Promotion to Jonin

Yoshiki's weapons are indeed amazing, but ninja tools are inanimate objects, and their importance certainly cannot compare to that of a Ninja Beast Dango. Ninja Beast can communicate, and although Dango cannot speak yet, the Shironeko can communicate with Dango without any problems. Furthermore, with Dango's intelligence, she can understand what others are saying and can express relatively complex meanings.

Therefore, if Dango truly comprehends some of the wonders of Natural Energy, it's possible that she could pass it on to other Ninja Beast or ninjas. Some advisors are already dreaming of Iwagakure cultivating a true holy land with the resources of an entire village.

The group waited outside Yichen's hut for half the night, until just before dawn when Dango finally woke up. After waking, Dango stretched, sniffed the air, and then meowed softly. Hearing Dango's meow, the Shironeko outside immediately responded, "Dango!"

Hearing the Shironeko's voice, Dango confirmed that she wasn't mistaken; the Shironeko was indeed nearby. After determining the direction, Dango ran outside.

Then Yichen and the others saw Dango dart out of the house and immediately jump into the Shironeko's arms.

The Shironeko affectionately rubbed its face against Dango's, then Dango, "Are you feeling unwell? Have you sensed any Natural Energy?"

Dango shook her head and meowed a few more times at the Shironeko.

After communicating with Dango, the Shironeko said to everyone, "Dango didn't sense Natural Energy; absorbing Natural Energy should be unconscious. It just felt very comfortable sleeping."

The higher-ups were slightly disappointed; the fact that it was unconsciously uncontrollable, unreplicable, and impossible to instruct others on how to absorb Natural Energy meant they couldn't control it, replicate it, or guide others.

At this moment, Ōnoki asked, "Shironeko, ask Dango, how long has it been since you started feeling so comfortable sleeping in this room?"

Dango was no stranger to Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage. As a ninja Ninja Beast of the Anbu Ninja, he had seen Ōnoki no less often than Yichen, a ninja who was on duty outside all year round.

Dango thought for a moment, then meowed at the Shironeko cat a few more times.

The Shironeko translated, "Lord Tsuchikage, Dango is saying that it feels very comfortable sleeping here for a long time now. He can't remember exactly how many nights, but it's been at least thirty."

It's been over thirty nights; by that reckoning, Dango must have absorbed a lot of Natural Energy.

After thinking for a moment, Ōnoki said, "Let's go to the Training Ground and test Dango's strength."

I remember a few years ago, Dango's strength was barely enough to qualify Chunin, and she was Chunin her skills. In terms of overall strength, she was definitely not as good as a normal Chunin.

Dango's talent is limited, and her potential is actually quite predictable. Without any extraordinary encounters, Dango could have reached the level of Special Jonin at the peak of her cat life.

If one faces numerous life-or-death crises and is under external pressure, there is a small chance of reaching the Jonin.

But Jonin is the limit for Dango. Her talent is similar to that of her master, the Shironeko.

So even though two or three years have passed, Yichen estimates that Dango's current strength is probably only at the level of a regular Chunin.

The tests arranged for Dango by the Anbu were very comprehensive, covering everything from speed and strength to intelligence and resistance to Genjutsu.

Yichen wasn't actually familiar with this system's evaluation method, but he learned from the Anbu that Dango's data was somewhat abnormal.

This abnormality is not due to a rapid improvement in all aspects, but rather a normal comparison of Dango's various abilities.

Dango used to be very unbalanced in her studies, but now that imbalance doesn't seem to be as severe.

If this happened Jonin Yichen like Yichen, the reason would be simple: Yichen is deliberately making up for his weaknesses. His training is highly targeted, so it will have obvious results.

However, according to the Shironeko, Dango's training not only failed to make up for her weaknesses, but she was also still practicing agility normally. The combination of the Shironeko and Dango is still at the Chunin level, not yet at the level where they can stand alone. Therefore, the direction of the Shironeko and Dango's training is still to give full play to their own strengths and strive to become Special Jonin as soon as possible.

After becoming Special Jonin, Shironeko and Dango's training paths will likely be adjusted. While maintaining their strengths, they will try to make up for their weaknesses as much as possible. However, Shironeko, who has a Ninja Beast to cooperate with, has a much more diverse way of making up for his weaknesses than Yichen. Ninjas and Ninja Beast are generally not separated, so any individual weakness is not a big problem, as long as they can make up for it.

But that's all in the future; at least for now, the Shironeko and the Dango haven't started training in that area. This is a bit unusual, because logically, the Dango's imbalance in academic performance should only be getting worse, but the opposite is true.

The group analyzed that this must be the magic of Natural Energy. Natural Energy might fundamentally change the ninja's physique. Therefore, in the early stages, the effects would be most noticeable on their weaknesses.

This is also good news. While developing one's strengths is the way for a ninja to become stronger and advance, trying to compensate for weaknesses is the most time-consuming thing for a ninja.

