Mo Jingxian had been staring motionlessly at his shadow for over two minutes.
"Ugh, still no luck."
It was a rare rest day between rotations, and he had come early to a secluded tent to train by himself.
He was studying Shadow Possession Jutsu, and the result was obvious: failure.
He turned his attention to the notes on Sealing Jutsu in his hands, comparing the two.
"Chakra follows fixed rules. In other words, only specific techniques can activate it."
He crouched, picked up a twig, and started scribbling on the ground.
Using the example in his hands as a guide, he carefully copied the sealing symbols one by one.
When he finished the final stroke, he reviewed the pattern in his mind. Once he was sure it was correct, he erased it.
The reason for his failure was simple: he lacked the necessary permissions.
Mo Jingxian rubbed his chin as he studied the notes and thought it through.
Chakra was like a fixed program module. Ninjas could use it, but they had no right to modify it.
Taking the idea a step further, possessing a Kekkei Genkai meant having greater authority over how chakra could be used.
The greater one's authority, the more Kekkei Genkai one could master. At its peak, that authority manifested as Kekkei Mōra.
He had taken the idea a bit far, but his reasoning was sound.
Mo Jingxian turned his gaze back to his shadow.
He had already grasped the principles behind Shadow Possession Jutsu, and he also had Yin Release Chakra.
He had failed because he hadn't learned the jutsu—or, in other words, he didn't have permission to use it.
That might have sounded like a pointless distinction, but it wasn't.
Learning Shadow Possession Jutsu only opened a small crack in the field of Yin Release. It let him use chakra to activate a fixed template, producing one specific technique.
But mastering Yin Element Mastery was like bypassing the permissions altogether. He could sketch freely across the canvas of Yin Release.
That explained why people spoke of the Sharingan as though it were some divine power. It simply had greater authority.
"Click, click, click!"
The Pincer Bug Puppet slowly began to move. It was his spoils of war, and he hadn't traded it in for supplies.
Mo Jingxian sat atop the puppet and controlled it as it crept along. It felt rather novel.
He had completely cleared out the puppet's internal chakra pathways.
He had replaced them with Water Element symbols, carving them in according to the principle that powered the puppet.
Within the range of Mist of Vitality, he could make it perform simple movements. It was no use in battle.
The reason was simple enough: he couldn't yet maintain a steady, long-range output of Water Element. Or, more precisely, his Water Element Mastery was still too low.
Still, he had never planned to add Puppet Technique to his combat repertoire. He treated it as a little hobby.
After all, he hadn't carved a wooden figure in a long time, and the puppet gave him something to work on.
"Xian, what are you doing?"
Ever since returning from yesterday's mission, Ayako Hyuuga had been sticking close to Mo Jingxian.
He looked at the girl hurrying over from the tents and felt a headache coming on.
"You have the Byakugan. Why are you asking me?"
Mo Jingxian was at a loss. Whatever had made Ayako Hyuuga take an interest in him, he didn't want to look into it.
Women, huh. They'd only slow down his draw.
With his life in danger every day, who had time to think about such things?
Ayako Hyuuga's cheeks reddened as she twisted the hem of her clothes between her fingers.
"Um... I, I..."
She glanced up at Mo Jingxian, seated on the Pincer Bug Puppet, then blurted out something that made no sense at all.
"I want to sit on the puppet too."
She was stunned by her own words. She had no idea what she was doing.
"Is that okay?"
She added another question, and now her cheeks felt even hotter.
"Get on, as long as you don't distract me from training."
"Oh, okay! I won't."
The Pincer Bug Puppet was large enough for two, so Ayako Hyuuga climbed on without really knowing how she'd gotten there.
And so, near a secluded tent in Konoha's camp, a rather odd sight appeared.
A boy and a girl sat on a puppet, slowly circling the tent.
The boy sat in front, engrossed in a book.
The girl sat quietly behind him without disturbing him, occasionally lifting her gaze to the clear blue sky.
"Such lovely weather. It wouldn't be so bad if the days ahead were always like this."
"What did you say?"
"I didn't say anything."
Mo Jingxian turned his attention back to his book, too lazy to indulge this strange Byakugan girl.
Ayako Hyuuga gazed at his back and playfully stuck out her tongue.
On a midsummer morning in early July, golden sunlight spilled across the ground, turning the tips of the boy's and girl's hair golden.
Their rest was brief. Soon, the team was back to patrolling, countering infiltrations, and ambushing enemies in an endless cycle of slaughter.
The standoff between Konoha and the Sand Ninja gradually escalated, and clashes grew more frequent and fierce.
Although there hadn't yet been a single large-scale battlefield confrontation, it seemed only a matter of time before entire divisions faced off.
Meanwhile, Iwagakure sent reinforcements to the border several times, making its aggressive intentions obvious.
Konoha had prepared in advance, but it was clearly short on manpower.
Though the Rock Ninja hadn't attacked Konoha yet, their mere presence meant Konoha couldn't afford to ignore them.
Konoha sent two more waves of troops to the front, creating a tense standoff with the Rock Ninja.
This left Konoha's forces on the Sand Ninja front looking all the more inadequate.
The Ninja World was in turmoil, and the Sand Ninja and Rock Ninja were clearly moving toward an alliance.
Their troops lined the border, tying up nearly all of Konoha's attention. The village was running short on manpower internally, and its ability to redeploy troops was severely limited.
Meanwhile, the Cloud Ninja stayed put, content to watch the fighting from the sidelines.
That was one reason the great ninja villages had managed to stay their hands. A man-eating beast had yet to enter the fray, so every side had to keep a contingency plan ready.
