Fire Style Progress

Konoha Street.

The next day, after finishing his training, Taiichi strolled along the street, watching the crowds come and go, looking at the various shops on both sides, and recalling Tsunade's teachings in his mind: Where can he find the intense heat of the flames?

Ordinary flames are everywhere, but high-temperature flames are much harder to find.

Walking and stopping along the way, Taiichi unknowingly arrived at the weapon shop where he had bought the knife before. Looking at the various weapons in the shop, a smile appeared on Taiichi's lips.

Weapon forging requires high temperatures, right? Taiichi knew that the Short Sword he carried contained special metals with melting points as high as 2000 degrees Celsius.

To forge a knife from a metal with such a high melting point, the required temperature must be even higher—isn't that exactly what I want?

In Konoha, Kou Taiichi knew of more than one shop that forged such weapons.

After wandering around, Taiichi arrived at a blacksmith shop in the southeast corner of Konoha. He had heard that this blacksmith shop was famous for making knives, and he figured that a high-temperature furnace was essential for making a good knife.

Before even approaching the forge, a wave of heat hit you. The red-hot furnace illuminated the four walls with flickering light. The shirtless blacksmith swung a heavy hammer, striking the iron ingots on the anvil until sparks flew.

Taiichi slowly approached the furnace, watching the orange flames grow brighter as the apprentice pulled the bellows, their color shifting from orange to pale blue. With these changes, the flames in the furnace became even more intensely hot.

"Hey kid, you've been standing there for so long, are you trying to steal my skills?" The blacksmith by the furnace looked at Taiichi, who hadn't moved for a long time, and shouted impatiently.

This remark caused the apprentices in the shop to burst into laughter, and everyone made sarcastic remarks about Taiichi, who was standing still.

"Kid, go to school! This isn't a place for you!"

"Kid, you're not even as tall as this hammer, and you already want to try your hand at blacksmithing?"

Taiichi was staring intently at the fire in the furnace, was startled awake by the crowd. He raised his head, revealing the Headband that had been hidden by stray hairs on his forehead. He swept his eyes around, and his sharp gaze silenced everyone.

"Sir ninja, we are truly sorry. We meant no harm; we were just joking."

The leading blacksmith was quite bold and wasn't intimidated by Taiichi. After all, this was Konoha, a place with a well-known reputation, and the ninjas here were generally not bad.

Taiichi smiled upon hearing this. Of course, he wouldn't cause them trouble over something so trivial; he wasn't that petty.

"Master blacksmith, I simply wish to feel the temperature of the furnace here. Is that permissible?"

"Sir Ninja, the blacksmith shop is always busy and the temperature is too high. It's not suitable for you to be here."

"Clearly, he still had some reservations and didn't want Taiichi to stay in the shop."

Taiichi wasn't annoyed by this. He simply took out his wallet, counted out 100,000 taels, and handed it to the blacksmith. "Is this alright?"

"It's not about the money," the blacksmith hesitated.

Seeing his expression, Taiichi counted out another 100,000 taels from his wallet and handed it over along with the 200,000 taels he had just received. "Is this alright now?"

"Sure, sure, you can stay as long as you like, sir." The blacksmith immediately put on a smiling face, quickly took the money from Taiichi's hand, and stuffed it into the pocket of his insulated skirt with remarkable speed.

"Then why aren't you starting yet!" Having paid, Taiichi became unceremonious and went straight to the fire, feeling the high temperature of the flames inside.

"Did you all hear that? Get to work!" The blacksmith shouted, and everyone in the shop busied themselves in an orderly fashion.

Beside the furnace, feeling the roaring flames, every time the apprentice vigorously pumped the bellows, the flames in the furnace would suddenly leap up, and the surging heat would bake Taiichi's skin, causing the hair on his body to curl up as if it were being scorched by fire.

He could clearly sense that the temperature of this flame was much higher than the Fire Style he usually released, which was exactly what he needed now.

As Taiichi silently felt the heat, he gradually became dissatisfied, and his feet involuntarily moved closer to the fire until his body could no longer withstand the extreme heat, at which point he stopped.

The blacksmith who was forging knives nearby couldn't help but admire the ninja who was almost touching the furnace fire.

Being this close to the furnace is something even a foundry worker like him, who deals with forging furnaces year-round and is covered in heat-insulating oil, couldn't do. He truly deserves to be called a ninja.

At this moment, Taiichi was still not satisfied with the temperature, but unfortunately, his body had reached its limit and could not withstand any higher temperatures. Just as he was struggling with this problem, a flash of inspiration came to him.

Taiichi reached out his hand, slowly releasing Chakra into his palm, and placed it directly over the furnace fire, attempting to sense the temperature of the fire through his Chakra.

However, Taiichi, who had never trained in any Sensory Ninjutsu, could only sense a faint temperature through Chakra. Although he could feel it, it was as blurry as if he were looking through frosted glass.

Unwilling to give up, Taiichi released his spiritual power again, hoping to increase his Chakra perception through spiritual power. As Taiichi continued to adjust the fluctuation frequency between spiritual power and Chakra, he was so focused that he did not notice the changes on the panel at this moment.

