Transformation

Yichen had indeed been sprinting all the way at first, but once he realized he had been discovered, he began keeping a careful watch behind him. After all, a ninja's kunai and shuriken had a very long killing range.

When he saw the Mist ninja stop to perform a jutsu, Yichen's eyebrows twitched wildly. He no longer dared to keep sprinting straight ahead.

However, he was still some distance from the passage between the houses. Yichen did not dare gamble on the speed at which his opponent could perform the jutsu, so he immediately sidestepped and ducked behind a water barrel.

Sure enough, only seconds after Yichen hid behind the barrel, the sound of water arrows striking it rang out.

Several water arrows struck the barrel, blowing it apart. The remaining arrows continued flying densely toward Yichen.

Seeing the area where Yichen had been struck by the Water Style: Water Arrow Jutsu, the Mist ninja did not dare let down his guard. He quickly stepped forward, intending to finish him off. But when he clutched his wound and hurried to the barrel, he found nothing there.

The Mist ninja's expression turned increasingly grim. On one hand, he was injured; on the other, his repeated failures had begun to throw him off balance.

He turned his head and carefully scanned the surroundings, but still found no trace. The Mist ninja grew more anxious. Not daring to waste time or care about his wound, he kept one hand in a hand seal and pressed the other against the ground, beginning to perform Sensory Ninjutsu.

But at the instant his attention focused on sensing, an object shot straight toward his head from a water barrel by the house across from him.

If he had not been injured, if his successive high-intensity movements after being wounded had not worsened his injury, if the two consecutive jutsu had not consumed too much Chakra and caused physical discomfort, if his half-crouched position had not been so unfavorable for dodging, if his hands had not been occupied, if...

Unfortunately, there were not so many ifs. He failed to dodge, only managing to tilt his head slightly. The object struck the right side of his head, instantly blinding one eye. Fortunately, the object was not especially sharp, so the Mist ninja did not die on the spot.

But he was still severely injured. This time, the Mist ninja, whose injuries had compounded, did not immediately try to evade. Instead, he withdrew the hand forming seals and tried to pull the hidden weapon from his face.

But just as the Mist ninja's hand touched the weapon, his remaining eye saw a figure charging toward him.

Yichen did not hesitate in the slightest. Holding a sharp splinter of wood, he rushed at the Mist ninja. Just as he had practiced countless times at the Training Ground, he swung horizontally and sliced open the exposed neck the Mist ninja had revealed while raising his hand to block.

Blood sprayed out rapidly, soaking Yichen from head to toe. Though he knew the other man was doomed, Yichen still drove the wood splinter completely into the Mist ninja's chest.

After unleashing that string of killing moves, Yichen did not dare linger by the Mist ninja's side. He quickly retreated, backing all the way to the wall of the house across from him. Only then did he slump weakly against the corner and begin gasping for breath.

Tonight, Yichen had first used Water Clone once and the Clone Technique once, then forcibly refined Chakra to use Water Clone again. His Chakra was already exhausted. The continuous flight, combined with the tension in his heart, had rapidly drained his physical strength. He was now at the end of his rope.

This accident had come far too suddenly, without any warning. Yichen had not been mentally prepared at all.

Before this, he had always fantasized about cultivating Chakra, learning ninjutsu, dominating the ninja world, and beating up the Otsutsuki.

But deep down, Yichen still had the mentality of an ordinary young man living in peaceful times. He had a Sense of Crisis, but had never been pushed to desperation. He had the desire and plans to grow stronger, but lacked the mindset and determination needed to become strong.

Only at this moment, when he truly faced life and death and a sudden crisis, were all of Yichen's disguises completely torn apart. He possessed intelligence he could take pride in, but lacked the resilience required to become powerful.

But there was still time. This Mist ninja had come at exactly the right moment. He had successfully corrected Yichen's greatest mistake.

A ninja was not simply someone who had learned to refine Chakra and perform ninjutsu.

A ninja was someone with their own ninja way, their own convictions, and the willingness to stake everything on their ideals.

From this moment onward, Yichen had passed the most difficult test of self-questioning on the path to becoming a ninja.

The natives of the ninja world had long grown accustomed to this chaotic age, but Yichen had always lived in this world with the mindset of someone reading a manga. He had never fully integrated into it.

Only now did he experience the cruelty of this world in the most real way possible. Only now did he understand that he had become part of the manga long ago. He was no longer a spectator.

Yichen looked at the corpse across from him. The blood was flowing more slowly, his breathing was steadily calming, yet the blood in his heart was growing hotter.

At this moment, his body had not grown stronger, nor had his Mental Power increased, yet Yichen felt that he had become stronger!

Before Yichen could make sense of that feeling, two figures abruptly appeared not far away from him.

The two stood back-to-back. One faced Yichen, while the other faced the corpse. Neither spoke, nor did they make any unnecessary movements.

Just as Yichen was about to speak, he suddenly sensed movement on the roof of a distant house. Looking closely, he saw another person there, carefully observing this side as well.

Only then did the person among the first two who faced Yichen speak. "Who are you? What happened here?"

Yichen did not hesitate. "My name is Yichen. I'm a student at the Ninja Academy and an intern with the Barrier Team. Lord Tsuchikage knows me."

"That corpse is a spy from another village. I had just finished my internship with the Barrier Team tonight and was on my way home when I encountered him. He tried to kill me, but I killed him instead."

The ninja asking the questions was not surprised. In fact, the situation at the scene was already obvious, and he had made his own deductions long ago. He had merely confirmed it with Yichen first.

The man nodded and said to Yichen, "We were simply returning from a mission. We are not ninja specifically responsible for public security. The Anbu will come investigate shortly, and we will need your cooperation."

