The Strongest Genin

Umino Sasuke quickly formed the Tiger seal with one hand, then placed the fingers of his other hand on the summoned Water Bat and closed his eyes to sense.

Beneath the tree, Inuzuka Ryo sniffed the air intensely, and Akitaru, not to be outdone, also began to sense with all its might.

"Damn it, it's a Sand Ninja Puppeteer!"

Inuzuka Ryo quickly obtained some crucial information, his face instantly changing. In the air, there was a nauseating smell of puppet joint lubricating oil. There was no mistake, it had to be a Sand Ninja Puppeteer.

Tejudo, his old subordinate, climbed up the tree and came to Umino Sasuke's side, hesitating to speak, "Captain, should we go support them? There's a Sand Ninja Puppeteer this time, maybe we should—"

Umino Sasuke cut off Tejudo's words, stating decisively, "Support! We must support this time!"

Tejudo: ???

What's going on? Did the captain take the wrong medicine today? This isn't like the captain at all.

Knowing there's a Sand Ninja Puppeteer, and still going to support them, doesn't seem like your style at all, Captain?

Could the "Cowardly Path" secret techniques you usually teach us be fake? Were you pretending all along, Captain? Have you awakened the Will of Fire?

"Hiss~"

Thinking of the Will of Fire, Tejudo couldn't help but shiver.

I, Tejudo, am not some fluttering leaf; I am the hope of the Tejudo family. Captain, please don't drag me down! You said that burning seedlings to illuminate oneself is the most shameful thing. You wouldn't want to burn us three little seedlings, would you?

Hearing that Umino Sasuke intended to go support them, even Inuzuka Ryo and Xiao Xiao were a bit surprised. The captain was actually changing his usual style; why was he so responsible this time?!

Even the pure-hearted Xiao Xiao clearly sensed the captain's unusual behavior this time.

On the contrary, Inuzuka Ryo, who came from a Ninja Clan, actually started to believe it, feeling a sense of kindred spirits. It seemed that his efforts over this period had paid off, which was very encouraging, and he instantly became full of fighting spirit, his eyes becoming even brighter.

His body and mind also seemed to undergo some kind of transformation, exuding a will that seemed to say: Where the leaves of Konoha dance, a fire will also burn endlessly.

"Don't you believe in my Will of Fire?"

Umino Sasuke glared angrily at Tejudo, his tone laced with a hint of forced confidence, clearly not as firm as his words suggested.

He hadn't awakened any Will of Fire. Even if he had, it would be a highly flexible Will of Fire.

He would definitely not do something as shameless as burning seedlings to illuminate himself, but if he could slack off and reap the benefits, he would certainly be happy to do so.

Just now, he had borrowed the Chakra of his summoned Water Bat to use his Sonic Radar Sensory Technique, and had already perceived more precise information from the Aoba Squad's defense zone.

It wasn't Sand Ninja elites infiltrating the defense zone, but rather Sand Ninjas pursuing a Konoha intelligence team.

The Sand Ninjas had even deployed their puppet squad. It seemed the intelligence brought back by the Konoha Ninja this time was of a high level.

If he could slack off and lend a hand to safely bring back this intelligence, even if he was just providing support, the mission merit should be at least B-rank.

If he got lucky and played a crucial role, it was possible to get A-rank mission merit.

That was A-rank mission merit. It would definitely not be enough to exchange for an A-rank Ninjutsu, but it should be enough to exchange for knowledge related to Chakra nature development.

With knowledge of Chakra nature development, given his mental strength and Chakra control, he should have some confidence in developing a second Chakra nature.

Once he developed a second Chakra nature, his Chakra would definitely surge, and becoming a Jonin would be a natural progression.

With such great rewards, it was worth taking some risks.

Of course, he wasn't someone who would risk his life for Ninjutsu; he would naturally keep the risks within a certain range.

Did they really think he chose this high-risk defense zone because of the Will of Fire?

If he hadn't known long ago that Maruboshi Kosuke, the eternal Genin, was part of the mobile patrol unit in this defense zone, he wouldn't have come here.

He was well aware of the value of Konoha's strongest Genin.

Maruboshi Kosuke, the strongest Genin of the current era, was at least Elite Jonin level in combat power. Moreover, if he were in peak condition now, he might even be touching the threshold of Kage-level, very possibly a quasi-Kage-level expert.

