Sparring

In order to be able to fight against Minato Namikaze, Yichen kept seeking out Kitsuchi and Purple Lightning to spar.

Although Kitsuchi and the other man could tell that Yichen was probably thinking something, they didn't ask since Yichen didn't explain why.

In any case, improving Yichen's strength would also benefit the village.

Although he was being tortured Tenten, and more than once a day, Yichen felt very satisfied. He rarely encountered such an experienced and equally skilled senior.

When Yichen was still Genin and lower, even though there were experienced veteran ninjas, their talent and knowledge were limited, and they couldn't offer Yichen much guidance.

Now that he has become Elite Jonin, every ninja of comparable strength that Yichen has encountered has been a genius.

As fellow geniuses with extensive experience, the help they could offer Yichen exactly what he needed most.

A month of continuous sparring and combat greatly improved Yichen's practical experience. Most importantly, many of the countermeasures that Yichen used to have to think before taking action in battle have now become Hon. He can react subconsciously without thinking.

"Earth Release - Earth Style - Earth Flow River." Kitsuchi, who was fighting against Yichen, used an A-rank Earth Style Jutsu. Recently, Kitsuchi has been unable to suppress Yichen without using A-rank Ninjutsu.

Facing the rapidly approaching mudslide, Yichen showed no sign of nervousness, as if it were commonplace, and used his Ninjutsu as well.

"Earth Style - Earth Flow Wall." Just before the Earth Style - Earth Flow River rushed towards him, Yichen used his Hand Seals speed advantage to unleash the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, then Body Flicker Technique to jump onto the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, easily neutralizing an A-rank attack Ninjutsu.

"Earth Release - Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique." The timing of the Kitsuchi Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique was excellent. There were mudslides all around, and Yichen's Body Flicker Technique couldn't cover the distance he needed to escape. Forcing its use would only result in him getting stuck in the mud.

This is also the terrifying aspect of advanced Ninjutsu: its vast coverage area leaves the target with nowhere to escape.

However, Yichen remained calm. While crouching on the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, he used C-rank Ninjutsu on the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall beneath his feet.

"Earth Release - Rock-Scattering Jutsu"

The Rock-Scattering Jutsu involves breaking a massive rock into countless tiny fragments, which are then controlled to shoot out in all directions. Since the enemy is injured by these fragments, theoretically, the more fragments there are, the greater the power.

However, when Yichen used it this time, the massive Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall beneath his feet only split into four pieces. Then, under Yichen's precise control, these four boulders shot towards their designated locations at different speeds.

After the four boulders were launched, they firmly embedded themselves in the Earth Style - Earth Flow River. Then, Yichen used his Body Flicker Technique to easily escape the range of the Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique by stepping on the four boulders.

"Earth Release - Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet." Kitsuchi didn't expect Yichen to escape from the mountain so easily. He didn't have time to use A-rank Ninjutsu, so he used a B-rank Ninjutsu, Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet.

A dragon of earth rose from the ground and charged towards Yichen at a speed far exceeding Yichen's ability to dodge.

Yichen was somewhat surprised, not expecting Kitsuchi to execute the Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet so quickly. A B-rank Ninjutsu was completed with only three hand seals.

Facing the charging earth dragon, Yichen, who had no time to dodge, gripped the hilt of his longsword with his right hand. Then, he drew the sword and unleashed a series of more than a dozen horizontal slashes.

Each of those dozen or so slashes carried Sword Qi, and every single one struck the charging earth dragon.

The earth dragon, which had been continuously disturbed, began to tremble. Although it was not cut through, its speed slowed down, and this process also weakened Kitsuchi's control over the earth dragon.

Then Yichen dodged the attack in an instant.

Yichen referenced the Gekko Seikuu, using swordsmanship to counter single-target Ninjutsu. He only recently mastered this technique under Purple Lightning's guidance, and now it seems to be working remarkably well.

Moreover, using swordsmanship in this way allows one to avoid the shortcomings in the flexibility of their own swordsmanship. In any case, as long as the ranged attacks of the Sword Qi are stacked up, it is barely enough to block B-rank Ninjutsu.

When the powerful B-rank Ninjutsu, Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet, got close, Yichen finally had a chance to dodge.

Without hesitation, Yichen, who had dodged the attack with his Body Flicker Technique, charged towards Kitsuchi once again.

Meanwhile, Kitsuchi had already widened the distance between the two while Yichen was dealing with the earth dragon.

Yichen sheathed his sword and began Hand Seals: "Water Release - Rain Style: Heavy Rain Jutsu."

A Water Pressure Line swept across the Kitsuchi area at an extremely fast speed.

This time, Yichen finally seized the opportunity to attack Kitsuchi.

"Earth Release - Multiple Earth Flow Walls." Earth Wall formed between Yichen and Kitsuchi.

"Earth Release - Earth Style: Earth Clone Jutsu"

"Water Release: Water Clone Jutsu"

Taking advantage of the obstructed view, Yichen immediately created two clones. Then, without hesitation, his main body continued to Hand Seals.

"Earth Release - Camouflage Jutsu." With the effect of the Ninjutsu, Yichen's figure disappeared from the sight of the spectators.

While Yichen was using his next Ninjutsu, his two clones were also busy. The Earth Style Clone appeared first and immediately used a Ninjutsu.

"Earth Style: Earth Submergence." Then this Earth Style Clone also burrowed underground and disappeared from everyone's sight.

After the Water Clone, it also began to Hand Seals, and while Hand Seals, it rushed forward and ran up the first Earth Wall.

