Mastering Ninjutsu

Yuzuru's body suddenly stretched out like a snapped spring, and he jolted awake from the dungeon. The intense pain in his chest still stimulated his nerves.

He subconsciously placed a hand on his chest, wanting to confirm if he was actually injured... Thankfully, there wasn't a gaping hole in his chest.

There was no helping it; the feeling of being killed just now was too real. It was far more "empathetic" than dying inexplicably. Fortunately, it all happened within the dungeon.

* * *

That Orochimaru was a bit too dishonorable. He was either moody or his personality was unfathomable. Everyone was supposedly "reading," but he suddenly struck.

As expected of a ninja who was the embodiment of a snake, this person was too cold.

Because he was killed in the dungeon, Yuzuru found that the dungeon had entered a double cooldown period after he woke up. He couldn't enter the dungeon again for a while... Compared to the gains from his last dungeon run, his gains this time were too few, and the action plan he had formulated beforehand was not completed.

Fortunately, it wasn't a complete loss; at least he obtained a few Wind Release ninjutsu.

Thinking of this, Yuzuru quickly took out a blank scroll from the ninja tool pouch on his back and rapidly recorded the few Wind Release ninjutsu in his mind.

Thus, in Hazuki Uchiha's eyes, Yuzuru's series of reactions could only be described as neurotic. He was suddenly startled awake, clearly having dreamt of being killed or something terrible. After waking up, he started writing and drawing... What was he doing, recording his dreams?

What should I do? It seems like someone in the team isn't quite right.

Yuzuru, while the memory was still fresh, finished copying several Wind Release ninjutsu onto the scroll before putting down his pen and letting out a long sigh... Although the gains in the dungeon were less than expected, he at least wasn't killed for nothing.

Orochimaru's actions were too casual, and he was exceptionally sensitive to people's emotions. Before he suddenly made his move, Yuzuru was indeed thinking about matters related to Orochimaru... So, did he reveal a hint of emotion that the other party sensed? What was this, malicious perception?

But it didn't matter. Even if he only learned Orochimaru's location, it was an unexpected gain. During the Nine-Tails' Rampage, Orochimaru took the opportunity to be active in the secret jutsu library, which was a good thing in a sense... The next time he entered the dungeon, Yuzuru could find an opportunity to explore Orochimaru's secret laboratory, perhaps with some unexpected gains.

Orochimaru's way of acting, completely disregarding human lives, was a bit too "ninja-like." Yuzuru couldn't do anything about Orochimaru, but he could at least find a way to collect some interest.

Actually, Yuzuru wanted to understand what exactly these "dungeons" were. Could all of this really be explained simply by the word "System"?

However, while in the dungeon, he lacked the ability to study the dungeon from a more macroscopic perspective. On the other hand, under the threat of war and death, he simply didn't have the composure to study the dungeon from its roots... Forget it. Since the dungeon could provide help, it would be fine for now.

Using the dim light of the cave, Yuzuru's attention shifted back to the Wind Release ninjutsu in front of him.

The highest learning difficulty among the Wind Release ninjutsu he obtained was only B-rank. Normally, B-rank was a ninjutsu that only Jonin could master proficiently. However, after a little research, Yuzuru found that these ninjutsu were not difficult to learn.

"Hmm? It's not that difficult to practice. It seems I can master these techniques quickly."

Well, it was all thanks to the Fourth Hokage's "selfless contribution." Yuzuru's mastery of the wind element was at the "Superb" level, which should be just below "Peak Mastery."

For B-rank Wind Release ninjutsu, Yuzuru felt he could learn them with a little practice... Or rather, as long as it wasn't an extremely difficult Wind Release like the Rasenshuriken, Yuzuru could give it a try.

A-rank and S-rank Wind Release ninjutsu were difficult, extremely difficult, for Yuzuru. For him, B-rank and below Wind Release ninjutsu were basically equivalent to easy difficulty.

In addition, he discovered that Wind Release was a relatively friendly elemental ninjutsu for ninja with chakra volume issues. Wind Release was light and sharp, and the chakra consumption during its execution was relatively small.