Take Yichen for example. In order to make up for his lack of close combat skills, Yichen has spent more time practicing basic swordsmanship and B-rank Sword Technique than he has learned Ninjutsu.

In recent years, Yichen has never reduced the time he spends on swordsmanship, but the time he spends on Ninjutsu is often adjusted due to unforeseen circumstances.

All that's said is because Dango hasn't been absorbing Natural Energy for very long, and the changes aren't significant yet. The higher-ups have decided to keep Dango away from the village as much as possible to allow it to absorb more Natural Energy, and then conduct periodic tests. All the speculations need to be verified through the data from Dango's tests.

The fact that the Dango can absorb Natural Energy is definitely a good thing for the village, but it will take time to show its effects and there's no need to rush it.

On the contrary, the situation in the Land of Rain Yichen needed to report was more urgent.

"The Konoha Root are active in the Land of Rain again?" Ōnoki murmured, recalling the report Yichen had just given him.

"Yes, this time is different from before. Root has contacted Rain Village. My subordinates suspect that Danzo and Hanzo are forming an alliance. And judging from the situation in the Land of Rain, the only Akatsuki Organization."

"I believe the conflict between Akatsuki Organization and Hanzo is imminent."

Several high-ranking officials looked grave. One of them said, "Seven years have passed since Second Shinobi War. The strength of various countries has recovered somewhat, but not completely. If the changes in the Land of Rain cause turmoil in the Ninja World, I fear the Third Shinobi World War may break out prematurely."

Another advisor nodded and said, "That's right. Moreover, if Third Shinobi War begins with the death of a Kage Level, its intensity might far exceed that of Second Shinobi War Third Shinobi War."

Ōnoki nodded and said, "We must avoid the Third Shinobi War breaking out prematurely. We cannot afford a high-intensity war like the First Ninja World War."

Everyone nodded in agreement. If it weren't for the genius Ikura holding up the Iwagakure's reputation, the village would be in a state of decline in the eyes of other major powers.

Konoha is never short of geniuses. Cloud ninja has a new AB Combination, Sunagakure has Pakura, Rasa, Karura, and Mist ninja has the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, which has a great reputation.

Only the Iwa ninja present. In the original story, at this point, the high-ranking officials of the major countries were probably laughing at Ōnoki for not being able to find a successor.

Fortunately, we now have Ikura. Although Ikura is still young, he already has the strength of Elite Jonin. If Ōnoki perseveres for another ten years, Ikura will be able to take over the position of Tsuchikage.

Therefore, the Land of Earth is not afraid of wars of attrition with other countries, but it is afraid of large-scale battles with high-level combat power like World War I. If Ōnoki dies in the next few years, Iwagakure may face the same awkward situation Sunagakure after the Konoha Collapse Plan in the original story.

In the original story, the Sunagakure promptly submitted to Konoha, thus surviving their weakest period and allowing Gaara, to reach Kage Level before successfully taking over.

However, the current Iwa ninja cannot rely on Konoha's support. If Ōnoki dies in battle and Ikura is unable to demonstrate Kage Level combat power, then Iwagakure will be in real trouble.

As a result, Ikura received special attention from the higher-ups and was the target of many assassination attempts; it is said that even two waves of Elite Jonin were dispatched.

Yichen was somewhat taken aback when he first heard about it. It was only then that he understood that the village's decision not to promote him Jonin so early was to protect him.

However, this protection is about to end, because today Yichen is going to become Official Jonin.

After discussing the situation in the Land of Rain, Ōnoki turned to Yichen said, "Yichen, your task of developing trade routes was Jonin advancement mission assigned to you by the village, and you have completed it very well."

"I hereby declare that from this day forward, you are an Official Jonin of the village!"

Yichen was somewhat excited. Although his strength had long since reached the Jonin, and although he had long anticipated Yichen day, he still couldn't suppress his excitement when he actually received the title of Jonin. Not for any other reason than that this title was the village's recognition of him.

Looking back on his eleven years of dedication, Yichen felt a pang of sadness.

Yichen's talent is average, his physique is unbalanced, and his only advantage is his mental strength. However, his mental strength talent cannot be well utilized in Iwagakure.

Yichen's past eleven years have been quite monotonous. Without family, he had virtually no friends to talk to after school or work. The only constant in his life was cultivation, for which he constantly adjusted his schedule. He racked his brains to become stronger. Fortunately, his efforts are finally paying off, and he has finally gained the village's recognition.

After taking several deep breaths, Yichen knelt on one knee and said to Ōnoki, "Yes."

As people who had been through it all and had watched Yichen grow up, the senior executives all understood Yichen's feelings.

After Yichen calmed down and stood up again, Ōnoki continued, "You did a very good job on this mission. As a pioneering mission, the village counts your four S-rank mission and ten A-rank mission. You can exchange them for one A-rank Ninjutsu and three B-rank Ninjutsu."