Chakra!

"I'm fine, just exhausted my power. A little rest is all I need!" Li shook his head slightly, a smile appearing on his pale face; he didn't want Kushina to worry.

Seeing Li's complexion, Kushina felt deeply guilty. It was clear that all of this had been caused by her, so why was Li the one suffering the consequences? Kushina felt indignant and incredibly sorry for Li, her eyes reddening as she crouched before him.

"Alright, Kushina, I've said it before: no matter what I do, I have no regrets. Even if I had to choose again regarding last night, I still wouldn't give up on saving you!" Li patted the back of Kushina's head and said softly.

"Why... why are you so good to me? I'm just... just a girl everyone hates. Why would you go to such lengths for me?" Kushina, who had always been strong, shed tears for the first time. Though she didn't cry out loud, her expression perfectly conveyed the emotion and guilt in her heart.

"Kushina, I..."

Cough, cough!

At that moment, the Third Hokage suddenly walked over, puffing on a pipe. He glanced at Li with a thoughtful look. Interrupted by the Third Hokage, Li felt a bit annoyed, but he still stood up with Kushina's help and bowed slightly to the Third Hokage. Although he held a grudge against the Third Hokage for his actions, his own strength was still too weak to resist anything.

"Li, you've done very well. I can see you've reached your limit. Kushina, help Li go rest first; leave the rest to us to handle!" The Third Hokage looked at Kushina and said with a chuckle, appearing very approachable.

"I understand, Lord Third!" Kushina nodded respectfully. She still held a great deal of respect for the Third Hokage. This was because Kushina was still young and rather oblivious; she couldn't see the power struggle between the Third Hokage and Sunagakure. Otherwise, if she had known the Third Hokage was using Li as a pawn, she likely would have confronted him on the spot.

Li remained silent and didn't look at Uchiha Hao and the others. Supported by Kushina, he left the Training Ground. What happened next had nothing to do with him; even if Sunagakure wanted to pursue the matter, they wouldn't find any excuse. He trusted that the Third Hokage and his people would handle it well.

After being helped home by Kushina, Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku were already waiting. Both had faces full of anxiety, worried about Li. Seeing him being helped back in such a weak state, they immediately helped him to his room and laid him down.

"Brother Li, did they do something to you? Why have you ended up like this?" Uchiha Mikoto asked, glaring angrily.

"Hmph, the people of Sunagakure are too shameless! They actually sent a fierce, murderous Chunin to fight Li!" Kushina felt a surge of rage whenever she thought of how aggressive Sunagakure had been at the Hokage Office Building.

Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku were shocked to hear this. Fighting a Chunin?

"Brother Li, are you hurt? Let me see!" Uchiha Mikoto, full of concern, reached out to check on Li, but he caught her hand.

"It's alright, I'm fine. Just out of chakra. You all go out first and let me get some rest!" Li shook his head slightly. He was indeed exhausted; his chakra was severely depleted, and the overuse of his Sharingan had left his brain feeling foggy.

Since Li had said so, despite their worries, Uchiha Mikoto led Kushina and Uchiha Fugaku out of the room, leaving Li in peace.

Once the three of them had left, Li let out a soft breath and entered the System Space to check his points. This time, completing the mission had earned him five thousand points, and killing a Chunin had rewarded him with two thousand, totaling seven thousand. Added to the three thousand left over from exchanging for Flash Step, he had exactly ten thousand.

[System Space]
Points: 10,000

"The price for Three-Tomoe is exactly ten thousand points, and I have one chance to upgrade a Kekkei Genkai. If I use it, I could evolve directly into the Mangekyo Sharingan!" Thinking of this, Li frowned slightly, pinched his small frame, and ultimately shook his head. The Mangekyo Sharingan was powerful, but its side effects were too great. At his age of six, let alone using it for combat, even activating it would instantly drain his chakra and crush his body. It wasn't something he could handle right now. Unless he had the Sage Body, it wouldn't increase his strength but would instead become a long-term burden—a loss that outweighed the gain.

However, increasing his power was exactly what Li wanted most right now. With the title of a genius, he would inevitably face more difficulties in the future. To solve all of this, overwhelming power was essential. Ninjutsu? Li dismissed the idea. Among the many Ninjutsu, he couldn't afford the chakra for high-level ones, and he looked down on the low-level ones. Besides, the Uchiha Clan had a vast collection of Ninjutsu; there was no need to waste points on them. If there was one useful Ninjutsu, it would be the space-time Ninjutsu Flying Thunder God. It didn't require much chakra to activate, and with his elite Genin-level chakra, he could teleport several times. But since he already had Flash Step, Flying Thunder God wasn't of much use.

"I'll just keep these ten thousand points for now and make plans once my strength is higher!" Li shook his head helplessly, feeling an even more urgent need to increase his chakra.

Time passed quickly. When Li woke up again, the sky was already beginning to brighten. He blinked his groggy eyes, his mind clearing. He realized he must have slept for a long time; he had laid down in the afternoon, and now it was the next morning. It seemed that yesterday's battle had indeed been incredibly grueling.

"Hmm? My chakra has actually increased?" Li had just wanted to check if his chakra had recovered, but upon doing so, he discovered it had grown, nearly breaking through the limit of an elite Genin. He was only a step away from reaching the Chunin level.

"Could it be that exhausting all my chakra every time increases the speed of refining it?" Thinking of this possibility, a path for his future training appeared in his mind. Overall, he wasn't lacking in Ninjutsu; the only thing he lacked was chakra.

However, Li wasn't a fool; he wouldn't blindly push himself. While exhausting chakra could speed up the refining process, chakra was, at its core, a combination of physical and spiritual energy. Setting aside spiritual energy, the daily growth of physical cells had a limit. Over-refining would leave hidden injuries in his body.

"It seems I'll need to eat more nourishing food to replenish my body's cells in the future!" Li rubbed his chin. He finally understood why ninjas had such large appetites compared to ordinary people; it was because refining chakra daily consumed body cells, and to replenish them, one had to eat more. With this thought, he had an idea. Such nourishing items might be hard for others to obtain, but for Wenxuan...