Ninjustu Freedom

In the Shinobi World, adhering strictly to the identity of a ninja seems a bit too narrow-minded. However, if possible, Yuzuru still wished to maintain his human form; this was a small matter of mental purity.

Since both methods of increasing defense could achieve the objective, and Yuzuru had already obtained Sage Transformation, while Soft Body Modification required more cost, Yuzuru naturally abandoned the latter for the time being.

Besides Soft Body Modification, Yuzuru also saw Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique. To be honest, he had already mastered this technique unintentionally... there was no helping it; he was used to "shedding skin" in Ryūchi Cave.

Snake Shedding was the core of Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique.

This was a crucial life-saving skill. Sasuke Uchiha had once used it to escape Itachi Uchiha's Amaterasu.

This technique wasn't commonly used, but it could save a life when necessary.

In short, if he discounted his gains from Ryūchi Cave, the most conventional and commonly used method Yuzuru obtained after going to Orochimaru's lab was Shadow Snake Hand, a C-rank learning difficulty technique... this technique was worth practicing; it was very practical.

He recorded the knowledge in his mind. After completing the inventory and confirming there were no omissions, Yuzuru put away his pen and scroll, then couldn't help but sigh:

"I've already mastered a Tattoo Technique, yet I still can't even do a Solid Clone Technique like a Shadow Clone... does that make any sense?"

Yuzuru popped a Soldier Pill into his mouth and closed his eyes to rest for a while. He shifted his thoughts slightly and began to ponder another question.

"What does Konoha, or rather, a ninja village, mean to me?"

Well, he didn't need to think about it too complexly or profoundly, because at least in the Land of Rain region, Yuzuru's only viable direction was towards Konoha.

"Let me rephrase the question. Next, I need to consider how to leave the Land of Rain."

"To the north and east are Iwagakure's operational areas. The Land of Grass route seems the most stable, but a major war just took place there. Iwagakure ninja after a war are probably similar in style."

"To the south is Sunagakure's operational area. Sunagakure ninja and Amegakure ninja frequently engage in battles, and they create large areas of poisonous gas."

"Should I leave the Land of Rain directly via the southeast route? This direction leads to the location of Konoha's camp."

"Or should I take the previous route into the Land of Birds... without the support of teammates, how can I traverse the Iwagakure-controlled zone alone?"

"And there are the Jinchuriki..."

"Heh, why not just do two years of wilderness survival in the Land of Rain? By then, the intensity of the Second Shinobi World War should have significantly decreased."

After a moment of thought, Yuzuru realized the difficulty of leaving the Land of Rain.

Staying in the Land of Rain was just a joke. Yuzuru had now decided on the most correct course of action: first travel a certain distance southeast within the Land of Rain, then head east into the Land of Grass, and finally take the Land of Grass route back to Konoha's camp.

"Southeast..."

Yuzuru left the tree hollow, preparing to move southeast. However, after taking just one step, his body immediately froze.

"Uh, which direction is southeast?"

In the depths of the Land of Rain's jungle, identifying directions was indeed a difficult task, as the climate conditions here even made it impossible to see the sun.

Fortunately, Yuzuru managed to identify the direction he had come from yesterday. If nothing unexpected happened, his arrival direction was east.

"Let's go. I hope my experience is reliable."

Yuzuru stepped into the rain. If he could move at full speed, he would definitely be able to cross the Land of Rain in a day. However, in this environment surrounded by enemies, he could only remain vigilant and proceed cautiously, exploring step by step.

Although he called the changes happening to himself "Jugo Transformation," he was ultimately different from the later Jugo... Jugo could control animals for environmental sensing, which Yuzuru clearly could not do.

Yuzuru didn't know his exact location in the Land of Rain, but one thing was certain: Amegakure's location was in the direction he was heading, not behind him.

Once movement began, Yuzuru was impeccable in terms of visual concealment due to his caution. However... Chakra signatures could not be hidden.

Several hours later, Yuzuru stepped into the sensory range of an enemy sensory ninja.

"Captain, someone is approaching from the northwest..."

"Number of people?"

"Only one."

"Could it be one of our village's ninja? Regardless, prepare for combat."

"Yes."

Since the identity of the approaching person could not be confirmed, they had to be prioritized as an enemy. This was a logical decision.

This group of Amegakure ninja immediately formed a encirclement, lying in wait for Yuzuru's arrival.

But as Yuzuru arrived unhurriedly, he suddenly stopped... he instinctively felt something was wrong.

Having spent a long time in the Land of Rain, Yuzuru was quite sensitive to his surroundings, and he sensed a sense of incongruity. The source was rather mysterious—he felt that the ambient sounds ahead were not quite the same as they had been moments ago.

So, without thinking, he immediately prepared to bypass this area.

Seeing that their target wasn't falling for the trap and wasn't even approaching the encirclement, the group of Amegakure ninja had no choice but to reveal themselves... there was no other way; they saw Yuzuru's Konoha forehead protector.

"Uh..."

A talking tree? Well, that wasn't exactly unusual. Yuzuru abruptly stopped, reaching out to wipe the rain from his face.

"If possible, can we pretend we didn't see each other?"

This was, of course, impossible. This group of Amegakure ninja was already setting up an ambush, so their answer was only one word:

"Kill!"

The tree trunk beneath Yuzuru's feet suddenly trembled. Chakra erupted from his feet without regard for cost. Just as the enemies charged towards him, he unexpectedly appeared in front of one of them.

Under the gloomy sky, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck, illuminating the small battlefield in the forest as if it were day.

Yuzuru concealed the azure sphere of chakra within this sudden brightness.

The lightning flashed and vanished in an instant, followed by thunder roaring into everyone's ears.

The booming sound also masked the slight noise of the Rasengan's activation, and the next moment, the extremely difficult A-rank Ninjutsu plunged into the enemy's abdomen.

After his chakra reserves significantly increased, Yuzuru no longer had to meticulously calculate how to use every bit of chakra during combat.

Although he couldn't use chakra extravagantly, casting multiple jutsu in a single battle was not a problem.

The average quality of ninja from Amegakure was inherently weaker than the three great ninja villages, and their number of Jonin, let alone elite Jonin, was incomparable to the three great villages.

The squad composed of Chunin and Genin before Yuzuru could not cope with the high-speed, high-burst attack "module" of Body Flicker Technique and ninjutsu without hand seals.

As the thunder subsided, an enemy fell in the falling rain.

At this moment, Yuzuru only felt that habit was a terrifying thing.

Unconsciously, he had grown accustomed to the forests and rain curtains of the Land of Rain, accustomed to ambushes that could happen at any moment and the ever-present scent of blood, and accustomed to the feeling of taking another's life