[In a state of enlightenment, new skill Chakra Perception Lv0 (1/100)]

[During enlightenment, skill Chakra Perception experience points +10]

[In a state of enlightenment, skill Chakra Perception Lv1 (0/100)]

Just as his Chakra Perception reached Lv1, Taiichi's spiritual power and his Chakra finally synchronized, and a feeling as if he were surrounded by flames was transmitted back to his body from the released Chakra.

The intense burning sensation immediately overwhelmed Taiichi's mind, and his skin turned bright red as if it had been burned, with blisters appearing on it.

The intense pain startled Taiichi quickly withdrew his released Chakra. The burning sensation, now devoid of a medium for transmission, slowly subsided.

The foundry worker standing nearby was utterly dumbfounded. He had never seen anything like it before; the furnace fire was...

To be able to see himself as if he had been burned by fire, one has to admit he's a true ninja. The world is indeed full of wonders.

At this moment, Taiichi weak to pay attention to the blacksmith's sigh. After withdrawing his Chakra, he hurriedly checked himself and was shocked to find that he had extensive burns all over his body. It was truly unbelievable.

Leaving behind the words, "I'll come again tomorrow," Taiichi hurried home. He needed to get home quickly to treat his injuries, as such extensive burns were very dangerous and could potentially lead to infection, dehydration, or even shock and a series of other complications.

Back home, Chakra Scalpel to cut open his clothes. Looking at his body covered in blisters, he felt Taiichi chill run down his spine. He still couldn't understand how he had gotten injured.

But this wasn't the time to think about such things. He activated his Mystical Palm Technique and began to clean the blisters all over his body, inch by inch.

At the same time, his entire body glowed with a verdant light. This was the effect of the full-scale operation of the Yang Release Nature Transformation. Taiichi controlled the injuries all over his body through the nourishing effect of the Yang Release Chakra.

This continued for an hour before Taiichi had fully recovered from his injuries. By then, he was panting heavily and felt completely exhausted.

After resting for a Taiichi finally had the time to reflect on what had happened before, and the first thing he noticed was his own stats.

[Skill Chakra Perception, Effect: Chakra is you; it is the sum of all your senses, helping you perceive everything in the outside world. The strength and clarity are determined by the amount of mental energy used.]

Upon seeing this skill, Taiichi understood everything. It must have been a new skill he unconsciously created while sensing the flames, which was then fixed in the skill panel.

At that time, Taiichi was putting all his mental energy into observing the skill, which was in line with the fact that the strength and clarity of a skill are determined by the amount of mental energy. Wouldn't all of this mental energy make him feel as if he were actually there?

As for the subsequent injuries, they were clearly a reflection of the mind in reality, similar to the usual phantom pain or the Five Senses Control Genjutsu of the Kurama Clan.

Having figured all this out, Taiichi had just recovered from his agony, couldn't help but feel overjoyed. This Ninjutsu had a unique advantage in perceiving nature and various attributes, which would make it much easier for him to train in Nature Transformation in the future.

After reading these, Taiichi continued to look at the next panel prompt.

[Undergoing enlightenment, Fire Nature Transformation +1]

[Undergoing enlightenment, Fire Nature Transformation +10]

[Undergoing enlightenment, Fire Nature Transformation +100]

It seems that Teacher Tsunade's advice was correct, and my own observations and insights were also effective, especially the last one, +100 experience points, which was clearly increased when the Chakra Perception skill was fully developed. This further demonstrates the effectiveness of this skill.

After understanding his situation, Taiichi felt relieved. After all, anyone would feel uneasy if they were injured so inexplicably.

Taiichi then spent a day testing how effective the Chakra Perception Ninjutsu was when different amounts of mental energy were invested.

The next day, when the blacksmith saw Taiichi appear at the shop entrance unharmed, he was quite surprised.

He had personally witnessed the ninja leave this place covered in blisters yesterday, but he never expected that he would fully recover in just one day.

"Is the ninja here to observe the flames again?" Although puzzled, the blacksmith still asked politely, since he had been paid.

Taiichi nodded in confirmation upon hearing this. He had spent a lot of time yesterday testing the effects of Chakra Perception, and today he was here to verify it in person.

As the apprentice pulled the bellows, the temperature of the furnace gradually rose. Seeing this, Taiichi did not hesitate and released his Chakra to feel the flames in the furnace.

Hot, fiery, scorching, blazing heat—as his mental power gradually intensified, Taiichi clearly felt the sensation of flames burning through his body, experiencing the intense heat and ferocity of the flames.

For a moment, Taiichi felt as if he had transformed into a raging flame, burning intensely and releasing endless light and heat.

[During enlightenment, Fire Nature Transformation +10]

When he noticed that the panel was displaying a message about gaining experience every few minutes, Taiichi persevered even more diligently. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if he stopped, he would never have this kind of training speed again, and he would be devastated.

He persisted in this way until Taiichi's Chakra was almost exhausted, and no new notifications came from the panel for a long time Taiichi he withdrew his Chakra.

