Three Body Technique

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar.

Chiriku watched Li Chuan flawlessly execute all twelve ninja hand signs after just one demonstration, and couldn't help murmuring to himself:

"You really are a genius when it comes to being a ninja!"

Mastering the Chakra Refining Technique in a single night—while certainly impressive—wasn't something Chiriku had never seen before. Many prodigies with special bloodlines or unique physiques could pull it off.

But memorizing all twelve hand signs after a single teaching and reproducing them without a single mistake? That, he had truly never witnessed.

In that moment, Chiriku's resolve wavered slightly.

He had originally thought this prince, Li Chuan, was just acting on a whim—that after a while, when the training got too tough, he'd pack up and go back.

Even though Li Chuan had sent all his servants away and performed quite well over the past couple of days, Chiriku still believed, given Li Chuan's age, that he had little hope of achieving anything significant in the future.

But the talent Li Chuan had just displayed made Chiriku think that if Li Chuan could endure hardship, there might actually be a sliver of hope after all.

After all, a ninja's strength wasn't solely determined by chakra. Compared to a normal ninja, Li Chuan was indeed missing over a decade of training—but with enough effort, it wasn't impossible to catch up from behind.

He'd wait and see.

From then on, Chiriku's teaching became noticeably more dedicated.

"Since you've picked up hand signs so quickly, I'll now teach you your first jutsu—the Transformation Jutsu."

"The Transformation Jutsu only requires a single hand sign, but forming the sign correctly isn't enough to release the jutsu successfully. To pull it off, you also need control over your chakra—how it flows through your meridians is..."

"Boar!"

Following Chiriku's instructions, Li Chuan formed the hand sign and began channeling the chakra inside him.

His figure blurred, as if about to change—but after just a second, it snapped back to normal.

Chiriku, who had been watching Li Chuan's attempt intently, secretly let out a sigh of relief when he saw the failure.

"It's fine. Learning jutsu takes practice. The more you practice, the more naturally it'll come. Failing on the first try is perfectly normal."

If Li Chuan had mastered even the jutsu on his first try, Chiriku would have started to suspect that he had already studied ninjutsu before becoming his disciple.

Faced with Chiriku's reassurance, Li Chuan remained perfectly calm. He knew exactly where he stood.

He wasn't some once-in-a-millennium ninja prodigy. The reason he had picked up the Chakra Refining Technique and hand signs so quickly was because he had decades of martial arts training as a foundation.

But executing jutsu was mainly about controlling chakra—and managing energy was something he had never dealt with before.

Martial artists focused on controlling their muscles and body; there was no such thing as the "inner energy" you saw in TV shows. In that regard, he was no different from any ordinary beginner learning ninjutsu.

If he had any advantage in learning ninjutsu, it was probably the patience and willpower forged through training in the scorching summer heat and bitter winter cold.

Along with a strong body and sharp mind that allowed him to extract more chakra than the average person and practice jutsu more frequently.

And since he already possessed extensive combat experience, he could devote more time purely to learning ninjutsu.

One month later, inside the Land of Fire training room.

"Transformation!"

Li Chuan formed the hand signs and instantly transformed into Chiriku's likeness.

After canceling the transformation, he formed signs again:

"Clone!"

An identical copy of himself appeared beside him.

"Substitution!"

After dispelling the clone, his hands immediately formed the Substitution Jutsu's hand signs. His body vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing five meters away, while a small block of wood remained where he had stood.

The Transformation Jutsu, Clone Jutsu, and Substitution Jutsu—the most basic and simplest of the Three Body Techniques—Li Chuan had fully mastered after a month.

To be honest, even though they were the most fundamental techniques, they gave him a truly unique feeling.

Completely turning into another person, creating an identical copy of himself, instantly appearing five meters away—each one was as wondrous as it was baffling.

And this extraordinary experience brought back a feeling Li Chuan thought he had long lost.

It was the same sensation he had felt when he first started learning martial arts—only to slowly lose it over the course of his later experiences.

Maybe that was why his kung fu had never progressed beyond a certain point.

Back then, he felt that no matter how hard he tried, he could never overcome the power of modern weaponry.

He could dodge bullets with his strong physique and precise predictions, but he couldn't evade a minigun or survive a rocket launcher.

It was better to just earn more money, give himself and his family a better life, and provide better medical care for his master, who was hospitalized back home.

But now, things were different. He had only just entered his first world and studied for a single month, yet he had already grasped something he could never have obtained in his past life—and the future held countless more possibilities.

Even without counting ninjutsu, the mere boost chakra energy gave to his physical body had already pushed his strength, speed, and every other aspect to a breakthrough.

Maybe entering the Minor World wasn't just about defending against the dangers of the Marvel World—it was more about his original intention: the desire to keep pushing past his limits and become stronger.

"Excellent. In just one month, you've managed to master the Three Body Techniques to this level—you've truly exceeded your master's expectations."

Chiriku watched Li Chuan finish the final Substitution Jutsu and nodded with a deeply gratified expression.

To be honest, in his eyes, Li Chuan was a genius at refining chakra and forming hand signs, but not necessarily a genius at learning ninjutsu itself. His entry into the world of jutsu hadn't been all that fast.

But Li Chuan's diligence was relentless. Ever since he began learning ninjutsu, Chiriku noticed that Li Chuan spent every hour of the day—except for eating, sleeping, and using the bathroom—refining his Chakra and practicing techniques.

Over and over again, as if he never felt the slightest boredom.

Not to mention a pampered prince—even Chiriku himself and everyone he had ever met could not match Li Chuan in this regard.

This required not only patience but also the endurance of the physical and mental exhaustion that came with depleting his Chakra time and again.

It was precisely because of this that Chiriku's view of Li Chuan had truly changed.

At first, it was only because of Li Chuan's status as a prince and the five hundred thousand taels. Now, he genuinely acknowledged him from the heart and wanted to teach him well, making him his direct disciple.

He might be a bit older, but with such talent and perseverance, why worry about him not becoming a strong warrior?

"It's all thanks to my teacher's excellent guidance."

Once a teacher, always a father. Since he had taken Chiriku as his master, even though Chiriku was actually younger than him, Li Chuan never failed to show the proper respect.

Seeing Li Chuan's respectful demeanor, Chiriku nodded in satisfaction once more.

As a prince of noble birth, Li Chuan had never put on airs since becoming his disciple. He always kept himself in the position of a student, and that was another reason Chiriku had come to accept him from the heart.