Growth

Yichen was very satisfied with the performance of his three disciples; the result of this attack was much better than Yichen had expected. The choices the three disciples made when facing death were very positive. Whether it was Tomoko, who intended to use her own life to create a chance for her teammates, or Kawakita and Kajiyamari, who Wind Release: Breakthrough in the face of battle, they were all excellent.

Next, Yichen saw the three little ones come to their senses, hurriedly clean up the battlefield, and then quickly left the spot.

Yichen smiled, and after the three left, he went over to pack up the body of the Mist Chunin Mist ninja, and then continued to leave the battlefield with the three children.

Yichen went around in circles and returned to the camp ahead of the three, then waited for them to report on the mission.

The three from Kajiyamari were clearly terrified this time, running all the way back to camp. Once inside, they all plopped down on the ground. After a long pause, under the astonished gazes of the others, they exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

From this moment on, in addition to being fellow disciples, we had another layer of relationship: comrades-in-arms who would share life and death.

After calming themselves down, the three went to Yichen's office to report on the mission.

Although Yichen witnessed the three people's behavior throughout, he pretended not to know anything and listened attentively to their story.

"Teacher, teacher, we've completed the mission! This is the other side's Forehead Protector."

"Teacher Yichen, that's a Mist ninja Chunin."

"Yeah, yeah, that Mist ninja is amazing."

"Teacher, I 'Wind Release: Breakthrough! My Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu has reduced one seal."

"Teacher Yichen, the last strike from Kawakita that killed that Mist ninja was incredibly powerful. Even though it didn't hit him, he was still severely injured."

Yichen listened with a smile to his three disciples' chattering, first praising them, then saying to Kawakita and Kajiyamari, "Based on the feeling of your last strike, go to the Training Ground and practice, see if you can still find that feeling."

Both Kawakita and Kajiyamari nodded excitedly, while Tomoko, as an observer, found it somewhat strange, as if Yichen wasn't particularly surprised by their Wind Release: Breakthrough.

Then, as if realizing something, Tomoko asked, "Teacher Yichen, did you see our fight? You didn't seem surprised by what happened."

After hearing what Tomoko said, Kawakita and Kajiyamari also looked at Yichen curiously.

Yichen patted the three of them on the head, but didn't answer. Instead, he urged them to go train.

Unable to get an answer, the three of them went to the Training Ground while speculating.

The three of them themselves didn't realize it, but Yichen, having just been in close proximity to them, clearly felt that the three of them had completed the transformation into ninjas. Now, the three of them could be considered qualified ninjas.

With this change in will, Yichen believed that the three of them would soon grow up.

However, this growth takes time. Right now, Yichen's interest in Kawakita's final strike is clearly greater than anything else.

Yichen himself didn't have much talent for swordsmanship, so he had no clue about this mysterious thing called Sword Qi. He never expected that his Mu Qi disciple would have already touched the edge of swordsmanship at such a young age.

Unfortunately, the final blow from Kawakita is one that the current Kawakita cannot replicate. At that moment, he was filled with self-blame and despair; that blow was his attempt to save the lives of his two companions.

The mindset in Kawakita is different now; whether they can still execute that kind of strike is questionable.

Sure enough, when Kawakita returned to the Training Ground, he tried many times but couldn't execute that strike again. Seeing this, Yichen made up his mind.

"It's time to develop that Genjutsu."

Yichen stopped paying attention to the three disciples and instead took out Secret Scroll, a treasure containing knowledge of Genjutsu, which Yichen hadn't properly examined yet.

The secret texts do not contain the name of this Genjutsu, but only related speculations and experiments by predecessors, along with various descriptions from those who were affected.

Yichen had only learned two Genjutsu, and based on experience, developing a new Genjutsu would be very difficult. However, after carefully studying the secret manual, Yichen felt that his chances of success were still very high. This Genjutsu had two difficulties: one was to construct a relatively realistic illusion, and the other was how to make the victim fall for it.

Since Yichen's target was Kawakita, the second difficulty was essentially nonexistent, while the first difficulty required the caster to have strong mental power. Coincidentally, Yichen's mental power was very strong, far exceeding that of his peers and those of his level.

Yichen felt that his mental strength should be stronger than that of Kage-level experts. However, Iwagakure had too little understanding of mental strength to quantify and test it, so Yichen was unsure of his own strength level.

However, knowing his own level is not important; all Yichen needs to know is that he is well-suited for this Genjutsu.

Starting the next day, Yichen squeezed out time before and after lunch and dinner to study the Genjutsu. Since he didn't need to worry too much about the casting process, he only needed to consider the aftereffects on the recipient after the Genjutsu was cast. Therefore, Yichen's research progressed quickly, and the Genjutsu was completed in about ten days.

As soon as the development was completed, Yichen called Kawakita, who was training, over. He then explained his next steps in detail and asked Yichen Kawakita to cooperate and not resist before beginning the spell.

