Night Rain

Before long, Maruboshi Kosuke led Jiogan and the other four in a thorough search of Patrol Squad 36's defense zone, but they found no trace of any other enemies.

All signs indicated that Jiogan's encounter had been caused by an individual enemy straggling into the area.

To be safe, Maruboshi Kosuke reassigned everyone's duties. He personally led the team through the forest, with Inuzuka Yoru assisting him. Jiogan and Kurama Feiyun remained at the encampment to provide support, while Anima and Okamura Taro were responsible for coastal defenses.

At the same time, they reported the enemy encounter to the Eastern Front Outpost. The outpost ordered Patrol Squad 36 to raise its alert level and warned the nearby defense zones. Further orders would be issued based on subsequent findings.

Two days soon passed. Patrol Squad 36 did not encounter the enemy again, but the patrol squad north of their defense zone did. Unfortunately for the enemies, they ran into a Konoha Jonin Squad and were completely wiped out. According to intelligence, the Kirigakure ninja who had strayed into Patrol Squad 36's defense zone was a member of that Infiltration Squad, having separated from the group while searching for water.

Since he had not returned, the Kirigakure infiltration squad concluded that his movements had been discovered and that he had either been killed or captured. Thus, they avoided Jiogan's defense zone in their subsequent operations and chose to continue infiltrating northward.

Once the matter was settled, the outpost ordered Patrol Squad 36 to lower its alert level, and Jiogan's group returned to normal patrol mode.

However, Maruboshi Kosuke did not order any adjustments to the team's grouping. Everything remained as it was until the patrol period ended.

Jiogan and Kurama Feiyun were paired together. Kurama Feiyun took the daytime shift, while Jiogan covered the night. With five days remaining before this Patrol Mission ended, the entire eastern coastline of the Land of Fire was hit by a bout of heavy rainfall.

Two days later, Jiogan looked at the rain outside, which showed no sign of stopping, and said, "Since I was born, this is the first time I've seen rain this heavy. It feels endless, like it will never stop! The coastline is covered in rolling waves, and the water has all turned muddy. This has really been an eye-opener!"

"Yeah, but coastal regions have frequent rainfall to begin with. The fact that we only encountered rain after more than half a month on this mission is what's truly rare," Kurama Feiyun said.

"The river we draw water from has doubled in size now, and catching fish has become difficult. The Military Rations Pills taste terrible—like chewing wax. I'm practically sick of eating them!" Jiogan complained.

"This is what the fishermen here mean when they say: the bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish!" Kurama Feiyun said with a smile.

What? Does Gao Qiqiang exist in the Ninja World too?!

Late at night, Kurama Feiyun was already resting in the tent while Jiogan stood guard at the encampment. He gazed up at the pitch-black night sky. The pouring rain still showed no signs of easing, lightning flashed from time to time, thunder rumbled in waves, and the roar of the turbulent coastline never ceased.

For some reason, Jiogan took off his raincoat and lay facing the sky, letting the rain strike his face until he was soaked through, as though his entire body had merged with the rain.

Jiogan inexplicably began practicing Tai Chi. Chakra and qi continuously surged into his Dantian. For some reason, an exceptionally large amount of qi flowed in tonight, quickly reaching the Dantian's Capacity Limit.

Yet qi continued flowing into his Dantian without pause. Before long, the outer ring of light surrounding the qi mass in his Dantian creaked and developed a crack. Then more and more cracks appeared until, with a crack, the outer ring of light shattered completely.

At the instant the ring shattered, time seemed to freeze for a moment. Then, Abundant Heaven and Earth Qi surged toward Jiogan's Dantian!

Jiogan had already sat down cross-legged, his hands held before his Dantian. The Heaven and Earth Qi had become visible to the naked eye, causing quite a commotion. But amid the Heavenly Might of thunder, rain, wind, and waves, no one noticed what was happening at the encampment except Kurama Feiyun, who had been awakened because she was too close.

Kurama Feiyun stared at the strange phenomenon around Jiogan in shock, but a woman's intuition told her not to disturb him. Whatever was happening to Jiogan was helping him tremendously!

As large amounts of Heaven and Earth Qi entered Jiogan's Dantian, the qi mass inside grew larger and more solid. But soon, another ring of light appeared. The qi mass was blocked by the new ring and stopped increasing.

If the qi mass in Jiogan's Dantian before tonight had been the size of a pigeon egg, then it was now the size of a ping-pong ball. Its volume had increased considerably.

At the same time, the Chakra Amount Storage Limit increased again. It had previously held the equivalent of 20 C-rank ninjutsu, but now it could hold 50. The Automatic Chakra Recovery Speed had also noticeably accelerated.

Jiogan used Internal Vision to observe the changes in his body, filled with both surprise and delight. "Does this count as a breakthrough?! If my Tai Chi was level one before, does that make it level two now?!"

Jiogan stood up and practiced Tai Chi again. The same movements now carried a distinctly different essence. At the same time, he could clearly feel that his perception and control ability over his surroundings had greatly increased. He could sense everything around him in the finest detail.

Closing his eyes, Jiogan continued practicing Tai Chi. Suddenly, he mobilized the qi in his Dantian. At that moment, he felt that he had truly merged with heaven and earth. His soul broke free from the limits of his body, seeming to rise higher and higher. Everything around him became clearer: leaves swaying in the rain, insects inside tree hollows, squirrels sheltering from the rain in the bushes, Feiyun staring blankly at him. He looked farther away and saw Anima and Okamura Taro hiding among rocks at the edge of the forest, Maruboshi Kosuke crouching by the river with a marching pot on his back, and Inuzuka Yoru and Ranmaru beside him, sleeping soundly with snot bubbles coming from their noses. He saw everything clearly—those with Chakra and those without, big and small, living and dead.

He wanted to open his eyes. With a thought, the scene within his soul rapidly contracted and soon returned to his mind.

He opened his eyes and suddenly exhaled. "So, if I use my soul to guide qi, I can sense everything around me. The more qi I consume, the farther my perception reaches. More importantly, what I sense is everything—the entirety of heaven and earth's manifested forms—not merely Chakra!"

The rain continued to fall, thunder continued to rumble, and the waves continued to roar. But Jiogan was no longer the Jiogan he had been before. He was far stronger than his former self.

He brought his hands together. "Water Release: Water Wall!" This Water Wall was no longer shaped like an ordinary water wall. It became a rotating column of water surrounding his body, nearly two meters thick. The spinning column carried the aura of a water tornado, and the Water Wall had evolved into a 360-degree No-Dead-Angle Defensive Ninjutsu.

Its Chakra Consumption was only at a normal level, but Jiogan had not formed any hand seals!

He was getting closer and closer to the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's Water Release!