Qingshui's words made Jiraiya smile happily. Who wouldn't like someone talented and polite?
Jiraiya then taught Qingshui a second Fire Release Ninjutsu: Great Flame Bullet.
It was an upgraded version of Flame Bullet, with ten times the power. It was a B-Rank Ninjutsu.
Though it worked on the same principle as Flame Bullet, it was much harder to learn.
The reason was simple: it required far more Chakra, creating a Flame Bullet that was much larger and could cover an area dozens of meters wide.
Controlling a Flame Bullet of that size naturally required a great deal of control.
Otherwise, if he failed to control it properly, he might hurt himself before he even hit the enemy.
For the rest of the day, Qingshui focused on practicing Great Flame Bullet.
Even with the foundation he had from Flame Bullet, he couldn't master it right away, which showed just how difficult B-Rank Ninjutsu was to learn.
And unlike Flame Bullet, he hadn't already mastered this technique through a system reward.
This time, he had to learn it entirely on his own.
By nightfall, he still hadn't learned Great Flame Bullet.
After finishing their training for the day, Qingshui and the others returned home.
Meanwhile, Mikoto returned with Mukai Yuki and Sasaki Ayami, though the latter two looked rather bedraggled.
After asking what had happened, they learned that Mikoto had been teaching the two of them Water Walking that day.
Before that, they had already completed Tree Climbing.
Tree Climbing and Water Walking were training methods Genin used to practice Chakra control, with the latter being more difficult.
After all, water was constantly moving, so they had to keep adjusting the Chakra they released to stay steadily on its surface.
Three more days passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Qingshui not only mastered Great Flame Bullet but also, under Jiraiya's guidance, openly demonstrated the nature transformations of Earth Style and Lightning Release, which he had already mastered.
Qingshui also learned two Earth Style Ninjutsu from Jiraiya: the C-Rank Earth Return and the B-Rank Earth Dragon Bullet.
He had already mastered the former.
The latter still required more practice, and he had yet to get started.
As for Lightning Release Ninjutsu, Jiraiya didn't know any himself, so naturally he couldn't teach Qingshui.
Qingshui wasn't disappointed. He could find another chance to openly demonstrate it later.
"We're not training today. Instead, we're going to have a sparring match."
Looking at Minato and the Three Little Ones, Jiraiya announced the rules: they would draw lots to choose their opponents, and the winners would then face off to determine the champion.
The draw paired Xiaonan against Minato, and Nagato against Yahiko.
"I want you to fight with all your strength and show me how much you've improved. Don't worry about getting hurt—Qingshui is a Medical Ninja."
The first match began: Xiaonan versus Minato.
At Jiraiya's signal, Xiaonan, already aware of how strong Minato was, attacked first. She threw several white shuriken with both hands.
On closer inspection, they were all made of paper.
They were Paper Shuriken!
With Chakra reinforcing them, the fragile white paper became extremely hard and sharp.
Xiaonan's Shurikenjutsu was quite good, too. Several Paper Shuriken flew at Minato from different directions, but he dodged them with ease.
Not only that, Minato had already closed in on Xiaonan while avoiding the Paper Shuriken.
If the fight turned into close combat, Xiaonan would surely be no match for Minato.
But she had anticipated this possibility. Her face showed no sign of panic as she quickly formed hand seals and created a Paper Clone.
Xiaonan sent the clone forward to block Minato, while her real body took the opportunity to attack again with Paper Shuriken.
She wanted to seize the chance to win with a single strike.
For Xiaonan, who had trained under Jiraiya for only a year, this strategy was undeniably effective.
But it wouldn't work against Minato.
Xiaonan's sneak attack failed. Minato turned it against her, making the Paper Shuriken hit her own Paper Clone instead.
At the same time, Minato struck Xiaonan with a blow that sent her flying.
"Minato wins!"
Jiraiya promptly announced the result.
"Aw, Xiaonan still lost. But Senior Minato really is strong," Yahiko said regretfully.
Qingshui hurried forward and carried Xiaonan back after she had been knocked down. He began treating her.
Meanwhile, Yahiko and Nagato's match began.
Seeing Nagato looking ready to forfeit because he didn't want to hurt Yahiko, Yahiko stopped him in time.
"Nagato, I want you to show me what you can really do. Let me see just how big the difference in our strength is."
Though Nagato was the least noticeable of the Three Little Ones, everyone knew he was the strongest of the three. He simply lacked initiative.
Seeing how serious Yahiko was, Nagato could only nod.
Qingshui wasn't concerned about the outcome, which he already knew.
As he treated Xiaonan, he offered her a suggestion.
"Xiaonan, your Paper Manipulation Ninjutsu has a lot of potential. You could consider using Explosive Tags instead of plain paper to increase its power."
"Explosive Tags?"
Xiaonan considered the idea.
"Just now, your Paper Shuriken didn't hit Minato. But if you used Explosive Tags instead, even if he dodged them, you could set them off and create a second attack."
"But Explosive Tags are expensive. Using them would cost too much."
It was a problem she couldn't avoid.
As a war orphan, even after Xiaonan graduated and earned money through missions, she wouldn't be able to afford such a huge expense.
"You can ask Lord Jiraiya to teach you how to make Explosive Tags."
At that, Xiaonan's eyes lit up.
She realized that if she learned how to make Explosive Tags, she could earn money from them in the future.
Having suffered through a life of poverty, Xiaonan was a bit of a money lover herself.
She just wasn't as extreme as Kakuzu.
"Big Brother Qingshui is amazing. You came up with such a great idea in no time."
Qingshui smiled calmly at her praise.
This was the path Xiaonan would take in the future. He had simply helped her set out on it a little earlier.
After all, even if Kakuzu could earn a fortune, he could never afford to buy six hundred billion Explosive Tags.
While they were talking, Yahiko and Nagato's match came to an end.
Though Yahiko had told Nagato to give it his all, Nagato wasn't foolish enough to do so.
If he really fought at full strength, he'd have to drop to his knees and beg Yahiko not to die.
So Nagato held back, trading blows with Yahiko and giving him ample chance to show his strength before finally defeating him.
[Completed treatment of Xiaonan. Reward: one Blue Orb.]
[Congratulations! Obtained 30 Chakra.]
Qingshui had finished treating Xiaonan just in time to treat Yahiko next.
"Sorry for the trouble, Big Brother Qingshui," Yahiko said politely.
[Completed treatment of Yahiko. Reward: one Blue Orb.]
[Congratulations! Obtained 30 Chakra.]
When Qingshui finished treating Yahiko, Minato and Nagato's match officially began.
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