The Front Lines

When the convoy was attacked, Yamashiro Baiyun handed Mo Jingxian the intelligence he had searched from Nishikawa Jiken.

Once the Yamashiro High Ninja had drawn the pursuers away, he returned to the front-line camp with the intelligence.

It had been an emergency, so the two had hastily agreed on a plan before splitting up.

Unexpectedly, Karura had pursued them relentlessly. Thankfully, Mo Jingxian had ultimately managed to bring the intelligence back.

Orochimaru checked the intelligence scroll. Only after confirming the seal was intact did he set it down with satisfaction.

"Genin Mo Jingxian, you've worked hard on the way here. Consider this your completion of an A-rank mission."

"Thank you, Lord Orochimaru."

"All right, you may leave."

Mo Jingjing bowed and prepared to go.

"Oh, and Yamashiro Baiyun has returned, too. You can go see him."

"Understood."

After Mo Jingxian left the tent, Orochimaru picked up the scroll on the table and carefully checked it against the records.

"The records are remarkably detailed!"

"It can't be helped. That's war for you. We owe this Genin for bringing back the intelligence. Otherwise..."

Shikaku had brought up Mo Jingxian, and a smile tugged at Orochimaru's lips.

"That Genin just now is a rather interesting person."

"Oh? Lord Orochimaru knows him?"

"Of course. And you should have heard of him, too."

Shikaku was somewhat surprised by Orochimaru's words.

"I'd be glad to hear more."

Orochimaru was in a good mood, a playful smile on his face.

"His previous name... Uchiha Sen."

"So it was him."

Shikaku remembered. He had heard of someone like that before setting out, but hadn't paid much attention at the time.

Orochimaru seemed to think of something and turned to look in Konoha's direction.

"My old teacher... He's become so immersed in a false balance that he can no longer see the Ninja World for what it really is."

There was no good response to that. Shikaku fell silent for a moment, then changed the subject.

After leaving, Mo Jingxian asked around for the Yamashiro High Ninja's quarters.

After searching in several places, he finally found his old acquaintance in the field hospital.

Looking at the Yamashiro High Ninja, wrapped up like a mummy, Mo Jingxian didn't know what expression to make.

Yamashiro Baiyun, however, was delighted to see him.

"I knew you were too lucky to die, brat. Sure enough, you came back in one piece."

Mo Jingxian went to the window, opened the small window to air out the room, then sat down.

"How'd you end up like this? Was the enemy that troublesome?"

Yamashiro Baiyun rolled his eyes from the bed.

"Obviously. Rasa of Sunagakure, with Magnet Release, and Dafangang Qihu, with Gale. You tell me if they're troublesome."

"They sound pretty troublesome."

Mo Jingxian nodded in agreement.

"Then how'd you survive?"

"I got lucky and ran into the reinforcements. Rasa must've had his reasons for holding back, so he withdrew early."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

They chatted for a while. Seeing that Yamashiro Baiyun had only suffered external injuries, Mo Jingxian felt much more at ease.

"You still have your mission papers with you, right?"

"Sure do."

"Good. Go turn in the mission in a bit. I expect they'll assign you another one soon."

"I know. Just focus on recovering."

Mo Jingxian said goodbye and left, feeling much clearer about things.

After all, they were on the same side, and they'd shared the bond of fighting shoulder to shoulder. Of course he didn't want anything to happen to Yamashiro Baiyun.

Turning in the mission, replenishing supplies, and handling a flurry of other tasks took several hours.

After grabbing a quick meal at camp, Mo Jingxian took his new mission to the field hospital.

Calling it a hospital was generous. It was just an empty plot enclosed by tents, and the medical equipment couldn't compare to what they had in Konoha.

Mo Jingxian found Takeuchi Koda and handed him the mission papers.

"Why'd they send another kid who just graduated?"

Takeuchi Koda frowned, but still accepted the papers.

"Mo Jingxian, right?"

"Right."

"From now on, your job is to assist the medical ninja in treating the wounded. They'll tell you what they need."

After giving him a brief explanation, Takeuchi Koda hurried off.

Mo Jingxian shrugged. In plain terms, he was just there to run errands.

He worked at the temporary field hospital until evening, then dragged his exhausted body back to his lodgings.

Four people shared one tent. No one was in the mood for small talk, and Mo Jingxian fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

He slept well on his first night at the front-line camp. Nothing disturbed him.

The work assigned to Mo Jingxian was relatively simple: helping the medical ninja with whatever they needed.

Perhaps because the war had only just begun and the two sides were still probing each other, there weren't many wounded being brought in.

While working, he noticed many young faces.

After talking with them, he learned that they were all Genin who had recently graduated from the Ninja Academy.

Konoha was pretty considerate. Knowing that rookies needed time to adjust, they sent the graduates to work in the rear for a while.

It made sense when he thought about it. These people were Konoha's assets, ninja who had taken a great deal of manpower and resources to train.

Naturally, Konoha wanted them to grow, which was also the best way to maximize its investment.

During this time, deputy director Takeuchi Koda came by for a round of inspection. He said nothing, took one look, and left.

There was plenty of downtime, and things could get dull if he didn't find something to do.

The young ninja gathered together, and their conversations mostly revolved around Konoha's famous ninja.

Mo Jingxian didn't join in. He used the rare free time to sort out, one by one, what he needed to do next.

