Become a Genin

After tangling with an elite Jonin for so long, Li Yi felt he'd done pretty well. Unfortunately, he was still running out of time. He'd been keeping his head down in the village, and yet he'd still run into this kind of ridiculous mess. He was utterly at a loss.

He could only hope this huge firework would catch the attention of the Konoha Ninja.

At that moment, the Jonin had clearly figured out the purpose of Li Yi's jutsu. He chuckled and said, "Kagami, your student's pretty good."

As soon as the Jonin finished speaking, the Hidden Mist Technique dissipated. Li Yi froze for a moment, then let out a long breath of relief. This Jonin was a friend of his teacher's. It had all been a false alarm. No wonder—he'd been keeping his head down in Konoha, so it made no sense for a Jonin to attack him. Now he finally understood.

This had probably been his teacher's test.

Sure enough, Kagami Uchiha stepped out just then. He nodded to the Jonin first, then looked at Li Yi and said, "Very good. It looks like you haven't been slacking off lately."

Li Yi scratched his head. The Jonin said, "Your fundamentals are solid, and you know how to save yourself. You have a real talent for becoming a ninja."

Li Yi didn't know who this Jonin was, or how he knew the signature Water Release of Kirigakure. Still, since the man had praised him, Li Yi thanked him politely.

The Jonin then vanished with the Body Flicker Technique. Only then did Kagami Uchiha say, "With your abilities as they are now, you're ready to become an excellent Genin. Tomorrow, I'll recommend you to the Third Hokage. You may have to leave the village for missions after that, so prepare yourself."

Li Yi nodded quickly. He didn't particularly want to become a Genin, but since Kagami Uchiha had said so, he probably didn't have much choice. After all, practicing chakra and learning jutsu without wanting to become a ninja was downright unorthodox.

"All right, go home and get some rest." With that, Kagami Uchiha vanished again.

Li Yi had no choice but to head home. It looked like he was about to become a ninja—truly stepping into their ranks.

Fortunately, Kagami Uchiha would be with him. Otherwise, Li Yi would have been a little nervous.

That afternoon, Li Yi received his Konoha Ninja Forehead Protector. It meant he was officially a Genin of Konoha.

With his Forehead Protector in hand, Li Yi had no desire to make a show of being different. He simply tied it around his forehead. Kosuke watched from the side, then smiled once Li Yi became a Genin. "Li Yi, congratulations on becoming a true ninja."

Li Yi smiled. Becoming a ninja also meant going to war.

To celebrate, Kosuke specifically invited Li Yi out for a meal of grilled meat.

The next morning, when Li Yi got up, he saw Kagami Uchiha waiting at the door. He hurriedly greeted him. "Teacher."

Kagami Uchiha nodded. "You've only just become a ninja, so I'll take you to accept a few simple missions. It'll help you get used to things."

As he spoke, he set off. Li Yi followed him to the mission hall, where there were plenty of missions for Konoha's ninjas to accept.

The war wasn't quite over yet, and there were especially many refugees and bandits. They threatened the peace of the Land of Fire. Anyone who turned to banditry would face Konoha's wrath. But if they settled down and built a village, Konoha might even offer them protection. This was an unspoken rule accepted by the Five Great Nations.

War inevitably created refugees. As long as people settled down and reclaimed land, the Five Great Nations were quite tolerant. But if they caused trouble and tried to live off others' labor, they had to be ready to be wiped out.

After looking over the missions in the hall, Kagami Uchiha accepted one for Li Yi: wiping out a bandit gang. Now that he was a ninja, killing was his first lesson. Ninjas were, by their very nature, assassins.

Li Yi had already prepared himself. He'd seen it all when he followed Kosuke back to the Konoha camp, so he felt no aversion to it. If he wanted to survive in this Naruto world, these things were unavoidable.

After showing his exit permit at the village gate, Kagami Uchiha followed the mission scroll's directions and took Li Yi to the bandits' hideout.

When they were nearly there, Kagami Uchiha vanished with the Body Flicker Technique. The rest was Li Yi's mission. Kagami Uchiha had already gone out of his way to accompany him this far.

Li Yi took a deep breath, gripped his Ryujin Jakka, and started up the mountain.

This was a bandit den. There were no ninjas, just a group of refugees who had made the mountain their stronghold and robbed passing merchants and civilians of their supplies. They'd finally been given a bounty after crossing a high-ranking official of the Land of Fire.

Li Yi didn't rush in recklessly. The report said there were no ninjas, but he still needed to scout and make his own judgment. He sent a Shadow Clone to explore while he stayed by the entrance.

Before long, the Shadow Clone burst apart. Li Yi cursed under his breath. Weren't there supposed to be no ninjas? Why had his Shadow Clone been blown up?

From the Shadow Clone's feedback, Li Yi learned that a Fire Style jutsu had sent it back.

In other words, there was a ninja in the bandit gang who could use Fire Style.

Judging by the Shadow Clone's feedback, the man was probably a Genin, not a Chunin or a Jonin. The Fire Style he'd used was also a very ordinary Fireball.

Having made his assessment, Li Yi took a Kunai from his tool pouch and casually threw it, hitting two bandits on patrol. He charged in at incredible speed, Ryujin Jakka in hand, slicing through the throats of one bandit after another.

In this chaotic era, he couldn't afford to be softhearted. The mission was to wipe them all out, which meant leaving no survivors. It didn't matter why they had come up the mountain. Anyone in the bandit den was as good as dead.

Li Yi showed no mercy with his blade. Whoever he saw, he struck down with a single slash.

After each person Li Yi killed, a wisp of transparent thread was absorbed by Ryujin Jakka in his hand. At first, he hadn't seen clearly, but later he realized that the thread was indeed being absorbed.

Li Yi couldn't make heads or tails of it. He had no idea what was happening. But then he remembered that Ryujin Jakka was a Zanpakuto, and a bold idea arose in his mind.

Could he have to kill a lot of people to awaken Ryujin Jakka? Did it need the power of these souls to awaken?

Li Yi wasn't sure yet, but he would take things one step at a time. He'd find out eventually.

"Fire Style: Fireball!" Just then, a burly man on a rooftop formed Hand Seals and spat a huge fireball at Li Yi.

This was the same man who had ambushed and destroyed his Shadow Clone. Now he was trying the same trick again. How could Li Yi not be prepared?

As the fireball came at him, Li Yi flung a Kunai toward it. An Explosive Tag was wrapped around the Kunai's end. It was the only Explosive Tag he had, since the things were expensive. Kosuke had given him this one.