Posting a Mission

Besides the Sealing Ninjutsu Scroll, Yichen had also sealed several weapons onto his body.

For example, there was a seal on his left wrist. The character for "blade" was written in the center, and it sealed a longsword Yichen owned.

His right wrist held a sealed Substitution Wood, so the character for "substitute" was written in its center.

Yichen had also drawn seals around both ankles, sealing away some items that ninja commonly used when traveling.

He used the items in his Ninja Tool Pouch for everyday purposes, while the items sealed around his ankles served as backups.

The seals in both locations had been written with special ink whose color nearly matched his skin. They would be impossible to notice without close inspection.

Yichen also spent some ryo on a major shopping spree at the ninja tool store, especially on consumables such as Shuriken, kunai, and Exploding Tags.

The Ninja Academy had only provided wooden Shuriken and kunai so far.

Before becoming an official ninja, Yichen needed to adapt to the power of real Shuriken, kunai, and Exploding Tags.

He also replaced his weapon with the longsword normally used by ninja. Although Yichen intended to ultimately follow the path of Ninjutsu, his Chakra was currently insufficient, so he still had to rely on taijutsu.

He had therefore spent a great deal on longswords. Yichen had tested them and found that his two longswords—one carried on him and the other sealed in his left wrist—were far sharper and tougher than kunai.

These preparations alone were not enough. Since his Water Style: Water Line Jutsu was progressing slowly, Yichen began practicing Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear again.

Compared to Water Style: Water Line Jutsu and Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, Earth Rising Spear consumed far more Chakra, around 2.5C. Yichen had not expected that.

His Chakra was growing quickly and had Reached 2.9C, but even he Was startled by how much Chakra Earth Rising Spear consumed.

For a time, Yichen considered giving up on training Earth Rising Spear.

But Earth Rising Spear was, after all, the most powerful attack he could currently count on. His goal was simple: he only needed to be able to use it, not master it.

Even if he had to spend a long time forming hand seals like Zabuza Momochi, that would be fine.

What if he encountered a special situation where he had enough time to form them?

A powerful means of attack could have many restrictions, but it could not be absent altogether.

Could the Third Hokage have held off Orochimaru without the Reaper Death Seal?

The Reaper Death Seal had many restrictions as well, but with the opportunity deliberately created by the Third Hokage, it had still dealt Orochimaru a devastating blow.

Thus, after confirming that Water Style: Water Line Jutsu could not improve anytime soon, Yichen became even more determined to learn Earth Rising Spear.

Compared with when he had first learned Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, his Chakra Control had undergone a qualitative improvement.

He had also learned two C-rank Ninjutsu and accumulated plenty of experience.

Moreover, Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall was Earth Style Ninjutsu, his strongest elemental transformation.

Yichen refused to believe that he could not learn Earth Rising Spear in more than half a year.

When he had learned Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, aided by Medicinal Food, Yichen had practiced three to four hundred times in nine days. In the end, he had directly mastered that life-saving Ninjutsu.

Now, Yichen did not need to master Earth Rising Spear. He only needed to be able to cast it.

Although Earth Rising Spear was much more difficult, with Yichen's current Chakra control and understanding of Ninjutsu, he still had hope of succeeding after a few hundred attempts.

But time was precious, and Chakra was precious too. Yichen directly spent one million ryo to post a B-rank Mission, hiring a Chunin proficient in Earth Rising Spear to guide his training.

That one million ryo was all the money Yichen had left after his shopping spree. Once he spent it all, he would have no savings left.

Even after Yichen had put in his entire fortune, one million ryo was still at the lowest tier for a B-rank Mission.

If not for Yichen's requirement that, for seven consecutive days, the instructor correct the flaws in his Earth Rising Spear every day,

the mission office would not have assigned him a B-rank Mission at all. They believed such a cumbersome task would not attract a Chunin if it were merely C-rank.

About five or six days after the mission was posted, a Chunin finally accepted it.

The other party found Yichen that very day. Yichen was overjoyed. Since he had not used any Chakra yet that day, he casually found an open area and demonstrated on the spot.

Chunin Han Lei had originally wanted Yichen to switch to a more formal training ground. Earth Rising Spear was an offensive Ninjutsu, after all, and poor control could injure passersby.

But after Yichen hurriedly finished casting it, Han Lei was dumbfounded. Wasn't he supposed to be pointing out flaws?

This is fucking beginner-level.

Yichen formed hand seals and slapped his palm onto the ground. Not only did none of the imagined spikes emerge, there was not even a bump. Several spots on the ground a few meters ahead merely trembled slightly.

That was it? Han Lei felt like he had been scammed.

Yichen had indeed been vague about the nature of the mission when posting it. Seeing the other man's stunned expression now, he felt somewhat embarrassed.

So he cautiously said, "Senior, today, you only need to explain why my Earth Rising Spear can't emerge from the ground. I was clearly able to use Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall smoothly."

Since Yichen was part of the Village's Junior Generation, Han Lei still suppressed his anger at being deceived and explained the differences between controlling Earth Rising Spear and controlling Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall.

Then he left without looking back.

After listening, Yichen felt as though he had suddenly understood. Earth Rising Spear appeared similar to Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall in that both caused earth and stone to rise from the ground.

But Earth Rising Spear required Chakra to first form the shape of a spear beneath the ground. The instant it burst through the surface, it was already attacking.

Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall, on the other hand, transformed Chakra into the form of an Earth Wall while extending upward.

Therefore, Earth Rising Spear could not be cast using the same method as Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall.

Yichen was thrilled, feeling that he had suddenly found the trick. Though the difference was slight, he had cast Earth Rising Spear once every day for the past five or six days without any clue what to do.

It was just like the first time he had cast Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall.

Now that he understood the key point, Yichen believed the day he learned Earth Rising Spear would not be far off.

The next day, after Han Lei arrived, Yichen made adjustments according to what he had said, formed hand seals again, and cast Earth Rising Spear.

This time, the ground changed noticeably. More than a dozen small protrusions appeared one after another in the distance.

Although they were still far from true Earth Rising Spears, they were completely different from yesterday's result.

Han Lei was somewhat surprised and no longer looked down on Yichen. Being able to produce protrusions with Earth Rising Spear after only one day was already an impressive feat.

Yesterday, he had learned that Yichen only had enough Chakra to cast it once a day. That meant this was Yichen's first attempt after hearing his explanation.

Such tremendous progress showed that Yichen was a Genius too. Geniuses earned respect anywhere.

Han Lei put away his impatience and further explained how to control Earth Rising Spears so they would pierce out from the desired locations. Then he left, wanting to see whether Yichen would make another leap in progress tomorrow.

On the third day, Yichen drew more than twenty circles in advance across the open ground. Then, under Han Lei's watchful gaze, he began casting Earth Rising Spear, starting from the first circle and trying his best to make the spears emerge from within them.

In the end, Yichen only produced sixteen small protrusions, and only the first five emerged from their designated circles. The later ones appeared farther and farther away, while the final few grew from completely random locations.

Han Lei took a deep breath. If he had been able to control the position of Earth Rising Spear this quickly back then, perhaps his teammates would not have died in battle.

Snapping out of his daze, Han Lei once again explained the mistakes in Yichen's control to Yichen, who had been cautiously watching his expression.

On the fourth day, ten of the small protrusions Yichen controlled could already enter their designated circles. The others were not far from their intended positions either, and the complete loss of control from yesterday was no longer present.

This time, Han Lei began teaching Yichen how to make Earth Rising Spears sharp. As Yichen studied seriously, he was also somewhat surprised.

Ninjutsu instruction was normally only given through the inheritance between master and disciple. The mission Yichen had posted only asked the other party to point out his shortcomings, after which Yichen would improve on his own.

Yet Han Lei was now voluntarily teaching Yichen how to proceed to the next step. This had completely exceeded the mission's requirements and even carried the air of a master teaching a disciple.

Though he could not understand why, Yichen still learned with great diligence.

On the fifth day, Yichen's first two Earth Rising Spears had begun to resemble spears, though they were still not sharp enough.

However, in order to control the mounds of earth into spear shapes, he could no longer control their locations as precisely. Only the first five remained within the circles.

After pointing out a few more details, Han Lei said to Yichen, "I've taught you everything I can. From here on, just practice slowly on your own. My mission is complete."

Yichen hurriedly nodded. Although the seven days were not yet up, the actual results had far exceeded his expectations.

Yichen felt that this one million ryo had saved him at least three months of time.

Sure enough, protagonist Naruto's success was not merely due to hard work. The instruction of a famous master like Jiraiya must have played a huge role.

While learning Earth Rising Spear, even a random Chunin had been able to help him this much.

It was difficult to imagine what it would be like to receive three years of careful instruction from a ninja of Jiraiya's caliber.

Ah, I really want to take Ōnoki as my teacher. But although Yichen had interacted with Ōnoki many times, he had not detected the slightest intention in his words to accept Yichen as a disciple.

After writing Han Lei a certificate proving the mission's completion, Yichen remained very happy. His learning speed for Earth Rising Spear had far exceeded expectations. Only ten days had passed, and it had already begun taking shape.

Moreover, Han Lei had explained all the key points to him. He should not encounter too many difficulties afterward.

Aside from steadily practicing Earth Rising Spear, he next needed to consider how to obtain Sensory Ninjutsu.

Sensory Ninjutsu cost 13,000 Contribution Points to exchange for. He had a little over 8,000 Contribution Points remaining, and that amount was continuously decreasing with each day of training.

He needed to find a way to earn Contribution Points.

Doing missions was unrealistic. Not only did he not yet possess an official Ninja ID, but leaving the newbie village was too dangerous. Furthermore, he could only accept D-rank Missions at the beginning, while the Contribution Points awarded by D-rank and even C-rank missions were far too low.

He needed some major contribution that could bring benefits to the village, but what could he do?

After thinking it over, he still had to start with Sealing Jutsu. Compared with the village's elites, he lagged far behind in other areas. Only in Sealing Jutsu was his ability still among the better ones.

As soon as he thought of it, he acted. Yichen went to the Barrier Team, opened the B-rank Sealing Jutsu that he had long been authorized to access one by one, and began studying them.

Yichen had previously not studied the remaining B-rank Sealing Jutsu because he did not yet have enough Chakra to cast them.

Furthermore, their uses were either highly limited, or they were similar to the several Sealing Jutsu he had already studied carefully, making them useless to learn.

But if Yichen wanted to draw inspiration from Sealing Jutsu, perhaps these things could help him make connections and gain new insights.