If I still can't win, I'll graduate normally.

"What?!" Deidara was predictably incensed: "What makes you think... hm! Just wait until I blow you to pieces, then we'll see about that. You just wait, hm!"

He turned and bolted, unable to wait a moment longer to refine his art.

Jingxin watched his retreating back and gave a slight nod.

This was good; give Deidara a goal and let him treat himself as a platform for testing his art.

As long as he did not leave Iwagakure, if Deidara wanted to continue sparring with him—and avoid being killed after a defeat—he could not leave the village.

And this was only the first step.

He had to properly establish a sense of honor and shame in him, guiding him toward the right path.

Time flowed by, and a year passed.

In an area filled with strange rocks outside Iwagakure.

Merchants hawked their wares along the roadside, and the passing crowds looked excited.

"The 15th time."

"Place your bets, place your bets!"

An outsider merchant saw this prosperous scene and was somewhat confused, so he pulled a passerby aside to ask: "Hey, what's going on here?"

"Didn't they say there were too many strange rocks and no plans for development? How did it become like this in the two years I've been away?"

The passerby turned red in the face and said anxiously: "Stop pulling me, damn it! I'm in a hurry!"

The merchant helplessly let go, watching the man's hurried back: "..."

This piqued his curiosity, so he followed the flow of people toward a certain spot, finally stopping at a grandstand packed with people.

A sharp-eyed passerby exclaimed: "Look! Deidara is here!"

The crowd grew restless.

"Looking at him, he's bound to win this time! Deidara! Win for me! I've already lost ten times on you! I'm begging you, let me turn things around!"

"Heh~ I'm still betting on Kintsuchi. In front of the great Lord Kintsuchi, Deidara isn't worth mentioning."

Above the cluster of strange rocks, two figures appeared one after another, each standing on a giant boulder, gazing at each other from afar.

Deidara looked at Jingxin with a ferocious expression and roared: "Fifteenth application for early graduation, the assessment begins!! Hm!"

Ōnoki couldn't even be bothered to manage this farce between the two of them; there wasn't even a referee, a role usually filled by Deidara himself.

"Kintsuchi!!!" Deidara glared at the youth in front of him: "I will defeat you this time! I will definitely defeat you!! Hm!!!"

Over this past year, he had launched challenge after challenge against Jingxin.

But every time, he ended in defeat.

As for Jingxin, he intentionally created the illusion that "if you just work a little harder, you can defeat me."

Under long-term, grueling training, Deidara's mindset underwent a subtle change.

His love for explosions had actually gradually fallen behind his desire to defeat Jingxin.

Fifteen times!

A full fifteen times!!

If he didn't defeat Jingxin and graduate early now, he'd be graduating normally in no time!

Opposite Deidara, Jingxin wore his Iwagakure Anbu mask, his expression beneath it struggling to remain composed: "Let me see your progress."

This tone, usually reserved for an elder speaking to a junior, made Deidara instantly lose his cool, visible heat rising from his forehead.

Jingxin was nine, and he was nearly twelve.

Being spoken to like that by Jingxin—he couldn't take it, he really couldn't take it.

"Die! Hm!!!"

The battle began.

The battle ended.

Even after giving it his all, he still couldn't do it?

Deidara lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.

Jingxin walked over to offer his customary consolation, even deliberately panting for breath as he spoke: "Hoo... I was almost done in by you there."

How many "almosts" had this been?

Deidara focused his gaze on the Fox Mask before him, his tone turning calm: "See you next month."

He rolled over and left.

Jingxin waved at him in a friendly manner: "Keep it up, Deidara! You're only a hair's breadth away from being the number one genius of Iwagakure!"

In the distance, Deidara's stride faltered for a fleeting moment.

Tap.

A faint sound of footsteps echoed.

An Anbu appeared before Jingxin: "Kintsuchi, the Tsuchikage summons you."

Jingxin nodded and followed the Anbu toward the Tsuchikage Office.

He could roughly guess the reason; his growth rate over the past year had been too obvious, and Ōnoki surely had a plan.

Tsuchikage Office.

Ōnoki said with emotion: "Kintsuchi, I have seen your progress over this past year."

Jingxin replied calmly: "It is all thanks to the cultivation provided by you, Lord Tsuchikage, and Iwagakure."

Ōnoki shook his head: "No, this is your own effort. Iwagakure only provided the environment; true growth depends on yourself."

He paused for a moment and continued: "Your strength has reached a certain level, and I am considering beginning your instruction in Dust Release."

Jingxin's eyes flickered.

Dust Release, a Kekkei Tōta, was Ōnoki's signature ninjutsu.

Instruction in a ninjutsu of this caliber meant that Ōnoki truly viewed him as a successor.

"I will obey your arrangements."

Ōnoki nodded in gratification upon hearing this.

He took six scrolls from his drawer and placed them on the desk.

Ōnoki said: "But before learning Dust Release, you need to prepare yourself mentally."

"Learning Dust Release may be extremely difficult, and it is even possible to fail."

"A Kekkei Tōta is not an ordinary ninjutsu; it requires extremely high talent and effort."

Jingxin picked up the first scroll and opened it to examine it.

Then the second, the third...

After reading all six scrolls, he fell silent: "Lord Tsuchikage, where is the Dust Release? It isn't written here."

Ōnoki tried to keep his tone as gentle as possible: "These are the training methods for the fundamental prerequisites of Dust Release, not the training method for Dust Release itself."

Jingxin: "..."

The six scrolls corresponded respectively to the shape transformation training methods for fire-style chakra.

The nature transformation training method for fire-style chakra.

The shape transformation training method for earth-style chakra.

The nature transformation training method for earth-style chakra.

The shape transformation training method for wind-style chakra.

The nature transformation training method for wind-style chakra.

If the difficulty of mastering ninjutsu were divided into D, C, B, A, and S.

To date, the difficulty of mastering the Flying Thunder God was S+.

Then the difficulty of mastering Dust Release was four times that of the Flying Thunder God.

To put it more simply, when Naruto was training in the original story, he once raised a question.

That technique was so difficult it was like looking up with one eye and down with the other.

Then Dust Release was equivalent to: looking up with one eye, looking down with the other, and simultaneously growing a third eye to look forward.

"Ahem~" Seeing Jingxin's stunned expression, Ōnoki quickly said: "Don't put too much pressure on yourself; just give it a try. These are only the prerequisites. Even if you cannot learn Dust Release, they will be of great help to your future."

Jingxin nodded: "I will do my best."

Ōnoki nodded: "Good. Once you have mastered these, come find me, and I will officially begin teaching you Dust Release."

After leaving the Tsuchikage Office and returning home.

The sky was growing dark.

While bathing, Jingxin opened his status panel.

Host: Uchiha Jingxin
Bloodline: Three-Tomoe Sharingan
Ninjutsu: Great Fireball Technique, Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, Body Flicker Technique, Earth Style: Earth Wall, Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, Wind Style: Wind Cutter Technique
Genjutsu: Sharingan, Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique
Taijutsu: Konoha-Style Swordsmanship
Chakra: 388
Combat Power: 155
System Ability - Linear Potential: Effort yields returns; your potential no longer has upper limits or bottlenecks.