Yin Xiang tried to channel chakra into his shadow. The chakra flowed down through his body, all the way to his feet. The final step was to inject it into the shadow.
But at that last step, his chakra didn't enter the shadow as he'd expected. Instead, it went into the ground, which sank a little with a rumble. The shadow didn't react at all.
"It didn't work..." Yin Xiang murmured, releasing the hand seal. With his precise chakra control, there was no way he'd made a mistake injecting the chakra. In other words, Shadow Possession Jutsu didn't work by injecting chakra into a shadow.
"If I'm not supposed to inject it into the shadow, where should I put it? Or maybe I need to release chakra and wrap the shadow in it?" Yin Xiang wondered. He released his chakra again, spreading it over the shadow on the ground. A layer of pale blue chakra covered the shadow beneath his feet.
Under Yin Xiang's precise control, the shadow seemed to react ever so slightly. But it soon settled down again, rippling faintly, like the surface of a calm lake.
Even so, Yin Xiang noticed the subtle movement.
"It can work!" Seeing hope, Yin Xiang grew excited and poured more chakra into the ground beneath his feet. The shadow rippled more strongly, but soon returned to stillness.
"...Still no good?" Yin Xiang frowned, unwilling to give up. He tried again... and again. By the tenth attempt, he finally understood that this method wouldn't work either.
"Even if I can't use Shadow Possession Jutsu this way, at least I'm on the right track. If I keep studying it, I should be able to successfully imitate Shadow Imitation Jutsu." A smile spread across Yin Xiang's face. It was someone else's secret technique, after all; he hadn't expected to figure it out so quickly. Aside from Wind and Lightning Ninjutsu, he didn't have the kind of talent that let him learn any jutsu at a glance.
"Didn't realize it was already dark. Time to eat." Yin Xiang shook out his hand and went home. He made himself dinner, ate, and went to bed.
Early the next morning, Yin Xiang ate a little, then headed to Training Ground No. 3.
Shikaku had arrived too. They walked toward each other from opposite directions.
"What are we doing today? Taking a mission?"
"From now on, I'll be taking you on missions, so first I need to test your abilities. We'll do it here." Shikaku stopped in a clearing in the forest. It wasn't very large.
"Okay." Yin Xiang readily agreed, then darted far back and stood five meters from Shikaku.
This is a good chance to observe Shadow Manipulation Technique up close.
"Come on." Shikaku stood where he was and extended a hand, signaling that Yin Xiang could make the first move.
The goal isn't to win. It's to observe Shadow Manipulation Technique. Yin Xiang reminded himself of his objective, then grabbed a kunai and charged forward, engaging Shikaku in taijutsu.
Shikaku drew a kunai as well. Their kunai clashed, and Shikaku could feel how strong Yin Xiang's wrists and arms were. Yin Xiang drew another kunai with his left hand and slashed at him.
Shikaku put force into his wrist and knocked aside Yin Xiang's right hand, then blocked the kunai slashing in from the left. He kicked at Yin Xiang's chest.
Yin Xiang reacted by raising his right arm to shield his chest. Shikaku's kick struck his arm and sent him flying backward. Yin Xiang used the momentum to flip in the air, then landed steadily on the ground.
"Good strength, speed, and reflexes. Keep going." Shikaku evaluated his movements.
"Yes." Yin Xiang nodded, feeling a little excited. It was his first time fighting like a ninja, rather than getting into the petty scuffles children had. Even if this was just a test of his abilities, it still counted as a little real combat experience since becoming a ninja.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Yin Xiang formed hand seals and sent a Great Breakthrough toward Shikaku. As the gust rushed at him, Yin Xiang threw a kunai accelerated with Lightning Release chakra and charged after it at incredible speed.
The kunai moved so fast it seemed impossible to dodge. Yin Xiang's move made Shikaku's eyes widen, but it was already too late. The kunai struck Shikaku in the chest, and then the Great Breakthrough swept him off his feet. He tumbled a long way across the ground, looking utterly disheveled.
"Shikaku-sensei!" Yin Xiang hurried over. When he reached Shikaku—
There was a soft pop.
Shikaku's body on the ground turned into a log. A kunai pressed against the back of Yin Xiang's head. "Never let your guard down."
Yin Xiang slowly turned around. Shikaku stood behind him. As soon as Yin Xiang had started forming hand seals, Shikaku had secretly made the seals for the Substitution Technique. He hadn't known what jutsu Yin Xiang would use, but he'd still chosen to evade it with the Substitution Technique.
Shikaku felt lucky, too. If he hadn't used the Substitution Technique, he would have ended up like that log. This kid's move was impressive.
"He accelerates a kunai with Lightning Release, then uses Great Breakthrough to speed up the kunai even more. It moves so fast it can't be dodged. It looks like the Great Breakthrough is the attack, but the real threat is the incredibly fast and powerful Lightning Style Kunai. That's a great move." Shikaku lowered the kunai he'd held to Yin Xiang's head and praised him.
"But you still dodged it, Shikaku-sensei." Yin Xiang pulled his kunai out of the log. "You really are better than me, teacher."
"If I weren't, how could I be your teacher?" Shikaku said with a smile. "You're very strong. That Lightning Style Kunai just now wasn't a jutsu, but after being accelerated, it had the power of a B-rank jutsu, while using very little chakra."
"You have the skill. What you lack is combat experience. Once you've built up enough, the Chunin Ninja Exams will be a breeze."
"The Chunin Ninja Exams are still a long way off. I'll gain enough combat experience before then!" Yin Xiang said with a determined nod.
"Honestly, with your abilities, we could already take C-rank missions. But a C-rank mission requires a team of at least three, so we'll need to team up with others. The rest are still doing D-rank missions, though, so we can only take D-rank missions to pass the time." Shikaku explained.
"..." Yin Xiang was at a loss for words. "Can't we skip D-rank missions and just train until they're ready for C-rank missions?"
Before you continue