With such a hidden powerhouse in the defense zone, as long as they weren't silently defeated or defeated in a short period, there wouldn't be much danger.

As long as they could hold on for the first few minutes, they would definitely be able to catch up with their speed.

And the intelligence his summoned Water Bat had just sent indicated that Maruboshi Kosuke was patrolling nearby, not having returned to the base to renew his duty.

Given the light and sound caused by the Explosive Tags just now, Maruboshi Kosuke must have already learned of the commotion here and was rushing over.

How could he miss such a good opportunity to slack off and gain mission merit?

Of course, he couldn't explain this information to his subordinates. If he did, how would he explain his possession of the super-powerful Sonic Radar Sensory Technique?

Exposing one's own information was not a good thing for a ninja.

Moreover, this Sonic Radar Sensory Technique also carried the hidden risk of stealing Konoha Ninja Clan secret jutsu.

Ninjutsu monopoly and point exchange were important means for ninja villages to win over and control their ninjas.

Ninja villages strictly prohibited stealing Ninjutsu, and stealing Konoha Ninja Clan secret jutsu was an even greater taboo. Once exposed, even if the Third Hokage personally protected him, he might not be able to save his life.

How could the Third Hokage offend many secret jutsu clans like the Ino-Shika-Cho for an unrelated, insignificant Chunin?

However, the Sonic Radar Sensory Technique he developed couldn't be entirely considered stealing Konoha family secret jutsu; at most, it was a slight imitation.

Back then, due to the issue of Ninjutsu monopoly, he had no channels to acquire new Ninjutsu, so he could only accumulate mission merit points while diligently practicing the few existing Ninjutsu.

Because he was a transmigator, his mental strength surged, and his Chakra control was also good. He quickly mastered the Three Basic Jutsu and the only C-rank Water Release: Water Prison Technique to the mastery level, even not inferior to Elite Jonin.

Later, as he was unable to obtain new Ninjutsu for a long time, he could only continue to grind these four minor Ninjutsu and his hand-seal speed.

This dedication, however, allowed him to discover the extraordinary aspects of the Three Basic Jutsu, especially the Transformation Jutsu, which progressed relatively quickly.

As he dedicated himself to it, he couldn't help but recall the Konoha Collapse Rebellion in later generations, when Uzumaki Naruto fought Gaara.

Uzumaki Naruto, borrowing the Nine-Tails' chakra and cooperating with Gamabunta, actually transformed into the Nine-Tails and fought an back-and-forth battle with the Tailed Beast-ified Gaara.

After Inuzuka Ryo joined the squad and he witnessed Ryo and Akitaru's human-beast transformation combat mode multiple times, he suddenly understood. It turned out that by borrowing the chakra of a ninja beast, one could transform into the corresponding ninja beast and even use some of the ninja beast's abilities.

Of course, this required extremely high mastery of the Transformation Jutsu.

The Inuzuka Clan's Beast Mimicry Secret Jutsu has not been deciphered or imitated to this day, which shows its training difficulty.

Difficulty isn't scary; what's scary is having no ninjutsu to learn. Since he had no channels for ninjutsu, plenty of time, and energy, he might as well continue dedicating himself to the Transformation Jutsu.

Perhaps it was due to the surge in his mental power, the enhanced chakra control, or some unknown changes in his body after transmigration, but he truly had a talent for the Transformation Jutsu. Coupled with his continuous referencing of Inuzuka Ryo's Beast Mimicry Secret Jutsu and his deconstruction using his rigorous scientific thinking from his previous life, he quickly mastered the Transformation Jutsu to the point where he could transform into foreign objects.

Even during this period, he managed to develop the Sexy Jutsu.

Transforming into a kunai, like Uzumaki Naruto, was easily achievable. However, transforming into a living foreign object was quite difficult.

Especially transforming into a summoning beast, which could only be done when borrowing the summoning beast's chakra.

Therefore, acquiring a powerful summoning beast became a priority.

After much careful consideration and deliberation on summoning beasts, he finally chose the Water Bat, the most common summoning animal in the Land of Rivers.

He didn't choose it for its commonality and ease of capture, but rather for its special skill: Ultrasonic Echo Location.