Changes Brought by War

Since the plot hadn't unfolded yet at this point in the original work, there wasn't much description of the Third Shinobi War, and Yichen didn't have much to utilize. Moreover, the most important thing for a ninja is their own strength, Yichen's most thorough preparation for the Third Shinobi War over the years was his training.

Therefore, with war approaching, Yichen felt that his three disciples' preparations for war were also a form of cultivation, and it was time to pass on some more knowledge to them.

For the past six months, the Team One has mostly taken on D-level missions. Only on a few occasions, when Yichen was so bothered by his disciples, did he reluctantly accept C-rank mission.

Moreover, although they are only C-level, they are among the less dangerous C-level disciples. It's not that Yichen spoils his disciples; it's just that their strength is too weak.

When Yichen was working under Kitsuchi, his first task after graduation was a C-level assignment, but that was because Yichen and his two companions were elites among the Advanced Class.

However, Yichen's disciples are currently far behind in terms of basic skills. If they want to grow quickly, they need to focus on training.

Therefore, for the limited number of C-rank mission, Yichen chose those that took less time, usually completing them in one or two days, and at most in no more than five days.

So although half a year has passed, the Team One's mission record is actually not very impressive. It is much worse than other elite teams of the same period.

However, this is not what Yichen values right now; Yichen values is tangible progress.

Six months later, Tomoko the most significant improvement among the three. Firstly, the young girl had the weakest constitution, so the effects of dietary changes were the most noticeable. Now, her Chakra level has almost doubled compared to when she first graduated.

Secondly, under Yichen's guidance, the little girl has begun to develop her talent for Chakra sensitivity. Now she has not only simplified the hand seals of the Three Basic Jutsu to be almost the same as Yichen's, but has also learned Sensory Ninjutsu.

Even more surprisingly, due to her high sensitivity to Chakra, the little girl's perception range was also quite large, comparable to that of Yichen, who had strong mental power back then.

As for exercises like Tree Climbing Water Walking in water, they were far too easy for the little girl, and she completed them with ease.

The little girl's Hand Seals speed is a bit slow, currently less than two seals per second. However, her potential is good, and her Hand Seals speed is gradually improving.

Originally, Yichen felt that Kajiyamari might be more suitable for his path, but now Yichen feels that Tomoko might be more like himself.

Yichen's strong mental power brings a series of advantages. Most of these advantages are also possessed by Tomoko due to her sensitivity to Chakra. From this perspective, Tomoko is indeed a disciple who is very compatible with Yichen.

The progress in Kawakita was the most stable. There were no sudden breakthroughs, and people didn't feel any progress every day. However, after six months, the changes in Kawakita were the most obvious.

People in Kawakita are starting to have a sharper, more edgy vibe.

Unlike Yichen, who initially trained his swordsmanship fundamentals as if he were just building his physique, Kawakita devoted himself entirely to it. His entire demeanor was gradually transforming into that of a Sword Technique Ninja.

Moreover, since Kawakita's improvement is an improvement in his overall physical fitness, his foundation has become more solid. Although he has not yet started practicing C-rank Sword Technique, his speed, strength, reaction and other aspects have improved in all aspects, and his strength has far surpassed Kajiyamari to become the strongest of Yichen's three disciples.

As the team's Ninjutsu dealer, Kajiyamari has now learned Yichen's Water Style: Water Line Jutsu and Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu. Thanks to Yichen's guidance as the developer, she is learning very quickly and is already practicing simplified Hand Seals.

Before Kajiyamari simplified the Hand Seals to a level suitable for actual combat, he probably couldn't defeat Kawakita.

Looking at the team now, Yichen finally felt that it was starting to look somewhat decent.

Because he foresaw the impending turmoil in the Ninja World, Yichen decided not to carry out a mission today, but instead to improve the strength of the three of them.

Kawakita's improvement was simple; Yichen gave him a scroll of C-rank Ninjutsu and told him to practice on his own. Over the past six months, he had successfully completed Chakra Control training, which involved Tree Climbing Water Walking. The training had been very effective for Kawakita, greatly helping him learn swordsmanship.

It wasn't difficult for Tomoko either. After a recent Chakra Paper test, Tomoko's Chakra nature included earth, wind, and lightning.

Having three chakra natures might seem like an advantage, but it's not necessarily a good thing for a ninja's early development. This is because the three natures interfere with each other, affecting a ninja's ability to learn Nature Transformation.

Fortunately, it's particularly easy to grasp the Earth Release in Iwagakure, Tomoko had already gone to the Stone Forest to complete her understanding of the Earth Release long ago.

However, Tomoko's primary attribute is not earth, but wind, so learning Wind Release would definitely be more effective than Earth Release. Therefore, Yichen never taught her any C-rank Ninjutsu other than Sensory Ninjutsu. He had been letting her sense the Wind Release on her own, but the results weren't very good.

It seems we need to speed things up. Yichen used the two C-rank Wind Release and one B-rank Wind Release he obtained from the Konoha Root as a condition to ask his former Anbu subordinate, Jun, to give Tomoko a full day of instruction.

Chun was more than happy to oblige. Her main attribute Wind Release, and she had already mastered a B-rank Ninjutsu. Now that Yichen was giving her a second B-rank Ninjutsu, she had just the time to practice it.

