The Oni

The Third Hokage nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the adoring eyes of the children below after finishing his speech.

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

With his eyesight, he couldn't tell at a glance whether Hinata was truly listening or not.

After all, with the Hyuga's Byakugan's all-encompassing perspective, you might think she was looking at you, but in reality, she could be looking at the person behind you.

But he couldn't call on Hinata to ask if she had heard clearly.

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

Iruka then began to teach the students how to refine Chakra.

Chakra is formed by the fusion of spiritual energy and physical energy extracted from all the cells throughout the body.

Generally, children with ordinary aptitude need days to months to refine Chakra.

But for children with outstanding aptitude, this time can be reduced to a level that would make ordinary people despair.

As expected, Naruto, who couldn't wait to close his eyes not long after Iruka finished speaking, had already refined Chakra within a few minutes.

Excluding the young masters from families who had already learned how to refine Chakra within their own clans, the other children from commoner backgrounds had not even seen a shadow of Chakra yet.

Iruka naturally noticed Naruto refining Chakra, and a hint of gloom flashed in his eyes.

However, he didn't do anything because he was a teacher.

Hinata also pretended to close her eyes, but she wasn't refining Chakra; she was absorbing Nature Energy to refine True Qi.

Before her physique evolved, the amount of True Qi in Hinata's body had already reached its limit, making it difficult to hold any more True Qi.

So Hinata began to compress the True Qi, wanting to turn it into a liquid state.

As for the name for the liquid state, Hinata had already thought of it: True Essence. And once the liquid True Essence was compressed into a solid state, it would be called Magic Power...

With her control over True Qi and a body that was incredibly durable, difficult to destroy, and capable of infinite self-healing, the compression of True Qi went smoothly.

Just as nearly all the True Qi in her body was about to be compressed into True Essence, Hinata's physique evolved...

The evolution of her physique allowed her body to bear more True Qi.

But this was not a good thing.

Because Hinata discovered that after her physique evolved, her body could accommodate dozens of times more True Qi than before!

While this was a good thing, absorbing all the Nature Energy in the Shinobi World might not be enough to fill Hinata's True Qi.

Before her physique evolved, although the amount of True Qi in Hinata's body was astonishing, it was still within the acceptable range for the Shinobi World.

As long as Hinata took it easy and didn't absorb Nature Energy too aggressively, it wouldn't have a significant impact on the Shinobi World.

But now, Hinata felt that the Shinobi World could no longer satisfy her. If she truly unleashed her full potential in absorbing Nature Energy, the planet beneath her feet would likely turn into a dead star in no time.

Upon realizing this, Hinata stopped absorbing Nature Energy and began to compress the True Qi she already possessed.

After her physique evolved, Hinata's body became even more robust and could withstand more strain.

So Hinata became increasingly rough in her compression of True Qi, which also brought the day when True Qi would become True Essence closer and closer.

Hinata was filled with anticipation.

Ring ring~

The dismissal bell rang, and time quickly flew by until noon.

"Alright, it's time for class to end. Students, please go and eat. Return to the classroom as soon as possible after your meal, as the teacher has something very important to discuss this afternoon."

Iruka clapped his hands to wake up the students who were still refining Chakra.

The noon break passed quickly, and all the students returned to the classroom before the afternoon class bell rang.

When the class bell rang, Iruka arrived in the classroom shortly after.

"Very good, it seems all of you remembered what I said. I am very pleased."

Then, Iruka picked up chalk and wrote a character on the blackboard--

--"Ghost!"

"Students, some of you may recognize this character, while others may not."

"This character is pronounced--Gui!"

Hearing "Gui," the students were a little surprised.

They were no longer small children and had long passed the age where they would be scared by ghost stories about how ghosts would come to get them if they didn't sleep well.

Iruka scanned the classroom, taking in the expressions of all the students.

"I know, students, you might think the teacher is trying to scare you."

"However, no matter what you are thinking right now, you must remember what I am about to say and teach you in the future!"

"Because this might save your lives!"

The classroom erupted in an uproar, and the students couldn't help but exclaim. They felt that Iruka was not joking.

Iruka didn't try to quiet the students; he let them talk.

Gradually, the classroom quieted down.

"Now that you're all quiet, I'll continue with the lesson."

"Two years ago, Konoha discovered a strange creature. No matter what methods we used, we couldn't kill it. So far, the only thing that can deal with it is Sealing Jutsu."

"However, Sealing Jutsu isn't the best method either, because when dealing with these creatures, Sealing Jutsu doesn't so much seal them as trap them. They can get out quite easily."

"But we don't have any better means to deal with them besides Sealing Jutsu. Therefore, Sealing Jutsu will be a mandatory ninjutsu from now on."

"Since two years ago, these creatures have been appearing at an extremely rapid rate. Although Konoha remains very peaceful, the outside world has already descended into chaos."

"...Alright, I've gone off on a tangent."

"Later, Hokage-sama officially named these creatures—'Oni'!"

"If you students encounter an Oni in the future, remember the first point—stay calm!"

"Through research, we've found that although the strength of these Oni is incredibly strange and powerful, they have a fatal flaw: they lack intelligence!"

"Yes, just as you're thinking, they are like puppets, without the slightest bit of intelligence, acting only according to specific rules and... killing!"

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

Although Iruka wanted to say they should leave as quickly as possible and find reinforcements, he thought better of it, realizing they were just children and there was no need to crush their spirits.

But when he thought of the terror of those Oni, Iruka couldn't help but feel despair.

Recently, Oni have been appearing more and more frequently, and even he had participated in operations to capture them.

In one such operation, over twenty ninjas participated. After completing the capture mission, only eight people remained.

More than half of the participants died in that operation, never to return.