The Water Clone that rushed up the Earth Wall immediately spotted the Kitsuchi behind Earth Wall and, without thinking twice, unleashed a B-rank Water Style Jutsu.

"Water Release - Water Style: Raging Waves." A massive torrent of water swept away the still-dazed Kitsuchi.

As expected, the Kitsuchi soil swept away by the water disappeared with a bang.

"It's Clone Technique, but not even a physical clone," Yichen muttered to himself.

"Earth Release - Earth Style: Earth Spear Technique." At that moment, an Earth Spear pierced through from behind an Earth Wall. This position was in Yichen's blind spot, and by the time Yichen saw the attack, the Earth Spear was already in front of him.

Even if this were Yichen's true form, he wouldn't have time to dodge, let alone just a Water Clone.

Without any suspense, the Water Clone that was stabbed immediately turned into streams of water and exploded in all directions.

"Earth Release - Double Suicide Decapitation Technique." Kitsuchi had just finished using an offensive Ninjutsu, was still observing Yichen's reaction on the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall when he was grabbed by a hand and pulled into the earth.

The Earth Style Clone Yichen that emerged from the soil was not happy, because the feeling he had just experienced told him that this was also a clone.

Knowing that this was also a clone, Yichen didn't hesitate at all and rolled to the side. Thud thud thud, Yichen's Earth Style Clone successfully dodged a wave of Shuriken attacks, causing all the Shuriken coming from the side to stick to the ground.

The Earth Style Clone immediately looked in the direction from which the Shuriken had been shot, but there was no one there.

"Is this Camouflage Jutsu?" So Kitsuchi can do this.

Yichen's true form watched this scene quietly from a distance.

Kitsuchi did not use Ninjutsu because the Ninjutsu Camouflage Jutsu would be lost if he did. Kitsuchi wanted to use hidden weapons to determine whether the Yichen in front of him was still a clone.

He knew Yichen's Hand Seals speed. Yichen had enough time to create two clones.

After dodging the hidden weapons three times, Yichen's Earth Style Clone suddenly sensed something was wrong. There was a glimmer of Kakkō on the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall beside him. Although he couldn't see it clearly, he immediately guessed that it was Exploding Tag.

"Earth Release - Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall." Yichen cast an Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall behind him, but this delay meant he couldn't dodge the hidden weapon in front of him.

Puff puff puff puff, four Senbon simultaneously shot into Yichen's Earth Style Clone. Then the Earth Style Clone turned into a rock.

At the same time, the Exploding Tag that the Earth Style Clone had just glimpsed also exploded.

Boom! Kakkō flashed and smoke billowed.

"Water Release - Water Cutting Technique." Yichen still needs 31 more hand seals to perform the Water Cutting Technique. This is what Yichen gained from practicing Hand Seals speed and One-handed Hand Seals.

Theoretically, Ninjutsu with 31 hand seals is difficult to execute successfully in actual combat. However, Yichen seized the opportunity when Kitsuchi was observing the Earth Style Clone, circled behind Kitsuchi, and successfully completed the Hand Seals.

The battle is over.

Yichen didn't Water Cutting through Kitsuchi's defenses. Yichen didn't know if Kitsuchi had any Trump Card his sleeve, but Kitsuchi was currently invisible, and Yi Chen only knew the general location of the opponent. It would be difficult to control the situation without harming Kitsuchi.

It's just a friendly sparring match anyway, that's enough.

The match ended, and this was Yichen's most dignified performance yet. This time, Yichen did not suffer a quick defeat, but fought Kitsuchi to a standstill, making full use of many of his advantages.

After forcing himself to calm down and undergoing a month of training, Yichen was finally able to fight on equal terms with Kitsuchi, an experienced elite Elite Jonin.

Yichen was very satisfied with his progress; it was time to find Minato Namikaze and have a match with him.

Yichen told Kitsuchi and Purple Lightning his thoughts, and the two did not stop him.

If Yichen's combat experience had been too poor before, they would definitely have been worried, but now Yichen's combat experience has improved significantly. They weren't too concerned that Yichen wanted to go out and test his training results.

Actually, Yichen was overthinking it. In Yichen's mind, Minato Namikaze was the Fourth Hokage who would end the Third Shinobi War. But in the eyes of others, Minato Namikaze's status was similar to that of young geniuses like Ikura.

Because Ikura was born in Iwagakure, a village known for its scarcity of geniuses, he had a very high chance of inheriting the title of Tsuchikage, and therefore received a lot of attention.

However, Minato Namikaze was only considered a genius among Legendary Sannin in Konoha. In the eyes of the general public, no matter how you looked at it, he was not a contender for the Fourth Hokage. Therefore, the attention given to Minato Namikaze by various countries was not at its peak.

In fact, Yichen received more attention than geniuses like Minato Namikaze, who possessed Kage Level talent, due to his exceptional performance in pioneering trade routes.

If Yichen hadn't asked him, neither Kitsuchi nor Purple Lightning would have offered him any advice.

Just in case, Yichen also entrusted his three disciples to Kitsuchi for guidance.

After spending so much time together, Yichen had developed some affection for his three young disciples. He knew he had to consider their well-being in case he couldn't return.

The three disciples have good talent; if properly nurtured, they will become the backbone of the village in the future.

Recently, Yichen Chen has been challenging Kitsuchi and Purple Lightning Tenten, and his three disciples have been watching from the sidelines, which has broadened their horizons considerably.

Especially for Tomoko, whose humble origins meant that her limited perspective was a major factor restricting her development.

Having witnessed Purple Lightning's swordsmanship multiple times, Kawakita has gained a clearer understanding of the future direction of development. His future looks bright.