Return Journey

Before long, all the matches had ended, and the awards and promotion ceremony was held in the center of the Sunagakure Arena.

Although the atmosphere on Sunagakure's side was somewhat delicate, the basic ceremonial procedures were not omitted. The Third Kazekage and the Third Hokage attended together.

When the final results of the Chunin Exams were announced and Higashino Shinichi's name was called, granting him Chunin status on the spot as both champion and the contestant with the best overall performance, another wave of astonishment and applause swept through the arena.

Shinichi stepped forward and accepted a brand-new flak jacket representing his Chunin status, along with an official certificate, from the Third Hokage, who was serving as a special award presenter.

He could feel countless gazes focused on him, including those of the Jonin leading teams from different ninja villages and the other contestants in the stands.

Curiosity, scrutiny, wariness, admiration... there was no shortage of emotions.

He knew that from this moment onward, the name "Higashino Shinichi" would no longer be confined to the category of Konoha's "genius Genin."

With two indisputable battles, especially his final feat of shattering Absolute Defense and revealing himself as the developer of a powerful jutsu, he had successfully elevated both his reputation and strength onto an entirely new, broader stage.

Three days later, at an inn in a border town of the Land of Wind.

The day after the Chunin Exams ended, the Konoha group had already begun their journey home.

Having finished his routine training for the day, Shinichi returned to his room, shut the door, and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

The exhaustion from days of fierce battles and long travel had not dimmed the light in his eyes.

With a thought, the Personal Panel visible only to him quietly appeared.

[Name: Higashino Shinichi]

[Occupation: Chunin (New) / Swordsman]

[Talents: (List omitted; key changes as follows)]

[Draws Available: 1 (Blue)]

First, the [Genin] Trait in the Occupation section had been replaced by the brand-new [Chunin].

This was within Shinichi's expectations. Winning the championship in the highly anticipated Chunin Exams and receiving the personal witness and recognition of two Kage—the "official acknowledgment" from the highest levels of two major ninja village systems—was remarkably efficient and directly propelled his Occupation Trait's rapid advancement.

[Chunin: You are now the backbone of the ninja forces and a squad leader. You gain significant improvements in devising complex tactics, combining multiple jutsu, and training in Chakra nature and form transformations. Your efficiency in guiding others in matters of ninja aptitude receives a minor increase.]

The Occupation Traits of the ninja system did not directly provide numerical bonuses like those of the Swordsman system, but they functioned more like an "authority upgrade" and an "efficiency amplifier."

Under the effects of the [Chunin] Trait, his future learning, training, and combat application in fields related to ninja aptitude would all receive more efficient boosts.

It even gave him the ability to improve his effectiveness in teaching others, which fit the fact that Chunin could serve as instructors.

Another important change was that [Ninjutsu Aptitude (Green)] in the Talent section had quietly transformed into [Ninjutsu Mastery (Blue)].

[Ninjutsu Mastery (Blue): Your understanding of jutsu principles and control of Chakra have reached an outstanding level. You can perceive the internal connections between different jutsu, easily combine jutsu you have mastered, derive variations from them, or choose the most effective jutsu response in the Lightning Reflexes of battle.]

This upgrade was the direct reward for the success of his finals strategy.

His shocking achievement of "shattering Sunagakure's Absolute Defense" served as the hammer, while his startling revelation as the developer of an A-rank Sealless Jutsu served as the anvil. Together, they forged a powerful impression.

It finally broke through the bottleneck created by his previously low cognitive efficiency due to his limited Occupation level, pushing the jutsu aptitude he had long accumulated past the threshold of Blue quality in one stroke.

By comparison, although his taijutsu aptitude had shone brightly in these exams and drawn widespread attention, it had not immediately upgraded to Blue quality.

That was also within Shinichi's expectations. Unlike his jutsu comprehension, which had long stood on the verge of a breakthrough, the deep impression made by his taijutsu required more time to settle and ferment.

He sensed that this upgrade would not be far off. Perhaps within a month of returning to Konoha, as details of the matches spread and were discussed, a Blue taijutsu Trait would naturally fall into place.

Finally, there was the expected reward—the panel clearly displayed: [Draws Available: 1 (Blue)].

This was a precious opportunity that could only be unlocked upon advancing to Chunin rank or above. A brand-new Talent Trait guaranteed to be Blue quality would soon be in his hands.