Yichen nodded. "Thank you, seniors."

Seeing Yichen agree, the other man said no more and waited calmly for the Anbu.

Sure enough, only a few seconds after he finished speaking, a squad of Anbu arrived. They first spoke with the few ninja, then sent two people to take Yichen away and record his statement. As for dealing with the corpse, that was no longer Yichen's concern.

The process was simple. After all, during wartime, enemy ninja infiltrating the village was far too common. Yichen's background was clear, and the Anbu easily verified the truth of his account.

After recording the relevant testimony at the Anbu office, Yichen returned home under the covert escort of an Anbu member. According to what the Anbu staff had told him, an Anbu would stand watch for him that night.

No longer needing to worry about his safety, Yichen returned home and collapsed into bed. He no longer cared about what exactly had happened to his body. Everything could wait until tomorrow.

During the practical combat class the next morning, Yichen consulted Teacher Ishikawa at the Training Ground, asking him to analyze whether his performance yesterday had been adequate and whether he could have done better.

Yichen was not afraid of leaking Anbu secrets. The Anbu staff had said yesterday that this attack had been an accident and was not covered by confidentiality regulations.

Teacher Ishikawa had already noticed something unusual about Yichen during the previous theory class. Today, Yichen's bearing and spirit were completely different from usual.

As a Chunin, Ishikawa was no stranger to this feeling. It was the sign of a student undergoing a transformation into a ninja.

Something important must have happened to Yichen between the end of school yesterday and the start of school today.

Out of concern for his student, Teacher Ishikawa had wanted to ask Yichen what had happened. But seeing that Yichen did not appear to be seriously unwell, he temporarily held himself back.

During practical combat class, even if Yichen had not come to him voluntarily, Teacher Ishikawa would have sought him out.

After hearing Yichen's account, Teacher Ishikawa was both astonished by Yichen's performance and frightened on his behalf.

He first examined the wounds the Anbu had treated for Yichen yesterday. Seeing that they had not worsened, he was relieved.

Then he analyzed Yichen's gains and losses.

First, Yichen's initial performance definitely deserved a failing score. As a prospective ninja—and a student with the highest theory grades in the entire year—his vigilance had been far too low, while his curiosity had been far too strong.

Second, he lacked experience. The chill Yichen had felt last night had actually been the Mist ninja's killing intent. Yichen's senses surpassed those of ordinary people, allowing him to notice it. That should have been an advantage, yet Yichen had stubbornly turned it into a tool for courting death.

As for his response afterward, Yichen had done very well for a student, but there were still shortcomings. For example, Yichen had spent the Entire process running away. A ninja should not give up resistance.

Retreating was fine, but he could not lose the ability to fight back. While retreating, he should have done everything possible to improve his ability to fight, such as finding weapons by any means possible.

Although there were not many things by the roadside, it was not as though there was nothing at all. At the very least, he could have picked up a few stones as hidden weapons to disrupt the Mist ninja's jutsu.

But Yichen had done nothing. Only at the very end, when the barrel he had hidden behind was blown apart and a fragment lodged in his body, did he pull it out and use it as a hidden weapon.

There was another point. Yichen had been fine when he first started running. He had used some small tricks to successfully deceive the enemy, but afterward, he never tried to conceal himself again.

At that time, the Mist ninja had already been injured. Moreover, this was Iwagakure, where Patrolling ninja could appear at any time. Time was clearly on Yichen's side, yet through a series of actions, Yichen had forcibly turned the battle into a quick fight.

However, Teacher Ishikawa also praised Yichen in many respects, especially Yichen's self-improved Water Clone. He then suggested that Yichen write down the ideas and experience behind the jutsu and submit them to the village in exchange for Contribution Points.

Yichen was thrilled. Water Clone could actually be exchanged for Contribution Points?

Teacher Ishikawa smiled. "Of course. No one in the village had considered this method of casting it before. The greatest advantage of your jutsu is that it can confuse an opponent for a longer period of time."

"On the battlefield, even an instant can be enough to determine life or death."

After thinking for a moment, Teacher Ishikawa added, "However, this method is only a technique and an idea, not a new ninjutsu, so it will not earn many Contribution Points."

Even so, Yichen was delighted. Ever since exchanging for Chakra test paper, he had been left with only a tiny amount of Contribution Points.

After what had happened last night, he planned to equip himself with some necessary weapons. If he had Contribution Points, he could directly exchange them at the Contribution Office.

Finally, Teacher Ishikawa told Yichen with a smile why, despite his body not changing and his Chakra not increasing, he felt as though he had grown stronger.

Yichen's greatest gain from yesterday's battle had been a change in mindset and an increase in Willpower. Although his Mental Power had not increased, it had become more condensed.

The amount of Chakra he could now extract had not changed, but its quality had undergone a tremendous transformation.

That was right. Even if it was all Chakra, the power of the same amount of Chakra could differ. The Nine-Tails' Chakra was more tyrannical than that of ordinary ninja, while Sage Chakra surpassed ordinary Chakra by far.

Yichen's battle last night could be said to have achieved the first evolution of a ninja's Chakra.

It could be said that in the ninja world, aside from a Jonin's Chakra becoming condensed once more, the Chakra of other Genin and Chunin no longer held a qualitative advantage over Yichen's.

They merely possessed greater experience, consumed less Chakra when performing ninjutsu, and had larger Chakra Amounts.

While Yichen was seeking guidance from Teacher Ishikawa, the Anbu who had handled the Mist ninja spy incident yesterday was reporting the details to Ōnoki in the Tsuchikage's Office Building.