Leaving Takigakure

The morning after three days, Ye Wuji packed up everything. Of course, the blacksmith shop was also sold. As for the money from the sale, Mai took a portion as a finder's fee. Ye Wuji was furious, not because he was stingy with the money, but because Mai, as the daughter of the Takikage, would lack such a small amount of money.

After two years, Ye Wuji finally understood one thing: the Ninja Pouch could not store items without chakra. Scrolls like the ones Ye Wuji obtained could be stored, and so could shuriken. Shuriken could be stored because they were made of special metal, better than ordinary metal. Although they couldn't sharpen themselves by circulating chakra like weapons that amplified chakra, they were still better than ordinary weapons – more durable, sharper, and most importantly, had a very high melting point. Some might think a high melting point is useless, but it's incredibly useful. The temperature of a normal ninja's fire jutsu is at least 200 degrees Celsius, while special fire jutsus can reach thousands of degrees. If weapons with higher melting points aren't used, they can easily be melted by fire jutsu. I remember when Sasuke went to retrieve Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō, he was shot at by dense crossbows. Weren't all those arrows melted by Sasuke's fire jutsu? If the weapon had a high melting point, it wouldn't have been like that. Furthermore, some ninja ninjutsu require cooperation with the ninja world. For example, the Uchiha Clan's Phoenix Sage Fire Technique usually involves mixing shuriken within it to injure opponents. If the shuriken are of poor quality and melt instantly from the fire, how can they cooperate? This is also why ninja tools differ from ordinary weapons.

Using the Ninja Pouch, one can seal space and carry more kunai and shuriken. After all, ninja weapons are primarily for throwing; using long swords is a minority. If you run out of weapons like kunai, what do you do? Go empty-handed?

In these two years, Ye Wuji also experimented with using the Ninja Pouch as a spatial item like a spatial ring, but it was impossible. It wasn't entirely impossible, but you had to coat the surface of the item with chakra first, which was too troublesome. Perhaps only those who were extremely bored would do such a thing.

The boomerangs Ye Wuji crafted were made of ordinary metal and couldn't be placed in the pouch. He also tried coating them with chakra, but it didn't work. He had to coat the entire surface of the weapon, but as soon as he finished one side, the chakra on the other side would disappear. It seemed like some kind of sealing formula was needed, like how people in Naruto liked to store things in scrolls. Unfortunately, Ye Wuji knew nothing about sealing techniques at the moment.

During this time, Ye Wuji finally understood the knowledge of the Substitution Technique. The so-called Substitution Technique isn't something you can use whenever you want; it requires a substitute. Everyone knows this, but the substitute isn't just any rock or piece of wood you find by the roadside. It needs to be specially made.

The wood used for the Substitution Technique actually has the same properties as chakra test paper; it can absorb chakra. Only trees that grow by absorbing chakra are suitable. This kind of wood absorbs the chakra of the user, and after being processed with a specific jutsu, it becomes a Substitution Log. Using animals as substitutes is similar; the animal must be one that possesses chakra, and it's usually one you've raised yourself because you need to fix it with a jutsu. You can't just use any animal you find.

This knowledge was later told to Ye Wuji by Mai. Otherwise, Ye Wuji would truly have no idea. The usefulness of the Ninja Pouch can be seen from here: besides storing weapons and scrolls, it's also used to store Substitution Logs. Due to the limited space in the pouch, usually only one Substitution Log is carried. Of course, no one would stop you if you wanted to carry more, but a person's spirit is limited, and the Ninja Pouch isn't something you can have as many of as you want. Coupled with various other reasons, a ninja can basically only use the Substitution Technique once in a battle. If you fill the Ninja Pouch entirely with Substitution Logs, you can use it a few more times. Finally, if you find a rare Substitution Log material, one log can be used multiple times.

After learning these things from Mai, Ye Wuji finally understood why some people used the Substitution Technique frequently while others never used it at all.

Some ninjas, due to their own reasons, are simply unable to use the Substitution Technique. This is because the Substitution Technique is a ninjutsu where the ninja links themselves to the substitute log with a jutsu. This requires extremely stable chakra control and familiarity with basic ninja jutsu. In reality, this is very simple, and most normal people can achieve this. Of course, there are exceptions.

As for Substitution Logs, most ninja villages have them. If you can't find any, go look in the forest. Although this tree is relatively rare, you should be able to find it, as there are many trees in the Naruto World that can absorb chakra. If that doesn't work, you can go to a ninja shop and buy a basic Substitution Log, then use a jutsu to link yourself to it.

