Dust Release Takes Shape

Ishikawa calmly formed Hand Seals.

"Earth Release: Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

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

But the corners of Deidara's mouth curled into a smile.

"Explode!"

BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A cloud of smoke instantly engulfed the entire arena as all ten spiders exploded at once.

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

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

Each clay bird had a bee right behind it, the bee holding a piece of metal aloft with both hands.

"Ha!"

Deidara let out a shout.

Bang bang bang~

A series of miniature explosions rang out.

The shock waves from the densely packed bees propelled the birds, which used the force to adjust their wings and hurtled toward Ishikawa from all directions at terrifying speed.

Gasps rose from the audience. Deidara's control was already far beyond Chunin level; he could create clay creatures capable of flying with such precision and stability.

Ishikawa had no choice but to use Earth Release to defend himself from every direction and dodge.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Explosions rang out one after another around Ishikawa.

Each bird's blast wasn't particularly powerful, but with so many of them, the toll was considerable.

Ishikawa's defenses began to falter.

"Stop!"

The examiner called out, "You've graduated, Deidara!"

Deidara recalled his clay birds and burst into laughter.

In truth, Deidara's graduation test was just a formality.

Everyone knew his skills far surpassed those of a Genin. He had simply failed to graduate early because he was too stubborn.

Deidara basked in the applause, then looked up at the audience, his gaze settling directly on Jingxin.

There was no smugness or showboating in his eyes, only pure anticipation. He was waiting for Jingxin's opinion.

After stepping down, the students gathered around to congratulate Deidara.

The instructors were also discussing his performance, their words full of praise.

But Deidara only gave a few perfunctory replies before pushing through the crowd and heading straight for Jingxin.

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

Jingxin stood and went to meet Deidara.

The two met in the passage beneath the stands.

Deidara looked at Jingxin and asked outright, "Well?"

His tone was calm, but Jingxin could hear the nervousness beneath it.

The proud boy actually cared a lot about what he thought.

Jingxin smiled. "Very good."

Deidara's lips curled up slightly, but he quickly forced them back down. "But? Hm."

"But..." Jingxin paused. "There's room for improvement."

Damn it!

Why were you beating around the bush?!

Deidara gritted his teeth, but the irritation sparked by Jingxin's evasiveness was quickly swallowed up by his eagerness to learn. "Let's hear it! Hm!"

Jingxin offered his advice. "The bees can propel the birds, but the energy efficiency is too low. The birds fly at twenty meters per second, which is quite a bit faster than when you threw them before, leaving your opponent much less time to react and dodge. But it still isn't fast enough."

Deidara frowned. "So I need to improve the energy efficiency? Hm..."

"Exactly." Jingxin pointed out, "You could use hard clay, or even a steel tube sealed at one end. Put the bee below and the bird above, completely sealing off the space inside. When the bee explodes, the sealed space will expand rapidly. But because the 'clay or steel tube' can't be moved, all the energy will go toward propelling the bird."

To put it simply, it was similar to the principle behind firearms in Jingxin's previous life, though not exactly the same.

After hearing him out, Deidara felt a rush of excitement and could hardly wait to try it. He ran outside, calling over his shoulder, "See you next month! Hm!"

He sounded completely serious; he wasn't joking at all.

Jingxin smiled. "I'll be waiting."

A year later.

Training Ground.

The chakra lamps on the rock walls had gone out, and the entire training ground was shrouded in deep darkness. Only the center was lit by a faint but pure white glow.

Jingxin sat cross-legged in the middle of the light, forming a complex seal in front of his chest.

Beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his breathing was slow and deep.

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

Crimson fire, blue-gray wind, and ochre earth.

The three colors intertwined and seeped into one another, trying to fuse into the legendary pure white that could break everything down into atoms.

But whenever they neared the point of fusion, the balance would break. The chakra would grow unstable, and the light would begin to flicker.

Then...

Pop~

A soft burst rang out. All three masses of chakra dissipated at once, turning into turbulent currents that brushed Jingxin's cheeks.

A trace of fatigue passed through Jingxin's crimson Sharingan.

"That's enough for today."

He already had more than enough chakra. What he lacked now was training experience.

Two months earlier, Jingxin had begun using Shadow Clones to train in Dust Release.

Counting the repetitions performed by his Shadow Clones, Jingxin had attempted this step nearly two hundred thousand times.

Jingxin's talent came entirely from the system's Linear Potential. In terms of his natural talent as a ninja, he was far inferior to Ōnoki.

Jingxin got up and returned home. After getting ready, he lay down on his bed and dispelled his Shadow Clones. His legs stiffened, and he passed out.

The next day.

It was the same training ground.

Jingxin took a deep breath and formed Hand Seals again.

Three masses of chakra, three sources, three natures.

Jingxin began attempting to fuse them once more.

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

This time, he no longer pursued speed, but precision.

The path of every wisp of energy, the balance at every point, every change from millisecond to millisecond—all of it was precisely calculated and adjusted.

Earth and wind made contact first.

Ochre and blue-gray intertwined, slowly beginning to fuse.

This wasn't a simple mixture, but a fusion of natures: the weight of earth gave wind substance, while the sharpness of wind gave earth an edge.

The light began to change, the two colors gradually blending into a pale grayish white.

Jingxin's breathing grew even slower, almost stopping.

He focused all his attention on the space between his hands, sensing that delicate point of balance.

Then he added the nature transformation of fire chakra.

The crimson light seeped cautiously into the gray-white mass, like a thin thread.

A faint red glow began to appear in the gray-white light. The three colors were no longer distinct but flowed into one another, each containing traces of the others.

Jingxin maintained this precise control.

The proportions of the three chakra natures were nearly perfect: earth made up forty percent, providing a stable foundation; wind made up thirty percent, providing the sharpness to break things down; and fire made up thirty percent, providing the heat of annihilation.

They no longer repelled one another. Instead, they began to truly fuse.

The light grew paler and purer.

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

A strand of pure white light appeared between Jingxin's palms.

The light was faint, no bigger than a fingernail. It flickered like a candle in the wind, as if it might go out at any moment.

But it was real, and it was slowly and steadily growing.