Ice Barrier

Have Nawaki come over and ask him to mention Nonō's Medical Talent to Tsunade.

Satoru figured that sending a good apprentice to that petty, big-breasted woman might ease some of his current troubles.

Sure enough, two days later, the feeling of being watched disappeared.

"Phew..."

When that feeling failed to return for the entire day, Satoru let out a long breath after class, quietly praising his own cleverness.

Only without the suspected Orochimaru keeping tabs on him could Satoru wholeheartedly develop a few Trump Cards.

The third year was about to end, and once he entered the fourth year, they would often go out for field exercises. By then, his research would be affected to some extent.

Before that, Satoru planned to prepare at least one new Trump Card.

This time, he took the Ice Magic he had previously been overlooking into consideration.

Compared to Fire Magic and Arcane Magic, Ice Magic was undoubtedly more inclined toward control and survival.

Although in the Shinobi World, Ice Release Ninjutsu was a Kekkei Genkai, not something a child like Satoru, who was not even a ninja, could possess out of thin air, when his life was in danger, who would care about that!

There was no harm in learning more skills. If he successfully developed Ice Magic, he might not use it normally, but if he wanted to use it at a crucial moment and did not know how, that would be a huge loss.

So first came the most brutal and unreasonable Ice Magic spell—

The "Ice Barrier," commonly known as the "refrigerator."

There were plenty of other excellent Ice Magic spells, but for Satoru, this nearly invincible life-saving skill was undoubtedly the most important thing right now.

However, Ice Barrier was a dangerous spell.

The Book of Medivh recorded the casting principles of Ice Barrier in very straightforward terms.

"Using special techniques to condense Water Elementals, create an ice barrier approaching absolute zero to isolate oneself from external attacks."

"The creator of this spell once used it to withstand the attacks of more than two dozen hell boars, breaking all their tusks—the freezer did not even have a scratch. Truly an exquisite defensive spell."

"But unfortunately, he paid the price of being frozen for three years—and his life."

"Ice Barrier cannot be melted by conventional Fire Magic. Therefore, when using it on oneself, one must set the spell's duration in advance."

"This duration must absolutely not exceed ten seconds. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing consciousness due to hypothermia, and the interval between uses must absolutely not be less than thirty seconds."

"..."

Satoru silently sighed.

"Mages are fucking dangerous."

For mages who wielded Arcane Power, the boundary between water and ice was not as distinct as it was with Chakra-driven Ninjutsu.

Strictly speaking, Elemental Release performed through Chakra Nature Transformation merely transformed Chakra into the corresponding element.

At its core, what was released as an attack was still the ninja's Chakra.

Unless one used changes in one's own Chakra to guide external elements and strengthen their power, but that was not something ordinary ninjas could achieve.

Arcane Power, on the other hand, directly condensed the corresponding elements from nature to form spells, entirely skipping the step of Nature Transformation.

These two methods of casting each had their own advantages and disadvantages.

For single-element techniques, Arcane Power had both greater power and a higher ceiling than Ninjutsu.

But for multi-element composite techniques, such as Kekkei Genkai, Kekkei Tōta, and Kekkei Mōra... Arcane Power was not adept at them.

Still, pure arcane spells had more ingenious applications. Satoru was simply far from reaching that level.

Take Ice Release, the wind-water composite Kekkei Genkai among Ninjutsu. By condensing and compressing Water Elementals, Arcane Power could produce the corresponding low-temperature freezing effect.

Ice Barrier was undoubtedly an extreme application of this casting principle. Satoru realized that this technique could not only save his life, but also...

"Hmm, a refrigerator can obviously be used to keep things fresh."

Ice Barrier did not necessarily have to be cast on himself. Although controlling it became much more difficult when cast on other targets—for instance, he could not precisely control its duration...

At least the caster would be outside the refrigerator and could undo the frozen state at any time, right?

A month passed quickly, and Satoru was about to advance into the fourth year at the Ninja Academy.

Meanwhile, the class Nawaki belonged to had already graduated and officially received their Konoha Headbands.

Before long, they would meet their jonin instructors and pass their instructors' promotion assessments to become genin.

The matter of Satoru having once defeated Nawaki only circulated within a small circle and did not cause much trouble.

Recently, Nonō had been receiving instruction from Tsunade in the basics of Medical Ninjutsu during her spare time. According to Choza and the others, their clans were also intensifying the teaching of their Clan Secret Techniques.

Satoru, who had always kept a low profile, received news from his father that local conflicts between the nations were escalating, with the slightest disagreement threatening to spark a war.

As a Konoha high-ranking advisor, Mitokado Homura also had to be especially cautious during this critical period, providing opinions and advice to the Third Hokage.

"Phew... I finally succeeded!"

After a month of work, Satoru had not only successfully mastered Ice Barrier, but also picked up a Fire Magic control spell as a secondary study.

The dazzling Impact Wave!

Enemies caught in the shockwave's radius would be blasted away by a powerful burst of flame and suffer significant burning damage.

Another excellent life-saving skill.

Of course, the ninjutsu version of the shockwave was ready as well.

There was no need to prepare a ninjutsu version of Ice Magic, though, because Konoha had no ninja with the Ice Release bloodline limit.

Ice Magic was destined to remain a last resort unless Satoru became strong enough.

Feeling much more at ease, Satoru once again immersed himself in the ocean of arcane knowledge.

He needed to study while the exercise had yet to begin. Otherwise, it would be difficult to find such leisure later on.

The further he progressed in deciphering The Book of Medivh, the harder it became. Satoru did not mind spending more time on it, but news from his father during dinner made him feel pressed for time again.

"The higher-ups have decided that, based on the current regional conflicts and the possible prelude to war, additional arrangements will be made for Ninja Academy students."

Mitokado Homura tapped the table, his expression grave as he spoke to Satoru, who was wolfing down his meal:

"This year's graduating class will not, as in previous years, have the chance to train through routine missions. They will be sent directly to the border to carry out live-combat missions."

"Oh... so by the time I graduate, there's a high chance the fighting will have already started?"

Satoru thought it over and came to a rather unpleasant conclusion.

"More or less. But don't think you'll be able to stay safely in the Academy for all three years."

Mitokado Homura snorted and dropped news that made Satoru's expression change drastically:

"More than six hundred fourth- through sixth-year Ninja Academy students will undergo a six-month live-combat exercise. After that, the two hundred students with the best overall performance will be selected to graduate early and advance to genin, making up for the shortage of basic combat strength at the front!"

"And as the son of Mitokado Homura, Satoru, you have no choice but to take part in this selection!"

"..."

Satoru looked helplessly at his father, whose eyes seemed to be spitting fire.

"Hey, old man, are you that eager to send me off to my death?!"

"You're my only son!"