Wind, or "qi," was everywhere. Driving it required less chakra than using other elemental ninjutsu.

In other words, from an "energy-saving" perspective, Wind Release could increase Yuzuru's chakra utilization efficiency... The same goes for it: as long as he didn't think about creating techniques like the Wind Release: Rasengan Barrage or Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

There was just one problem: for an ordinary ninja like Yuzuru, how could he explain the origin of these Wind Release ninjutsu, which came from ninja clans, if he suddenly used them? Would it cause some problems... He was overthinking it. These problems came after survival. If he couldn't survive on the battlefield, nothing else mattered.

Besides, these weren't unexplainable. There were several ways to explain them, albeit dishonorable but reasonable.

As Yuzuru pondered, his hands involuntarily began practicing hand seals, making him look like he could release a ninjutsu at any moment.

At this point, Hazuki Uchiha, who had been observing Yuzuru, had to stop him. If the other party suddenly released a ninjutsu in the cave, regardless of the danger, what if their position was exposed...

"Yuzuru, what are you doing?" she asked directly.

Uh...

Yuzuru finally realized that he was making gestures in the middle of the night without sleeping, which indeed looked strange.

So he thought for a moment and decided to mix a lie with some truth: "Senior Hazuki, I just made some progress in my elemental ninjutsu training?"

"Elemental ninjutsu training? While sleeping?" Hazuki Uchiha was a bit bewildered. Weren't you sleeping just now? You can train while sleeping.

Alright, although it wasn't what she thought, Yuzuru was indeed training in his sleep.

"I'm just an ordinary Genin, so unremarkable that I'm almost clumsy. For a ninja like me to survive on the battlefield, I must stay vigilant and never relax... Saying I train while sleeping is a bit exaggerated, but I do sleep very lightly, and the thought of getting stronger is always on my mind."

However, this phenomenon was usually called cheating, not training.

So that's what he meant, Hazuki Uchiha slowly nodded. "Only when one is on the battlefield, facing life-and-death choices, will a ninja's true nature be revealed. Skills and qualities can be honed, but a person's essence is predetermined... It's not common for a ninja to go from mediocrity to heroism, but it's not rare either."

So Uchiha ninja could also communicate normally.

No, wasn't she subtly advocating for bloodline theory or fatalism?

Putting aside the Uchiha's personal biases, Hazuki Uchiha's words weren't entirely wrong. Some ninja did grow at an astonishing rate on the battlefield. Not to mention anything else, the Fourth Hokage's performance in the Ninja Academy was unremarkable, but after graduating, he could deal with Kumogakure Jonin and save a certain ninja of the Uzumaki clan.

It was now Konoha year 37, and the Fourth Hokage was about to graduate...

Yuzuru said all this just to pave the way for his subsequent use of elemental ninjutsu. Otherwise, if the first battle was primarily close combat, and then the style shifted to mid-range ninjutsu combat, it would be somewhat strange.

"Hero? That's too exaggerated, Senior. Mastering more ninjutsu will allow me to adapt better to the battlefield... If I encounter enemies again, I think I can use Wind Release to fight."

"Even if you learned wind-style, there's a difference between learning and truly mastering it. Also, the jutsu? Do you understand Wind Release ninjutsu?"

"Jutsu? Senior, do you know what my previous job was... Rescuing Konoha's injured on the battlefield and collecting the bodies of fallen Konoha ninja."

"While handling those tasks, I always managed to collect some other things."

Ninja on the battlefield basically stuffed anything into their ninja tool pouches. In comparison, putting a few ninjutsu scrolls was considered normal.

Hazuki, as an Uchiha ninja, didn't care about picking up other people's ninjutsu on the battlefield, as they often used the Sharingan to copy ninjutsu.

"If your jutsu can be put to good use, that would be for the best."

Hazuki Uchiha didn't quite believe that someone could master an elemental ninjutsu so quickly. However, if Yuzuru could really do it, it would certainly be a good thing for the team.

The problem now was, when would their two teammates return