Water Dragon Bullet? Not Even Dogs Would Learn It

"Phew... It's freaking cold..."

Lin Chuan kept breathing out warm air. The Ninja Academy's first semester had ended, and with winter break underway, he could only jog around his backyard with weights, beginning another day of training.

After finishing his five-kilometer run, he returned beneath his eaves to hydrate. Today's run had been somewhat strenuous because he had increased the weights on his feet—from two kilograms on each leg to four.

Don't underestimate those extra two kilograms. Even after wearing them for two days, he still had not adapted. He had to get used to the weight as quickly as possible. In another half year, he would increase it again, adding two kilograms every six months. That was the training plan he had set for himself.

He had already met Rock Lee. He had even rescued the unconscious Rock Lee in the forest. It had to be said, the guy was a training fanatic. He had already reached the point of neglecting food and sleep in his taijutsu training. Sometimes, when he was too exhausted, he would simply fall asleep in the forest. If Lin Chuan did not drag him back, wild beasts would probably carry him off.

After waking Rock Lee, Lin Chuan found that the beef-eating mission showed no reaction. There was no mission completion prompt, and he immediately knew that some peeping creep was secretly protecting Rock Lee. Who else could it be but Might Guy? With Might Guy watching over him, Rock Lee would not be in danger, so it could not be considered a rescue. Naturally, the mission did not react.

He could only put the mission aside for now. He found that his talent was only slightly better than Rock Lee's, and he knew where his limits lay. Besides, poor talent could be improved with points. There was no need to grind himself to death like Rock Lee. He was afraid of dying from overwork too.

Every time he reincarnated and crossed over, as long as he solved the issue of chakra capacity and chakra control, he could instantly pick up ninjutsu instead of having to wait until adulthood for it to fully manifest like taijutsu.

After five months of grinding, the various stats on his Grind Panel had risen considerably.

[Life: 3 points]

[Bloodline: Civilian]

[Talent: Mediocre]

[Strength: Genin]

[Chakra Nature: (Water (Beginner: 6%))]

[Throwing: (Kunai Throwing)] [Ninjutsu: (Non-Elemental Ninjutsu) (Water Style Ninjutsu)] [Taijutsu] [Genjutsu] [Other Functions]

His Life Points remained the same. Ever since he had killed those troublesome commoners, he had not made another move. His bloodline was still that of a civilian.

However, his talent had changed somewhat. He was finally no longer a civilian. At least he looked a little like a ninja now...

[Talent: [Nin: 4+] [Body: 4+] [Gen: 3+] [Wis: 3+] [Power: 3+] [Speed: 4+] [Spirit: 3+] [Seals: 3+] Total: 27]

His ninjutsu had increased by one point, his taijutsu had increased by one point, and his speed had increased by one point. His total talent had reached twenty-seven points. Because his talent had reached twenty-seven, his strength had changed as well, becoming Genin.

In truth, the requirements for becoming a Genin were not high. As long as one learned the Three Body Technique and graduated from the Ninja Academy, one counted as a Genin. Aside from his age, he already met the standards. If this were wartime, he would probably have been forcibly graduated early and sent to the battlefield.

After learning two Water Style ninjutsu, his Water chakra nature had also reached the beginner level. He was finally no longer a weakling with nothing.

Kunai Moving-Target Throwing had also been grinded past its limit, while his fixed-target throwing had exceeded forty thousand proficiency, drawing ever closer to one hundred thousand.

He could hit the mark every time with both kinds of kunai throwing. Their special effects were still photographic target memory and a sense of direction. Breaking the limit on moving targets had enhanced both effects, but aside from continuing to grind progress, no other special effects had appeared. He could only tie on steel wire and perform some fancy tricks, such as the Uchiha's shuriken wire manipulation.

[Throwing]

[Kunai Fixed-Target Throwing (Limit Break: 42200/100000)]

[Kunai Moving-Target Throwing (Limit Break: 32240/100000)]

His ninjutsu had also undergone earth-shaking changes...

[Ninjutsu]

[Non-Elemental Ninjutsu]

[E-rank Ninjutsu: Transformation Technique (Genin: 1001/2000)]

[E-rank Ninjutsu: Clone Technique (Genin: 1000/2000)]

[E-rank Ninjutsu: Substitute Technique (Genin: 1010/2000)]

[D-rank Ninjutsu: Body Flicker Technique (Genin: 1102/2000)]

The Three Body Technique and the Body Flicker Technique had both broken through to Genin level. The next step was Chunin, and he still needed to grind them another thousand times before breaking through to Chunin.

After grinding the basic Three Body Technique to Genin level, he did not continue raising its proficiency. He planned to set it aside for now, since he did not have much time to grind low-level ninjutsu.

His main focus was grinding the Body Flicker Technique. From now on, he would let the Three Body Technique improve naturally. After all, it was a godly technique for crushing weak opponents, but it was easily seen through in high-level battles.

No matter how realistic the transformation was, no matter how real the Clone Technique seemed, one sweep from the Byakugan would expose it. If your clone had no chakra, then it had no chakra. The one with chakra was a Shadow Clone.

