Lightning Release Research Team

After everyone had arrived, Ōnoki said, "This time, Yichen obtained three A-rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu from Kakuzu, an S-rank missing-nin Kakuzu Takigakure. Combined with the several A-rank Lightning Release that Yichen developed before, the village now has a decent number of high-level Lightning Release to form a complete system."

"However, we still have too few low-level Lightning Release. In a normal proportion, we would need at least several hundred C-rank and several dozen B-rank Lightning Release to make up for this weakness in Lightning Release."

"The purpose of today's meeting is to discuss the formation of a dedicated research and development team for Lightning Release, using these A-rank Lightning Release as a foundation to develop as many C-rank and B-rank Lightning Release as possible."

"Everyone, please share your thoughts."

Yichen said, "When we were researching Medical Ninjutsu before, we got a lot of inspiration from the students at the Ninja Academy, and we can do the same this time."

"We can gather everyone's ideas for developing Ninjutsu through missions. This time, we can target all the ninjas in the village with these ideas."

Ikura chimed in, "That's right. Not only can we collect everyone's ideas, but we can also collect the types of Lightning Release Ninjutsu that everyone has encountered in previous missions."

Saka said, "It would be best to assemble a group of Jonin, or even Elite Jonin Lightning Release, to conduct long-term research."

Upon hearing Saka's words, Yichen immediately replied, "That Anbu, Byakugan, who used his Byakugan to steal Cloud ninja Lightning Release Ninjutsu from me last time, was quite good."

Mei nodded and said, "These suggestions are all acceptable. When issuing the mission, the reward can be higher. We can even promise that if the ninja who submits Ninjutsu plan is successfully developed, we can give them a share."

Yichen was somewhat surprised. When did Ming, the financial advisor, become so generous?

Not only was Yichen surprised by Ming, but Ikura and Saka also had the same doubts.

Sensing the gazes of the three, Ming glared at them fiercely and said, "The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning sent an envoy to request an audience with our daimyo, expressing his desire to join the trade routes. He also suggested opening up a water trade route. The daimyo was very pleased and allocated funds to the village."

He glanced at Yichen again and added, "The Daimyo knew that you were the one who broke the alliance between Mist ninja and Konoha and helped Cloud ninja, which is why he won over the Land of Lightning. He even praised you."

Yichen rolled his eyes; this reminded Yichen of his nickname Fox of Stone.

Ōnoki then said, "That's settled then. Let's discuss who should be in charge of this."

After speaking, Ōnoki turned his gaze to Yichen. Not only him, but everyone else was also looking at Yichen. Among the high-ranking members, Ōnoki did not know Lightning Release, only Yichen and Ikura had some skill in Lightning Release.

Compared to Ikura, who only used Lightning Release as a special technique in special circumstances, Yichen valued Lightning Release much more.

Yichen instinctively wanted to refuse, but considering that his proficiency with Lightning Release really needed to be improved, he reluctantly agreed.

Seeing that Yichen had agreed, Ōnoki nodded in satisfaction and said, "You can choose the personnel yourself. If the Byakugan and Sharingan are useful, you can also ask Mei for them."

Yichen nodded to indicate that he understood.

After the meeting, Yichen went directly to Kitsuchi. Kitsuchi was now the Tsuchikage Assistant, which made many things easier for him. Yichen asked him to help find a suitable ninja.

As for issuing missions to collect and research ideas for Lightning Release, that was easy. Yichen went to the Contribution Office, marked the prices of various levels of Lightning Release research ideas, and then left it at that.

After the mission team has any loot, it will naturally be delivered to Yichen by a designated person.

Before formal research and development begins, Yichen still needs to learn those three A-rank Lightning Release.

Kakuzu's three A-rank Lightning Release, and their combined application is of great research value.

While Kitsuchi was helping to find suitable researchers, Yichen was learning Lightning Release at the Training Ground while supervising his disciples' training.

Perhaps spurred on, or perhaps having gained a greater appreciation for training after becoming true ninjas, all three children in Team Three exceeded the tasks assigned by Yichen.

Finally, Suda Himezuki began training her kitten, and on that day, her kitten was given a name: Fenghuo.

Little Fenghuo's training volume is not large, and the content is simple, consisting mainly of physical fitness and flexibility exercises.

Perhaps influenced by Suda Himezuki's emotions, or perhaps stimulated by the battle between Yichen and Kakuzu that day, Little Fenghuo did not resist training.

Although the three members of Team Four didn't experience it firsthand, they gradually adjusted their mindset after hearing Suda Himezuki and the other two's descriptions. In particular, the two girls, Kawazoe Yura and Kanako, stopped slacking off and instead increased their training volume along with Suda Himezuki.

Upon seeing this, Yichen showed no joy. The diligence of his previous two classes of students was no less than that of Suda Himezuki and the others.

A few days later, Yichen barely learned three A-rank Lightning Release, and then he gathered the researchers that Yichen Kitsuchi had selected for him.

The research team consisted of seven people, including Yichen and Hu. Yichen appointed Hu as the vice-captain and entrusted him with all the daily affairs.

Of the remaining five, four were Jonin and one was Chunin. The four Jonin originally had Lightning Release as their primary element, but because the village lacked Lightning Release, they eventually chose to train in other elements.

That Chunin was different; his name was Qi. He had only completed the training of one elemental Nature Transformation, namely Lightning Release. Because his talent for other elements was too poor, he had been researching Lightning Release.