Shinichi's gaze settled on the words [Draws Available: 1 (Blue)]. Every Blue Trait had the potential to bring about a qualitative change.

But he did not rush to draw immediately.

He planned to return to Konoha first. Then, as before, he would solemnly bathe and change clothes, perform some seemingly devout but actually useless "prayer"—though he himself knew it had no practical effect, it was full of personal ritual—and only then draw, welcoming this important "gift."

It was useless as hell, but the sense of ritual still mattered.

After closing the panel, Shinichi walked to the window and pushed open the wooden shutters.

The night sky above the border town was clear. The stars were sparse but bright, and the continuous silhouettes of mountains in the direction of the Land of Fire could vaguely be seen in the distance.

Yet his thoughts drifted toward a more distant future. Combining fragmented memories from his previous life with what he had seen in this one, he had formed a rough and hazy outline of the storm that would soon sweep across the Shinobi World.

Next year, as tensions between the ninja villages continued to escalate, a silent "arms race" would enter its most intense phase.

Every major ninja village would desperately expand its military strength. Batch after batch of Ninja Academy Students would graduate early as though being rushed off an assembly line, filling the ever-growing ninja forces.

Just as Sunagakure was rubbing its hands together and preparing to make a big move, Sasori of the Red Sands, who had long been dissatisfied with the village's upper ranks, took one look and thought:

You old bastard, you did so badly last season that my parents got killed, and you still have the nerve to plan for a new season?

So this ruthless man, who believed that "art is eternal," simply cleaned house and dealt with the Third Kazekage.

Once the Third Kazekage disappeared, Sunagakure initially tried to keep it under wraps while searching for him. But after enough time passed, such a major figure as a Kage had vanished. The news inevitably began leaking out bit by bit like water through a sieve.

Far away, Kumogakure heard the news.

What? Sunagakure's leader, the Kazekage, is gone?

I'll go see what's going on.

Then the Third Raikage, known for his tough body and decisive actions—and whose behavior could sometimes be rather bizarre—may have found merely listening to reports unsatisfying.

He actually led an elite squad personally in an "extreme penetration," crossing more than a dozen small countries and swaggering into the Land of Wind under the watchful eyes of the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth.

When they arrived, they took one look. Huh, nothing but sand and rocks. The place was poor beyond belief.

Perhaps they felt there was no profit to be had there. Or perhaps the Third Raikage finally cooled down from his hot-blooded state and realized that crossing more than a dozen countries from the northeast of the continent to its southwest had been a little too bizarre.

Meanwhile, under Rasa's efforts with Magnet Release, Sunagakure had temporarily united and assumed a stance of making a final stand.

The Third Raikage took one look and figured that he had too few men for a direct clash to be worthwhile. Besides, the place was so barren that conquering it had little value, and there would be no way to govern it anyway.

So he could only lead his men in a "victorious strategic withdrawal."

Afterward, following the logic of spiritual victory, both sides declared that they had won a great and glorious victory.

An internal crisis gave rise to a new leader. Through his Magnet Release and his performance during the crisis, Rasa successfully rose to power and became the Fourth Kazekage.

A new official in office always had to face several thorny problems. First, the previous Kazekage had disappeared for no reason, so he had to give the entire village an explanation, right?

Second, in searching for him and preparing for war, they had nearly emptied their reserves. The arrow was already on the bowstring; they had no choice but to fire.

Third, he had only just taken office and urgently needed to establish his prestige and consolidate his power.

After thinking it over, Rasa slapped his thigh. Fine—old traditions could not be abandoned. This huge, round black pot should be pinned on their old neighbor and good ally, Konoha!

Thus, Sunagakure launched a surprise attack on Konoha and declared war.

When Kumogakure saw Sunagakure acting like that:

Fine, then. You're attacking Konoha, so I'll attack Konoha too!

When Iwagakure and Kirigakure saw the commotion from the sidelines, they thought, how could they possibly be left out?

You've all joined in, so we have to get a foot in too. Otherwise, wouldn't it make our villages look irrelevant?

After all, when the Five Great Ninja Villages stood together, the whole world lay beneath their feet.

And so, the Third Great Ninja War, which engulfed the entire Shinobi World, erupted in full force through this chain reaction that seemed absurd on the surface but was actually the total explosion of years of accumulated conflicts and calculations of interest.

At this thought, Shinichi shook his head, clearing away the somewhat teasing metaphors in his mind. His gaze became calm and sharp again.