Because the preparation steps for using the Substitution Technique are relatively troublesome, and once prepared, normal people can perform it, the Substitution Technique is taught as one of the Three Basic Techniques in ninja schools. After learning it, even if you have no money, you can find wood yourself to make it. Of course, there are differences between high-grade and low-grade Substitution Logs, which is the delay effect.

Therefore, if a ninja reaches the Jonin level, they use the Substitution Technique less often. However, they still carry it as a precaution. Kakashi is an example. Why not use the Substitution Technique? Because Jonin can use other ninjutsu as substitutes, and they don't require such troublesome preparation of materials. For example, if you are an Earth Style ninja, can you use an Earth Substitute? Water Style with a Water Substitute, Wood Style with a Wood Substitute. As for Fire Style and Lightning Style, Fire Substitutes and Lightning Substitutes are not impossible, but Fire and Lightning are too difficult to master. To use these two types of substitutes, you need at least Kage-level strength and some luck to master them. Konoha ninjas master a type of Shadow Substitute using the Shadow Clone Technique.

From Mai, Ye Wuji learned that it's not just that. In fact, the so-called basic Three Basic Techniques should be called Four Basic Techniques. One of the techniques is actually the basic Escape Technique, which is a technique for escaping. Depending on its power, you can escape how far. This is the most basic ninja ninjutsu. And something Ye Wuji always found confusing while watching Naruto became clear. Back then, watching Naruto, Ye Wuji had some doubts because some ninjas could just leave whenever they wanted during battles, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

After understanding the basic Escape Technique, Ye Wuji realized that this is the Escape Technique. The five chakra natures are the five Escape Techniques. Generally, Earth Style and Wind Style are the most useful, followed by Water Style, then Fire Style, and finally Lightning Style. This is because the Escape Technique depends on the terrain. If you are in a place without water, you can't use Water Style, can you? Of course, Kekkei Genkai are not included in this. You can also use Wood Style. Considering the environment of the Naruto World, except for a very few environments, Wood Style is generally ranked after Earth Style and Wind Style.

Of course, Ye Wuji doesn't know the principle behind this Escape Technique. However, the Escape Technique still depends on strength. For ordinary people, escaping ten meters is already very impressive. The most powerful Escape Technique won't exceed a hundred meters. If the difference in strength is too great, this is basically useless.

But if the strength is similar, it's easy to escape. Although the distance is a bit short, you don't know which direction they ran, do you? This might not be a problem in open terrain, but in complex terrain, it becomes difficult to pursue.

So now, in Ye Wuji's pouch, besides those scrolls and weapons, he also put a Substitution Log. This Substitution Log takes up too much space, no wonder ninjas don't carry many. Ye Wuji's pouch can only fit one Substitution Log; any more and it won't fit. Although there is still some space left, Ye Wuji has filled it with the items he just mentioned.

When Ye Wuji finished packing everything, of course, the most important Hero Water was not forgotten. Then Ye Wuji walked out of Takigakure.

Standing under the largest waterfall, listening to the deafening roar of the water, three years later, Ye Wuji bid farewell to his Uncle Ukyo's family. Today, he was embarking on his journey alone.

He looked back at the great waterfall again. "Takigakure is indeed a good place. It's mountainous and picturesque, with beautiful scenery. If I had the chance to live here forever, it would be nice," Ye Wuji thought to himself.

No one came to see Ye Wuji off. Mai was supposed to come, but during their farewell yesterday, Ye Wuji understood everything. Moreover, Mai would also be leaving Takigakure, so they mutually agreed not to see each other off. Otherwise, Ye Wuji might have waited until after Mai left before departing.

"Ah!" Ye Wuji shouted in the end and left without looking back. Ye Wuji didn't ride a horse, although he had the money to buy one.

However, after so long, Ye Wuji knew that ninjas here didn't travel much slower than horses. If one rode a horse, they would also have to take care of it on the road, and horses were easily attacked by wild beasts in the wild. Therefore, unless it was a large team, most people were accustomed to walking. Even non-ninjas rarely used horses for travel. Furthermore, the roads in the wild were uneven, and horses couldn't run fast at all.

"You're just going to watch him leave like this?" On a tree by the waterfall, the Takikage said to Mai.

"Yes, we agreed," Mai smiled.

"You were supposed to leave today too. You delayed it by a day for him and didn't even meet him. I really don't understand what you're thinking," the Takikage said, looking at Ye Wuji's retreating figure.

"There's no rush. What's the difference between one day earlier or one day later? But after this farewell, I don't know if we'll have a chance to meet again," Mai murmured softly.

"That guy isn't going to make his name resound throughout the ninja world? Then, won't you be able to find him easily?" the Takikage said.

"Perhaps. Let's go back," Mai said, watching Ye Wuji's figure disappear, and then she left first. The Takikage also disappeared.