Mitaraishi Anko

Mitaraishi Anko!

"How could it be her?"

Looking at the person before him, Yun Xi's face flickered with confusion.

Although Mitaraishi Anko hadn't yet become a Special Jōnin of Konoha,

she was still an elite Chunin.

And Yun Xi's current status was nothing more than that of an ordinary civilian.

By all rights, they shouldn't have had any connection at all...

"What took you so long to open the door? What are you up to, kid?"

Mitaraishi Anko ignored Yun Xi's surprise and walked straight into his room.

After casually finding a place to sit, she introduced herself. "Let me start by introducing myself. I'm Mitaraishi Anko, an elite Chunin of Konoha."

"Mm..."

Though Yun Xi didn't know why Mitaraishi Anko had come to his home, he didn't ask her outright.

He gave a quiet reply and slowly walked over to her.

While regarding her with a puzzled look, he wondered why she had come to his house...

"Don't be so curious."

Seeing how surprised Yun Xi was, Mitaraishi Anko walked right up to him and said, "Lord Hokage sent me to find you."

"Lord Hokage?"

At her words, an image instantly came to Yun Xi's mind: an old man with a head of white hair, dressed in a Hokage's cloak.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He was undoubtedly one of the strongest shinobi in the early part of the story. Not only did he bear the title of Professor of Ninjutsu, he also had a unique personal charm.

Although many people in his previous life branded the Third Hokage a goody-goody,

Yun Xi...

didn't actually dislike the man that much.

"What does Lord Hokage want with me?"

Yun Xi had already guessed the real reason the Third Hokage was looking for him, but he still asked Mitaraishi Anko directly.

After all, being too clever wasn't always a good thing!

"Actually, it's nothing much."

Mitaraishi Anko slowly stood up and moved to Yun Xi's side, glancing around as she murmured, "Why would Lord Danzo take an interest in someone like you...?"

"So she really did come because of that..."

Hearing this, Yun Xi could more or less confirm why Mitaraishi Anko had come to see him.

She just wanted to...

find out why Danzo had taken an interest in him!

"Lord Hokage told me to tell you to stay quietly at home for the time being. Don't go wandering around."

After looking him over, Mitaraishi Anko didn't find anything unusual about Yun Xi.

So she simply passed along the warning the Third Hokage had given her.

After that, Mitaraishi Anko didn't linger and prepared to leave.

But before she went out, she gave Yun Xi a blank look, then said, "If you run into something you can't handle, come find me."

"Is she offering to be my bodyguard?"

Seeing Mitaraishi Anko act like this, Yun Xi's lips curled into a wry smile.

Although Mitaraishi Anko was currently stronger than Yun Xi...

Yun Xi didn't really need the young woman's help.

The enemies he had to face weren't ones Mitaraishi Anko could deal with!

Even so, Yun Xi thanked her sincerely. "Sorry for the trouble. I'll treat you to some red bean dango next time."

"Huh?"

Mitaraishi Anko, who had been about to leave, immediately stopped and stared at Yun Xi in confusion. "How do you know I like red bean dango?"

"Have you been investigating me?!"

In an instant, Mitaraishi Anko leaped in front of Yun Xi, hands on her hips, and stared at him suspiciously.

"Come on!"

Looking at Mitaraishi Anko's over-the-top reaction, Yun Xi felt a strange sense of helplessness.

He waved a hand to show her there was no need to get so worked up, then slowly explained, "Your name has the words 'red bean' in it, so red bean dango was the first thing that came to mind..."

"Is that all?"

Clearly, Mitaraishi Anko wasn't entirely convinced by Yun Xi's explanation.

But after looking at his face and seeing no sign that he was lying, she didn't press him. She left him with a warning to be careful, then added that she was still expecting him to treat her to dango, before walking out of Yun Xi's house...

"She's finally gone..."

Watching Mitaraishi Anko leave, Yun Xi let out a sigh of relief.

After closing the door, he slowly pulled the system's rewards from his clothes.

A Fire Release Ninjutsu manual that Uchiha Itachi had given him.

And the Fire Release Ninjutsu training method provided by the system.

Finally, half a copy of the Eight Inner Gates...

"I'd better start by training in ninjutsu."

After weighing his options, Yun Xi put away the Eight Inner Gates the system had given him for now.

Although the best training path for Yun Xi right now should have been to start practicing the Eight Inner Gates directly.

Combined with the Sharingan and basic Taijutsu,

it could quickly boost Yun Xi's strength...

But...

it would take too long.

Now that Danzo had his eye on him, Yun Xi didn't have that much time to improve his strength.

Ninjutsu was different.

Although Yun Xi's talent for ninjutsu was just as terrible as his talent for Taijutsu,

when he completed the hidden mission earlier, he clearly remembered receiving a reward: a buff that increased his chakra training speed tenfold!

With that buff, Yun Xi was confident he could learn Fire Release Ninjutsu!

Once he had his training plan in place, Yun Xi didn't hesitate. First, he took out the chakra extraction method he had obtained at the Ninja Academy.

Then he began training...

Chakra.

It was an energy created by perfectly combining the various energies within the human body.

It was also the source of energy used to perform ninjutsu, genjutsu, and Taijutsu, as well as to create threads for binding opponents or cutting through materials made of chakra.

The extraction method was very simple.

It involved drawing physical energy from each of the body's 130 trillion cells.

Then gathering it inside the body...

It could be said that no powerful shinobi could do without chakra.

Although Yun Xi himself lacked talent,

with the system's help, after just half an hour, a faint blue aura had appeared around his body!

Any ordinary shinobi who saw this would be astonished to discover that

Yun Xi, who had once been a dead-last student, could train in chakra at a speed rivaling that of a top genius!

That was the power of chakra!

At that moment, Yun Xi could clearly sense the changes within his body.

Most noticeably, while training, he could feel a mysterious energy constantly being released from his muscles.

As Yun Xi felt the energy, it was also steadily strengthening his frail body!