Third Attribute

Upon arriving at the Border Outpost, Yichen explained the situation to the post commander and then began training at a Training Ground near the post.

Yichen first released all the Water Release Chakra in his body using B-rank Ninjutsu. After performing more than a dozen Water Style: Raging Waves, Yichen finally released Chakra, and in the process, he practiced a Water Style: Raging Waves himself.

Then Yichen began to extract new Chakra, but the effect was noticeably less than before. Previously, Yichen had a large amount of Water Release Chakra in his body, and the Water Release activity was very high, but now that Water Release Chakra had left his body, the Water Release activity in Yichen's body was also rapidly decreasing.

However, it did have some effect; the Water Release component in the newly extracted Chakra from Yichen was significantly reduced.

This time, Yichen did not convert the newly extracted Chakra into Water Release, but instead converted it into Earth Release.

After the transformation was complete, Yichen extracted new Chakra again. This extraction was actually pushing his body to its limits, but Yichen couldn't care less about the minor damage for the time being.

Yichen used his Sensory Ninjutsu to determine which attribute the new Chakra leaned towards.

This time, Yichen had a vague sense of things, mostly water and earth, but Yichen also vaguely sensed a new attribute. What was this?

There are two types?

Yichen looked surprised.

There are two kinds of things, one good and one bad.

The good thing is that it will be easier to develop a fourth attribute in the future.

The bad thing is that this means Yichen's third attribute is not dominant among the remaining three, making it quite difficult to develop.

Yichen carefully examined them again and finally confirmed what the most common one was. Was it fire? Yichen was somewhat disappointed; if it were Wind Release, he could get some help from Chun.

As for the fourth attribute, Yichen was unable to confirm it at the moment.

That's alright, knowing the third one is barely enough. Next, Yichen needs to develop Fire Release Ninjutsu.

Yichen also had two Fire Style Ninjutsu in the Anbu. One of them was obtained from the Sunagakure Anbu who wanted to infiltrate the Land of Earth. It was used by the Sunagakure to bribe an Iwa ninja spy. It was a B-rank Fire Release: Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

The other is the Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu obtained from the Konoha outpost, which is a C-rank technique.

However, Ninjutsu teaches how to apply it. Before learning Ninjutsu, a ninja must first convert their Chakra into the corresponding element. This is something the ninja needs to understand on their own.

Therefore, Yichen had another key focus in his cultivation: comprehending the Fire Release. At this point, Yichen actually wanted to return to the village, where there were many experiences from predecessors that he could exchange for using his contribution points.

You can also ask Chunin and Jonin for guidance.

But there's not much Yichen can do on this border; he can only rely on himself. Yichen is a little unsure of himself. His previous understanding of Earth Release wasn't due to his own efforts, but rather the village's benefits. His understanding of Water Release didn't start off smoothly either.

There's not much scientific basis for ninjas' ability to sense the Nature Transformation of Chakra. In this regard, practice plays a far greater role than theory, and Naruto in the original work is a prime example.

However, for Yichen to practice, he also needs a foundation in Chakra attributes. In other words, Yichen must exhaust his Chakra before he can comprehend it, and then use newly extracted Chakra to comprehend it; otherwise, it will not be effective. This is because the Chakra that Yichen extracts under normal circumstances does not have Fire Release, and it is impossible to successfully comprehend Fire Release using such Chakra.

Therefore, Yichen is unable to leave the outpost during this period.

When it comes to comprehending attribute changes, without anyone to guide him, Yichen can only proceed in a way that a modern person understands. He lights a fire in front of him, then sits down beside it and tries to touch the flames with his newly extracted Chakra.

The effect wasn't very noticeable. After Yichen sent Chakra into the fire from a distance, the fire only flickered a few times, neither getting stronger nor going out.

Then Yichen took out a piece of Fire Star from the fire that was still glowing but hadn't caught fire. He then channeled his Chakra into the firewood, but the result was embarrassing. Perhaps because the Chakra blocked the air, the Fire Star slowly went out.

Yichen was somewhat speechless.

However, Yichen did not give up easily, and tried various methods in turn, determined to succeed.

Three days later at noon, Yichen suddenly had a strange idea. Instead of sending Chakra into the fire, he held a piece of dry firewood and seemed to be deep in thought.

Ninjas generate flames directly when using Fire Release; they don't need a source of fire. So, the previous approach was incorrect. The key is to try igniting an unburnt object—that's the crucial point of Fire Release Chakra transformation.

So Yichen began channeling Chakra into the firewood, while simultaneously using Sensory Ninjutsu to carefully perceive the changes in the firewood.

This operation seemed to have some effect, but Yichen discovered an awkward situation: Water Release made up the majority of his Chakra, with only a small amount of Fire Release. Trying to ignite dry tinder with this attribute seemed like a pipe dream.

