Rasengan

As the Explosive Tag went off, Li Yi's own tag scattered the fireball. Just then, he glared at the burly man. The moment their eyes met, the man's gaze went hazy. Li Yi had used the Shackles of the Heart Technique, a minor genjutsu from the Uchiha Clan that could briefly control a person's mind.

Of course, when used with the Sharingan, this genjutsu was powerful enough to catch even an elite jōnin off guard. But Li Yi didn't have the Sharingan, so he could only rely on his own powerful spirit to cast it.

While the burly man was dazed, Li Yi had already thrown three shuriken, aiming for his face, heart, and neck.

At the last possible moment, the burly man broke free of Li Yi's genjutsu. Seeing the shuriken, he had no choice but to block them with his arm. The three blades sank into his flesh, and he let out a scream.

Li Yi leaped into the air and called out, "Dance of the Crescent Moon!"

In an instant, Li Yi became three people, each attacking the burly man from a different direction. The man had never seen anything like it and could only fend them off with his Kunai. But he'd clearly picked the wrong opponent—Li Yi's Ryujin Jakka had already swept across his neck.

Clutching his throat, the burly man toppled from the roof.

Li Yi saw a transparent thread, just a little thicker than the others, get absorbed by Ryujin Jakka. He pondered this. It seemed that if he wanted to activate Ryujin Jakka, he still needed to kill people.

The rest were ordinary people, and Li Yi dispatched them with ease. Strangely enough, he'd thought killing would be hard to get used to, but he hadn't felt anything at all. He couldn't help wondering if he was a born butcher.

Just then, Kagami Uchiha appeared in front of him with the Body Flicker Technique. He looked at Li Yi, nodded, and said, "Clean up. We're going back to the village."

Li Yi was confused, but he soon understood. He began searching the bandit hideout and, sure enough, found quite a bit of money. Meanwhile, Kagami Uchiha gathered all the bodies and piled them together.

Kagami gave Li Yi a look. Li Yi immediately formed Hand Seals and said, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A sea of flames appeared, and everything returned to dust.

After following Kagami Uchiha back to Konoha, Kagami said, "Ninja support themselves by taking missions. Of course, the Hokage sometimes assigns them, too. I went with you this time. Next time, you'll have to leave the village and carry out a mission on your own."

Li Yi knew his circumstances were unusual. He'd entered the profession halfway through, so having Kagami Uchiha guide him already put him ahead of many others.

In reality, ninja who graduated from the Ninja Academy were assigned to teams. But Li Yi had never attended the academy, so naturally, he had no teammates.

"By the way, things are very tense along the borders right now. You should focus on improving your strength, understood?" Kagami Uchiha paused, then spoke in a low voice.

Li Yi was taken aback. Why was Kagami telling him this? He soon understood: Kagami wanted him to improve his strength as quickly as possible and not waste his training time on missions. He only needed to take enough missions to cover his daily expenses. The priority was to grow stronger.

Once war broke out, any ninja could be sent to the front lines. The stronger he was, the better his chances of survival.

"Understood, Sensei!" Li Yi replied quickly.

Kagami Uchiha nodded, patted Li Yi on the shoulder, and left.

Li Yi returned to Kosuke's home. He had no choice; he still couldn't afford a house, so he had to mooch off Kosuke.

When Kosuke saw him, he asked, "Did everything go smoothly?"

After all, this had been Li Yi's first mission. He'd come back alive, but who knew whether that was thanks to his teacher, the elite jōnin Kagami Uchiha? Kosuke wanted to hear how it had gone.

Li Yi nodded and briefly described the mission. There was no need for secrecy with this kind of assignment.

Kosuke nodded. As long as Li Yi could get into the swing of things, that was what mattered. Being a ninja was a profession that demanded the right mindset.

After that, Li Yi continued training and studying the Rasengan. A month later, he could finally form it consistently. Looking at the pale-blue orb in his hand, he smiled with satisfaction. It was a useful little trump card.

As for adding Chakra Nature Transformation—hah, Li Yi wasn't reckless enough to try that yet. Until he had a certain level of strength, the Rasengan would be more than enough.

"Is this a technique you created yourself?" Kagami Uchiha appeared in front of Li Yi and asked.

Li Yi nodded. In fact, Kagami Uchiha had visited several times that month and taught him a few ways to use Fire Style. Li Yi hadn't kept his Rasengan research from him, either. He hoped he could use it to earn some rewards.

"You've already reached this level of chakra shape transformation? Very impressive." Kagami Uchiha saw the Rasengan's true nature at a glance.

Li Yi nodded. "Sensei, I'd like to offer this technique to the village."

Kagami Uchiha was taken aback. He tilted his head and looked at Li Yi. "You came up with this technique yourself. The village won't force you to hand it over."

In other words, he didn't have to offer it to the village. It would make a fine trump card to keep for himself.

But Li Yi shook his head. He didn't need a trump card right now—or rather, his trump cards were the Mera Mera no Mi and Ryujin Jakka, though he still had a long way to go in mastering them.

If he could get something in return for the Rasengan, all the better. Even if the village gave him nothing, he could still make a good impression on the higher-ups. He'd be seen as a natural heir to the Will of Fire, which might keep the Third Hokage or the Hokage Advisor from making trouble for him later.

It would also give him the best chance of avoiding becoming cannon fodder. Surely they wouldn't send such a promising heir to the Will of Fire to his death.

Kagami Uchiha clearly didn't know what Li Yi was thinking, but he was still pleased. He himself was an heir to the Will of Fire. That was why both the Second Hokage and the Third Hokage had praised him so highly, calling him one of the few people who weren't constrained by narrow clan nationalism.

"In that case, come with me," Kagami Uchiha said. Then he led Li Yi toward the Hokage's office. Li Yi followed behind him. Someone like him couldn't just walk in to see the Hokage.