Title: The Renowned Ninja

Mo Jingxian had been staring at his own shadow, motionless, for two minutes.

"Sigh, still no good."

During a rare rotation of rest, he had come early to a secluded tent to practice alone.

At this moment, he was researching the Shadow Possession Jutsu, and the result was obvious: failure.

He turned his gaze to the sealing technique training manual held in his hands, comparing the two.

"The chakra logic is fixed; in other words, only specific jutsu formulas can activate it."

He crouched down, picked up a branch, and began writing and drawing on the ground.

Following the template in his hand, he traced out the sealing symbols bit by bit.

As the final stroke landed, he reviewed it in his mind once more, confirmed it was correct, and then wiped it away.

The reason for the failure was that he lacked the operational permissions.

Mo Jingxian rubbed his chin, thinking as he studied.

Chakra was like a fixed program module, and ninjas only had the right to use it, not the right to modify it.

If one thought about it on a deeper level, mastering a Kekkei Genkai was an increase in authority over the application of chakra.

The higher the permission, the more Kekkei Genkai one could master, ultimately manifesting as the Kekkei Mōra.

It was thinking a bit too far ahead, but the line of reasoning was correct.

Mo Jingxian stared at his shadow again.

He had already thoroughly understood the principles of the Shadow Possession Jutsu and possessed Yin Release Chakra.

The reason he failed was that he hadn't learned this jutsu, or rather, he lacked the permission.

It sounded like nonsense, but in reality, it was anything but.

Learning the Shadow Possession Jutsu was merely opening a crack in the field of Yin elements, using chakra to trigger a fixed template to manifest a singular jutsu.

But mastering Yin Element Mastery was equivalent to bypassing permissions, allowing one to sketch freely upon the canvas of Yin elements.

It made sense why the Sharingan was rumored to be so godlike—it simply had higher permissions.

"Click, click, click!"

The Pincer Bug Puppet slowly began to move; this was his spoils of war, which he had chosen not to trade in for supplies.

Mo Jingxian sat on the puppet, controlling it to move slowly; the feeling was quite novel.

The internal chakra pathways of the puppet had been completely cleared out.

Currently, this puppet was one he had re-engraved with Water Element symbols to replace the original, utilizing the principles of its drive mechanism.

Within the range of the Mist of Vitality, it could perform simple movements, but it wouldn't be effective in actual combat.

The reason was simple: long-distance control of continuous Water Element output was still unstable, or rather, his Water Element Mastery level was too low.

However, he hadn't intended to incorporate puppetry into his combat system; he treated it merely as a small hobby.

After all, it had been a long time since he had carved wood, and this puppet just happened to fill that void.

"Xianjun, what are you doing?"

Ever since returning from the mission yesterday, Ayako Hyuuga had been clinging to Mo Jingxian.

Watching the young girl hurrying over from the direction of the tents, he felt a headache coming on.

"You have the Byakugan, and you're asking me?"

Mo Jingxian was speechless. Regardless of why Ayako Hyuuga had taken an interest in him, he had no desire to delve into it.

Women, ha! They only slow down the speed of one's blade.

In these days where one's life hung by a thread, who would have time for such trivialities?

Ayako Hyuuga's face flushed slightly as she twisted the corner of her clothes:

"That... I, I."

She looked up at Mo Jingxian sitting on the Pincer Bug Puppet and inexplicably blurted out:

"I want to ride the puppet too."

After saying it, she was stunned herself, having no idea what she was doing.

"Is that okay?"

She added as an afterthought, and now she felt her cheeks burning.

"Get on, as long as you don't interfere with my training."

"Oh, oh! I won't."

The Pincer Bug Puppet was large enough for two people to sit on, and Ayako Hyuuga scrambled onto it in a daze.

Thus, near a secluded tent in the Konoha camp, a somewhat bizarre scene unfolded.

A boy and a girl sat atop a puppet, slowly circling the encampment.