After realizing this awkward situation, Yichen replaced the firewood with hay, and finally with matches.

After wasting countless matches, Yichen finally made some progress. He channeled his Chakra into the red phosphorus at the head of the match and carefully observed the changes in the phosphorus. It actually worked. Yichen's previous Chakra flow was too fast and his Fire Release was too low, so it had little effect on the red phosphorus.

Later, Yichen Chakra Control and kept it within the red phosphorus. As a result, a fire actually broke out in one spot, and then the flames spread to other locations as the red phosphorus burned.

However, apart from being a little slow at the beginning, the spread was very fast in the later stages, and Yichen did not catch the fleeting anomaly.

But once Yichen had a direction, he became very excited. First, he bought all the matches in the outpost, and then he tried again and again.

Finally, Yichen grasped the unique feeling that Chakra gave him during the brief moment when the Chakra first spread after the match was lit.

Yichen was so engrossed in this inexplicable feeling that he couldn't pull himself out, repeating the sensation over and over again. It wasn't until all the matches were used up that he snapped out of his reverie.

"Phew~~" Yichen let out a long breath and looked around. At this moment, he felt that the world was different, and he felt that he himself was different.

Although he hadn't fully succeeded yet, Yichen knew he had grasped the basics. The most difficult part was over; with more practice, he would be able to master Fire Release transformations.

Feeling that he still had some Chakra left in his body, Yichen took some dry grass and then, according to his understanding, channeled his Chakra into it. Not long after, the pile of dry grass burst into flames.

Yichen quickly threw the burning hay out, a little excited. His third attribute had finally arrived.

"Captain, you succeeded?" It was Fu's voice. Yichen's three subordinates naturally knew what Yichen had been doing these past few days, and now that they saw Yichen able to start a fire out of thin air, they all came up to ask.

Yichen nodded, then shook his head. "I've grasped the basics. I understand what Fire Release is all about, but to say I've succeeded is a long way off. I have too little Fire Release in my Chakra. I need to use up all my existing Chakra and extract new Chakra before I can have Fire Release. And even with new Chakra, I've only just begun. I'm still far from truly mastering it."

That's the truth. Yichen can now ignite dry grass, but he's still a long way from igniting firewood. And as for casting Fire Release out of thin air, that's an even longer road ahead.

However, from the moment Yichen comprehended the Fire Release Chakra, he had essentially disrupted the original balance of Chakra within his body, allowing a wisp of Fire Release to escape.

Moreover, this wisp of Chakra that dissipates is fixed and will only increase as Yichen's understanding grows.

However, this trace is still too little. Yichen estimated that even with Chakra Paper, this trace of Fire Release might not be detectable. Therefore, in the short term, if Yichen wanted to comprehend the Nature Transformation of Fire Release Chakra, he would have to consume his original Chakra first.

After spending a few more days at the outpost, the appointed time with old man Hiroteru arrived, and Yichen led the Team 7 back to the small town.

Meanwhile, the teams that had scattered from Hiroteru were gradually returning, with some of the faster ones having returned the day before.

Since this was the first business trip, Hiroteru had received instructions from the Ide beforehand that, apart from the wages of everyone in the caravan, all profits should be used to purchase supplies.

Seeing that the caravan had twice as many supplies as before, Yichen was somewhat surprised and asked, "Hiroteru, did the caravan's profits double after this trip last time?"

Hiroteru laughed and said, "Yichen, you can't calculate it that way. Although the goods have doubled, the costs involved are not just the goods themselves. There's the cost of the carriages, the time cost, and considering the risks, the profit isn't actually that much."

Yichen thought about it and agreed. This business was very successful, without any unexpected incidents, so of course they made a lot of money. But in reality, the probability of accidents is quite high. For example, illness. If someone in the caravan falls ill, the caravan can't just ignore it. So, considering all kinds of unforeseen circumstances, a profit of several times the initial investment doesn't seem like much after all. After all, doing business in the Ninja World involves risking one's life.

No longer dwelling on the matter, Yichen and his group waited for several more hours until all the various small teams that had split off from the caravan finally reunited. To Yichen's surprise, the last team to arrive even brought two other caravans with them. These two caravans were not large, each only about a quarter the size of Hiroteru's caravan.

Yichen inspected their goods and found that they were the same as Hiroteru, consisting of local specialties.

Out of curiosity, Yichen asked them what they thought.

It turned out that these two caravans didn't really believe that Yichen and his group's business could last. They just heard that they would be setting off again today and thought that the second business would definitely continue, so they decided to go with Hiroteru and his group.

The purpose of these two caravans was actually just to scout the route. If this business was successful, Yichen believed that the next business would be much larger than the current one.

This is a good thing for Yichen, as having imitators is exactly what Yichen wanted. Yichen hopes that this scale will continue to grow, eventually driving the overall development of the entire Land of Rain and Land of Earth.