Anbu

The Anbu—in the original story, an organization used to prop up the protagonist and even supporting characters. It seemed that only during the One Bag of Rice invasion did Konoha's Anbu get to look impressive for once.

At other times, they were used to show off how formidable Kabuto Yakushi was, how formidable Orochimaru was, how formidable Itachi Uchiha was, how formidable Shisui Uchiha was... Again and again, they refreshed everyone's understanding of this mysterious organization.

But Yichen, having lived in the ninja world for so many years, knew quite a bit about the Anbu.

Every member started at Chunin level, and the vast majority of Chunin did not meet the standards for entering the Anbu.

In ordinary teams, a Chunin could serve as captain, but in the Anbu, captains had to be at least Special Jonin.

Yichen did not know how many Anbu Iwagakure had. He estimated there were at least several hundred combat personnel.

The Anbu had many demanding tasks. Basically, they spent more time away on missions than they did in the village.

And Anbu members stationed in the village did not always appear in Anbu attire. They dressed like ordinary ninja, only putting on Anbu uniforms while carrying out missions.

So if there were one hundred Anbu in the village at any given moment, then proportionally speaking, the total number of Anbu had to be over three or four hundred.

Were there one hundred people in the Anbu at the same time? Yichen estimated there were.

For example, there had to be at least a double-digit number of people on duty at Anbu headquarters.

For example, the security work at the Tsuchikage's Office Building required at least a double-digit number. And the protection of the Jinchuriki—two Jinchuriki, assigning two squads was not excessive, right?

Then there was regular patrol work. The village was so large; even if the Anbu were not the main patrolling force, were a dozen people really enough? Yichen did not think so.

There were also some special areas. For example, around the Sealing Jutsu area where Yichen was currently living, there were no fewer than three Anbu squads.

Anyway, no matter how he calculated it, there had to be at least one hundred Anbu ninja on duty inside the village at any given time.

As for the Anbu outside the village, a single pursuit mission could take more than ten days. How many rogue ninja did the Anbu have to hunt down?

There were also border patrols and infiltration into enemy countries.

Speaking of which, with such long borders, how many Anbu had to be sent out on patrol for it to be appropriate?

Besides the Land of Earth, there were so many major and minor countries. Was assigning only a few people to each country not a little too few?

And the Anbu had vacations too. If an Anbu member spent two-thirds of their time on missions, did that not mean all the numbers above had to be multiplied by 1.5?

In any case, the number of Anbu was enormous.

But the Anbu's structure was rather strange. By ordinary understanding, an organization this large should have had several layers of hierarchy.

Yet the entire Anbu actually had only three levels: ordinary members, squad leaders, and captains.

The village's Anbu should have had several captains. They answered to Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, and were relatively independent from one another.

And beneath every captain were many squad leaders, so many that it made one's head spin.

It was not actually strange. The Anbu fought independently in squads; they were not a large-scale organization like an army.

An Anbu Captain's main job was actually to assign missions reasonably among the squads.

It was not like everyone had imagined, where they led the entire team into action together.

Speaking of which, with so many Anbu under an Anbu Captain scattered throughout the ninja world, could they even be gathered together? Yichen had his doubts.

Of course, that did not mean the Anbu always sent out only one squad per mission.

When they encountered particularly difficult missions, the captain would dispatch multiple squads together and temporarily appoint a commander. Sometimes, the captain might personally lead the team.

Yichen was assigned to the Anbu's second squad. His captain's codename was Owl, an Elite Jonin who wore a mask carved with a strange rock pattern.

Yichen had seen his true face at the Tsuchikage's Office Building. He was an uncle in his thirties who looked rather simple and honest.

But after putting on the mask, he gave off nothing but an air of mystery and strength.

Owl led him all the way to the Anbu base. Along the way, he explained the proper way to enter the Anbu, how to avoid various traps, how to keep from triggering warnings from the Sensory Barrier, and so on.

Then he took Yichen to collect a set of standard Anbu equipment, including two identical, utterly ordinary masks, several sets of clothes, and weapons.

When Anbu carried out missions, all logistics were provided by the village, and mission rewards were also higher.

But missions came very frequently, and they were also difficult.

After collecting his equipment, Yichen was assigned to training. The training was divided into two parts.

One was theoretical training, including various codes, Anbu rules of conduct, and ways of operating.

The other was practical combat. Before grouping Anbu ninja, they would assess every member's strength, then assign teammates accordingly.

Anbu members also had requirements for strength; they could not become a burden. So necessary training was still required.

Finally, and most importantly, joining the Anbu allowed one to learn a skill.

Swordsmanship, taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and so on—any of them could be chosen.

But the level would not be high, and there was no Medicinal Food to help with training.

Yichen was a little conflicted. His current path had basically taken shape. When asked to choose a skill, he suddenly did not know what to pick.

After two years of growth, Yichen's Chakra Amount had risen from 53C to 120C, or 1.2B.

Now that his Chakra Amount had increased, Yichen's next plan was to learn a B-rank Ninjutsu. He was currently saving Contribution Points, but although he had not spent any large amounts over the past two years, his income had also been low, so he had never managed to save much.

But before Yichen could skillfully use B-rank Ninjutsu, the increase in Chakra Amount would not help him much.

This amount of Chakra was not even enough to use the Water Style: Raging Frost Stream that Seiichi had taught him.

