Improvement in Strength

After cleaning up the battlefield, Captain Yamaguchi reassigned everyone's patrol duties.

This battle killed most of the Sunagakure ninjas, with only one Puppet Master escaping. Team 8's burden will be much lighter in the subsequent protection missions.

Sure enough, in the following five days, not only did the Sunagakure ninjas not appear, but even the usual Bounty Ninja raids disappeared.

The Mining Area remained peaceful until February 15th.

That evening, the Tokugawa Clan finally sent someone to the Mining Area to inform Tokugawa Shuo and the Yamaguchi Squad that they could return to the family.

Judging from his expression, he showed no joy at having obtained the mining rights, which inevitably cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.

Upon returning to the Tokugawa Clan in Matsudaira City, the head of the family, Tokugawa Yasu, still warmly welcomed the Yamaguchi Squad, leading Captain Yamaguchi by the hand to the banquet hall, during which he lavished praise upon them.

After all, he knew the details of the daily missions clearly through Tokugawa Shuo's reports, and the Yamaguchi Squad had done an excellent job in this protection mission.

Putting everything else aside, they killed more than 20 enemy ninjas, including a Jonin from Sunagakure. This sacrifice far exceeded the scope of their mission reward.

During the meal, watching the crowd constantly offering compliments but not actually showing much of a smile, Captain Yamaguchi finally asked the question that had been bothering him.

"Head of the Tokugawa Clan, is there another problem with the mining rights? We've been protecting the Mining Area very well lately!"

Upon hearing Captain Yamaguchi's question, the Tokugawa Clan patriarch stopped picking up food, remained silent for a long time, and finally said dejectedly, "Sigh! He still found out!"

The head of the Tokugawa Clan sighed deeply, picked up the wine cup on the table and drank it all in one gulp before continuing, "It's not your team's fault. You completed your mission very well. Tokugawa Shuo reports this to me every day."

As he spoke, the head of the Tokugawa Clan poured himself another drink. "This morning, the City Lord's Mansion issued an order suspending the bidding for mining rights and postponing it for two months. During this period, mining operations in the Mining Area will still be carried out by our Tokugawa Clan."

The members of the Yamaguchi Squad exchanged bewildered glances. It was clear that the City Lord was favoring the Kawata Clan; he was even postponing a date that had already been set.

"We paid to get information from the City Lord's Mansion, only to find out that it was the Second Young Master of the Kawata Clan who pressured the City Lord's Mansion to postpone this bidding process!"

It turns out that the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers has long been bedridden and is rumored to be nearing death. His two successors are now fighting tooth and nail for the position of Daimyo.

The Eldest Young Master supported by the Tokugawa Clan, like the Old Daimyo, has always been friendly to the Land of Fire, and should have been Daimyo natural successor to the daimyo position in this Daimyo.

However, the Second Young Master gained the support of Sunagakure and began to vie for the position of Daimyo.

Currently, the Second Young Master still holds the upper hand, causing the various nobles of Land of Rivers to waver. The City Lord of Matsudaira City is among those who have begun to gravitate towards the Second Young Master.

After some conversation, Taiichi others understood the whole story, but it was no longer within the scope of Team 8's mission, and they could only express their inability to help.

However, Captain Yamaguchi also stated that he would report the situation to the Hokage-sama, and the subsequent handling would be decided by the Village Higher-Ups.

After the banquet, the head of the Tokugawa Clan specially increased the reward for the mission as compensation for this task.

Because of this unexpected turn of events at the end of the mission that affected Konoha, the team didn't linger after completing the final mission confirmation and rushed towards Konoha without stopping.

Without the burden of ordinary people, the ninjas traveled very quickly, and Team 8 returned to Konoha in just three days.

The squad was disbanded, Captain Yamaguchi reported the unexpected events of the mission to the Hokage alone, while Taiichi and the other two went home.

It was already a long-term mission, during which they were constantly harassed by the enemy and unable to rest. Finally, due to intelligence reasons, they had to travel overnight.

The team was exhausted. Back in their new home, Taiichi took a hot bath to relieve his fatigue and then lay comfortably on the big bed, taking stock of what he had gained from the mission.

[Congratulations, your Genin class level has been upgraded to Lv10 (0/2000)]

[Attribute Points +1, Skill Points +1]

[Fire Nature Transformation Lv10 (1562/2000)]

At this rate, I should be able to accumulate 2000 experience points for Lv10 before this year's Chunin Ninja Exams. As long as I pass the village's assessment, both my actual ninja level and my character's stats will advance smoothly.

This year, I'm finally no longer Genin).

I glanced at the final evaluation on the panel.

