Heading to Sunagakure

Looking at the murderous, blade-like gaze of Ryujin Jakka, Yusuke seemed to understand something.

"Are you implying that?"

Ryujin Jakka looked at the suddenly enlightened Yusuke and nodded with satisfaction: "Correct."

"It means devouring souls through slaughter!"

"It means tempering the soul within the spiritual world!"

The two spoke in unison!

As their eyes met, the atmosphere instantly became awkward.

Ryujin Jakka let out a cold snort: "Devouring souls through slaughter? That is something only a Hollow would do!"

Yusuke looked sheepish: "That's because your gaze was too murderous; no wonder it was easy to misunderstand."

Ryujin Jakka looked at Yusuke and said slowly: "In the place I originally came from, called Soul Society, Shinigami all cultivate in a spiritual state. The spiritual energy in Soul Society is extremely dense, and Shinigami can constantly strengthen their own soul power by training in any way they choose."

"However, this world is not suitable for spiritual bodies to survive, and there is no free-roaming spiritual energy in the space here. Therefore, it is difficult to train soul power through ordinary methods."

Glancing at the giant Sharingan in the sky, Ryujin Jakka continued: "Your spiritual world is actually a relatively suitable place to train the soul. Although it is far inferior to Soul Society, it is barely enough."

"As long as you practice here, your soul power will become stronger and stronger. I must say, the bloodline of your Uchiha Clan is indeed uniquely gifted; the abilities of these eyes are truly extraordinary."

"Then, how exactly should I go about the training you mentioned?" Yusuke asked.

"The best way is combat!"

"Combat?"

Ryujin Jakka nodded: "Correct, your opponent is me! Through combat and tempering on a spiritual level, you will strengthen your soul and spiritual energy."

"Over time, your soul will undergo a qualitative improvement."

Hearing the training method Ryujin Jakka described, Yusuke frowned slightly: "With my current ocular power, I can only stay in the spiritual world for at most an hour before my ocular power is completely exhausted. It takes about a day to fully recover."

"Furthermore, if I am fighting in the spiritual world, I fear my ocular power will be consumed even more drastically; perhaps I won't even last twenty minutes."

Ryujin Jakka looked at Yusuke and said: "You can rest easy on that point. As your soul power increases, your ocular power will naturally grow day by day, and the time you can spend training will become longer and longer."

"Additionally, when your soul is strong enough, your eyes breaking through to the so-called 'Mangekyou Sharingan' will be a natural progression!"

Hearing Ryujin Jakka mention the Mangekyou Sharingan, Yusuke's heart stirred, and he asked Ryujin Jakka: "But according to our clan's records, the condition for awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan is the death of a loved one. Only in this way can an Uchiha's spirit break through the limits of the ordinary Sharingan."

After awakening the Sharingan, Yusuke had stopped looking forward to the Mangekyou Sharingan. After all, he did not wish to trade the misfortune of his loved ones for his own Mangekyou Sharingan abilities.

Ryujin Jakka sneered: "That is only because the level of soul power in this world is far too low. Your clansmen only manage to break through the limits of their abilities through such immense mental stimulation."

"If your soul were strong enough, you could easily advance your Sharingan to the next stage by relying on your Reiatsu alone."

Hearing Ryujin Jakka's analysis, Yusuke nodded: "Understood, everything must be based on soul power. It's just that by relying on this method of cultivation, won't the progress be too slow?"

Ryujin Jakka glanced at Yusuke and said indifferently: "Cultivation is not something that happens overnight; seeking quick success will only lead one astray."

Hearing Ryujin Jakka's words, Yusuke nodded in deep agreement: "You are right, I was indeed too eager for success."

After discussing the cultivation of the soul with Ryujin Jakka, Yusuke's training began immediately.

The method of training was, as Ryujin Jakka had said, very simple and brutal. It consisted of Yusuke and Ryujin Jakka fighting with swordsmanship within the spiritual space.

Ryujin Jakka was worthy of being the manifestation of a Zanpakuto; not only was his swordsmanship mastery remarkable, but his powerful Reiatsu also brought immense pressure to Yusuke. At his current stage, Yusuke was no match for Ryujin Jakka at all.

Whenever he was struck by Ryujin Jakka, because he was in a spiritual body, Yusuke would suffer excruciating pain as if his spirit were being torn apart. However, according to Ryujin Jakka, this was also a process of tempering soul power.

The first training session did not last very long. With Yusuke's current ocular power, under the intensity of the battle, he only trained for about ten minutes before his ocular power was exhausted, forcing him to exit the introspective state.

Exiting the spiritual world, Yusuke immediately felt mentally exhausted and needed to rest to recover his spiritual energy and ocular power.

This communication with Ryujin Jakka benefited Yusuke greatly and gave him some confidence for future battles against opponents at the Six Paths level.

One day later, Yusuke was about to set off for Sunagakure.

"Brother, have a safe trip!"

"Be careful on the road, Yusuke."

Outside the house, Uchiha Hazuki and Izumi were seeing Yusuke off. For this mission, the round trip to Sunagakure would take at least a month.

"Izumi, come here." Yusuke beckoned to Izumi.

Izumi trotted obediently to Yusuke, blinking her large eyes at him.

Yusuke crouched halfway and smiled: "While I'm away, I'm leaving Mom in your care."

