"What?!" Deidara was indeed furious. "What makes you think... hm! Just wait until I blow you sky-high, then you can say that! Just you wait, hm!"
He turned and ran off, eager to improve his art.
Jingxin watched him go and nodded slightly.
That was exactly what he wanted: give Deidara a goal and let him use Jingxin as a testing ground for his art.
As long as Jingxin stayed in Iwagakure, Deidara would have to remain there if he wanted to keep sparring with him—and avoid being killed after losing.
And this was only the first step.
He needed to instill a proper sense of honor and shame in Deidara, and guide him onto the right path.
Time passed, and a year went by.
In an area outside Iwagakure, where strange rocks covered the landscape.
Vendors called out along the roadside, while crowds came and went, their faces alight with excitement.
"This is the fifteenth time."
"Place your bets, place your bets!"
A merchant from out of town saw the bustling scene and couldn't make heads or tails of it. He grabbed a passerby and asked, "Hey, what's going on here?"
"I heard there were too many rocks, so nobody planned to develop this place. How'd it get like this while I was away for two years?"
The passerby, red-faced and frantic, snapped, "Hey, don't grab me! I'm in a hurry!"
The merchant reluctantly let go and watched the man hurry away. "..."
Curiosity got the better of him, so he followed the crowd to a nearby spot and stopped at a viewing platform packed with people.
A sharp-eyed passerby cried out, "Look! Deidara's here!"
The crowd erupted.
"Looks like he's definitely going to win this time! Deidara! Win for me! I've lost on you ten times already! I'm begging you, let me win one back!"
"Heh. I'm betting on Kintsuchi again. Deidara's nothing compared to the great Kintsuchi."
Two figures appeared among the rocky outcrops, one after the other. Each stood atop a boulder, facing the other from a distance.
Deidara stared at Jingxin with a twisted expression and shouted, "My fifteenth application to graduate early! The test begins!! Hm!"
Ōnoki couldn't even be bothered to supervise their little farce anymore. There wasn't even a referee; Deidara usually took on the role himself.
"Kintsuchi!!!" Deidara glared at the boy across from him. "This time, I'm definitely beating you! I'm definitely beating you!! Hm!!!"
Over the past year, he had challenged Jingxin again and again.
But he lost every time.
And Jingxin deliberately gave him the illusion that "if you just try a little harder, you'll beat me."
Under the strain of his long, grueling training, Deidara's mindset began to change in subtle ways.
His love of explosions was gradually being overtaken by his desire to defeat Jingxin.
Fifteen times!
A full fifteen times!!
If he didn't beat Jingxin now, he wouldn't graduate early.
At this rate, he'd end up graduating on time!
Across from Deidara, Jingxin wore an Anbu mask from Iwagakure. Beneath it, he struggled to keep a straight face. "Let's see how much you've improved."
That tone—the sort of thing an older person would say to a younger one—sent Deidara over the edge. Visible wisps of heat seemed to rise from his head.
Jingxin was nine, and Deidara was nearly twelve.
There was no way he could stand Jingxin talking to him like that. He really couldn't.
"Die! Hm!!!"
The battle began.
The battle ended.
Even after giving it everything he had, he still couldn't do it?
Deidara lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.
Jingxin came over to comfort him as usual, even deliberately panting as he spoke. "Phew... you almost had me."
How many times had he said "almost" now?
Deidara's eyes focused. Looking at the Fox Mask before him, he calmly said, "See you next month."
He got up and left.
Jingxin waved to him in a friendly manner. "Keep it up, Deidara! You're only a little way from becoming Iwagakure's number one genius!"
In the distance, Deidara's stride seemed to falter for just a moment.
Tap.
The faint sound of footsteps came closer.
An Anbu appeared before Jingxin. "Kintsuchi, Lord Tsuchikage summons you."
Jingxin nodded and followed the Anbu to the Tsuchikage Building.
He could more or less guess why. His progress over the past year had been too obvious; Ōnoki must have a plan for him.
Tsuchikage Office.
Ōnoki said with a sigh, "Kintsuchi, I've watched your progress over the past year."
Jingxin replied calmly, "It's all thanks to Lord Tsuchikage and Iwagakure's support."
Ōnoki shook his head. "No, you've put in the effort yourself. Iwagakure only provided the environment. Your growth truly comes from within."
He paused, then continued, "Your strength has reached a certain level. I'm considering beginning your Dust Release training."
Jingxin's eyes shifted slightly.
Dust Release, a Kekkei Tōta and Ōnoki's signature technique.
Being taught a technique of this caliber meant that Ōnoki truly saw him as his successor.
"I'll follow your arrangements."
Ōnoki nodded with satisfaction.
He took six scrolls from his desk drawer and laid them out.
Ōnoki said, "But before you learn Dust Release, you'll need to prepare yourself mentally."
"Learning Dust Release may be difficult, and you might even fail."
"Kekkei Tōta isn't an ordinary ninjutsu. It requires exceptional talent and hard work."
Jingxin picked up the first scroll and opened it to take a look.
Then he read the second, then the third...
After going through all six scrolls, he fell silent. "Lord Tsuchikage, where's the Dust Release? It isn't written in here."
Ōnoki did his best to soften his tone. "These describe the training methods for the prerequisites to learning Dust Release, not the training method for Dust Release itself."
Jingxin: "..."
The six scrolls covered, respectively, training in shape transformation for Fire Release chakra.
Training in nature transformation for Fire Release chakra.
Training in shape transformation for Earth Release chakra.
Training in nature transformation for Earth Release chakra.
Training in shape transformation for Wind Release chakra.
Training in nature transformation for Wind Release chakra.
If ninjutsu training difficulties were ranked from D to S, with D the lowest and S the highest—
Mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique was currently an S+ in difficulty.
Then mastering Dust Release was four times as difficult as mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique.
To put it more simply, in the original story, Naruto once described a training exercise by asking a question.
The technique was so difficult it was like looking up with one eye and down with the other.
Dust Release would be like looking up with one eye and down with the other, while growing a third eye to look straight ahead.
"Ahem." Seeing Jingxin's stunned expression, Ōnoki hurried to reassure him. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Give it a try. These are only prerequisites, and even if you can't learn Dust Release, the training will still help you enormously in the future."
Jingxin nodded. "I'll do my best."
Ōnoki nodded. "Good. Once you've mastered these, come find me. I'll officially begin teaching you Dust Release."
After leaving the Tsuchikage Office and returning home,
the sky had grown dim.
As Jingxin bathed, he 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: Hard work always pays off. Your potential has no limits or bottlenecks.]
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