A Kage's Capacity

Yichen knew this arrangement wasn't good. Famous ninjas in the Ninja World all have their own unique Unique Technique. These Unique Technique don't necessarily need to be developed by themselves, but they must master a certain skill to its fullest extent. The Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu was the path Yichen had always insisted on. However, Yichen's ambitions were too great. In addition to pursuing this path, he also wanted to cultivate Chakra Fusion and develop bloodline limits. As a result, time seemed insufficient.

Think back to the original story: Kakashi became Jonin at the age of eleven, and he had already developed the Chidori. The original Yichen was also striving in that direction. Initially, Yichen was quite happy when he upgraded the Water Style: Water Line Jutsu to the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu. Although the Water Pressure Line was only a C-rank technique, its power wasn't much weaker than a typical B-rank Ninjutsu. It was suitable for Yichen to further develop, and Yichen had already decided on his direction early on: referencing the Second Hokage's Water Style: Water Severing Wave.

However, things didn't go as Yichen had planned. Perhaps he was progressing too quickly, which led to more and more opportunities to practice advanced Ninjutsu. The training of eight B-rank Ninjutsu took up too much of Yichen's energy. Moreover, for four of these eight B-rank Ninjutsu, Yichen spent a lot of time simplifying the Hand Seals in order to use them in actual combat.

After learning the A-rank Ninjutsu Light-Weight Rock Technique, Yichen is now gradually shifting from his original focus on specializing in Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu to a more diverse and varied approach.

This result was not what Yichen had expected. Yichen hesitated, unsure of what to do next or whether he should abandon the upgrade and development of the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu.

Neither the Shironeko nor the Dango were home tonight, and Yichen spent the entire night alone in the small house, lost in thought. The next morning, Yichen went to the Tsuchikage's Office Building, sought an audience with Ōnoki, and shared all his thoughts, asking Ōnoki for advice.

After listening to Yichen's words, Ōnoki thought about it carefully for a long time before saying something that completely surprised Yichen.

"Little Yichen, your growth has surprised me. Since the founding of Iwagakure, we have never seen Jonin prominence with such a talent for spiritual power as you. Therefore, the village can not offer you much help."

"You didn't choose the Yin Release path, probably because you thought the village wouldn't have enough resources to help you. But have you considered that those predecessors who developed new Ninjutsu probably had templates to follow? When they embarked on this path, did they also have other, smoother options?"

"Take my teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, who developed Dust Release and the Light-Weight Rock Technique and Added-Weight Rock Technique. What would have happened if he hadn't developed these Ninjutsu and instead chose to practice the Earth Style Ninjutsu left by his predecessors?"

Yichen thought for a moment and said, "With the Second Lord's talent, he should be able to become Kage Level and raise the Earth Release in the village to another level."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "That's right. Our Iwagakure, with Earth Release as its primary attribute, has established itself in the Ninja World and stands as one of the Five Great Nations, rivaling the other four. We have a rich collection of Earth Release techniques. If the Second Lord chooses to cultivate Earth Release, his achievements might be even greater."

"However, if he really did that, he would also lose the possibility of advancing to a higher level. Just like me, my strength is naturally one of the strongest in the current Ninja World. But back in the days when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were still around, it was nothing."

"Compared to the Second Mizukage, I haven't forged my own path, so my achievements have reached their limit. In ten or twenty years, this will be all I'll be capable of. But my teacher is different. If he hadn't perished together with the Second Mizukage, he could have gone even further."

Yichen was somewhat surprised. It turned out that in Ōnoki's eyes, Kage Level wasn't the end. Come to think of it, Ōnoki had sensed Madara Uchiha's power and must have known that there were higher levels above Kage Level.

Yichen thought for a moment and understood what Ōnoki meant. Although Ōnoki hadn't made a choice for him, the meaning behind his words was clear: Yi Chen lacked magnanimity. Although he possessed the strength of a Jonin and his talent was comparable to the best among his peers, and he even had the mindset of a Kage in terms of knowledge and action, he was still lacking in spirit, far from it.

Yichen was somewhat dazed, yet also somewhat enlightened.

Indeed, over the years, I've been dazzled by advanced Ninjutsu, constantly pursuing both the quantity and level of Ninjutsu.

He was overjoyed Nagato gave him Ninjutsu. He was also extremely excited to be able to exchange it for B-rank Ninjutsu.

When he was able to exchange for A-rank Ninjutsu, he didn't waste a moment. At that time, he even thought about exchanging the reward for being promoted to Jonin for Contribution Points to exchange for A-rank Ninjutsu.

Looking back now, I realize I was indeed a bit obsessed, too focused on these visible increases in strength.

Yichen felt somewhat fortunate that he had realized this now. Although it was a bit late, he was only 14 years old, and it wasn't too late to change course.

For this, Yichen is grateful for his past life. In his past life, he accomplished nothing and spent most of his time regretting things.

I regret choosing the wrong major in college, I regret not choosing the right industry when I first started working, and I regret not getting more certifications at the beginning.

No matter how old you are, you always regret your past self from a few years ago, and then you always feel that it's too late to change. Then, a few years later, your new self regrets not having tried harder in the past.

