Ghost

After finishing his speech, the Third Hokage looked at the adoring gazes of the children below and nodded in satisfaction.

However, when he saw Hinata, the corner of his eye twitched.

Even with his eyesight, he could not immediately tell whether Hinata had been listening attentively.

After all, with the Hyuga clan's all-encompassing Byakugan vision, you might think she was looking at you when she could actually have been looking at the person behind her.

But he could not exactly call on Hinata and ask whether she had heard him clearly.

After reminding the students to study hard, the Third Hokage left.

Iruka then began teaching the students how to refine Chakra.

Chakra was formed by combining spiritual energy with physical energy extracted from every cell throughout the body.

Generally speaking, children with ordinary aptitude needed anywhere from several days to several months to refine Chakra.

But for children with outstanding aptitude, the time required could be so short that it drove civilians to despair.

Sure enough, Naruto had eagerly closed his eyes shortly after Iruka finished explaining. In less than a few minutes, he had already refined Chakra.

Aside from the young clan heirs who had learned how to refine Chakra at home beforehand, the other children from civilian backgrounds had yet to see even a trace of it.

Iruka naturally noticed that Naruto had refined Chakra, and a shadow flashed through his eyes.

However, he did nothing, because he was their teacher.

Hinata also closed her eyes for show, but she was not refining Chakra. She was absorbing Nature Energy and refining it into True Qi.

Before her constitution evolved, the amount of True Qi in Hinata's body had already reached its limit. It was difficult for her to contain any more.

So Hinata began compressing her True Qi, intending to condense it into a liquid state.

As for what it would be called after being compressed into liquid, Hinata had already decided: True Essence. And once liquid True Essence was compressed into a solid, it would be called Magic Power...

With her control over True Qi, along with a body so sturdy that it was nearly impossible to destroy and capable of limitless self-healing, the compression process went smoothly.

The True Qi in her body was nearly all compressed into True Essence, but at that critical moment, Hinata's constitution evolved...

The evolution of her constitution allowed her body to hold more True Qi.

But that was not a good thing.

Hinata discovered that after her constitution evolved, the amount of True Qi her body could contain was dozens of times greater than before!

Although that was a good thing, even if she absorbed all the Nature Energy in the Shinobi World, it might still not be enough to fill her body with True Qi.

Before her constitution evolved, the amount of True Qi in Hinata's body had been astonishing, but it had still been within the Shinobi World's acceptable limits.

As long as Hinata held herself back and did not absorb Nature Energy too ruthlessly, she would not have too great an impact on the Shinobi World.

But now, Hinata felt that the Shinobi World could no longer feed her. If she truly let loose and absorbed Nature Energy without restraint, the planet beneath her feet would likely become a dead planet before long.

After realizing this, Hinata stopped absorbing Nature Energy. She then began compressing the True Qi already within her body.

After her constitution evolved, Hinata's body became even more formidable and could withstand far more strain.

Thus, Hinata became increasingly rough and forceful in compressing her True Qi, bringing the day it became True Essence ever closer.

Hinata was looking forward to it.

Ring, ring~

The dismissal bell rang, and in the blink of an eye, it was noon.

"Alright, class is over. Students, go eat first. Return to the classroom as soon as possible afterward; the teacher has something very important to discuss this afternoon."

Iruka clapped his hands, waking the students who were still refining Chakra.

The noon break passed quickly. Before the afternoon bell rang, all the students had returned to the classroom.

Not long after the bell rang, Iruka arrived in the classroom.

"Very good. It seems everyone remembered what the teacher said. I am very pleased."

Then Iruka picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a word on the blackboard—

—"Ghost!"

"Some of you may recognize this word, while others may not."

"This word is pronounced—ghost!"

Upon hearing the word ghost, the students were somewhat surprised.

They were no longer little children. They had long passed the age when they would be frightened by the scary tale that ghosts would come catch them if they did not sleep properly.

Iruka swept his gaze around the classroom, taking in every student's expression.

"I know some of you may think the teacher is trying to scare you."

"But no matter what you are thinking right now, you must remember what the teacher is about to tell you, and what you will be taught in the future!"

"Because it may save your life!"

The classroom immediately erupted in an uproar, and the students could not help crying out. They felt that Iruka was not joking.

Iruka did not tell the students to quiet down, instead allowing them to talk.

Gradually, the classroom fell silent.

"Now that everyone has quieted down, the teacher will continue."

"Two years ago, Hidden Leaf Village discovered a strange creature. No matter what methods we used, we could not kill it. So far, the only thing capable of dealing with it is Sealing Jutsu."

"But Sealing Jutsu is not the best method either. When dealing with these creatures, it is less that Sealing Jutsu seals them and more that they are merely trapped by it. They can escape very easily."

"However, aside from Sealing Jutsu, we have no better means of dealing with them. Therefore, Sealing Jutsu will be a mandatory ninja technique from now on."

"Since two years ago, these creatures have been appearing with alarming frequency. Hidden Leaf Village remains peaceful, but outside, chaos has already begun."

"...Alright, I have gone off topic."

"Afterward, Hokage-sama officially named these creatures—ghosts!"

"If you encounter a ghost in the future, you must remember the first rule—stay calm!"

"Research has found that while these ghosts are bizarre and powerful, they have one fatal weakness: they have no intelligence!"

"Yes, just as you are thinking. They are like puppets, possessing not the slightest intelligence. They only act according to specific rules and... kill people!"

"What you need to do is remain calm, observe what its rules are, and finally, act within your limits!"

What Iruka had wanted to say was that they should leave as quickly as possible and seek support. But when he remembered that they were still only children, he felt there was no need to crush their spirit too badly.

Yet whenever he thought of the terror of those ghosts, Iruka could not help feeling despair.

Recently, ghosts had been appearing more and more frequently, and even he had taken part in operations to capture them.

In that operation, more than twenty ninja had participated. Yet after the capture mission was completed, only eight remained.

More than half of them had died in that operation and would never return.