[Comment: Your status Genin makes you "proud," but I wonder how long you'll continue like this. Do you really want to be Eternal Genin?]

Proud! Taiichi's eye twitched.

That's fucking proud!

This panel evaluation seems to indicate considerable dissatisfaction with oneself, as it has already begun to use sarcastic and ironic language, mentioning "Eternal Genin" (a derogatory term for someone who is considered a low-ranking ninja).

Taiichi closed the panel, deciding to avoid seeing it altogether.

Thinking about his Fire Nature Transformation, he was only a little over 400 points away from reaching the maximum level of Lv10. Taiichi had a strange feeling that a special surprise was waiting for him after Lv10.

Taiichi was also full of anticipation for this.

Thinking this, Taiichi slowly closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Rewinding to the beginning, after Masasuke Yamaguchi reported on his mission.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the mission report on the table and sighed inwardly. What was bound to happen had finally happened. The New Year had just passed, Sunagakure was already making frequent moves.

"Go and inform Elders Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura to come to a meeting."

"Yes!" From the shadows of the office, a member of the Anbu appeared and then disappeared with a "bang".

Half an hour later, Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura arrived at the Hokage's Office one after another. The Konoha High Council F4 gathered together, and the small meeting officially began.

"Take a look, everyone!" Hiruzen Sarutobi handed the Mission Scroll on the table to Utatane Koharu, who was closest to him.

After the three finished reading it, the scroll returned to Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands.

The office fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of Hiruzen Sarutobi on his pipe, the smoke swirling around him and quickly obscuring his face.

After a long silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice came from the smoke. "Why didn't Root warn us in advance about the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers being critically ill? I only found out about it after other mission teams sent back information."

The Second Young Master of the Land of Rivers has now gained the upper hand with the help of the Sunagakure Village, which is extremely disadvantageous to Konoha.

Shimura Danzō leaned on his cane, a sinister glint flashing in his single eye. It was the Team 8 again. Why were they always there whenever that monkey tried to harm him?

Damn Taichi Matsushita, damn Yohei Uchiha.

Composing himself, Danzo answered the Hokage's question in a somber voice, "Root does indeed have information that the Daimyo is critically ill, but the Eldest Young Master refuses to contact Konoha and deliberately keeps his distance."

This was not an intelligence failure, but rather a deliberate act by the other side.

Utatane Koharu frowned and said, "Even so, as an important ally in this buffer zone, we cannot stand idly by and watch the Land of Rivers completely side with Sunagakure. The Eldest Young Master's distancing himself from Konoha is truly unwise."

Mitokado Homura adjusted his glasses. "The problem is, if we forcefully intervene, it will only provoke the plans of the nobles of the Land of Rivers. What we need now is a more covert approach."

Danzo snorted coldly, "Sunagakure has already openly supported the Second Young Master, what are we still hesitating for? We should immediately send Root to secretly support the Eldest Young Master's faction."

"I'm afraid things aren't as simple as we think!" Utatane Koharu voiced her concerns. "Judging from the Eldest Young Master's previous actions, he's showing signs of slipping out of our control."

"A mere child, barely out of his teens, not even holding the title of Daimyo yet, already dreaming of breaking free from our control. His ambitions are utterly unrealistic." Danzo mercilessly belittled the Eldest Young Master. "If all else fails, we'll simply support another one. The Daimyo of the Land of Rivers doesn't just have two sons."

"Absolutely not!" Hiruzen Sarutobi decisively rejected Danzo's proposal. "Not only is there no time to prepare, but even if we were to do it, it would arouse suspicion from other nobles and even neighboring small countries."

"The most urgent task is to rebuild trust with the Eldest Young Master," Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Danzo. "Root must immediately rectify this mistake, investigate the Eldest Young Master's faction, and establish effective intelligence channels."

Danzo narrowed his single eye. "I will handle this personally. But if the Eldest Young Master continues to refuse to cooperate, we must also make other preparations."

A brief silence fell over the office. Finally Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, "Let's try diplomatic channels first, and at the same time strengthen border defenses. If the Land of Rivers falls, Sunagakure will directly threaten the borders of the Land of Fire."

When the meeting ended, all four men wore extremely solemn expressions. The prelude to this great power rivalry in the Land of Rivers had only just begun, and Konoha had already fallen behind.

In the days that followed, Konoha significantly increased the number of troops stationed along the border towards the Land of Wind, and all outposts were notified to strengthen their daily vigilance.

Naturally, there has been an increase in such tasks, such as escorting supplies, guarding outposts, and border patrols. These tasks, which were rarely seen before, are now appearing frequently.

