Brief Calm and the Prelude to Undercurrents

The smoke of the Chunin Exam Preliminaries finally cleared, and on the surface, the Hidden Leaf Village returned to its former peace. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and spilled across the streets, and the villagers went on living their quiet lives. But for the seven candidates who had passed the preliminaries, this month was no leisurely vacation. It was the final, most crucial period of preparation before the sprint.

An invisible pressure filled the air, like a fine net draped over every candidate's heart.

Uchiha Ling's life returned to a certain kind of regular "calm." Every morning, he still went on time to the familiar stream valley at the edge of the Forest of Death. Only now, the content of his training was deeper and far more targeted.

The top priority was still familiarizing himself with and controlling the curse mark inside his body. After the battle with Dosu Kinuta, he had gained a deeper understanding of how to balance the curse mark's leaking energy in combat. Under the protection of the system's power, he began trying more precise guidance. Those strands of energy, brimming with the urge to destroy, were carefully peeled away by him and used to stimulate his own chakra activity, accelerating his training in lightning release nature transformation.

The process was like walking along the edge of a cliff; the slightest misstep could set him on fire. Several times, that violent energy nearly went out of control, rampaging through his meridians. But relying on his powerful mental strength and the system's assistance, he was always able to suppress it again in time.

The rewards brought by this dangerous training were also obvious. His normal speed, neural reactions, and the power of his lightning release were all improving steadily at a visible pace. Even his chakra recovery speed had become much faster than before.

Lightning release training had always been his top priority. Although Kakashi was busy guiding Sasuke, he still found time to come see him a few times. The silver-haired jonin approved of his idea of combining lightning release with taijutsu and swordsmanship, and also pointed out some subtle techniques regarding chakra shape transformation.

"Keep lightning release chakra on the weapon for longer while reducing unnecessary leakage." Kakashi demonstrated. "Like this."

Ling observed intently, committing every detail to memory. The lightning release in his palm had now grown from the scattered sparks at the beginning into a stable, leaping blue arc of electricity about half a foot long. When this arc attached itself to a kunai, both its penetrating power and paralysis effect were significantly enhanced.

The fusion of dual-wielding and Hidden Leaf Style Swordsmanship was also maturing by the day. He set up dozens of wooden stakes in the stream valley and carefully carved red dots on them to represent the human body's acupoints and joints. Every day, he repeatedly practiced thrusting, blocking, and dodging among those stakes, striving to make every slash precise and efficient.

Within his mindscape, his resonance with Asauchi became increasingly clear. Although this blade of the soul still could not materialize, he could feel the desire it conveyed—the desire for battle. That desire subtly influenced his understanding of swordsmanship, adding an indescribable spirituality to his blade work beyond its precision.

Besides these things, he did not set aside his study of other knowledge either. He went over the Basic Medical Ninjutsu Manual again and again, combining it with his own understanding of chakra and meridians. By now, he could already handle some more complex injuries and regulate his own condition. The Gentle Fist Disassembly Diagram and Neji's analysis of the Eight Trigrams Palms gave him a deeper understanding of the Hyuga Clan's fighting style.

This knowledge greatly enriched his close-combat tactical arsenal. In particular, when dealing with acupoint strikes and Gentle Fist attacks, he now had more ways to respond.

He was not the only one training during this period.

One afternoon, when he had finished a round of lightning release training and was resting by the stream, a familiar figure landed on the boulder beside him. It was Sasuke Uchiha.

After a month without seeing him, Sasuke's aura had become more restrained, but the sharpness in his eyes and some deeply hidden darkness had grown even stronger than before. Kakashi's seal seemed to have suppressed the curse mark's outbreaks, but it might also have catalyzed something inside his heart.

"Your lightning release has improved quickly." Sasuke looked at the arcs of electricity in Ling's palm that had not yet fully dispersed, his tone flat.

"Same to you." Ling could sense that Sasuke's chakra had become more condensed, and the aura of Chidori was growing increasingly dangerous.

Sasuke fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What do you think of power?" His gaze locked tightly onto Ling, carrying a stubborn search for an answer.

Uchiha Ling met his gaze and answered calmly, "Power is a tool, a means to achieve an end. What matters is the heart that controls power, not being controlled by power."

"Hmph. Easy to say." Sasuke snorted coldly, a trace of obsession flashing through his eyes. "Without enough power, you can't protect anything, and you can't change anything! Just like that man..."

He did not continue, but the thick hatred almost overflowed from him.

Ling knew he was talking about Itachi. He did not try to comfort or refute him, only said faintly, "What kind of path you choose, and what kind of power you obtain, are your own decisions. Just don't lose sight of your original goal while chasing power."

Sasuke looked at him deeply, said nothing more, and vanished into the woods in a flash. Ling looked in the direction where Sasuke had disappeared, his brows slightly furrowed. He could feel that Sasuke's desire for power had already approached a pathological obsession. Orochimaru's temptation was like a poisonous seed, taking root and sprouting in his heart.

Aside from Sasuke, he occasionally encountered other candidates as well. Shikamaru Nara had once come to find him with a face full of "what a pain" and played a game of shogi with him. During it, he seemed casual, but in truth, he keenly discussed a few points about tactical layouts and chakra attribute counters. Temari also appeared once again. As before, it was a practical sparring session. Their wind release and lightning release confirmed each other through collision, giving both of them a deeper understanding of the other's strength and fighting style.

However, all the "calm" was only superficial.

Uchiha Ling could clearly feel that the undercurrents inside the Hidden Leaf Village were growing more and more turbulent. The number of patrolling Anbu had clearly increased, and the village's alert level was constantly rising. In the streets and alleys, rumors about the movements of the Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Sound Village began spreading quietly. Occasionally, in the dead of night, he could sense extremely concealed and powerful chakra flashing across the sky above the village—that was the Hidden Leaf's experts secretly setting up defenses or scouting.

The one who kept him most on guard was still Gaara. Although they had not met directly again, that chakra like a blood-soaked storm remained like an ever-expanding shadow, hanging over the village. It was not just powerful chakra; it also contained an almost insane will of destruction.

The final exam one month later would absolutely not be as simple as a contest between genin. Uchiha Ling knew very well that the true storm was brewing, and before that, he had to become strong enough.