The boy sat in front, holding a book and studying it intently.

The girl sat quietly behind him, not disturbing him, occasionally looking up at the azure sky.

"The weather is so nice. If the days ahead could always be like this, that wouldn't be half bad."

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything."

Mo Jingxian withdrew his attention, too lazy to bother with this strange girl with the Byakugan.

Ayako Hyuuga gazed at his back and playfully stuck out her tongue.

On this early summer morning in July, golden sunlight spilled across the ground, turning the tips of the boy and girl's hair a brilliant gold.

Days of rest were short-lived; soon, the squad was thrown back into the endless cycle of patrols, anti-infiltration, and ambushes.

The standoff between Konoha and the Sand Ninja gradually escalated, and the frequency of skirmishes grew increasingly intense.

Although a large-scale battlefield confrontation had yet to occur, it seemed the day of full-scale troop engagement was not far off.

During this period, the ninja forces of Iwagakure reinforced the border several times, their aggressive intent becoming very clear.

Although Konoha had taken precautions in advance, their manpower was clearly insufficient.

Even though the Rock Ninja had not yet launched an attack on Konoha, their mere presence there made it impossible for Konoha to remain indifferent.

Konoha subsequently transported two more batches of troops to the front line, forming a vague standoff with the Rock Ninja.

This resulted in the forces Konoha could commit to the Sand Ninja front becoming woefully inadequate.

The current situation in the Ninja World was volatile, with the Sand Ninja and Rock Ninja clearly showing a trend toward alliance.

Both sides arrayed their troops along the border, pinning down almost all of Konoha's energy; internal troop supplies began to tighten, and the flexibility of unit deployment became severely restricted.

Meanwhile, Kumogakure remained motionless, adopting the stance of a spectator watching a tiger fight from the mountain.

This was the reason the major ninja villages were still maintaining restraint; as long as one man-eating beast had not yet entered the fray, every side kept safety contingencies in place to respond.

Kumogakure was an old fox; they had stopped acting like humans as early as the Second Ninja World War.

Kirigakure, isolated overseas, had shown no intention of getting involved so far, but they could not be completely ignored either.

For a time, The winds of the Ninja World shifted, and the shadow of war began to shroud the entire continent.

A month passed quickly.

Due to the shortage of personnel, Nara Shikuta received a new mission and departed from the squad.

This meant they had passed their novice phase and would now face the cruel slaughter of the battlefield on their own.

Crisis truly could stimulate a person's potential; compared to a month ago, the three battlefield recruits had undergone a complete transformation.

Now, Mo Jingxian took on the role of squad leader, officially becoming a ninja soldier.

The three moved through the forest in a triangular formation, their spirits highly focused, needing to observe their surroundings for traps at every moment.

In nearly a month of infiltration and counter-infiltration, the forest had turned into an Asura field.

Konoha ninjas laid traps, and the Sand Ninja could lay them too.

Back and forth they went; sometimes the traps even overlapped, truly achieving a state where you were within me, and I was within you.

"Scout the surrounding intelligence."

Mo Jingxian ordered the squad to stop; they collected intelligence every few minutes.

"Byakugan, activate!"

"No enemies detected within five kilometers... wait, no. There are enemies hiding at Outpost 34, closing in on the garrison squad."

Mo Jingxian immediately pulled out a signal flare and fired it into the sky.

His movements were practiced and crisp, without a hint of hesitation.

"Move to support."

"Yes!" X2

Outpost 34.

As a veteran, Kumagai Yamato possessed a wealth of battlefield experience.

Though his talent had limited him to barely reaching the strength of a Chunin by the age of thirty, he was a ninja who had survived the Second Ninja World War.

There were many, many ninjas who were more talented than him, stronger than him, and even hailed as geniuses at the time.

Most of them had fallen on the battlefield, yet he, with only the strength of a Chunin, had survived.

Aside from luck, caution was the secret to surviving the battlefield.

"Rikimaru, go check the traps again, hurry up."