The Team 8 also took this opportunity to carry out many such tasks, thereby increasing their experience in this area.

June 23, Konoha Year 45

Taiichi's Training Ground.

Taiichi was practicing his swordsmanship. It's worth mentioning that at this moment, a layer of Bright Gold flame was attached to Taiichi's Short Sword.

The flames clung to the blade like flowing water, but the distorted air around them revealed that they were not as harmless as they appeared.

As the Blade Momentum danced, tiny sparks would occasionally break free from its restraints and scatter across the surrounding land, or even further afield.

The sparks that landed on the ground instantly ignited everything, expanding into Fireball that scorched a crater in the ground.

The sparks that flew far away seemed to crash into a transparent barrier, exploding into sparks and creating ripples on the barrier.

With a fierce slash, another burst of flame shot out from the blade, colliding violently with the barrier in the distance. The barrier finally succumbed to the pressure and, with a crisp sound, turned into specks of light and vanished into nothingness.

Taiichi then stopped his attack, looked around at the cratered ground, and gazed at the dissipated Barrier in the distance.

"The Sealing Jutsu is still too weak; the Barrier I've set up simply can't withstand the massive attacks from my own flames."

Looking down at the Short Sword in his hand, he saw that the blade still gleamed with a cold light and had not turned red or deformed due to the high temperature, and he couldn't help but smile.

At least now, when using the Flame Blade technique, there's no need to worry about damaging the Short Sword in hand. Thinking about Short Sword that have been damaged while practicing the Flame Blade over the past two months, even Taiichi couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

This is not only due to the improvement in Chakra Control, but also to the qualitative change in understanding of fire after breaking through the level 10 of Fire Nature Transformation.

[Fire Nature Transformation Lv11 (523/3000)]

[Chakra Control Lv10 (357/2000)]

[Sealing Jutsu Lv6 (836/1000)]

After glancing at the three skills he had focused on practicing over the past two months, with a particular emphasis on Fire Nature Transformation, Taiichi had clearly felt that his control over fire had become much more adept since breaking through to level 10.

To put it simply, in the current Konoha, Taichi is arguably Taiichi to none in terms of Fire Nature Transformation. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, in terms of fire-attribute mastery, might not have achieved Taiichi. If Level 10 is Jonin realm, then Level 11 is stepping into the Kage Level.

The exhilarating feeling of transforming into flame and being able to unleash all Fire Style at will at the moment of breakthrough is something Taiichi has never forgotten. And indeed, after practice Taiichi now perform all C-rank Fire Style without hand seals.

This phenomenon reminded Taiichi of the famous scene in the original work where Senju Hashirama clapped his hands and shouted, and whatever came to pass, he wished he could raise all his attribute changes to Lv11, or even higher.

Just imagine when he clapped his hands, and five elemental dragons filled the sky—that scene was no less spectacular than Senju Hashirama's.

Of course, it's too early to talk about these things now. Reaching Kage Level in just one Nature Transformation doesn't mean you have Kage Level strength. You also need other conditions such as physical fitness and Chakra Quantity reserves to achieve that.

But Taiichi now possesses the strength of a Jonin without a doubt.

Sheathing his Short Sword, Taiichi walked to the four corners of the Training Ground and retrieved the scrolls he had used to set up the Barrier. Looking at the four damaged scrolls, Taiichi couldn't help but sigh, "The damage is still too great."

This Barrier Ninjutsu was Taiichi learned from Kushina after reaching level 6 in his Sealing Jutsu. It was set up in his Training Ground to prevent the noise from his training from disturbing nearby residents. Of course, the most important thing was to prevent information about his strength from being discovered by those with ulterior motives.

However, while this Barrier Ninjutsu is effective, Taiichi's Sealing Jutsu skills are still lacking. The Barrier he sets up are always broken by the aftershocks of his own attacks, especially when practicing the Flame Blade. Whenever he unleashes a bit more golden flame, the Barrier will shatter.

This costs a lot of money; the scrolls used to write the Barrier aren't cheap, and each loss is equivalent to losing the bounty for a B-rank mission. This also forces Taiichi to improve his Chakra Control and Fire Nature Transformation much faster.

Taiichi put away the damaged scroll, formed hand Hand Seals, and earth-attribute Chakra surged. The ground of the Training Ground seemed to come alive, slightly churning and filling in the pitted and uneven soil, which then returned to normal.

This is also a basic application of Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld; it's quite effective at leveling land.

After Taiichi finished tidying up, he went out to the Training Ground 7.

Today should have been a rest day after the mission, but Taiichi received a assemblies order from Captain Yamaguchi through Jiji. That silly bird flew away without explaining anything, and no one knows what's going on.