Three months later, it was once again the end of the month, when they were forced to kill one another. Nineteen of them remained.
This time, everyone had learned their lesson. If they drew an opponent they could not beat, they would concede early and fight someone of similar strength for a chance to survive.
Among this batch of ANBU reserves undergoing special training, four people were universally acknowledged as untouchable: Terai, Lin Chuan, Fū Yamanaka, and Torune Aburame.
Lin Chuan's Body Flicker Technique was incredibly fast, Terai's Wind Release was impossible to evade, Fū Yamanaka possessed sensory ninjutsu, and Torune Aburame's poisonous insects meant death upon contact.
The three who had died in the first month's battles had been killed by three of those four.
In the battles at the end of the second month, the one who died and the three who were severely injured had all been beaten by them. If they had not conceded quickly enough, they would have been dead long ago.
Thus, during the battles at the end of the third month, everyone avoided those four whenever they drew them. The moment they stepped onto the field, they immediately conceded. Otherwise, once the battle began, they would at least be seriously injured, if not killed.
During the fourth and fifth months that followed, Lin Chuan and the other three quickly realized that the end-of-month death matches had become little more than a formality. The four of them unconsciously relaxed a little. After all, they had to face a life-or-death trial every month. Anyone who dared slack off was courting death.
The special training soon reached the end of the sixth month. Everyone gathered at the training ground once more, but there was surprisingly no battle this time. Their numbers had also fallen from more than thirty to sixteen.
"Phew, I wonder what new trick they'll use to torment us this time." As Lin Chuan watched Ryūma Aburame and the other two continue their preparations, he quietly opened his personal panel to check the changes from the past six months.
[Life: 3 points] [Bloodline: Ordinary] [Talent: Mediocre] [Strength: Genin] [Chakra Nature: (Water (Chunin: 31%)] [Throwing: (Kunai Throwing)] [Ninjutsu: (Non-Elemental Ninjutsu) (Water Release Ninjutsu)] [Taijutsu] [Genjutsu] [Other Functions]
His Life was still at three points. He had not had any chance to obtain Life Points lately. Even when he faced minor characters in the end-of-month death matches, they would concede, leaving him with nothing.
His talent had also increased by two points over the past six months. After grinding that hard, if his talent had remained unchanged, that damn game designer would have started cursing again.
[Talent: [Nin: 5+] Tai: 5+] Gen: 3+] Wis: 5+] Str: 4+] Spd: 4+] Spirit: 3+] Seal: 5+] Total: 34]
The physical training over the past six months had increased his Taijutsu by one point.
There had also been some ANBU knowledge training over the past six months, increasing his Wisdom by one point.
His eight ninja attributes had reached thirty-four points, but he still had not broken through to Chunin. He felt that to advance to Chunin, his total talent attributes needed to approach forty, or at least reach thirty-seven or thirty-eight. He was not far from that number.
Still, it was not all bad news. Thanks to grinding Water Release: Heavenly Weeping, his Water chakra nature had broken through to Chunin. Breaking through to the next stage would probably not be easy.
Even attributes with high affinity were so difficult to grind. He had no idea how much time attributes with low affinity would take. Recently, he had begun to feel the strain of grinding; his potential was nearly exhausted.
He had not trained kunai throwing at all over the past six months. Among his non-elemental ninjutsu, only Shadow Clone had changed. He still made two Shadow Clones every day without fail. Its proficiency had risen above three hundred, but it was still some distance from breaking through to Chunin.
[Ninjutsu] [Non-Elemental Ninjutsu] [E-rank Ninjutsu: Transformation Technique (Genin: 1016/2000)] [E-rank Ninjutsu: Clone Technique (Genin: 1015/2000)] [E-rank Ninjutsu: Substitution Technique (Genin: 1020/2000)] [D-rank Ninjutsu: Body Flicker Technique (Chunin: 2035/4000)] [B-rank Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone (Genin: 378/1000)] [Ninjutsu] [Water Release Ninjutsu] [C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Clone (Genin: 266/1000)] [C-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Shock Wave (Genin: 199/1000)] [B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Formation Wall (Usable: 28/100) (Two hand seals)] [B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet (Usable: 31/100) (Six hand seals)] [B-rank Ninjutsu: Water Release: Heavenly Weeping (Genin: 400/1000)]
His Water Release ninjutsu had changed considerably. Water Clone had gained over a hundred proficiency points, Water Shock Wave had gained more than fifty, while Water Formation Wall and Water Dragon Bullet had each only gained proficiency a dozen or so times.
Water Release: Heavenly Weeping had gained the most proficiency instead. It had broken through to Genin and gained more than three hundred additional proficiency points, making it barely useful enough for sneak attacks.
Those were the changes he had seen over the past six months. Only his Water chakra nature, kunai throwing, and Body Flicker Technique had broken through to Chunin. Everything else was still at Genin. No wonder the Grind Panel did not recognize him as a Chunin. He was not even half-decent yet, and breaking through to Chunin was still far away.
"Next..."
Suddenly, he heard Ryūma Aburame begin speaking. He hurriedly closed the Grind Panel and listened carefully, making sure not to miss any information.
"Next... is the practical assessment. Choose your own teammates and divide yourselves into two-man squads. Select a captain, then come forward to collect a mission scroll." Ryūma Aburame looked at the sixteen people before him. He did not know how many would survive after this mission. The death rate for Root ninja selection was as high as ninety percent; it was no joke.
As he watched the youngsters begin choosing teammates, his gaze fell upon the young member of the Aburame Clan, who had always been close to the young member of the Yamanaka Clan.
Then there was Terai, a ninja from Lord Danzo's own Shimura clan, who had approached another child requiring special attention: Lin Chuan.
"Chuan, this mission won't be simple. Interested in teaming up?" Terai leaned closer and quietly tried to recruit Lin Chuan.
"A connected guy? Did you hear some inside information again?" Lin Chuan knew the other man's surname was Shimura, so it was normal for him to have some insider information.
"Hehe, can't say." Terai gave a slight wink. His words said one thing while his expression said another. The meaning could not have been clearer: he had inside information.
"Fine. You pick the mission." Lin Chuan nodded lightly and ultimately accepted Terai's invitation. Aside from Torune and Kaede, this guy was the strongest person besides himself. If he did not team up with him, who would he team up with? Some weakling?
"This one, then. Let's see what the mission is." Terai opened the mission scroll and discovered that it was actually a mission to hunt down a rogue ninja.
"A Konoha rogue ninja? Chunin-level strength? Hiding in a Tanzaku Town casino as a thug? Dead or alive, just bring back his head." Lin Chuan stared at the mission details on the scroll, then looked speechlessly at the connected guy. This was the connected guy's inside information? He began to wonder whether this guy truly had any insider information. He sure knew how to pick a mission!
He had actually picked a mission to hunt down a rogue ninja, and that rogue ninja was a Chunin. They were two Genin being sent to kill a Chunin. Wasn't this mission difficulty a little too high?
"Haha, bad luck. You can choose the next mission." Terai laughed awkwardly, unable to hide the embarrassment in his eyes. It was true that he had inside information and had learned in advance that it would be an outside mission, but all mission choices were random. He had no way of learning the mission details beforehand.
This was, after all, a mission to hunt down a Chunin. Even if the two of them were relatively outstanding among Genin, there was a real gap between Genin and Chunin. It was not as though being talented meant they could fight above their rank.
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