Ten Days Later

Ten days later, night—

[Ninjutsu]

[Water Release Ninjutsu]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Clone (Genin: 156/1000)]

[C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Shock Wave (Genin: 145/1000)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Formation Wall (Usable: 19/100) (Two hand seals)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet (Usable: 20/100) (Six hand seals)]

[B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Heavenly Weeping (Usable: 41/100)]

"Finally usable." Lin Chuan looked at the Grind Panel. After ten days of grinding away at Heavenly Weeping every day, he had finally practiced it to the point where he could use it. He could stop and catch his breath.

This move was perfect as a trump card for assassinations. He could spray water needles from his mouth and catch his target off guard by attacking their eyes and heart. Next, he needed to shrink the chakra-condensed water needles and increase their density.

After all, he did not want to spit out water needles as thick as his little finger to stab people. Shrinking the water needles involved shape transformation of Water Release chakra. He still had to keep practicing chakra control—another long, grinding process.

After ten days of surviving in the wilderness, he had learned Water Release: Heavenly Weeping. They still had not finished eating that wild boar, and several chunks of smoked boar meat remained in their packs. Whenever they got hungry, they would take some out and gnaw on it. In a few more days, this wilderness survival exercise would be over.

"Do you think it's going too smoothly? Is this wilderness survival really just going to end like this?" Terai gnawed on jerky. Ever since they had killed that wild boar, they had never had to worry about food again. Every now and then, they could even have fresh river fish sashimi.

"Don't say things like that. Even eating meat can't shut your mouth?" Lin Chuan shot the well-connected kid an indifferent glance. He really knew how to bring up the worst possible thing. What a jinx, always spouting nonsense. Was it not good enough to get through wilderness survival safely? Did there have to be some accident for it to be exciting?

"Hehe, it's just a little too boring." Terai gave an awkward laugh, then embarrassedly turned away and continued gnawing on his jerky. After ten days of training, he had also learned the B-rank ninjutsu Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere. That was his talent as a ninja; otherwise, Danzo would not have placed him in Root.

"I wonder how those little cuties are doing." Leaning against a tree, Lin Chuan also took out some jerky and slowly chewed it. He had been in Root for half a month now. He wondered whether those little guys missed him.

He had been doing fairly well here. After ten days together, he had gotten to know the well-connected kid beside him. This guy was only two years older than him and was considered a genius in the Shimura clan. He had heard that ANBU could temper a ninja greatly, so he had voluntarily applied to join the ANBU training class.

The other well-connected kids had not said much about him, but he had quite an optimistic personality. Unlike them, who had been forced to join, this guy was actually enjoying himself and was always looking for some fun.

Lin Chuan's thinking was simple too. If there was fun to be had, he would join in. He could also see if there were any experience packs and earn some Life Points along the way. He just did not know whether this well-connected kid was some minor extra, though Torune and Fu, as well as Sai and Shin, had all appeared in the anime.

Even if there was no fun, he could still add some shine to his resume in ANBU. When one was out in the world, one's status was self-made. Once Terai got out, saying he had passed the ANBU training class selection would give him something to brag about. After all, in this era, not everyone had the credentials of entering ANBU at such a young age.

Rumble—

Lin Chuan and Terai rested quietly in the tree. Suddenly, the rumble of collapsing trees erupted in the distance. They quickly climbed to the treetops and looked toward the cloud of dust rising in the distance beneath the moonlight.

"Who's fighting in the middle of the night?"

"Should we go take a look?"

"I'm not going. If you want to go, go by yourself." Lin Chuan lightly shook his head and returned to the branch where he slept, leaning against the trunk with his eyes closed.

"Then I'll go take a look." Terai ultimately could not resist. He stealthily headed toward the battle, wanting to find out what had happened over there.

After being gone for over an hour, he returned to the tree where they had been sheltering and smiled at Lin Chuan. "Guess what interesting thing happened over there?"

"Not guessing. Sleeping." Lin Chuan rolled over slightly, too lazy to look at the well-connected kid's smug gossiping face. Terai wanted to tempt him with curiosity? Not a chance.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a really boring person?" The smile on Terai's face froze instantly, as though his punch had landed in cotton. He had gotten fairly familiar with Lin Chuan. Other than cultivation, this guy seemed uninterested in everything else. Terai still did not know what he liked. He really was hard to figure out.

"Forget it, I'll just tell you. I saw the ones with lower numbers band together to besiege Number Thirty and Number Twenty-Nine. Once they take out Number Thirty's team, we'll probably be next..."

When Lin Chuan heard Terai's news, he could not help sitting up. He knew that even if he did not ask, Terai would not be able to hold it in and would tell him anyway. That was why he could not let Terai lead him by the nose. Curious, he asked, "What are they trying to do? Pick us off one by one? Eliminate all of us?"

"I think so. The higher the number, the stronger you are. They're probably afraid they won't keep up with the training later and will get eliminated, so they plan to strike first..."

"What do you want to do?" When Lin Chuan saw Terai licking the corner of his mouth in the moonlight, he realized this could not be anything good. This guy was even more ruthless than him.

"Of course, we strike first. They can join forces, so why can't we? We'd only be stronger together." Terai smiled as the kunai in his hand spun like a windmill. He asked Lin Chuan, "What do you think?"

"You should know that strong people all have their own personalities. If you can persuade the others, then pretend I never said anything." Lin Chuan helplessly spread his hands. He could not be bothered with such a thankless task. He did not know any of those people, and he probably would not gain any Life Points from them. He could not be bothered to make a move.

"That's all I needed to hear. We'll look for people tomorrow." Terai did not immediately go searching for the others. The forest was dangerous in the middle of the night. He planned to get a good night's sleep first. Hopefully, Number Thirty could escape!

Nothing happened that night. In the morning, Lin Chuan washed up simply and continued his usual training. Terai left early to find people and did not return until dusk, bringing back three others: the injured Number Thirty, the bedraggled Number Nineteen, Sai, and Number Twenty, Shin.

"I don't know where those other two are hiding. I only ran into these three." Terai brought the three over and looked at Lin Chuan, who was grilling fish. Dinner had just been prepared.

"I caught a few extra fish today. Sit down and eat dinner with us. Then tell us what happened." Lin Chuan picked up the grilled fish and tossed some to them, then took one for himself and began eating.

"Number Twenty-Nine didn't make it out. They surrounded and killed him." The moment Number Thirty sat down, he could not help speaking. He continued, "Last night, they said they had unlimited supplies to trade. Then they trapped us in the woods and attacked us..."

"When I was looking for people today, I saw two more teams get surrounded and killed by them. There were over ten of them. I didn't dare go up and save anyone." Terai sighed and described what had happened that day.

He had expected everyone to look down on him, but none of them could even be bothered to look at him...

After hearing that Terai had not gone up to save them, no one made snide remarks about him being cowardly. After all, when surrounded by more than ten people, trying to save someone was simply courting death. No one would have dared to go save them in that situation.