"Okay, Brother, don't worry. Izumi is already an official ninja!" Izumi nodded, saying firmly.

At that moment, Izumi seemed to see three golden-red, flame-like tomoe patterns flash across her brother's eyes.

Blinking her eyes, when Izumi looked again, her brother's eyes were the same as usual, with no changes.

Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me! Izumi thought to herself.

After saying goodbye to his family, Yusuke arrived at the agreed-upon departure point. Once the two squads participating in the Chunin Exams had gathered, they set off together for Sunagakure.

Initially, the places they passed through were still lush with trees, mountains, and water. But the closer they got to Sunagakure, the higher the temperature became, the trees grew sparser, and rivers were almost nowhere to be seen.

The group traveled for about five or six days, passing through the Land of Rivers, which lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, and arrived at the edge of a vast desert.

Although they were only at the edge, everyone could still feel the rolling heat waves from the desert ahead. At a glance, there was nothing but monotonous yellow; not a single tree existed, only undulating hills formed by yellow sand. Because the temperature was so high, the air ahead seemed to be distorted.

"This should be the place, right?" Yusuke unfolded a scroll, glanced at it, and asked Hayama, who was also serving as a lead jonin beside him.

Hayama observed the desert for a moment, then nodded and said, "Indeed. Then, let us begin."

Looking at the six genin who were staring at each other in confusion, Yusuke said slowly, "This Chunin Exams officially begins right now."

"The six of you must cross this desert and reach Sunagakure within three days. If Hayama and I do not see you at Sunagakure at this time three days from now, you will be eliminated."

Hayama looked solemn and added, "Do not expect any help from us. This Chunin Exams must be completed relying on your own strength. If you cannot even pass the first round, there is no need to participate in the subsequent exams!"

"Then everyone, we shall see you in three days!"

Before the words had even faded, Yusuke formed a seal with his right hand in front of his chest, and both he and Hayama gradually transformed into crows that flew into the sky until they disappeared from sight.

This Chunin Exams in Sunagakure was divided into three stages. The first stage required the genin to cross the desert within a specified time and reach Sunagakure.

For this stage of the assessment, Sunagakure handed the authority to judge who passed to the lead jonin of each village. Regarding this assessment, almost no lead jonin from any village would intentionally go easy on their students, as they did not want genin who failed to continue to the second and third rounds.

One had to know that the Chunin Exams were extremely cruel; while the mortality rate could not compare to war, it was still not low. If they could not even pass the first stage, sending their village's genin to the later stages would only result in a few more cannon fodder.

"We only have three days, so let's set off immediately without delay!" Seeing that the lead jonin had already left, Anko spoke up first.

"But with this expanse of yellow sand, if we rush in blindly, won't we lose our way?" Gekko Hayate said. Before he finished speaking, he began to cough.

Itachi held his hand against his forehead, looked at the position of the sun in the sky, and said slowly, "It is noon right now; we can rest for a bit before setting off."

"Sunagakure is to our west. As long as we move in the direction of the sun this afternoon, we won't go wrong."

Hearing Itachi's analysis, everyone nodded in agreement. Anko, acting like a brother, hooked her arm around Itachi's shoulder and said, "As expected of my teammate, you really have a brain."

"When we return and get promoted to chunin, I'll treat you to dango. Let me tell you, dango must be paired with red bean soup to be delicious!"

Itachi was about to shake off Anko's arm, but upon hearing that she intended to treat him to dango, he silently stopped his movement.

The few genin found a large tree at the edge of the desert and hid in its shade to eat lunch while resting. They were all young children, and they soon hit it off. Even the shy Kurama Naki quickly integrated into the team, laughing and talking with the others.

During their interaction, Itachi keenly noticed that Mizuki seemed to be intentionally approaching him, a phenomenon that immediately alerted him.

Meanwhile, in the desert, Yusuke and Hayama were running at full speed; as lead jonin, they had to reach Sunagakure ahead of time.

One reason was to welcome their own genin who had completed the first assessment and arrived at Sunagakure, and the other was to complete the candidate registration at Sunagakure in advance.

"How is their situation right now?" Hayama asked Yusuke, who was beside him.

Although Yusuke and Hayama had headed to Sunagakure a step early, they were not leaving the genin to their own devices. At this moment, Yusuke had split off a Phantom Crow Clone, which was observing the situation of the genin from high in the sky from a distance.

"Rest assured, I believe the first stage of the assessment won't stump them," Yusuke said with a smile.

Hayama nodded. "That's true. It seems I really am getting old; looking at those children, I actually started having such pointless worries."

"By the way, Yusuke, are you sure the direction you're leading us is correct?"

Hearing Hayama's question, Yusuke gave him a strange look and said, "I'm just moving in the direction you are leading, Hayama."

The two stopped in their tracks and looked at each other. After silently observing the direction, they changed their route and continued to rush toward Sunagakure.

"I'm telling you, Yusuke, only the two of us know about this!" After a long silence, Hayama spoke first.

"About this? I have no idea what you are talking about, Hayama!" Yusuke said with a straight face.

Standard thanks to everyone for your support!!

(●●)(●●)

Also, in my spare time, I've attached a doggerel poem. Just for a bit of self-amusement...

Recent negative reviews are like a tide, the author is so worried he's losing his hair.

But what can be done? Might as well go to sleep!

Orz