"Captain, we just finished checking this morning; there's no need for this, is there?"

Smack! A heavy slap landed on the newly graduated genin's head.

"Since when did you have so much nonsense to spout? If I tell you to go, you go."

"Geez, why is it such a hassle? If we find the enemy, can't we just kill them?"

Rikimaru muttered under his breath, walking into the forest with clear reluctance.

Seeing Kumagai Yamato glance over, the other genin spoke up.

"Captain, I'll go check the traps on our retreat route."

With that, he turned and ran off immediately.

Kumagai Yamato shook his head helplessly. "These kids, not a single one of them is easy to manage."

While his mind was busy double-checking their security, his hands and feet were far from idle.

He buried several explosive tags in the clearing where they were stationed, connecting them with delay fuses and tying the other end to an inconspicuous, withered branch.

Just as he was preparing to set up a few more, a firework suddenly exploded in the sky five miles away.

The firework was beautiful, but the signal it conveyed was dangerous.

There were enemies nearby.

Oh no!

Rikimaru hadn't returned yet.

The enemy had arrived faster than he had imagined.

The moment the thought crossed Kumagai Yamato's mind, a violent explosion rang out in the distance.

That was a trap triggering an explosive tag, coming from the exact direction Rikimaru had headed.

There was no time to think; Kumagai Yamato immediately entered combat mode.

"Captain... it's us, don't use any ninjutsu!"

The two genin came running back in a panic, terrified that their captain might accidentally injure them.

"You're lucky. Prepare to engage the enemy."

There was no time to prepare; combat could break out under any circumstances.

An Earth Dragon plowed forward like a bulldozer, crushing through the traps all the way to the vicinity of their station.

The enemy's plan for a sneak attack had failed, so they immediately opted for a frontal assault.

Sand Ninja were mostly Earth and Wind style users, and "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet" was the perfect ninjutsu for clearing a path.

The traps ended up serving only to drain a significant amount of the enemy's chakra.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Kunai and shuriken were launched at the newly appeared enemies, some with burning explosive tags wrapped around their handles.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After the explosions, the Earth Wall was mostly destroyed, and thick clouds of dust surged forward.

Behind the wall, the figures of the enemies were gone.

Kumagai Yamato's heart sank to the bottom of his chest.

Judging by their methods, the attackers were no nobodies; their mastery of Earth Style was fluid and instinctive.

"Retreat."

The three of them abandoned the stronghold; the enemy had already been exposed, and there was no point in staying behind to die.

"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"

A compressed mass of air aimed at the three of them, with no intention of leaving any survivors.

It was a B-rank ninjutsu; trees were shredded and the ground was plowed into a deep trench wherever it passed.

The technique was powerful and fast; it was already too late to weave signs to block it.

Their physical speed could not keep up with the speed of the ninjutsu, and the three of them were instantly plunged into a desperate situation.

Kumagai Yamato had played it safe his entire life, never expecting to die here.

It was just a pity that the backup plan he had prepared hadn't been used; he felt quite regretful that he hadn't managed to take a few enemies down with him.

The highly compressed wind mass, carrying the scent of death, slammed toward them.

A curtain of water stood between them, its flowing, mirror-like surface deflecting the wind mass into the sky, where it exploded.

By the time Kumagai Yamato regained his senses and looked at the ninjutsu before him, it wasn't a water curtain at all, but a massive Water Flood Dragon that had shielded the three of them.

The Water Flood Dragon thinned and shrank, gliding over ten meters to coil back behind the man standing on the treetop.

Seven identical Water Flood Dragons were unfurling behind him; counting this one, there were exactly eight.

"Yo! You're lucky. Caught three more Sand Ninja."

The moment the newcomer appeared, the enemies' pupils constricted, and they quickly huddled together.

Their captain pulled out an exquisite puppet, held it in front of him, and subconsciously muttered in a low voice.

"Hydra... Mo Jingxian!"