The most difficult thing to improve quickly in Kajiyamari is training. Yichen taught him the Water Clone Jutsu, letting him learn this Ninjutsu that can greatly increase tactical advantages first. As for the others, Yichen didn't plan to teach them anymore. Kajiyamari has already learned quite a lot, and he needs some time to slowly settle down and properly familiarize himself with what he has learned.

After a busy day, Tomoko barely mastered the Nature Transformation of the Wind Release, and then Yichen taught her a C-rank Wind Release: Wind Release: Breakthrough.

This is a small-scale area-of-effect Ninjutsu.

The advantage of Wind Release is its strong attack power. So although it is a group Ninjutsu, its small range makes it quite effective against single targets.

Chun was quite envious of this scene. When she first sensed the Wind Release, she had no Ninjutsu to learn. She had to accumulate enough Contribution Points through missions to exchange for a C-rank Ninjutsu. That Ninjutsu happened to be Wind Release: Breakthrough.

Seeing the envious looks in his eyes, Yichen smiled but didn't say much. Everyone had gone through this. Yichen understood very well how painful the process of accumulating contribution points was. Yichen was very good to his three disciples, but not blindly so. Yichen would help them with C-rank Ninjutsu, but he wouldn't interfere with B-rank Yichen after that.

Jun and Yichen chatted briefly before leaving. After seeing Jun off, Tomoko also went home. She needed to go back and carefully study the C-rank Ninjutsu she had just acquired. Her Chakra reserves were still limited, barely enough to perform one C-rank Ninjutsu, and she couldn't afford to waste any extra.

It was getting late, Yichen sent the other two disciples who were practicing to go home as well, and then went to the Contribution Office himself.

Yichen hasn't been here much lately because he's been busy developing Ninjutsu, so he hasn't been here to exchange for new Ninjutsu for a long time.

Yichen came here for two reasons: first, to hand over his upgraded Water Pressure Line to the village; and second, to exchange for Ninjutsu. Now that his ultimate technique was successfully developed, and with war approaching again, Yichen felt it was time to add some combat methods to his repertoire.

There were quite a few ninjas coming and going at the Contribution Office today, but fortunately there were also quite a few more staff members.

Yichen found a staff member, handed him the Ninjutsu Scroll he had written in advance, demonstrated it once more, and then waited for the staff member to estimate the level of the Ninjutsu and the reward.

With war approaching, a Special Jonin is now stationed at the Contribution Office, so Yichen's Ninjutsu assessment results came out quickly.

Rank A, classified as an area-of-effect Ninjutsu. After all, a horizontal cut from Water Pressure Line can slice through a large area.

The Iwagakure hasn't produced a new A-rank Water Style Jutsu Ninjutsu in a long time, which is a big deal. This Elite Jonin said he couldn't make a decision, but would report it to the higher-ups and try his best to apply for a free A-rank Ninjutsu acquisition right for Yichen.

Yichen was very satisfied with the result. While waiting for the higher-ups' reply, Yichen began to select Ninjutsu. First, Yichen chose an A-rank Earth Style Ninjutsu, Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique.

The purpose of choosing this Ninjutsu is simple: to cope with war. This Ninjutsu has a great advantage, which is that the amount of Chakra can be controlled.

The Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique summons two hemispherical earthen mounds on either side of the target. It can be used for single-target or area-of-effect attacks. The more Chakra input, the larger the summoned mounds become.

This Ninjutsu can also alter terrain over a large area, making it suitable for times of war.

Yichen had been eyeing this Ninjutsu for a long time, ever since Kitsuchi Yichen first demonstrated it in front of him.

Then Yichen exchanged for a manual on using Lightning Release to forge the body. Of course, Lightning Release Ninjutsu was what Iwagakure lacked the most. This body-forging method was also incomplete, mainly consisting of ideas and guesses. It also included various data obtained from enemy corpses.

This Lightning Release body tempering technique is incomplete and cannot be directly practiced; it can only be used as a reference. It can't even reach the Lightning Release armor mode of the Raikage, let alone achieve the nerfed version of Lightning Release cell stimulation like Kakashi and Sasuke.

Why are they so weak? Because there are too few Lightning Release ninjas in Iwagakure. Not only are there few senior ninjas, but the strength of those senior ninjas is also average.

Putting aside everything else, as far as Yichen knows, the Iwagakure only has one complete A-rank Lightning Release.

Yichen asked for this Lightning Release Body Tempering Method, which was worth the equivalent of B-rank Ninjutsu but was only a flawed version, with a try-it-and-see attitude.

Moreover, Yichen hasn't even mastered the Nature Transformation of Lightning Release yet.

After waiting a while, the higher-ups replied, agreeing to the Elite Jonin's suggestion. At the Elite Jonin's request, Yichen named the upgraded Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu "Water Cutting Technique. "Water Cutting Technique: 37 Hand Seals, consumes 7A Chakra. Since it was only recently developed, the number of Hand Seals was a bit high. The Elite Jonin stated that Yichen would need to come and update the Ninjutsu once he had mastered it.

Thus, Yichen was given another chance to receive A-rank Ninjutsu for free.

Without hesitation, Yichen chose the A-rank Water Style Jutsu, Great Raging Waves.