Chapter Eight: One Year

Six months later.

"Ice Release: Ice Spike Technique!"

Beside the training ground's pond, Qi Shuang quickly formed a series of simple hand seals. A clear stream of water rose from the pond before him, instantly freezing from top to bottom into a white, sharp cone.

"Go!"

He aimed at an empty patch of ground on the opposite side of the pond. With a thought, the ice spike shot out from the water's surface under his control, heading straight for the spot he had locked onto.

Thud! Crack!

A dull thud was followed by the sound of something shattering.

He leaped across the pond and carefully examined the ice spike's landing spot.

He saw that the ice spike, about a foot long, had broken into two pieces.

One half was embedded in the ground, while the other had fallen onto the surface.

The half that fell to the ground had already shattered into several pieces. The half embedded in the ground also showed extremely obvious cracks. Perhaps because it was stuck in the ground, it hadn't completely disintegrated.

"The hardness is still not enough?" He picked up the ice fragments on the ground and frowned slightly.

With such hardness, these ice shards would likely be unable to withstand a direct clash with ninja tools like kunai and would easily be shattered or blocked.

What was comforting was that at this level of hardness, the ice could still inflict considerable damage if it hit a person directly. If it struck a vital point, it could also be a fatal blow.

That was, of course, if he could actually hit the target!

"Forget it, this will do for now!" He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

To further increase the hardness of the ice, he would need to put more effort into understanding and controlling his Ice Release.

However, understanding and controlling a specific Ninjutsu wasn't a simple matter. It required a significant amount of time to master the characteristics of that Ninjutsu and thus enhance its power.

Even though Ice Release was his Kekkei Genkai talent, which he could use naturally, he still needed to work hard to research it to unleash its full potential. He couldn't achieve the power of his ancestors from the start.

Compared to ordinary ninjas, those with Kekkei Genkai had the advantage of a higher starting point. Researching their innate abilities was more convenient than other ninjas researching basic Ninjutsu.

Perhaps the research time would be less for them, but that was relative. Overall, it still required a lot of time and accumulation.

Moreover, the research of Ninjutsu became increasingly difficult the further one progressed.

His current Ice Release had reached the limit he could achieve in a short period. If he wanted to go further, he had no idea how much more time it would take.

And what he lacked the most right now was time.

In another six months, he would have to participate in the next round of the ninja graduation exams.

Regardless of whether he graduated or not, he would likely be sent to the front lines. This was because the war in the front was becoming increasingly dire, and manpower was severely lacking.

The difference was that if he didn't graduate, he would only be a disposable pawn, whereas if he graduated successfully, he could become a seedling that Kirigakure would carefully nurture.

However, given the current situation, the possibility of him not graduating was almost zero.

His performance over the past six months had not escaped the eyes of several Ninja Teachers, and they had all praised him highly.

No one had ever doubted that he would graduate.

"Now, my Ice Release still relies heavily on water sources to be performed. In this remaining half year, I'll research Water Release!" he thought to himself.

In his current state, it wasn't impossible to perform Ice Release on flat ground, but without the support of a water source, performing Ice Release would be very strenuous, especially since the casting speed would be very slow.

If he were to go to the battlefield, the speed of casting could very well determine a person's life or death!

He didn't want to die miserably at someone else's hands because of a moment's slow casting.

Therefore, researching Water Release to provide the crucial casting environment for Ice Release was an extremely important matter for him.

Fortunately, Ice Release was formed by the combination of Chakra Nature Transformation of Wind Release and Water Release.

In other words, the nature transformation of Ice Release naturally contained the nature transformation of Water Release.

For someone who knew Ice Release, learning Water Release would naturally be much easier than for ordinary ninjas.

This was also why those with Kekkei Genkai were always labeled as geniuses and envied; the legacy of their predecessors was simply too convenient.

Only with Earth Release, Lightning Release, and Fire Release, which were unrelated to Ice Release, did Qi Shuang truly stand on the same starting line as other ordinary ninjas when studying these three basic ninjutsu.

However, since he was born with Ice Release, he naturally had an affinity for Water and Wind. Water countered Fire, and Fire countered Wind. With his physique's affinity, studying Fire Release would naturally be more difficult for him than for other ninjas.

This could be considered a major "flaw" for those with Kekkei Genkai!

In addition to his own advantages, there were also advantages from the external environment.

This was the Land of Water's Kirigakure, where most ninjas were skilled in Water Release, and Qi Shuang's teachers also knew Water Release ninjutsu.

Although Chakra Nature Transformation was not a general course in the Ninja Academy, he could privately ask his teachers about the nature transformation of Water Style Chakra.

Especially during this critical period, everyone was very willing to guide him, enhance his strength, and cultivate an excellent combat force for Kirigakure.

The half-year period passed in the blink of an eye. With Qi Shuang's own talent and his teachers' guidance, he successfully learned Water Release.

It was just that the power of this Water Release was somewhat disappointing.

There was no way around it; time was too tight. It was already a struggle for him to master Water Release, and he had no time to pay attention to the power of Water Release ninjutsu.

Fortunately, his learning of Water Release was only a prelude to performing Ice Release. As for the power of Water Release, he hadn't put much thought into it for the time being; he would have plenty of time to study and accumulate knowledge later.

This is enough for now.

The new round of ninja graduation exams arrived as scheduled, but due to last year's Zabuza incident, the Kirigakure higher-ups urgently changed the exam rules.

Now, the Kirigakure ninja graduation exam no longer requires killing to pass.

One only needs to defeat three challengers in a row to successfully graduate and become a qualified Genin.

Qi Shuang, standing on the stage, easily defeated the three classmates who came to challenge him, smoothly advancing from a Rookie Ninja to a qualified Genin.

This was as expected. Facing a group of classmates who, for the most part, couldn't perform Chakra Nature Transformation and only knew basic Three Body Techniques and Taijutsu, his Ninjutsu had an overwhelming effect.

As for other Kekkei Genkai users and exceptionally talented individuals of the same batch, he didn't encounter them. Perhaps the teachers had manipulated things behind the scenes, forbidding these Rookie Ninjas, who were fully capable of graduating, from "killing each other."

This would increase the number of graduating students.

Just as he expected, on the day of his successful graduation, a guiding teacher sent by the higher-ups immediately took him and two other newly graduated Genin to the front lines, with no intention of assigning them any miscellaneous daily tasks.

They weren't even sparing these rookies, which showed just how extremely tense the war on the front lines truly was.