbye, Brother Chuan! You have to come visit us in Konoha sometime! I'll treat you to ramen—it's super delicious!"

On the bridge, Naruto waved and shouted to Li Chuan before leaving.

With the bridge completed, Kakashi's team had fully completed its mission and naturally had to return to Konoha.

"If your next mission takes you to the capital, you may notify this monk in advance. This monk will treat you well too."

Li Chuan replied with a smile, holding his monk's staff.

For the time being, he had no plans to leave the Land of Waves. Matsukawa alone would have a hard time completely swallowing Gato's shipping company, so Li Chuan still needed to secretly clear away a few obstacles.

However, what he told Kakashi and the others was that Matsukawa planned to build an orphanage in the Land of Waves to take in those pitiful orphans, and that he wanted to stay behind to help.

That really was one of the reasons he stayed. After all, he still needed to find time to teach those orphans some basic Chakra Refining Technique and ninja knowledge.

"Alright, let's hurry back to the village! To celebrate completing the mission, I'll make Teacher Iruka treat me to ramen."

Naruto was clearly in a very good mood on the way back.

Sakura was the same.

"Um, Sasuke, how about we go on a date after we get back to the village?"

"No. I refuse."

Sasuke replied without hesitation, his hands clasped behind his head.

After returning, he still needed to train even harder and improve himself. Having seen powerful ninja like Kakashi, Zabuza, and Chuan, he felt even more keenly that he was still far from capable of taking revenge.

Walking beside them, Kakashi watched his three students with a gratified expression while involuntarily thinking of the Fire Temple Monk Ninja named "Chuan."

His many years of experience told him that Chuan's identity seemed far more complicated than simply being a Monk Ninja from the Fire Temple. He was not as easy to fool as Sakura.

From his observations over this period, he had already realized that Matsukawa was not Chuan's friend at all. The instinctive humility Matsukawa displayed upon seeing Chuan was something only a servant would show before his master.

Still, he did not think Chuan was a bad person. Judging by everything he had done, he was undoubtedly a kind and good man. He might simply be hiding another identity.

Meanwhile, after Kakashi's Team 7 left, Li Chuan brought Zabuza and Haku with him and, together with Matsukawa, began carrying out their planned operation without restraint.

In less than three days, Gato's entire organization had completely collapsed. Li Chuan's merchant caravan absorbed it whole, skin and bones included, then used the Gato Group's enormous funds to begin rebuilding the towns of the Land of Waves.

All the shops in town that had gone out of business were bought back at high prices, reopened under the Chuan Ji name.

Huge amounts of supplies were hauled by Li Chuan's merchant caravan from the prosperous towns on the mainland and continuously transported into the Land of Waves.

The able-bodied young men who had once stood in the streets holding signs because they had no work were also recruited into Chuan Ji's merchant caravans, shops, and the various construction sites still under development.

Poor families now had incomes. They no longer had to go hungry and could buy all kinds of food and daily necessities from Chuan Ji's shops. The money they spent then flowed right back into Chuan Ji's pockets.

Thanks to Chuan Ji, the towns of the Land of Waves changed every day, and nearly everyone's lives became closely tied to Chuan Ji.

The sallow, undernourished children who had once had no families were all moved into the orphanage. They were well fed and warmly clothed, and teachers Li Chuan had hired from the mainland taught them basic literacy and knowledge.

More than a month later, about ten days remained before Li Chuan returned to the main world.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu!"

Li Chuan formed hand seals, and a massive torrent erupted forth, crushing toward Zabuza on the other side.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu!"

Faced with such a wide-range ninjutsu, dodging was impossible. Zabuza could only use the same technique to cancel it out.

"Lightning Style: Earth Running!"

Li Chuan had been prepared for this. He abruptly pressed both hands to the ground, sending a current of lightning through the two clashing streams toward Zabuza.

"A ninja with Five-Attribute Chakra really is troublesome."

The electricity in the water jolted Zabuza until his entire body went numb, forcing him to leap onto a tree that was not conducting electricity.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique! Wind Style: Gale Force!"

With the enhancement of the D-rank Gale Force, the C-Rank Great Fireball's power instantly rose to that of a B-rank Fire Style ninjutsu, forcing Zabuza to use Water Dragon Bullet again to offset the damage.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Chuan had already closed in behind Zabuza and launched an attack with a large spear in hand.

Because his body had been numbed by lightning earlier and his movements were sluggish, Zabuza was actually swept off the tree by Li Chuan's spear.

Once the numbness finally faded, he intended to go all out and use the Executioner's Blade to sever his opponent's spear. To his surprise, the spear suddenly transformed into a massive hammer. One blow numbed his hands so badly that he nearly lost his grip on the blade.

And so the two exchanged blow after blow, yet Zabuza remained at a disadvantage beneath Li Chuan's endless variety of attacks.

"I'm done. This is way too frustrating!"

After a while, Zabuza put away his blade, unwilling to continue sparring with Li Chuan.

After killing Gato, Li Chuan had hired him and Haku for the hefty sum of two hundred thousand ryo per day.

Zabuza was responsible for killing and assisting Li Chuan's ninjutsu training and combat sparring, while Haku was responsible for guiding the orphans at the orphanage in learning the most basic Chakra Refining Technique and some of the ninjutsu Li Chuan had provided.

Since it allowed them to avoid Hidden Mist Village's pursuit forces while also earning money, he readily agreed.

At first, Li Chuan had never won a single spar against him, but this guy's talent was truly terrifying. He kept improving through one bout of actual combat after another.

Now, not only did Li Chuan suppress him in ninjutsu with his Five-Attribute Chakra talent, but his use of weapons in Body Technique had also reached an astonishing level. And then there was that disgusting ability to swap weapons by some unknown principle.

By now, it was already difficult for him to gain the upper hand in battle—and that was without Li Chuan ever using the special Body Technique he had used to defeat Haku.

"Thanks for everything during this time. I'm planning to return to the Land of Fire tomorrow. Interested in taking a look around the capital of the Land of Fire?"

Li Chuan stored his weapons in the Mission Space, feeling exceptionally pleased.

Previously, he had trained alone at the Fire Temple. At most, he sparred with Chiriku, but he could not truly let loose, which meant that many of his ideas and techniques remained only in his imagination, unable to be put into practical use.

But over these fifty days, with Zabuza, an experienced Elite Jonin, serving as his sparring partner, practically everything he currently possessed had been effectively developed.

His overall strength now could be said to be not much weaker than that of an ordinary Elite Jonin. What he lacked was merely the amount of Chakra.