Mission Records

"Lord Tsuchikage, this is the detailed account of yesterday's battle. Yichen's description completely matched the battle traces at the scene. He did indeed discover that Mist ninja's whereabouts by accident and was then forced into combat."

After a pause, the investigating Anbu continued, "The Anbu Intelligence Team's analysis is that Yichen possesses good combat instincts. His response after the battle erupted was also outstanding for someone his age."

"Furthermore, based on the evaluations of those around him, he had previously only been a somewhat talented student. But after last night's battle, he has completed the transformation into a Ninja."

"Especially his act of using the wooden splinter lodged in his body as a weapon to attack the Mist ninja. That alone proves that he is already a qualified Ninja."

The Tsuchikage nodded. He had a deep impression of Yichen; the boy was clever.

It was simply that he had previously lacked the resilience a Ninja should possess, which was why he had assigned him to the Barrier Team. He had not expected him to grow so suddenly.

It seemed Yichen's future placement would need to be adjusted as well. After all, while the Barrier Team was important, it still could not compare to an outstanding combat Ninja.

However, Yichen's future was not urgent. The war before them was the primary issue.

Ōnoki asked the Anbu, "Did that Mist ninja have any important intelligence on him?"

After receiving Teacher Ishikawa's explanation, Yichen gained some expectations for his current strength.

At present, Yichen's Chakra Amount was around 2.5D. Under normal circumstances, using the Substitution Technique required only 0.7D, while the Clone Technique and Transformation Jutsu required just 0.9D.

But during yesterday's actual battle, perhaps because of his nerves, he had consumed far more Chakra than usual. If he had not continuously extracted Chakra throughout the fight, Yichen would not have been able to use Ninjutsu three times.

Yichen was very curious about how much Chakra he currently needed to perform the Three Basic Jutsu.

No sooner thought than done. Yichen went alone to a relatively quiet corner, took a deep breath, and rapidly formed hand seals.

Two seconds later, an identical Yichen appeared beside him.

After sensing the state of his body, Yichen was somewhat surprised. The Clone Technique had consumed only around 0.6D of Chakra, and the casting time had shrunk from the usual three seconds to two.

He remembered that during yesterday's battle, using the Clone Technique had taken more than four seconds. Thinking of his performance then, Yichen shook his head. I was far too green.

After dispelling the Clone Technique, he used the Transformation Jutsu. This time, he transformed into the Mist ninja from yesterday. It likewise consumed only 0.6D of Chakra and took two seconds.

After releasing the Transformation Jutsu, Yichen glanced at a small branch not far away before using the Substitution Technique. It took a little over three seconds, less than four, and consumed only between 0.4D and 0.5D of Chakra.

He did not stop there. Yichen picked up a branch and deliberately used it for the Substitution Technique, throwing it out at the instant before activating the jutsu and swapping places with it.

After checking how he felt, he found that this time the Chakra consumption was even lower, only around 0.4D, while the casting time was merely about 1.5 seconds.

Yichen was overjoyed. Using the Substitution Technique in 1.5 seconds meant that he could barely use it to save his life in battle.

And it consumed only 0.4D of Chakra. Even if he also needed to fight with taijutsu, he would still have enough Chakra to use it at least three or four times.

At last, he had some means of evading attacks.

Not only that, during practical combat class afterward, Yichen was surprised to discover that with Chakra's enhancement, his taijutsu had also become much stronger than before.

So this was the true essence of Chakra being formed from the union of Mental Power and physical strength.

This union was influenced not only by quantity, but also by quality.

No wonder a casual Fire Release from Madara Uchiha could make people question their lives, while everyone else's Fire Release was hailed as an essential divine technique for seizing the initiative.

After school, Yichen went to the Barrier Team's practice room, found the older Chunin from Meishe, and explained the situation to him.

After all, the paper and small knife he had brought back yesterday had both been lost.

Meishe did not care about those things. Anbu had already come to ask him about Yichen's situation yesterday.

Now that Yichen stood before him, Meishe's experience allowed him to spot the change in Yichen's spirit at a glance.

Meishe smiled. "Good, very good. You can consider this a blessing in disguise. From now on, you can begin trying more advanced Chakra Control exercises."

After a pause, he asked, "Have you tried walking on a sheer rock wall or on water?"

Yichen hurriedly replied, "I've already practiced walking on rock walls, but not on water."

Meishe nodded. That was normal. The Land of Earth did not have much water, nor did it have many trees.

Combat Ninja did not choose trees when practicing Chakra Control. They trained on rocks instead.

Walking on water was even harder. Water sources were scarce to begin with, and practicing walking on top of them was simply wasting water.

"It's all right. Those are methods combat Ninja use only because they have no other options. For technical Ninja like us, our work itself is Chakra Control practice."

As he spoke, he went to a bookshelf in the distance, brought back a large Blank Scroll, then began demonstrating for Yichen using a template that had been prepared in advance.

