Dust Release Comes of Age

Ishikawa remained unhurried, his hands forming seals.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

A thick wall of earth rose from the ground, blocking the path in front of the spiders.

But a smirk tugged at the corner of Deidara's mouth.

"Explode!"

Boom! Boom, boom, boom!

The ten spiders detonated simultaneously, the resulting dust and smoke instantly shrouding the entire arena.

Ishikawa immediately retreated, but suddenly, one—no, a whole swarm—burst out from the smoke!

A swarm of white bees and... little birds?

Behind every clay bird followed a bee, the bees holding their hands up, each clutching a piece of metal.

"Hah!"

Deidara let out a sharp shout.

Pop, pop, pop~

Miniature explosions rang out.

The shockwaves generated by the dense swarm of bees provided propulsion for the birds, which used that force to adjust their wings, flying toward Ishikawa from all directions at a terrifying speed.

A gasp erupted from the spectator stands; the ability to create such intricate, stable flying clay creatures meant Deidara's control far exceeded the level of a Chunin.

Ishikawa was forced to use omnidirectional Earth Style techniques to defend and dodge.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Continuous explosions echoed around Ishikawa.

Although the power of each individual bird was not significant, the sheer quantity made the consumption of chakra quite considerable.

Gaps began to appear in Ishikawa's defenses.

"Stop!"

The proctor shouted, "You pass, Deidara!"

Deidara retracted his clay birds and burst into laughter.

In truth, the assessment for Deidara was merely a formality.

Everyone knew his strength far exceeded that of a Genin; it was only because of his stubbornness that he hadn't graduated early.

Deidara basked in the applause, then looked up toward the spectator stands, his gaze locking directly onto Jingxin.

There was no arrogance or showing off in those eyes, only a pure sense of anticipation; he was waiting for Jingxin's evaluation.

After stepping off the stage, the students crowded around to congratulate Deidara.

The instructors were also discussing his performance, their words filled with praise.

But Deidara only responded perfunctorily, then pushed through the crowd and walked straight toward Jingxin.

Kurotsuchi raised an eyebrow. "Looks like he's coming for you."

Jingxin stood up and walked to meet Deidara.

The two met in the corridor beneath the spectator stands.

Deidara looked at Jingxin and asked directly, "How was it?"

His tone was calm, but Jingxin could hear the underlying tension.

This proud youth actually cared deeply about his opinion.

Jingxin smiled. "Not bad."

The corners of Deidara's mouth lifted slightly, but he quickly suppressed them. "But? Yeah."

"But..." Jingxin paused. "There is room for improvement."

Damn it!

Why are you being so vague, what the hell?!

Deidara gritted his teeth, but the irritation caused by Jingxin's roundabout way of speaking was quickly overshadowed by his thirst for knowledge. "Tell me! Yeah!"

Jingxin suggested, "The bees can provide propulsion for the birds, but the energy efficiency is too poor. The birds' speed is twenty meters per second; compared to you just throwing them directly, it is indeed much faster, and it greatly reduces the time the enemy has to react and dodge, but it's still not fast enough."

Deidara frowned. "So I need to increase the energy efficiency? Yeah..."

"Exactly." Jingxin reminded him, "You could use hardened clay or simply a steel pipe sealed at one end. With the bee at the bottom and the bird at the top, completely sealing the internal space, when the bee explodes, this sealed space will expand rapidly. But because the 'clay or steel pipe' cannot be moved, all the energy will be focused on the propulsion of the bird."

To put it simply, it was close to the principles of firearms from Jingxin's past life, though slightly different.

After hearing this, Deidara felt a rush of heat throughout his body; he couldn't wait any longer. As he ran toward the exit, he shouted, "See you next month! Yeah!"

His tone was very serious, with no hint of a joke.

Jingxin smiled: "I shall wait."

One year later.

The training ground.

The chakra lamps on the rock walls had extinguished, leaving the entire area shrouded in deep darkness, save for the center, which was illuminated by a faint but pure white light.

Jingxin sat cross-legged in the center of the halo, his hands forming a complex seal before his chest.

His forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, his breathing slow and deep.

Between his palms, three spheres of chakra were rotating slowly.

Crimson fire, cyan wind, and brownish-yellow earth.

The three-colored lights intertwined and permeated one another, attempting to fuse into that legendary pure white capable of decomposing all things into an atomic state.

Yet, every time they neared the edge of fusion, the balance would shatter, the chakra would turn chaotic, and the light would flicker.

Then...

Pop.

With a soft explosion, the three chakra spheres dissipated simultaneously, turning into turbulent air currents that brushed against Jingxin's cheeks.

A trace of exhaustion flashed through Jingxin's scarlet Sharingan.

"That's enough for today."

His chakra reserves were already more than sufficient; what he lacked now was training experience.

Two months ago, Jingxin had begun using Shadow Clones to practice Dust Release.

Counting the attempts provided by his Shadow Clones, Jingxin had accumulated nearly two hundred thousand tries at this step.

Jingxin's talent came entirely from the system's Linear Potential; in terms of innate ninja talent, he was far inferior to Ōnoki.

Jingxin stood up and returned home, prepared himself, and lay down on his bed. He dispelled his Shadow Clones, his legs stiffened, and he fell into a dead faint.

The next day.

The same training ground.

Jingxin took a deep breath and formed the seals with his hands once more.

Three spheres of chakra, three sources, three natures.

Jingxin began the attempt at fusion again.

Every day, Jingxin's understanding of Dust Release improved steadily.

This time, he was no longer pursuing speed, but precision.

The trajectory of every wisp of energy, the balance of every node, and the change of every millisecond were calculated and adjusted with precision.

Earth and wind made contact first.

The brownish-yellow and cyan intertwined, beginning to fuse slowly.

This was not a simple mixture, but a combination at the level of nature; the heaviness of earth gave the wind substance, while the sharpness of wind gave the earth an edge.

The light began to change, transitioning gradually from two colors into a pale, grayish-white.

Jingxin's breathing became even slower, almost ceasing entirely.

His entire focus was concentrated between his palms, sensing that subtle point of balance.

Then, he added the fire-attribute chakra nature transformation.

The crimson light, like a thin thread, carefully seeped into the grayish-white fusion.

A faint red glow began to emerge within the grayish-white light; the three colors were no longer distinct, but permeated one another, each containing the others.

Jingxin maintained this precise control.

The fusion ratio of the three types of chakra was nearing perfection: earth accounted for forty percent, providing a stable foundation; wind accounted for thirty percent, providing the sharpness for decomposition; and fire accounted for thirty percent, providing the heat for annihilation.

They no longer repelled each other, but began to combine in the true sense of the word.

The color of the light grew paler and purer.

From grayish-white with a hint of red, to light gray, to nearly transparent, and finally.

A wisp of pure white light ignited between Jingxin's palms.

The light was very faint, only the size of a fingernail, flickering unsteadily like a candle in the wind, as if it might extinguish at any moment.

But it truly existed, and it was growing slowly and steadily.