However, he lacked research talent, and there were too few Lightning Release available in the village to learn from, so he hadn't achieved much. This time, when Kitsuchi was looking for researchers, he was the only one who volunteered.

Yichen valued him highly. Although he was only Chunin, he was the only one whose interests and work were the same, and he might surprise him in future research and development.

The first thing the Lightning Release Research Team did was to train A-rank Lightning Release. As for Hu and the four Jonin about them. Although it would take them some time to train A-rank Lightning Release, they did not have any problems with the necessary conditions.

But Qi is different; he doesn't have enough Chakra, so all he can do is research, not experiment.

However, Qi didn't care. He was used to this kind of thing. When Yichen developed three A-rank Lightning Release before, he managed to exchange for one, but he could only look at it and couldn't practice it.

At that time, Qi also conceived a C-rank Lightning Release based on Chidori's ideas, but it had not yet been successfully developed.

Yichen didn't care about these things, because his purpose wasn't to have them learn Ninjutsu. Yichen's purpose was to research and help everyone understand the principles behind these A-rank Lightning Release.

Yichen gave the five people ten days to understand all the Lightning Release Ninjutsu in the village, including Kakuzu's three A-rank Lightning Release, as well as the three A-rank Lightning Release that Yichen himself created.

Everyone here is an experienced ninja, so there's no need for Yichen to say anything more. Yichen simply followed procedure and placed Sealing Jutsu in their minds, then waited ten days before officially starting the research and development of Lightning Release.

Given the precedent of a comprehensive upgrade to Medical Ninjutsu, the village ninjas were unusually enthusiastic about participating when Yichen issued a mission to collect ideas for Lightning Release Ninjutsu.

Ten days later, the mission department had collected several hundred different low-level Lightning Release ideas for Yichen.

According to the staff at the mission office, nearly a thousand people submitted their ideas on Lightning Release techniques. However, most of them submitted similar ideas, which were basically rudimentary concepts they had come up with during their battles with the enemy.

After some sorting, the mission team compiled these hundreds of Ninjutsu ideas and presented them to Yichen.

Yichen was somewhat surprised by the efficiency of the mission department, and still not entirely convinced, he carefully reviewed the documents again. To his delight, he discovered that even before research and development had begun, Yi Chen's understanding of the Lightning Release had already improved significantly after just a brief overview.

This was quite a surprise. Originally, Yichen wasn't very enthusiastic about developing Lightning Release techniques, but now it was completely different. Yichen felt that he had a chance to reach the level of Water Release through this research on Lightning Release Lightning Release.

The research and development team was summoned by Yichen again, and they then entered the area that Yichen was most skilled in.

Yichen now has his own method for developing Ninjutsu. First, he builds a theoretical foundation, then makes various assumptions, and then he conducts tedious experiments in order of priority.

This was the first time the members of the research and development team had encountered Yichen's systematic method for developing Ninjutsu, and they all seemed to have discovered a whole new world for themselves.

Especially Qi, the only Chunin in the team, had been trying to develop this method for many years, but had not succeeded because he did not know the right way. Now that he had suddenly come into contact with Yichen's method, he felt that the whole world had suddenly become different.

Then, under the astonished gazes of the rest of the research and development team, Qi completed his transformation from Chunin to Jonin.

As Qi fell into a daze, the other five, including Hu, subconsciously turned their gazes to Yichen again.

At that moment, they had only one thought in their minds: Yichen was indeed the most famous instructor in the village.

Yichen touched his nose, somewhat surprised, but didn't explain anything. Under these circumstances, Yichen couldn't very well tell everyone that this was a method summarized by his disciple Ogura Saki.

Yichen simply gestured for everyone to wait for Qi.

After a long while, Qi snapped out of his daze, knelt on one knee before Yichen, and performed a ninja salute of loyalty.

The four Jonin looked at Qi with envy. Originally, the difference in their strength and status was obvious, but Qi's sudden move made their sense of superiority vanish instantly.

Not only has their sense of superiority disappeared, but if we also consider the age gap between them, Qi will most likely surpass them in the future.

Yichen felt helpless; given the atmosphere, there was nothing he could say. He simply told Qi to get ready to start working.

The development of Lightning Release went even more smoothly than the High-ranking officials had hoped. Perhaps it was Yichen's systematic approach, or perhaps it was because the members of the research team all possessed certain Ninjutsu talents, or perhaps the six A-rank Lightning Release techniques served as a strong reference.

The research and development team completed the development of their first C-rank Ninjutsu in less than three days.

However, Qi's performance during development surprised everyone in the team.

Because he had been thinking about the development of Lightning Release for several years, Qi brought up many details that Yichen and the others had not thought of. Often, while Yichen and the others were still thinking about problems using the mindset of casting Ninjutsu, Qi had already raised several research difficulties that needed to be overcome.

It's no exaggeration to say that, if we disregard Yichen's theories, Qi's role has surpassed the combined efforts of Yichen and the other six. Basically, the entire R&D team's thinking follows Qi's lead, and at times, Qi even has to interrupt his train of thought to explain things to Yichen and the others.

At first, Qi was a little careful with his words, afraid that Yichen would be displeased, but he quickly realized he was wrong. It seemed that in Yichen's eyes, the more outstanding he was, the happier he should be.

Qi was unaware that the better he performed, the sooner Yichen could extricate himself from the research and development team. Qi believed that Yichen's mindset was perhaps the kind of magnanimity that the Kage of a village must possess.