Training in Swift Release

Time flew by. It had been five days since Ye Yuexin woke up.

Konoha was like a massive machine, running at full speed every moment of every day.

Only Ye Yuexin and the others had enjoyed some rare leisure over the past few days.

Ye Yuexin's injuries had now healed completely.

He had started training two days ago.

As usual, he was in the forest at the training ground he frequented.

Ye Yuexin stood quietly beneath a large tree.

His eyes were closed, and Flying Dagger Mode was active.

After his last battle, his Flying Dagger Mode had grown even stronger.

He could now almost control the "spirit particles" in the surrounding air with his will.

Ye Yuexin still didn't know what this energy was, but it could replace chakra and was even more powerful.

So he had decided to call it "spirit particles."

Next, after controlling them with Flying Dagger Mode for a long time, Ye Yuexin gradually drew the spirit particles together.

The spirit particles in the air formed a small sphere.

It shot straight into the tree.

In an instant, the tree was pierced through.

Leaves fell from the tree in a dense shower.

And just then, Ye Yuexin moved.

His short blade left its sheath.

He vanished in an instant.

When Ye Yuexin appeared again, he was already ten meters away.

The entire movement had taken no more than three seconds.

The leaves continued to fall. But if you looked closely, you'd see that many of them had already been sliced in two without anyone noticing.

"One hundred and thirty leaves! As expected, using the Swift Release chakra pathway has nearly doubled my speed. And I've only opened one meridian so far."

Ye Yuexin spoke calmly.

He seemed quite satisfied.

He had spent the past few days training in Swift Release.

He had planned to study it properly after Kurenai Yuhi went on a mission. But even now, during a time like this, Kurenai still hadn't received any assignments.

Ye Yuexin didn't know that this was because of him.

So, one night when he was alone, Ye Yuexin couldn't wait any longer and opened the Swift Release scroll.

What he found inside left him stunned.

He had never imagined that the mysterious Swift Release wasn't a Kekkei Genkai at all.

Instead, it was a training scroll, much like the Eight Inner Gates.

The scroll described four meridians.

These four meridians didn't naturally exist in the human body.

They had to be opened by using chakra.

They had all been developed specifically to increase a ninja's speed.

Opening each meridian and circulating chakra through it could multiply a ninja's speed.

However, like the Eight Inner Gates, this training method had its drawbacks.

They were nowhere near as severe as those of the Eight Inner Gates, but neither was Swift Release as powerful.

It wouldn't harm the body, but it would deprive a ninja of the ability to use ninjutsu.

According to the scroll, the first two meridians weren't a problem.

But from the third onward, opening a Swift Release meridian would directly block off the others.

It would tear a new passage straight through the dense network of existing meridians.

As a result, many ninjutsu techniques would become unusable.

The last meridian was especially severe.

It was like a highway that cut across and severed every country road.

Every gain came at a cost. This scroll could give you incredible speed, but in exchange, you'd lose access to other ninjutsu.

Judging by the speed Taiyuan Zeng had shown, he had probably opened two meridians.

With his current chakra reserves, Ye Yuexin could only open one.

But combined with Ye Yuexin's perfected footwork, his speed alone probably wasn't far behind that of a specialist in Lightning Body Flicker.

Another major advantage was that Swift Release's meridians ran straight through, so they didn't consume much chakra.

That meant it could pair perfectly with his footwork.

When Ye Yuexin first examined Swift Release, he hadn't needed long to decide to train in it.

To put it bluntly, even without Swift Release, Ye Yuexin didn't know any elemental techniques.

He knew that elemental techniques could be incredibly powerful, but he didn't feel the ninjutsu path was right for him.

So instead of dabbling in everything, he'd rather master one thing.

He would focus on the path where he already had an advantage.

Along with training in Swift Release, Ye Yuexin had also spent the past few days testing out the strike he had used to defeat Tugang.

The power behind that strike remained a mystery.

He had seen with his own eyes how, against the earthen sphere Tugang had imbued with a change in chakra nature, the strike had passed through as easily as paper.

So he planned to improve the move and turn it into a Flying Dagger technique.

But the results of his experiment had both thrilled and disappointed him.

The thrilling part was that the dagger, glowing with white flecks like Inch Glow, was practically unstoppable.

The disappointing part was that he had to use Flying Dagger Mode to slowly gather the spirit particles into the blade.

The process took more than fifty seconds.

What did fifty seconds mean?

It was enough time for someone to die dozens of times over.

Using this move in battle would be tantamount to suicide.

Ye Yuexin had tried all sorts of methods, but the spirit particles still gathered far too slowly.

With no other choice, he shelved the technique that might have become his trump card.

"Yuexin! It's time for lunch."

Kurenai Yuhi's voice suddenly rang out.

She wore a snow-white kimono patterned with red flowers, and her long hair was neatly brushed.

Kurenai Yuhi gradually came into view.

When she reached him, he said, "Thanks for the effort, Kurenai."

At his words, a sweet smile appeared on Kurenai Yuhi's delicate face.

A smile like that from a mature woman could warm you to the core.

Ye Yuexin felt his heart stir.

Then Kurenai Yuhi glanced around. "You really are hardworking. You only just recovered from your injuries, so why are you in such a hurry to train?"

Her words carried both reproach and concern.

"Of course I'm working hard to get stronger and reach Kage Level sooner." Ye Yuexin left it at that, smiling at Kurenai Yuhi.

At his words, a blush spread across Kurenai Yuhi's face.

But as a mature woman, she wasn't one to get flustered.

She smiled back. "Then I'll look forward to it."