Talent

"Sai, all your upcoming missions are canceled. Your goal is to integrate into Team 99 and become Yu's best friend.

Also, you are no longer to return to Root. Act as if you have left Root. If anything comes up, I will find you myself."

Danzo's words shocked Sai. Not only was he told to abandon his missions, but Danzo also wanted him to befriend Yu. He knew that the word "friend" was practically taboo in Root.

In Sai's heart, only his brother 'Shin' existed. The concept of emotion had vanished from Sai's world after his brother's death.

He didn't even know how to smile anymore.

He had practiced for a long time to achieve a single smile, but it was still far from perfect. His smile lacked any genuine emotion. Danzo had once told him, "Your smile makes people want to punch you."

As a ninja raised from childhood in Root, Sai's sole life objective was to complete the missions assigned by Lord Danzo.

Therefore, even though Sai felt immense resistance towards the mission of "becoming friends with Yu," he resolved to complete it.

The three members of Team 99 rushed into the Great Forest of Death, beginning their chicken-catching mission.

Over a hundred chickens were scattered throughout the vast forest, making the mission's difficulty skyrocket.

It wasn't until the sun began to set that Yu returned to Farm No. 4, carrying the last chicken.

"Finally done."

Yu felt no physical strain, but the mental exhaustion was very real.

The chickens raised at the Konoha farm were also a bit special. They were more than twice the size of ordinary chickens, and each one could fly at incredible speeds. This significantly increased the difficulty of catching them.

Sai and Fujiwara Chima returned to the farm shortly after.

Sai was accompanied by a tiger that looked like a living ink painting. The tiger carried nine chickens in its mouth and on its back. Sai's already pale complexion had turned even whiter, a sign of excessive Chakra and stamina depletion.

Fujiwara Chima, standing beside him, was even more impressive. She dragged eighteen chickens behind her on a rope. However, several scratches marred her beautiful face, her hair was disheveled, and a few leaves and chicken feathers were visible.

In comparison, Yu was doing much better. Of course, he hadn't caught a small number of chickens either, about half of the total. He was the first among the three.

"Congratulations on successfully completing your first mission," Yamashiro Aoba suddenly appeared and said.

The three of them stared blankly at Yamashiro Aoba, their silent expressions conveying their inner dissatisfaction.

"D-rank missions are usually like this. I can't help it!" Yamashiro Aoba said helplessly.

On the way back, Fujiwara Chima followed closely behind Yu, her head bowed, not uttering a word.

Fujiwara Chima, you're such a failure. You can't even do something as simple as catching chickens. How can you expect Yu-kun to accept you and teach you the power to improve your strength? Fujiwara Chima thought to herself, extremely dissatisfied with her performance today.

She had actually tried her best today, not stopping since the mission began. But those chickens were too troublesome; they ran incredibly fast and could fly. With her current strength, she had to chase them for a while before she could catch them. Moreover, she had to ensure the chickens weren't injured, or she would face a deduction in reward, or worse, the mission would be a failure.

Yu, however, didn't pay much attention to Fujiwara Chima. He didn't want to meddle in other people's affairs if they didn't concern him.

After Yamashiro Aoba announced their dismissal, Yu returned to the laboratory.

He felt that his ninjutsu skills needed improvement. He knew many ninjutsu, but they were all low-level. He lacked more advanced techniques.

If only I knew the Shadow Clone Technique or the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. I could have summoned a hundred clones and caught all those chickens in an instant, Yu thought.

The Shadow Clone Technique was a powerful ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.

The Shadow Clone Technique could create solid clones that inherited the user's memories, abilities, and Chakra, essentially acting as external bodies capable of combat.

Furthermore, upon dispelling the Shadow Clones, the user would gain their memories and experiences.

With these characteristics, the Shadow Clone Technique could be considered a "godly" technique, even more incredible than Impure World Reincarnation in Yu's opinion.

However, the Shadow Clone Technique was only ranked B, and the forbidden jutsu recorded in the Sealing Technique Scrolls, Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, was only A-rank.

This was because each Shadow Clone consumed an average amount of the caster's total Chakra. The more clones created, the weaker each clone and the original body would become. Additionally, when a Shadow Clone disappeared, the fatigue it endured would be absorbed by the original body. Therefore, most ninjas rarely used the Shadow Clone Technique.

Especially in combat, even creating one Shadow Clone meant losing half of one's Chakra, the very core of a ninja's energy. Most ninjas treasured every bit of their Chakra. Moreover, Shadow Clones had weak defenses and would dissipate after taking significant damage. Their combat effectiveness was also far inferior to the original body. For these reasons, most ninjas disliked using the Shadow Clone Technique, often using it only for reconnaissance. This was also the original intention of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, when he created the Shadow Clone Technique.

But for Yu, Shadow Clones were a "god-tier" existence because his Chakra was infinite. Even if a Shadow Clone only had half of his original Chakra, it would still be incredibly powerful, and his body was not afraid of fatigue.

Uchiha also possessed training methods for the Shadow Clone Technique, but despite years of effort, he hadn't made much progress. This was truly a matter of talent.

Learning and mastering a ninjutsu was not simple. Aside from basic techniques like the Three Body Technique, other ninjutsu couldn't be achieved solely through hard work.

Most ninjas would only learn a few ninjutsu in their lifetime. Learning too many or too varied techniques wouldn't significantly improve their strength. The primary reason was the lack of energy to learn other ninjutsu.

The Slime Bloodline was powerful in some aspects but also had significant limitations. For C-rank ninjutsu, he could learn most of them if he practiced. However, once it exceeded C-rank, he found it incredibly difficult, as if an invisible barrier stood before him, one he couldn't overcome no matter how hard he tried.

There was no alternative. Just like Might Guy, who almost ended the world with a single kick after opening all Eight Gates, had little talent in ninjutsu, perhaps not even able to perform a few C-rank ninjutsu.

Furthermore, Might Guy's father, Might Duy, once single-handedly fought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, yet he remained a perpetual Genin with almost zero ninjutsu talent.

Might Guy's disciple, Rock Lee, also had no ninjutsu talent. However, Rock Lee was one of the protagonists in the Konoha 12 and eventually became a high-level combatant in Konoha.

These three examples didn't imply that success could be achieved solely through hard work; rather, they highlighted how crucial talent is. No matter how strong you are, if you can't learn a ninjutsu, you can't learn it.