Ikura of the Five Attributes

Upon hearing Yichen inquire about Ikura's performance, the Anbu Captain chuckled a few more times and said, "Your temperament is better than Ikura's, but Ikura's talent far surpasses yours. Just now, after I conveyed his appointment, it took him more than ten seconds to calm down."

The other person paused here, clearly trying to pique Yichen's interest. It was easy to guess that there was a smile on their face behind the mask.

Yichen tentatively asked, "Could it be that Ikura became a Quasi-Kage back then?"

"Uh!!!" The other person was clearly surprised that Yichen could guess correctly. His smile froze, and he suddenly didn't know how to continue the conversation.

After an awkward silence, the other person continued, "That's right, just a few minutes ago, Ikura completed his leap to Kage Level. Now, with time, he will become a true Kage Level."

Judging from the other person's tone, Yichen could sense a sense of pride and satisfaction. This must be the expression of satisfaction from the village elders with the younger generation they had protected.

When Yichen received a positive reply, he felt a pang of guilt. He sighed, realizing he was still a step too late. He wasn't even Elite Jonin yet, while Ikura had already crossed the threshold to Kage Level.

A closer analysis reveals that Yichen's significant loss to Ikura occurred during his period of confusion two years prior. At that time, Yichen was captivated by powerful Ninjutsu and forgot the most crucial element for improving a ninja: their own willpower.

However, this emotion only lasted for a dozen seconds, allowing Yichen to reflect on his mistakes. Immediately afterwards, Yichen regained his fighting spirit. So what if he wasted two years? He had already realized his mistakes and corrected them. Now, the A-rank Ninjutsu he had developed, the Water Cutting Technique, was complete.

I have taken a very important step, and I believe that it won't be long before I become an Elite Jonin.

Then Yichen unleashed an even stronger fighting spirit than before, his sharp eyes piercing the Anbu member, and said, "If you see Ikura, please congratulate him for me and tell him to wait. I'll catch up soon."

The Anbu Captain was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Good! Good! Good! It's an honor to see two young juniors improve today. Before congratulating Ikura, I must first congratulate you, Yichen, on becoming an Elite Jonin. Remember to report to Gu Buban's office tomorrow; he is the commander of the Eastern Army."

After the Anbu Captain finished speaking, he vanished in a Body Flicker Technique. He was very excited today, having witnessed the future growth of Iwagakure, and now he had to go to Ōnoki to report the good news.

Upon hearing the words of the Anbu Captain, Yichen was first taken aback, then overjoyed. Had he also improved? There was a difference between Elite Jonin and Jonin, but it wasn't significant. The essential difference was in Chakra levels, where Elite Jonin levels, but even that difference wasn't substantial.

Aside from that, the amount of Chakra wouldn't increase much. After the Anbu Captain left, Yichen sensed his own Chakra, but found nothing for the time being. Perhaps this change needed time to settle.

Yichen, who had originally planned to relax, suddenly found himself wanting to try out the Lightning Release Nature Transformation cultivation for some unknown reason.

For some reason, Yichen suddenly felt that now was the right time to cultivate attribute transformation.

As an excellent ninja who knew the wonders of Chakra, Yichen had no doubt about this inexplicable feeling. So without hesitation, he returned to the Training Ground, used up all his Chakra as usual, and then began to carefully sense the Yichen Lightning Release.

Perhaps due to his recent transformation, his mental state fluctuated greatly, and all his attributes were quite active. This enlightenment went very smoothly, and Yichen directly condensed a wisp of electricity on one of his fingers.

Looking at that sliver of lightning, Yichen was speechless. It was truly a case of "the flowers you plant with care may not bloom, but the willows you plant unintentionally may thrive." He had just given up, and suddenly he succeeded?

Thinking back to when I practiced the Fire Release transformation, it took me a long time, surely longer than when I practiced the Lightning Release.

Shaking his head, Yichen didn't waste this special opportunity and immediately began cultivating his Lightning Release.

Perhaps it was because his body's balance was disrupted by the recent transformation that Yichen was able to successfully cultivate the Lightning Release. Afterwards, Yichen wanted to strike while the iron was hot and deepen his understanding, but his progress became slower and slower.

In the end, Yichen didn't fully master the transformations of the Lightning Release, but he made significant progress. Yichen estimated that if he gave himself another ten days or so, he should be able to try learning Lightning Release.

However, Yichen suddenly remembered something, and Risan disciples' puzzled expressions, he used a Body Flicker Technique to rush off in a certain direction.

Yichen's destination was Ikura's house, and as expected, Ikura was home at the moment. Seeing Yichen climb over the wall, she was a little surprised, and before she could ask, Yichen spoke.

"Quickly, quickly practice Chakra nature transformation. I just became Elite Jonin and successfully mastered Lightning Release. You just became Quasi-Kage level, so your progress should be better than mine."

Ikura was taken aback at first. Although she didn't know how Yichen knew she had become a Quasi-Kage, she quickly realized what was going on. Without wasting any time, as soon as Yichen finished speaking, Ikura used Body Flicker Technique Movement to go to her family's Training Ground.

The Ikura family is a large clan with its own dedicated Training Ground, which is quite large enough for him to Training Ground on.