"Come, like this. Control the Chakra on the brush, then draw the runes according to this template."

Yichen watched carefully as Meishe began writing the runes.

There were not many runes, and to make things easier for Yichen to learn, Meishe deliberately wrote them very large, allowing Yichen to see them clearly.

Yichen could distinctly sense that although the runic characters were not physically connected, the Chakra between them was clearly continuous. From beginning to end, Meishe's Chakra flowed without the slightest pause.

As though he knew what Yichen was thinking, Meishe kept his head lowered as he drew the runes and said, "The runes are merely the outward form. They are special symbols discovered by our predecessors that can hold Chakra in place for a certain period of time. What makes a scroll work is the special flow path of Chakra when the runes are drawn."

Yichen fell into thought. This Sealing Jutsu was like an invisible net, while the runes served as its individual nodes, securing the net so it would not come apart.

Meishe soon finished drawing the runes. He handed the newly made scroll and the template to Yichen and told him to practice on his own.

Yichen was somewhat embarrassed. "Senior Meishe, I used up nearly all the Chakra in my body this morning. I'm afraid I don't have enough to finish drawing the runes."

Meishe laughed heartily upon hearing that. "Don't worry. Even if your Chakra were sufficient, you still wouldn't be able to complete it in one go."

"What you need to do now is practice continuously and find the feeling of making your Chakra flow freely in whichever direction the brush tip points."

"For now, you can only practice with those scraps. If you lack Chakra, it merely means your practice sessions will be shorter. It won't affect anything."

Only then did Yichen realize he had overthought it. It seemed that successfully completing the paper-cutting in one go yesterday had given him the mistaken impression that drawing runes would also be simple.

Meishe gave Yichen a few more instructions before returning to his own work. He had several apprentices to teach, and since they were all progressing at different rates, he could only guide them one by one.

Once that was done, he still had to make scrolls himself. The village was currently short on manpower, and all kinds of supplies were scarce as well. There was not much free time to spare.

Yichen took some of the scraps Meishe had mentioned and began practicing drawing on them according to the template.

Just as Meishe had expected, there was no way Yichen could learn this in one go. Forget mastering it—he could not even make his Chakra flow in the direction indicated by the brush tip.

He could only try again and again, searching for that feeling.

From afar, Meishe watched Yichen immerse himself in the process of drawing runes so quickly. He smiled faintly, stopped paying further attention, and continued with his own work.

From the moment he saw Yichen today, he knew that Yichen would not remain in the Barrier Team forever. The village would not leave a Ninja with talent for combat idle for long.

I only hope Yichen can learn more in the Barrier Team and that it will help him when he reaches the battlefield, Meishe thought.

Three days later, Yichen received notice that his insights on the Water Clone, which he had submitted to the village two days earlier, had officially been accepted. The village had already assessed the Contribution Points based on its importance.

Yichen went to the Contribution Office, found the staff member responsible for records, and checked his Contribution Points. The result surprised him. He had thought the Water Clone was not worth much, but the Contribution Office had valued it at 1,000 points.

Good heavens, an idea and practical insights for a D-rank Ninjutsu had actually been exchanged for the value of one C-rank Ninjutsu.

Yichen hurriedly asked for the reason. The staff member gave him only one answer: after testing, they found that most Iwagakure Ninja who had comprehended Earth Release could practice the Water Clone, and Iwagakure had an especially large number of Ninja who had comprehended Earth Release.

Thinking it over, Yichen found that it made sense. Even if helping a single Ninja learn the Water Clone was only slightly useful, once the numbers added up, its value became immeasurable.

Looks like the people at the Contribution Office are quite objective after all, Yichen thought happily.

There was another piece of good news as well. Because Yichen had killed an enemy Chunin by himself, he was credited with one C+-rank mission.

It should originally have been recorded as B-rank, but since that Ninja had not possessed any important intelligence, the Mission Office considered it and awarded only C+.

As part of the mission reward, Yichen also received 100,000 ryo and 100 Contribution Points.

The ryo rewards for combat missions were roughly the same as those for clerical missions, but the Contribution Points were higher.

The minimum standard for a C-rank clerical mission was generally 10 Contribution Points and 50,000 ryo, while a combat mission's minimum was 20 Contribution Points and 50,000 ryo.

Yichen's mission had been rated higher than an ordinary C-rank mission, so he received more.

Yichen had gained 1,100 Contribution Points and a reward of 100,000 ryo in one stroke.

Furthermore, the Contribution Office considered Yichen's performance to have reached the standard of a qualified Ninja. After all, many Genin never had the chance to kill even a single Chunin in their entire lives.

From now on, Yichen's treatment in the Barrier Team would follow the standards for regular Genin. In other words, aside from a monthly salary, his work would also be recorded as missions.

Having his work recorded as missions would not only earn him more money, but also Contribution Points. It would also benefit his future Ninja rank promotions.