So now that Yichen realizes he's gone down the wrong path, it wasn't too difficult for him to make up his mind to change.

At 14, although he was far inferior to a genius like Kakashi, he was still just a child compared to his past self who had accomplished nothing.

After saying goodbye to Ōnoki, Yichen emerged from the Tsuchikage's Office Building, full of energy, like a newly drawn blade, exuding an unprecedented sharpness from within.

Yichen himself didn't notice, but Ōnoki, who was standing at the window of Tsuchikage's Office, could see it clearly.

Ōnoki was very pleased; his hard work had not been in vain.

That's right, Ōnoki knew that Yichen had been developing the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu, and he also knew that Yichen had wasted a lot of time on the Light-Weight Rock Technique.

However, instead of pointing it out, he added fuel to the fire by giving Yichen another A-rank Ninjutsu. At that time, seeing Yichen's excited and thrilled appearance, Ōnoki was somewhat disappointed. Although he preferred Ikura, he also hoped that the village would have another outstanding junior.

It wasn't that Ye Mu didn't want to remind Yichen, but rather that reminding him was useless in this kind of situation.

Even though Onoki reminded him and Yichen did as he was told, he still couldn't calm down and focus on developing his own unique ninjutsu.

However, if Yichen can figure out what he wants for himself, then it will be a completely different story. This is a mental and emotional tempering that a strong person must go through in the process of growing up. This tempering is similar to Yichen's previous epiphany.

However, the effect was much less. Last time, the enlightenment allowed Yichen to directly cross the threshold from Chunin to Jonin, but this time the mental training was not as effective. But Ōnoki believed that after this incident, Yichen would definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort in developing the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu.

"Sigh, I can finally have a headache choosing who to be my successor," Ōnoki thought to himself with a smug smile.

Konoha is the strongest of the Five Great Nations, overwhelming any of the others in military and economic terms, but these are not the things the leaders of the other four nations envy the most.

Take Ōnoki as an example. What he envied most about Hiruzen Sarutobi was that there were too many people qualified to inherit the Hokage position, so he found it troublesome to choose a successor.

Don't be fooled by the fact that White Fang died in the Konoha's Internal Strife, making the other Four Great Nations laugh at him. Behind this laughter, there was also a sour taste of envy.

If Konoha only had one Kage Level besides Hiruzen Sarutobi, would White Fang still be subject to public criticism?

Obviously not. It's precisely because Konoha is full of talented people, and Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't favor White Fang, that they allowed the rumors to spread freely in the village.

The other four countries could only feel envy and jealousy at this.

But now, after witnessing Yichen's growth, Ōnoki is considering Yichen and Ikura on the same level for the first time. From this moment on, all discussions related to the position of Tsuchikage will inevitably involve Yichen's name.

After smugly contemplating the competition for the next Fourth Tsuchikage, Ōnoki looked at his empty office and said, "Summon Owl."

Then several Anbu suddenly appeared, responded, and then abruptly left the office.

Yichen was unaware of these things, and didn't even notice the abnormality in his own body.

Realizing he had gone astray, Yichen even stopped paying attention to the A-rank Ninjutsu that could be easily replaced, and went straight to the Training Ground.

From this day forward, all cultivation must give way to the development of the Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu.

The principle Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu lies in utilizing the transmission of water pressure. With the help of the magical properties of Chakra, Yichen made the Water Pressure Line's thrusting ability far surpass that of the Water Style: Water Line Jutsu.

This is the first step of development that has been completed.

The second step is to maintain the Water Pressure Line of the ejected water and then cut horizontally. Since the water pressure is equal in all directions, theoretically there is no problem; the power of a horizontal cut is no less than that of a vertical thrust. However, in practice, it is much more difficult.

Maintaining the Water Pressure Line is easy, but controlling it to cut through the Yichen like a knife has been a mystery for years.

Coincidentally, this time I obtained a C-rank Ninjutsu from the Rain Village, called Water Flow Whip.

This Water Flow Whip is precisely Ninjutsu that moves water horizontally. Learning this Ninjutsu can serve as a reference.

With Yichen's current Chakra and Chakra Control, he easily learned this C-rank Water Style Jutsu Ninjutsu. After practicing it for a while, Yichen simplified the number of hand seals for the Water Flow Whip to eight in three days.

Then, referring to the method of Water Flow Whip, I began to try to control the lateral movement of the Water Pressure Line.

However, this step was more difficult than Yichen had imagined. In order to increase the power of the Water Pressure Line, Yichen added a pressure transmission method, which made the balance of the Water Pressure Line very fragile. With the slightest movement, the Water Pressure Line would break apart.

Yichen could sense that his direction was correct, but he lacked control.

The Water Pressure Line is long and thin. In actual combat, the frontmost water line is sometimes nearly a hundred meters away from Yichen. Controlling such a long water line to cut horizontally and keep it in balance is so difficult that even Yichen at present cannot do it.

Therefore, Yichen took a step back and practiced short-distance control first. For example, he first controlled the Water Pressure Line to about one or two meters, and then practiced cutting this shorter Water Pressure Line laterally.

This method is clearly good; although progress is slow, Yichen still sees hope.

The next step is to calm down and gradually adapt to this control through persistent effort.