Humor was humor, but the cruelty of war was real. He only had about a year left.

During this brief period of peace, he had to make good use of the new authority granted by [Chunin] and the Blue Trait he was about to obtain, raising his strength to a level where he could gain a foothold in the coming storm and perhaps even... influence the direction of the wind.

"How should I proceed from here?"

Shinichi fell into thought. After the Chunin Exams, and once his new Trait and subsequent Trait upgrades strengthened him further, he estimated that he would probably possess the strength of a full-fledged Jonin by then.

He might still be slightly lacking in overall experience, mission records, and handling complicated situations, but in terms of pure combat strength, the gap would not be large.

And a year later, when the shadow of that great war truly began to descend, he was confident he would stand firmly at the Jonin level.

By then, he would only have just turned ten. That was more than two years earlier than the Genius Kakashi, who had later become a Jonin at nearly thirteen.

Moreover, in Shinichi's view, Kakashi's strength had probably not yet fully reached the hard standard of a Jonin when he was promoted.

After all, he had suffered greatly when facing an Iwagakure Jonin. Even his family's White Fang Tanto had been broken, and he had lost an eye. His true transformation had only been completed after the intense stimulation of gaining the Sharingan and losing his companion.

In a year, I should possess the combat strength of a true Jonin, perhaps even greater, Shinichi silently calculated. With that kind of strength, during the early stages of the unrest, as long as I don't charge headfirst into the bloodiest battlefield or take on the most dangerous missions, it should be enough to protect myself.

With that thought, Shinichi withdrew his gaze from the stars, intending to end the day.

But at the very instant he turned around.

A vague pull, an indescribably subtle sensation, surged from the depths of his heart without warning.

It was not intense, yet like a stone dropped into a still lake, it sent clear ripples spreading outward.

"Hmm?"

He gave a soft sound of surprise, halted his movements, and instinctively summoned the Personal Panel again, directing his gaze straight toward [Draws Available: 1 (Blue)].

At that moment, not only had the faint sense of intuition not faded, it grew clearer and stronger, as though silently urging and guiding him toward something.

The Trait [Good Omen] was taking effect.

The last time a similar sensation had appeared was three years ago, when he had spoken with Kakashi at Konoha's cemetery.

Back then, that hazy pull had ultimately guided him to speak words whose core meaning matched the Second Hokage's final words under the Third Hokage's "watchful gaze." As a result, he had successfully entered the upper ranks' field of vision and received attention and resources far beyond those given to an ordinary Ninja Academy Student.

So this time...

Shinichi's gaze sharpened, and he stopped hesitating.

What return-to-Konoha ritual?

To hell with a sense of ritual!

An opportunity must not be missed, for time would not come again.

Here in this border-town inn, under the starlight at this very moment, was the best possible time!

He took a deep breath, calmed his slightly quickened heartbeat, and focused all his attention on the line of text emitting an alluring faint glow.

Draw!

A nearly imperceptible ripple seemed to spread through his consciousness before instantly fading. The "1 (Blue)" on the panel dropped to zero.

Immediately afterward, at the end of the Talent Trait list, a point of deep blue light blossomed, like a star igniting in the depths of the sea. Within that glow, new words rapidly formed and solidified.

[Clone (Blue): You may duplicate a portion of your own origin, fuse it with the bloodline genes of a living creature, and create an independent, permanent Clone capable of continued growth. The Clone shares consciousness and memories with the original body. The Clone may inherit one Occupation Trait from the original body and 50% of its Talent Traits, rounded down. These may include at most one Purple Talent Trait, and cannot include this Talent Trait or Talents unrelated to the inherited Occupation. The specific Traits may be assigned freely. By coming into contact with the Clone, the original body may reassign the Traits inherited by it.]

[Note: The outside world may also produce cognitive effects toward the Clone, but their effects are only 50% of normal. All cognitive effects produced will directly feed back to the original body. By sacrificing one Purple-quality Trait possessed by the original body, this Trait may be upgraded to Purple quality. This is the only method of upgrading it.]

[The original body may actively reclaim the Clone, thereby absorbing a small portion of the Clone's origin to strengthen itself. Once reclaimed, a Clone cannot be restored. A Clone that dies cannot be restored.]

Oh?

What an... unexpected surprise.

It seemed his upcoming plans would need some careful adjustment.

Shinichi's gaze shifted slightly, and the corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.