The process was straightforward. After Yichen Hand Seals, he pressed his right hand against Kawakita's forehead. Then, Kawakita felt the surrounding scenery slowly change. Yichen disappeared, replaced by a sea of fire.

On the other side of the sea of fire, a ninja wielding a sword was swinging it continuously. Then, to Kawakita's astonishment, the sword Sword Qi formed a barrier in front of him, which successfully blocked the sea of fire.

Then, Kawakita saw streams of water shooting out in front of him, and Ninjutsu coming out from all around him. The ninja wielding the sword used incredible swordsmanship to dispel all the Ninjutsu attacks one by one.

By this time, Kawakita had realized that this was the battle process of the Konoha Sword Technique Ninja that Yichen had described to him before. However, Yichen's description and what he saw with his own eyes were completely different. The feeling of that Konoha ninja drawing his sword resonated subtly with Kawakita's aura.

However, Kawakita felt that something was missing between himself and that feeling.

Then the scene changed, Kawakita saw himself, his two teammates: Tomoko and Kajiyamari, and the Chunin the Mist ninja Village. This scene was very short, lasting only a moment, the brief instant when Kawakita swung his long sword.

"Boom!"

Kawakita felt a jolt throughout his body and was instantly pulled out of the illusion.

Yichen was somewhat surprised. Although the Genjutsu was about to end, there were still a second or two left. How could Kawakita have broken free of the Genjutsu?

Removing the hand from Kawakita's forehead, Yichen saw a Kawakita completely different from before. Although the previous Kawakita had some sharpness, he still gave the overall impression of an insecure Genin. After his First Shinobi War with Kozaburo, although his temperament had changed, the main change was that he had become more resolute, and his overall image remained the same.

But the feeling that Kawakita gave Yichen at this moment was really similar to the Gekko Seikuu back then. Both of them were the kind of people whose every move carried a bit of sharpness.

This time, Kawakita had a clearer understanding of his own feelings than Yichen. Without saying a word, he stood up and walked to the middle of an open space. Then he drew his sword and, with a Quick Draw Slash, a Sword Qi of energy appeared out of thin air to Yichen's astonishment. It cleaved through the ground in front of Kawakita, extending several meters forward before slowly dissipating.

At that moment, Tomoko and Kajiyamari, who had been watching the two men's movements from the side, exclaimed in surprise. Tomoko recognized it; it was the same slash that Kawakita had used to wound that Mist ninja.

Ignoring his two disciples' surprise, Yichen felt strange. He felt as if he had discovered something from Kawakita's strike.

Kawakita didn't stop; instead, he began to adapt to the new skill he had just mastered, slash by slash, while Yichen stood aside, watching blankly as his opponent became more and more proficient with each strike.

Finally, Kawakita was exhausted and sat down on the ground to rest.

But Yichen, took over from Kawakita and began wielding the sword.

The two disciples who were about to greet and inquire about the situation when they saw Kawakita stop, and Chuanbei, who was exhausted and about to share his joy with someone, all stared blankly at Yichen Kawakita, not understanding what their teacher was going to do.

But they soon understood, because after Yichen made more than a dozen cuts, the sword also produced the kind of Sword Qi that Kawakita had just mastered.

The three disciples were all surprised, because as disciples who spent every day with Yichen, they knew Yichen strengths very well. Yichen was a true Ninjutsu- type ninja. Although Yichen also practiced swordsmanship, his practice was clearly not the kind of arduous training that Kawakita had. Yichen's sword practice was more like physical exercise.

But the three of them did not expect that Yichen, who claimed to have only average talent in swordsmanship, would learn the ultimate move that Kawakita had worked so hard to master after only watching Kawakita practice once.

After a while, Yichen, having adapted to the Sword Qi, slowly sheathed his sword.

After letting out a long breath, Yichen looked at Kawakita with some embarrassment. As a teacher, Yichen hadn't given Kawakita much guidance, and he hadn't expected to have to learn Sword Qi from Kawakita.

However, Yichen, thick-skinned as ever, stepped forward and ruffled Kawakita's hair, saying, "I never expected you to help me so much this time. I thought my swordsmanship wouldn't improve any further. It's truly an unexpected stroke of luck."

After a pause, Yichen continued, "Your swordsmanship has improved greatly. In Iwagakure, there hasn't been Sword Technique Ninja of your age who has reached this level. I'll apply to the village to pass on the B-rank Sword Technique I practiced to you. But for now, you should master the C-rank Sword Technique first."

After hearing Yichen's words, Kawakita's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously.

After seeing that Yichen and Kawakita had finished dealing with their business, Tomoko and Kajiyamari finally had a chance to chime in.

Tomoko asked the question that had been on their minds, "Teacher, what were you just using? Why could your swordsmanship attack from a distance like Ninjutsu?"