At this moment, he also knew that this opportunity had come to an end, and if he wanted to make further progress, this kind of...

The speculative method of trying to understand the secrets of furnace fire is no longer effective.

From now on, I will either have to cultivate myself diligently or go out and contemplate nature.

In the short half-day of reflection today, I gained a total of 150 experience points from the Fire Nature Transformation.

Suppressing his joy, Taiichi left the shop.

Taiichi didn't waste any time upon his return. Although his Chakra was running low, he could continue training in Taijutsu and swordsmanship. As long as you wanted to practice, there was always something you could do, even if it was just reading.

For the next few days, Taiichi was engrossed in practicing Fire Release Ninjutsu until the day he had agreed upon with Yohei and Saori arrived.

That day, Taiichi went to Training Ground 3 early, but to his surprise, Yohei and Saori were even earlier.

Just as Taiichi appeared, Yohei's voice came over.

Taiichi, you're late!

Taiichi looked up at the rising Sun Barrier in the east, and a bead of cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

"Am I misunderstanding the concept of 'evening, 'Yohei?" Taiichi asked irritably.

Haha, don't take it so seriously, it was just a joke.

At this moment, Taiichi also approached the two. Seeing that they had fully recovered and were in much better spirits, Taiichi was genuinely happy.

"Looks like everyone's had a great time these past few days!"

"That's right. I've been undergoing hellish training every day these past few days, and my strength has improved significantly." As he spoke, Yohei Ping spread his arms wide, making an exaggerated hugging motion.

Saori, standing next to her, nodded slightly as well, clearly having worked hard these past few days.

"Oh, then how about we have a match first!" Taiichi also became interested.

"Ah~ then a one-on-one match won't work, we won't be able to test your strength that way." Yohei scratched his head, still a little embarrassed.

"Why don't you just say you want a two-on-one match? What's there to be shy about? We're here to get to know each other through friendly competition."

"Haha, then we won't be polite!" Yohei said excitedly, winking at Saori beside him.

Seeing this, Taiichi knew perfectly well that these two had come here early in the morning, clearly having already planned to join forces to deal with him.

But this also piqued Taiichi's interest, considering how much progress he had made in the past few days.

The three arrived at the center of the arena, formed Seal of Confrontation, and signaled the start of the competition.

Yohei launched the first attack, activating his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and simultaneously throwing out four Kunai.

Taiichi calmly drew his Short Sword; such an attack was child's play to him.

Just as Taiichi was about to slash at the incoming Kunai, the four Kunai collided with each other in mid-air, cleverly changing direction and attacking different positions Taiichi.

This change was truly unexpected for Taiichi. He quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the two Kunai while swinging his Short Sword to narrowly deflect the other two Kunai that he couldn't dodge.

At this moment, Saori, who had been waiting on the side, also completed the Hand Seals Saori: Lightning Style: Lightning Ball.

Compared to the Lightning Ball Saori used before, this time she cast the spell faster and timed it more accurately. More importantly, she didn't just launch one Lightning Ball, but seven or eight in a row, shooting over Taiichi during the gaps when he was slashing away the Kunai.

"Great teamwork!" Taiichi praised.

If it were before, Taiichi could have been caught off guard by them, but now, although it was too late to defend, dodging was a piece of cake.

With a series of Body Flicker within a small area, Taiichi not only dodged the Lightning Ball attack but also closed in on Yohei, who was preparing for close combat.

The chaotic electric currents that surged after the Lightning Ball exploded indicated that this was not just a single lethal Ninjutsu; if Taiichi had been Taiichi slower to defend or escape, he would likely have been paralyzed on the spot.

Yohei was quite surprised to see Taiichi appear in front of him so quickly. Taiichi's Body Flicker Technique had obviously improved a lot. Not only was he faster, but he could also use it multiple times in a small area. Fortunately, he now had the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to see it clearly.

The Kunai clashed with the Short Sword, and the two were evenly matched. Yohei relied on the agility of the Kunai to press Taiichi closely and attack, completely denying Taiichi the advantage of using a long weapon.

Taiichi was also very surprised. The Sharingan truly lived up to its reputation as one of the three great Dōjutsu. Yohei had activated the Three-Tomoe, was completely different from before. In the past, he could be defeated in just a few moves, but now he could fight Taiichi with great Taijutsu.

Saori, having finished Saori Ninjutsu, looked at the two entangled together and abandoned her own Ninjutsu, drawing Kunai and charging straight into the fray.

Taiichi brandished his Short Sword, fighting two opponents at once. Facing the pincer attack from Yohei and Saori, he defended with ease. As the three fought for longer, Taiichi could also feel the rapid improvement of the two.

Both their coordination and their moves are more threatening than at the beginning.

Taiichi was happy to fight alongside the two, which not only allowed him to familiarize himself with their fighting styles but also enabled Yohei and Saori to fully utilize their abilities.

Taiichi, powerful strike when he could no longer sense their progress.

"Great progress, Yohei, Saori," Taiichi praised. "But watch out, I'm getting serious!"