[Ninjutsu]

[Water Style Ninjutsu]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Style: Water Clone (Genin: 104/1000)]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Style: Water Shock Wave (Genin: 102/1000)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Style: Water Formation Wall (Not Yet Initiated: 0.1%)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet (Not Yet Initiated: 0.01%)]

He had also grinded Water Clone and Water Shock Wave to Genin level. Otherwise, defeating those two Uchiha would not have been so easy. The Grind Panel would not deceive any hardworking transmigrator. The Grind Panel was forever the best.

Next, if he wanted to grind these two Water Style ninjutsu to Chunin level, he needed another nine hundred repetitions. Unfortunately, he had no time to keep grinding them. He needed to learn two ninjutsu for taking on a master—Water Formation Wall and Water Dragon Bullet. Those were his top priority now. He was almost too busy to handle it all, suffering and enjoying it at the same time.

He still could not use taijutsu or genjutsu. His cheap father could not use either of those arts, so if he wanted to learn them, he would have to find another way. Unfortunately, he had no chance to learn Shadow Clone. Only when he was bored did he remember that Konohamaru had not known Shadow Clone when he graduated either. That showed how difficult Shadow Clone was to learn. After all, it was a B-rank ninjutsu.

It was time to find himself a teacher. Ever since that old man Sarutobi had visited his home last month, he had wanted to find a teacher who could protect him. Since he was a Water Style ninja, he naturally needed a teacher proficient in Water Style. The teacher also had to be able to protect him, be fairly approachable, and not fear that scheming old bastard Danzo. His choices kept narrowing.

Even now, he had not thought of a suitable Water Style teacher. Konoha's most formidable Water Style user was naturally the forbidden technique master, Tobirama Senju, but Tobirama Senju had been dead for ages in this era.

Kakashi knew Water Style as well, though he had merely copied those Water Style ninjutsu. But Kakashi was currently an ANBU ninja, so he obviously would not accept Lin Chuan as a disciple.

One of Konoha's gate guardians, Kotetsu Hagane, also knew Water Style. But that guy was only at Chunin level and merely guarded the gates. He would not dare resist Danzo. Asking him to be his teacher would only harm him.

After thinking it over, there were few ninjas capable of protecting him. It had to be someone from old man Sarutobi's generation. Even the clan heads of the major ninja clans had nearly failed to protect their own sons.

Searching among the ninjas of old man Sarutobi's generation, he found that old man Sarutobi would not possibly take him as a disciple. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu would not work either. The Three Sannin had left the village years ago, so they were impossible as well.

But there was still one person he believed would work. He was also from old man Sarutobi's generation, and he had also served under Tobirama Senju. He and old man Sarutobi were fellow disciples. That person was Maruboshi Kosuke, known as the Eternal Genin.

He had seen this Genin accepting a mission when he went to the mission department of the Hokage Building to look for his cheap father. His eyes had lit up then, and that was when he found his candidate for a Water Style teacher.

Though Maruboshi Kosuke could not protect him directly, the old man's connections were extremely useful. Ordinary ninjas found it difficult to even meet old man Sarutobi, but these two had been comrades who had entrusted their lives to each other.

As long as he could become Maruboshi Kosuke's disciple, it would not matter even if Danzo set his sights on him. Maruboshi Kosuke might not be able to defeat Danzo, but old man Sarutobi could keep Danzo completely under control.

Since he had decided to become Maruboshi Kosuke's disciple, he needed to prepare before meeting him. If he wanted to study under this Water Style master, a subordinate of the Second Hokage, he needed ninjutsu impressive enough to display his value as a genius. Otherwise, why would the other man accept him as a disciple?

To that end, after mastering Water Clone and Water Shock Wave, he had his cheap father demonstrate them so he could pretend to have learned them, then asked to learn new Water Style ninjutsu. His cheap father gave him two B-rank Water Style ninjutsu, one of which even his cheap father did not know himself.

They happened to be exactly the Water Style ninjutsu he needed for taking on a master: Water Style: Water Formation Wall and Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet.

Water Formation Wall, this B-rank ninjutsu, was manageable. It only had five hand seals. He had memorized them long ago and made some preliminary attempts. Though he had failed, the Grind Panel displayed it, proving he was learning it in the right direction.

Water Dragon Bullet, however, was a real headache. Its forty-four hand seals truly lived up to its reputation. He had immediately cursed that not even dogs would learn it, but after cursing, he picked up the scroll again and slowly memorized the seal sequence. For the sake of becoming Maruboshi Kosuke's disciple, he endured the forty-four seals of Water Dragon Bullet. He was a ninja, after all.

Memorizing those forty-four hand seals alone took him more than a month. The order of each seal was the easiest part to mess up, and the Grind Panel could not help him with that. He spent nearly a month on it, memorizing the seal sequence even during class. At last, he had gnawed through this hard bone.

All that remained was mastering Water Dragon Bullet, becoming Maruboshi Kosuke's disciple, and learning a simplified hand-seal sequence. That was the top priority. He truly did not want someone to stab him in the back while he stood there forming forty-four hand seals for Water Dragon Bullet.