A Blessing in Disguise, New Skills (Please Bookmark, Vote, Tip)

Under the sunlight, the tranquil Xiao Nai River shimmered with rippling waves. Three men and a woman stood or lay across its broad surface.

The newly formed Water Clone, Taiichi, stretched his arms and legs before walking toward Yohei, who was lying on the water. He removed the bamboo basket from Yohei's back and slung it over his own shoulder.

"How about it? Without any interference, will you be able to practice faster?" Clone Taiichi said. With that, he headed farther downstream and began clearing the riverbed.

"Keep it up, Yohei!" Saori encouraged him from the side, then focused even more intently on picking up trash. The mission had been demanding to begin with. Although Taiichi's clone was helping now, the Water Clone still needed to be controlled by the original body. Splitting his attention between two tasks could never be as efficient as having two people working separately.

Watching the two of them silently help shoulder his burden, Yohei suppressed the surging emotions in his heart and focused on practicing water-walking.

Masasuke Yamaguchi, lying on the Large Green Stone by the bank, watched everything unfold and nodded approvingly. He was delighted to see the team members helping and supporting one another.

The only thing that surprised him was how proficient Taiichi was with Water Style ninjutsu, as well as how powerful his mental strength was. A Water Clone was not a Shadow Clone—it could not act independently.

A Water Clone had to be controlled personally by the caster. As for how far away it could be controlled from, that depended entirely on the strength of the caster's mental power.

The peaceful morning soon passed, though that was excluding the occasional splashing sounds. After Taiichi and the others ate the rice balls they had prepared in advance, they continued their unfinished "great undertaking."

In the noisy afternoon, after a full morning of practice, Yohei finally managed to stand on the water.

Although he was still standing rather unsteadily, and had to tread extremely carefully when walking.

Still, he began taking unsteady steps along the shallows, picking up trash. Being able to help with the mission filled him with motivation. He no longer had to simply watch his companions work with helpless frustration.

Taiichi, who was busy in the distance, saw Yohei working hard and smiled in relief. His companion understood how hard they had it and was striving twice as hard to lend a hand. That feeling was the most important thing partners could gain from each other.

As the sun set in the west, its fading rays scattered across the Xiao Nai River, reflecting patches of crimson clouds.

The three of them lay on the Large Green Stone by the bank, utterly exhausted. To speed up the mission's progress, Taiichi had created another Water Clone that afternoon. He had not expected controlling two Water Clones at once for such a long time to be this tiring.

At that moment, Taiichi felt as if his head were splitting apart, a sign of severe mental exhaustion. Fortunately, the three of them had finally managed to complete the mission on time.

Just then, Captain Yamaguchi, who had vanished for the entire afternoon, used Body Flicker to appear beside them. He looked at the now trash-free riverbed with considerable surprise. He had thought the mission would not be finished until nighttime, yet it had been completed by evening.

He did not ask any questions. Instead, he said to the three of them, "How are you? Still able to move? If there's no problem, let's head back. We can still make it in time to submit the mission."

Taiichi and the other two all got to their feet, expressing their answer through their actions.

Seeing this, Masasuke Yamaguchi immediately turned and ran toward the Mission Hall. However, he controlled his speed so that the three, exhausted after a full day's work, could keep up.

Mission Hall.

Captain Yamaguchi once again demonstrated how to submit a completed mission. After going through the procedures, they finally received the day's mission reward: 5,000 ryo in total.

According to the rules, the captain took half, while the rest was divided among the team members. But when it came time to give Yohei his share, he refused it.

"I really didn't help much today. Taiichi even did the work I was supposed to do. How could I possibly have the nerve to take a share?" Yohei explained.

After thinking it over, Taiichi and Saori agreed. If they could not even uphold the basic principle of dividing rewards according to contribution, then there was no fairness to speak of. If they had been in Yohei's position, they would have made the same choice.

Thus, Taiichi and Saori split the remaining 5,000 ryo. A day of hard work had earned them 2,500 ryo each. Thinking about it, that was barely enough to keep themselves fed.

"That's all for today. Go home and get some proper rest. We won't be taking missions tomorrow. Practice at home and digest what you gained today. As for our next gathering, it'll be at 9 a.m. the day after tomorrow, again at the Mission Hall. That's all. Dismissed." With that, he vanished in a Body Flicker.

Taiichi and the other two looked at one another. Taiichi was the first to break the silence. "Let's head out too. Today was really exhausting. We definitely need to rest well."

"Okay." x2

After returning home, Taiichi barely managed to prepare something to fill his stomach before lying down on his bed for a short nap.

Even now, Taiichi still felt a tearing pain in his head. It made him wonder whether the side effects of Shadow Clones were similar. There might be some differences, but they probably were not too far apart. No wonder the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique had been classified as a forbidden technique. It truly was dangerous.

However, today's suffering had not been in vain. Carefully controlling the Water Clone had unexpectedly unlocked two new skills on the panel: Chakra Control and Chakra Shape Transformation.

[Congratulations. By maintaining the Water Clone for an extended period, you have unlocked Chakra Control Lv5 (0/800)]

[Congratulations. By maintaining the stability of the Water Clone's form for an extended period, you have unlocked Chakra Shape Transformation Lv6 (0/1000)]

The two skills had started at Lv5 and Lv6 upon unlocking, but it made sense when he thought about it. He had practiced these things before. Medical Ninjutsu placed the greatest emphasis on Chakra Control. Taiichi's Medical Ninjutsu was not weak, so his Chakra Control naturally would not be low either.

The same applied to shape transformation. Attribute-based ninjutsu involved both Nature Transformation and shape transformation to some extent. Whenever he practiced ninjutsu, he was also practicing shape transformation.

Name: Taichi Matsushita

Class: Genin Lv1 (64/100)

Talents: Diligence Makes Up for Mediocrity, Academic Overachiever, Potent

Age: 7

Constitution: 19

Strength: 20

Agility: 18

Spirit: 23

Chakra: 13100 (15400)

Attribute Points: 13

Skill Points: 14

Fire Nature Transformation Lv6 (835/1000)

Wind Release Nature Transformation Lv6 (373/1000)

Water Nature Transformation Lv5 (593/800)

Yang Release Nature Transformation Lv6 (455/800)

Chakra Shape Transformation Lv6 (0/1000)

Chakra Control Lv5 (0/800)

Skills...

Evaluation: On your first day of missions, you were already tired like a dog. You still need to work hard.

There had not been many changes to the panel. The main difference was the addition of those two new skills. He recalled the memories that had flooded into his mind earlier.

Chakra Control was easy enough to understand. It was the ability to precisely control all chakra movement within his body. Ever since the skill had formed, that ability had clearly risen by an entire level.

The same ninjutsu now consumed 5% less chakra than before, while its power and controllability had increased by 5%. That increase and decrease were not as simple as one plus one equaling two. Moreover, the higher-level the ninjutsu, the greater the difference this effect would make.

Then there was Chakra Shape Transformation. It mainly affected the form and structure of ninjutsu. At higher levels, turning a single-target attack into an area-of-effect attack would be child's play. And among ninjutsu that had mastered shape transformation, the various forms of Rasengan were the most notable.

Thinking of the boost in strength these two abilities could bring, Taiichi could barely wait to start training. Unfortunately, his body would not allow it. His headache showed no sign of easing, leaving him unable to do anything.

It seemed he really would have to be more careful in the future, especially after learning Shadow Clones. Taiichi's Spirit attribute was exceptionally high; an ordinary Genin would have died long ago. Of course, an ordinary Genin did not have this ability in the first place.