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"Bzzzt~ Qian, get ready to intercept. It's heading your way."

Ryosuke's voice came through the headset.

Qian pressed his earpiece and replied, "OK, I see it."

On a tree branch.

Qian watched the Giant Wild Boar come barreling toward him and threw a Kunai.

The Kunai cut through the air like a bullet, swiftly and accurately striking the wild boar's left eye.

Blood ran down along the Kunai, making the wild boar let out a pained roar.

Roar—

He had to admit, the animals in the Ninja World were truly ridiculous. Never mind their huge size—their vitality was also absurdly tenacious.

Just like now. Even with its eye pierced through and its brain injured, the wild boar below was still full of life.

"But this is the end."

Muttering, Qian raised his right hand and ignited the Exploding Tag tied to the Kunai.

Boom—

A violent explosion rang out.

A ball of crimson flame suddenly appeared, engulfing the entire wild boar.

The pain brought by the burning flames made the wild boar howl without end. It rammed madly into the surrounding trees, even knocking into the large tree where Qian had been hiding.

With no other choice, Qian could only change hiding spots.

A few breaths later, the flames gradually disappeared, and the wild boar stopped going berserk. It lay straight on the ground, completely motionless.

Looking at the charred wild boar, Qian did not approach. Instead, he took out another Kunai and hurled it out like a bolt of lightning, striking the wild boar's other eye.

Pfft~

The sound of a sharp blade sinking into flesh rang out.

The wild boar sprang to its feet, howling as it snapped several large trees before collapsing to the ground again.

Watching the wild boar's chest and belly gradually stop rising and falling, Qian snorted coldly. "Hmph! A beast is still a beast. No matter how cunning it is, that's all it amounts to."

Although it knew how to play dead, its chest, which had been rising and falling nonstop earlier, had easily exposed its trick.

Naturally, there was no way Qian would fall for a trap like that.

But now...

He could confirm that it was done for.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~

Two figures appeared. They were none other than Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko.

"Qian, that was way too wasteful."

Ryosuke looked at the wild boar's head, charred black by the Exploding Tag, and said, "Don't you know the Great Fireball Technique? Why use an Exploding Tag?"

Indeed, using up an Exploding Tag to kill a wild boar like this was not worth it. Even with the mission reward, he would still take a loss when the accounts were settled in the end.

But this saved Chakra.

Although using Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique could also increase its Proficiency, that was not his current focus, so every bit he could save counted.

To Qian, if spending a little money meant more Chakra could be used where it should be used, then it was not a loss.

At this point, a week had already passed since his chance encounter with Kakashi and the others.

During this week, aside from eating, sleeping, and doing missions, he had spent all his remaining time on training.

With such diligence, the results he achieved were naturally not bad.

First, all three of the Three Body Technique had already been trained by him to perfection, which was lv3.

At this point, whether it was the simplest Transformation Technique or the most difficult Substitution Technique, he could complete it within one second.

What kind of concept was that?

Many Chunin were not as skilled as him when using these three ninjutsu.

Of course, that was as far as it went.

In the end, they were basic ninjutsu, with a learning difficulty of only Rank E. As long as a Chunin put in a little effort, training them to perfection was not considered too hard.

Second, his Basic Body Technique had also risen from lv2 to lv3.

Originally, he had still been looking forward to whether it could raise his Physical Constitution by another point, just like when it had gone from lv1 to lv2.

That way, his Chakra Limit could continue to increase.

But he was disappointed.

When Basic Body Technique rose from lv2 to lv3, even though, like the Three Body Technique, it had reached the Perfected Realm, it still could not bring any change to his Physical Constitution attribute.

However, thinking about it, that made sense. If the Physical Constitution attribute could be improved so easily, there would not be so many ninjas in the Ninja World stuck as Genin for their entire lives.

One had to understand: every single point of improvement in Physical Constitution was a Transformation for a ninja.

As long as someone transformed once or twice while still a Genin, even if it did not guarantee they would become a Chunin, their Chakra Amount would at least absolutely be enough.

So it was perfectly normal that his Physical Constitution attribute had not increased when "Basic Body Technique" went from Lv2 to Lv3. At the very least, it would probably take some more advanced taijutsu for that to happen.

Last was "Mind Reflection Technique."

Over seven days, its Proficiency had increased by a total of 125 points, and its level had gone from Lv2 (260/500) to Lv2 (385/500).

Thanks to that, his Sharingan awakening progress had risen from (85/100) to (87/100).

As expected, the speed had not decreased any further.

Now he was only waiting for "Mind Reflection Technique" to advance to Lv3. If the effect was strong enough, he might be able to awaken the Sharingan before the Chunin Exams ended.

Otherwise, he would have to go to the battlefield with bare eyes.

That was right. Qian had already received word that their batch of graduates would be returning to the battlefield together with the newly promoted Chunin.

Precisely because of that, he valued every bit of chakra extremely highly.

He had even temporarily shelved his plan to learn the Body Flicker Technique.

Next, aside from necessary expenditures, he intended to use all his remaining chakra to practice "Mind Reflection Technique."

Without the Sharingan serving as his Trump Card, he really did not feel very secure.

All sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind.

Qian looked at Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko and said, "There are plenty of wild beasts in this forest, and our mission is heavy. Wasting a few Exploding Tags is nothing."

The mission they had accepted this time was to drive out all wild beasts within a ten-kilometer radius, and the mission requirement stated that the number killed could not be less than one-third of the total.

With so many wild beasts, if they drove them off or killed them using conventional methods, they would inevitably consume quite a lot of chakra, and it would also drag out the mission time.

Qian did not want to waste time and energy here, so he would rather spend a little more money and finish the mission as quickly as possible.

Without giving Ryosuke another chance to speak, Qian pulled his Kunai out of the wild boar, wiped it off, and said, "I'm going to the Second Area. You two hurry up and drive the beasts over."

With that, without caring how the two reacted, he leaped away.

Looking at his departing back, Ryosuke turned to Mizutani Shizuko and said, "Shizuko, have you felt that Qian's been a little impatient lately?"

"Mm."

Hearing that, Mizutani Shizuko nodded.

In truth, she had noticed it long ago. She simply had not said anything.

"Then do you know why?"

Ryosuke asked curiously.

"Maybe because of the Chunin Exams."

Mizutani Shizuko replied.

"The Chunin Exams?"

Ryosuke looked puzzled. "What does that have to do with us? We're not even taking part."

Hearing this, Mizutani Shizuko hesitated for a while, then carefully swept her gaze around. After confirming there was no one nearby, she finally told him the news she had gotten from her Jonin father.

"I heard the village plans to send our batch to the battlefield with those newly promoted Chunin after the Chunin Exams end."

"What?"

Hearing this news so suddenly, Ryosuke cried out in shock.

Although he hated carrying out D-Rank Missions with no technical content whatsoever, he also knew how dangerous the battlefield was, so naturally he did not want to go there so soon.

"Shh!"

Mizutani Shizuko raised her right index finger and made a shushing gesture. "Keep your voice down. My dad told me not to spread this news, so don't go telling people."

"Oh."

Ryosuke came back to his senses, nodded, and said, "Don't worry, I won't talk nonsense."

In truth, they were worrying too much. Even if it got out, it would not matter.

Because this matter was already set in stone.

Although the news was still only circulating among the Jonin and the major clans, it would not be long before everyone knew. There was no need to keep it secret at all.

"All right, Ryosuke, let's go."

The two fell silent for a while before Mizutani Shizuko finally spoke.

"Oh."

Hearing this, Ryosuke came back to himself, answered, and said, "Let's go."

After that, the two of them headed to the Third Area together.