Get close to Orochimaru, earn his trust, and trade for Hashirama Cells.

It was a long-term plan. The prerequisite was that he needed comparable combat strength—or at least enough power to make Orochimaru wary of him.

There were two ways for him to gain strength.

One was the Balance of Fate. There wasn't much to think about there: the more Reputation he gained, the stronger he became.

The good news was that fighting enemies earned him a lot of Reputation. He'd only fought a few battles, yet he'd already saved up 310 points.

The bad news was that he had to stay alive.

The greater the risk, the greater the reward. That made sense.

The other way to grow stronger was through his own training.

That might sound obvious, but it wasn't.

Take his earlier fights against Kushimaru Kuriarare and Raiga Kurosuki, for example. If he hadn't forcibly shifted his internal organs, he'd have been dead already.

That technique—or perhaps physical talent—was something even a High Ninja didn't possess.

So his body still hadn't been developed enough. He had to add physical training to his schedule from now on.

As for Chakra, there was even more to work on.

As he gained insight into the water element, the amount of active substance hidden in his Chakra had increased considerably. That was why his jutsu were fundamentally different from traditional ninjutsu.

Especially after incorporating the principles of Sealing Jutsu, his techniques had gained infinite potential for growth.

Greater fluidity and greater unpredictability were just the surface.

This proved his earlier theory right.

Ninjutsu had structure, logic, and frequency. It could be compiled.

Elements were the underlying code that ran this world. Sealing Jutsu was the language, and ninjutsu was just an interface.

So... he had to start his training from the foundations.

To test his theory, Mo Jingxian silently formed a ball of water in his palm.

Then he slowly fed Chakra into it.

He watched the water closely. Once Chakra made up one-tenth of the whole, he could control the water and shape it into a fixed jutsu.

Following his theory, he incorporated Sealing Jutsu symbols into it.

He slowly sensed the changes, ready to make adjustments at any moment.

The Chakra in the water began to grow sluggish, no longer staying active.

When the two reached a point of balance, the ball of water in his hand began to change shape.

The water seemed to develop a mind of its own. Its overall shape stretched out, and in a moment, a water bird appeared in his palm.

The water bird changed into a tree, then a flower, and finally a ninja.

Mo Jingxian smiled at the changing water in his palm. It was just a little trick; the foundation of his ninjutsu was still the Water Dragon Technique.

But his approach was right: use the principles of Sealing Jutsu to increase the proportion of active substances.

"Water Body Flicker," "Water Substitution," and "Mist of Vitality"—he had already integrated these three jutsu into the "Water Dragon Technique."

As his understanding of the water element deepened, he would be able to incorporate more techniques into it.

This also proved that ninjutsu was just an interface. Its framework and logic were fixed, and it didn't have the authority to manipulate the water element.

That made his next direction for training clear.

Understanding the water element was fundamental; mastering more water-style jutsu was a shortcut.

No world was made of a single element, and the Ninja World was no exception.

By that logic, wouldn't unlocking talent for mastery of other elements be the natural next step?

He was getting ahead of himself. He pulled his thoughts back to the present.

Based on his current strength, he was about on par with an elite Chunin.

He followed the path of Nintaijutsu, and if he kept developing it as he'd described, he would soon experience a burst of growth.

After clashing twice with elite High Ninja, Mo Jingxian had sorted out his approach to training and laid a solid foundation for his future development.

The days passed.

Mo Jingxian made the most of every spare moment to train, gradually turning his accumulated potential into strength.

Half a month later, an order arrived, marking the official end of his restful days.

Early July,

Near the entrance to Konoha's main camp, Mo Jingxian handed his orders to the team's leader, Nara Shikuta.

Two other Genin were there, a boy and a girl. Judging by their looks, they were rookies who had only just graduated.

After checking the orders, Nara Shikuta stamped them with his personal seal and returned them to the three of them.

"I'm your Jonin instructor, Nara Shikuta.

"I specialize in shadow-binding jutsu. Now, I'd like each of you to introduce yourselves."

The handsome, clean-cut boy stepped forward first.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Shinju Ishikawa. I specialize in Taijutsu and healing jutsu. I hope we'll get along."

The boy's answer was perfectly proper, and his manners were impeccable.

"Mo Jingxian. I specialize in Nintaijutsu and genjutsu. My record: killed a Chunin puppet master and escaped from three elite High Ninja."

As soon as he finished speaking, the group fell silent.

Both newcomers stared at him in shock.

[Reputation from Shinju Ishikawa +1]

[Reputation from Ayako Hyuuga +10]

Hm?

It was her—the Hyuga Clan girl who had inexplicably given Mo Jingxian five Reputation points before.

The two unusually large gifts had left a deep impression on him. Now he'd finally met her in person.

Still, Mo Jingxian didn't show that he recognized her. He'd take his time observing her later; there was no rush.

He would inevitably have to take a high-profile approach from now on, so he'd gone ahead and laid out his record.

There was another benefit to doing so: it would help him avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble in the days ahead.

The two newly graduated Genin took a moment to digest what he'd said. Only then did the white-eyed girl blush and step forward to introduce herself.

"Ayako Hyuuga, twelve years old. My specialties are reconnaissance and Gentle Fist. I like flower arranging. I look forward to working with you all."

Reconnaissance, combat, and medical abilities—it covered everything.

A textbook combat squad.