Kumogakure had been around the block. It had already started acting like a bunch of bastards in the Second Ninja World War.
Kirigakure was isolated across the sea. So far, it had shown no intention of joining in, but it couldn't be ignored entirely.
For a time,
the winds of the Ninja World shifted, and the shadow of war began to cover the entire continent.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
With manpower in short supply, Nara Shikuta received a new assignment and left the team.
That meant they had made it through their rookie period. From then on, they would face the brutal fighting of the battlefield on their own.
Danger could indeed bring out a person's potential. The three battlefield rookies had transformed completely compared to a month ago.
Now, Mo Jingxian had taken over as team leader and officially become a ninja soldier.
The three moved through the woods in a triangular formation, fully alert and constantly checking for traps.
After nearly a month of infiltration and counter-infiltration, the forest had become a slaughterhouse.
Konoha Ninja laid traps, and the Sand Ninja did the same.
They traded blows, sometimes laying traps over each other's, until each side was caught up in the other's web.
"Check the area for information."
Mo Jingxian ordered the team to stop. They gathered intelligence every few minutes.
"Byakugan, activate!"
"No enemies within five kilometers... Wait, there are enemies hiding at Outpost 34. They're closing in on the squad stationed there."
Mo Jingxian immediately drew a signal flare and fired it into the sky.
His movements were brisk and precise, without a hint of hesitation.
"Move out and support them."
"Yes!" x2
--
Outpost 34.
As a veteran, Kumagai Yamato had plenty of battlefield experience.
Though his talent had only gotten him to Chunin level at nearly thirty, he was one of the few ninjas who had survived the Second Ninja World War.
There had been countless ninjas more talented than him, stronger than him, even hailed as prodigies at the time.
Most of them had fallen on the battlefield. He, with only Chunin-level strength, had survived.
Luck aside, caution was the key to surviving a battlefield.
"Rikimaru, go check the traps again. Hurry."
"Captain, we just checked them this morning. Is that really necessary?"
A sharp flick to the head landed on the newly graduated Genin.
"Why so many questions? Just go."
"Honestly, why all the fuss? If enemies show up, we can just kill them."
Rikimaru grumbled as he reluctantly headed into the woods.
The other Genin noticed Kumagai Yamato looking his way.
"Captain, I'll check the traps along our escape route."
With that, he turned and ran off.
Kumagai Yamato shook his head helplessly. "Those kids are all such a handful."
He mentally reviewed everything that might have been overlooked while keeping his hands busy.
In the open space at the outpost, he buried several Explosive Tags, connecting them with delayed fuses. The other end was tied to an inconspicuous dead branch.
Just as he was about to set a few more, a burst of fireworks suddenly blossomed in the sky five miles away.
The fireworks were beautiful, but the signal they carried was dangerous.
Enemies nearby.
This was bad!
Rikimaru hadn't returned yet.
The enemy had arrived faster than expected.
Just as the thought crossed Kumagai Yamato's mind, a violent explosion rang out nearby.
A trap had triggered an Explosive Tag, right in the direction Rikimaru had gone.
There was no time to think. Kumagai Yamato immediately entered combat mode.
"Captain... It's me. Don't use a jutsu!"
The two Genin came running back in a panic, afraid their captain might accidentally hit them.
"Lucky us. Get ready to fight."
There was no time to prepare. A battle could break out at any moment.
An earthen dragon plowed through the traps like a bulldozer, barreling toward the outpost.
The enemy's plan to sneak in had failed, so they immediately launched a direct assault.
Most Sand Ninja were Earth or Wind Release users. Earth Release: Earth Flow was perfect for clearing a path.
In the end, the traps had only forced the enemy to expend a large amount of chakra.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Kunai and Shuriken flew toward the newly appeared enemy. Some of the Shuriken had burning Explosive Tags wrapped around their handles.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
After the explosions, most of the Earth-Style Wall had been destroyed, and a thick cloud of dust surged forward.
There was no sign of the enemy behind the wall.
Kumagai Yamato's heart sank.
The enemy was no nobody. He controlled Earth Release with effortless ease.
"Retreat."
The three abandoned the outpost. The enemy had already revealed himself, and there was no point in staying behind to die.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
The compressed gust was aimed at the three of them. Their attacker had no intention of leaving anyone alive.
It was a B-rank jutsu. Trees shattered in its path, and it gouged a deep trench into the ground.
The technique was powerful and fast. There was no time to block it with Hand Seals.
Their bodies couldn't move nearly as fast as the jutsu. In an instant, all three were trapped in a deadly predicament.
Kumagai Yamato had been cautious his entire life, yet he never expected to die here.
It was just a shame he hadn't gotten to use his backup plan. He regretted not taking a few enemies down with him.
The tightly compressed gust, reeking of death, slammed toward them.
A wall of water appeared between them. Its ever-shifting, mirror-like surface sent the gust spiraling into the sky, where it exploded.
When Kumagai Yamato came to his senses, he saw that what stood before him was no wall of water, but a massive Water Flood Dragon shielding all three of them.
The Water Flood Dragon shrank and thinned, crossed a dozen meters, and slipped back behind the man standing in the treetops.
Seven identical Water Flood Dragons unfurled behind him. Including the first, there were exactly eight.
"Well, look at that! I've caught three Sand Ninja."
The moment the newcomer appeared, the enemy's pupils contracted, and they quickly huddled together.
Their captain pulled out a finely crafted puppet and held it in front of himself, unconsciously muttering in a low voice:
"Hydra—Mo Jingxian!"
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