Yichen's greatest improvement was in ninjutsu. The increase in Mental Power had improved his control, and Yichen had made extraordinary progress in simplifying ninjutsu.

First, the Three Basic Jutsu had all been simplified to one hand seal. That was practically instantaneous casting.

Water Style: Water Line Jutsu required four hand seals, Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall required five, and Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear required six.

The development of the new Water Style: Water Line Jutsu was also extremely encouraging. Yichen could now apply the principles of Water Release very effectively to this ninjutsu.

The pressure the ninjutsu could transmit was also far greater than before, though this transmission had a range limit. Yichen had tested the new Water Style: Water Line Jutsu's maximum range at thirty meters. Beyond thirty meters, the water pressure could not be controlled, the ninjutsu would deform, and it would lose its power.

Since development was basically complete, Yichen named this ninjutsu Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu.

Although this ninjutsu had originated from Water Style: Water Line Jutsu, Yichen had changed it so much that it no longer resembled the original at all.

Yichen estimated that Water Style: Water Pressure Line Jutsu was nearly B-rank in power, consumed around 25C of Chakra, and currently required seven hand seals to cast.

It was Yichen's strongest attack at present.

In addition, Yichen's Hand Seal Speed had reached between four and four and a half seals per second.

Those figures were already terrifying at the Chunin level. If the current Yichen faced Kenbon from the Chunin Assessment—

It could be said that in the time Kenbon took to rush from his starting position to Yichen, Yichen would have enough time to cast at least three ninjutsu.

Enough to turn Kenbon into a sieve. Of course, an actual battle would not go that smoothly; Kenbon would dodge.

But he definitely would not be able to get close to Yichen anymore. In the end, he would inevitably be worn down by Yichen.

So Yichen's combat style had actually taken shape: snipe opponents from long range with ninjutsu.

Now that he had suddenly learned that joining the Anbu came with the benefit of learning a skill, Yichen felt a little at a loss.

If that benefit had been a B-rank Ninjutsu, there would have been nothing to discuss. He definitely would not have hesitated. The awkward part was that this benefit was neither here nor there.

After all, learning this skill meant spending time practicing it. His training schedule was already packed full. How could he add another training item?

After hesitating for a while, Yichen found Captain Owl during a break in training, explained his situation, and asked him to help think of a solution.

After hearing Yichen's description, Owl did not hesitate at all. "Choose the Body Flicker Technique. You are a ninjutsu-type ninja, so when missions are assigned to your squad, they will not choose missions that demand speed."

"But there are exceptions to everything. If you are fast enough, not only will missions be more convenient, but it will also be easier to escape with your life at critical moments."

Yichen slapped his forehead. Right, how had he not thought of that? His previous combat simulations had all been against ninja of the same level.

It could be said that if he encountered a Chunin, Yichen was not worried in the slightest.

But if he encountered a Jonin, would he even have a chance to run? At that thought, Yichen nearly broke out in a cold sweat. Kitsuchi's protection had greatly weakened his Sense of Crisis, and it had almost gotten him killed.

After thanking Captain Owl, Yichen returned to the training area and reported his choice to the staff.

He received a scroll for the Body Flicker Technique, then sat to one side and began reading it carefully.

The Body Flicker Technique was called one of the advanced Three Basic Jutsu by netizens in Yichen's previous life.

It allowed rapid movement over short distances. In the original story, both Shisui and Minato Namikaze used it with great skill.

It was a ninjutsu that, once mastered to the extreme, could fundamentally change a ninja's Combat Power.

According to the descriptions, the Body Flicker Technique was the type of ninjutsu that could produce repeated bursts after forming hand seals once.

But achieving that was very difficult, and even if one managed consecutive bursts, there would only be a few of them.

At its root, the Body Flicker Technique was still meant for dodging and maneuvering over short distances. It was not suitable for long-distance travel.

To use the Body Flicker Technique for long-distance travel, two conditions had to be met: first, one had to be able to cast it continuously; second, one needed sufficient Chakra.

There were two options for the first condition. Either one achieved seal-less casting, or one raised Hand Seal Speed until it was faster than the Body Flicker Technique's movement speed.

There were quite a few elites in the ninja world capable of the former. It could be said that the Body Flicker Technique was the most common ninjutsu in the ninja world that could be cast without hand seals.

But that was not because it was simple. It was because it was practical for saving one's life, and everyone was willing to spend time on it.

As for the latter, improving one's Hand Seal Speed to that extent was simply a fantasy. The word "flicker" in Body Flicker Technique made clear just how fast this ninjutsu was.

Even Itachi God's speed of six seals per second could not sustain the Body Flicker Technique through consecutive hand seals.

Furthermore, the Body Flicker Technique was still a C-rank Ninjutsu. Every use consumed nearly 2C of Chakra, which meant it could not be used for long-distance travel.

Perhaps only Chakra-monster ninja like the Senju and Uzumaki could use the Body Flicker Technique for long-distance travel.

But that did not mean learning the Body Flicker Technique was not extremely useful. In an actual war, when ninja from both sides were tangled together, if one encountered an opponent they could not defeat, they could use the Body Flicker Technique to change position. After only a few uses, they could reach their companions. Thus, the Body Flicker Technique was a powerful tool for surviving on the battlefield.