Seeing Ikura go to training, Yichen breathed a sigh of relief and was about to follow when he noticed there were other people in the courtyard. Yichen recognized two of them; one was Ikura's father. Ikura's father was named Mitani Yuka, and he was also a Jonin. Although he wasn't Elite Jonin, his strength should be among the Jonin.

Another person Yichen recognized was Ōnoki. Ōnoki had arrived after receiving a message from the Anbu Captain, arriving a little earlier than Yichen. He had just been asking Ikura how she was feeling. In Iwagakure, there are rewards for every ninja's promotion. Now that Ikura has been promoted to Kage Level, the reward must be substantial. Ōnoki was probably here to explain the reward.

It's just that Ōnoki is too small; Yichen didn't see him earlier, but noticed him now.

Yichen was a little embarrassed, but fortunately Ōnoki didn't seem to mind. He just asked curiously, "Yichen, are you sure it's useful for changing cultivation attributes right after advancing in level?"

Yichen nodded, then shook his head, and said, "I'm not sure either, but I did make significant progress in my Lightning Release training when I first became Elite Jonin. However, that smooth feeling gradually faded afterward."

Seeing that Yichen was also unsure, Ōnoki didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he called Mitani Yuka to go check on Ikura's situation. Yichen followed happily behind.

When the three arrived at the Training Ground, Ikura had already exhausted his Chakra and was trying to train in elemental transformation. Ikura was training in the fifth element, which is extremely difficult for a ninja. No ninja in Iwagakure has ever possessed all Five-Attribute.

Ikura had tried it before, even using Yichen's method. In fact, he trained his fourth attribute, Water Release, using Yichen's method. However, Ikura hadn't made any progress in training his final attribute, Wind Release, and had almost given up. Four attributes are basically enough for a ninja. If you master all four attributes, a ninja will essentially have no weaknesses.

But having an extra attribute is always beneficial, isn't it? So after listening to Yichen's words, Ikura immediately came to cultivate his Five-Attribute.

This time, Ikura used the same method as Naruto in the original story, except that he was holding a piece of paper. Ikura gripped the paper tightly with both hands, his eyes were closed, and his brows were furrowed, as if he were using all his strength.

Ōnoki, Mitani Yuka, Yichen, and a Yichen didn't recognize all held their breath and watched intently from the side.

This process was slow and lengthy. Ikura's cultivation was not progressing smoothly. Everyone waited for more than two hours, but Ikura still didn't open his eyes. However, everyone was very patient; no result was a good result. Because everyone knew that if Ikura had made no progress at all, he should have given up by now. The fact that he was still continuing meant that Yichen's words might actually be somewhat effective.

After a while, about three hours in total, Ikura opened his eyes. When he separated his hands, a crack appeared on the paper in his palm.

"Yay~~~" This was Yichen's shout. Yichen was mainly bored while waiting. Three hours! If it weren't for Ōnoki waiting, Yichen would have gone back long ago. Watching his three disciples cultivate was better than wasting time here.

Not only did Yichen let out a strange cry, but the others also gasped in surprise.

Ikura had been mentally exhausted over the past three hours and was still somewhat unwell, so Mitani Yuka personally went to help him up.

Ikura said to Ōnoki, "Lord Tsuchikage, Yichen's method is indeed effective, and it works best right after the transformation, becoming less effective as time goes on. If Yichen had arrived half an hour later, it wouldn't have been effective for me."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "Alright, you should rest well first. Tell us how it feels after you've fully mastered your fifth element. The village has never had a ninja with all Five-Attribute; you're the first."

"Hmm." Ikura nodded, said something to Yichen, and was then helped back into the house by his father.

Yichen yawned, waved to Ikura, and then followed Ōnoki away from Ikura's house.

On the way, Ōnoki Yichen said, "Yichen, this matter today is a village secret and cannot be told to outsiders."

He paused, then added, "You did very well this time, and I'm happy that you've become Elite Jonin, but I'm even happier that you were able to share this secret with your comrades."

"This matter is very important; it's a method that can significantly improve the strength of the village's high-level ninjas. This counts as an S-rank mission for you, plus an A-rank Ninjutsu exchange privilege. Also, congratulations, Yichen, from now on, you are an Elite Jonin."

"The village rewards Elite Jonin. Although your strength is not yet stable, I can tell you about the rewards in advance. You can choose the right to exchange for an S-rank Ninjutsu, or the right to exchange for three A-rank Ninjutsu, or 500,000 contribution points, or the right to read an S-rank secret treasure, or customize three weapons made of Chakra Metal."

Yichen took a deep breath and said, "Lord Tsuchikage, I cannot determine what I need right now. I will make a choice after my strength has improved further."

Ōnoki nodded, pleased that the village had a worthy successor, which meant he had done a good job as Tsuchikage. Ōnoki then continued, "Originally, with your Jonin level, your position was acting Third Deputy Commander. Now that you're Elite Jonin, I'll officially appoint you as the Third Deputy Commander of the Eastern Army."

Yichen blinked. How long had it been? Had he already been promoted to a full-time position? No, that didn't seem right; his internship should have ended.

Seeing Yichen acting cute, Ōnoki was in a good mood. He waved his hand, telling Yichen to go about his business, as he wanted to wander around the village by himself.