The First Level 10 Ninjutsu!

Asuma opened his skill panel.

Level 6 Substitution Technique (11.03%)

Level 6 Clone Technique (5.69%)

Level 6 Transformation Technique (23.89%)

Level 5 Shadow Clone Technique (12.45%)

Level 8 Chakra Control (Extraction, Control/45%)

Level 8 Chakra Nature Transformation (Level 8 Fire Style 33%, Level 8 Wind Style 45%, Level 2 Earth Style 16%, Level 2 Yin Release 78%, Level 1 Water Style 18%, Level 2 Lightning Style 89%)

Level 7 Fire Style - Fire Bullet 6%

Level 4 Wind Style - Great Breakthrough 46%

Level 3 Genjutsu - Hell Viewing Technique 52%

Level 4 Taijutsu (Unarmed) 63%

Level 5 Wind Style Sword Technique 35%

Level 4 Ninja Tool Throwing 7%

Level 3 Body Flicker Technique 23%

Twenty-three Skill Points was a lot, but there were also many skills.

However, Asuma had long since established his own criteria for adding points.

Prioritize the basics, then prioritize skills that had reached bottlenecks and were difficult to improve through training.

And this time, he wanted to improve his overall combat strength.

So, Asuma first assigned 2 Skill Points to Chakra Control.

Next, he set his sights on the Substitution Technique and assigned 4 Skill Points to it.

Of the basic Three Basic Ninjutsu, this was the technique Asuma held in the highest regard.

According to the system's classification, a Level 10 Substitution Technique was at the Six Paths Level. Asuma was very much looking forward to seeing what it would be like.

Besides, he needed to see what an ordinary ninjutsu would be like at Level 10.

"I'll allocate them like this for now..."

Asuma withdrew his thoughts. Once they rested later, he would add the points according to this plan and see what the Level 10 Substitution Technique was like.

Noon soon arrived.

The group stopped to rest.

Hatake Sakumo personally stood guard. After Asuma ate a Ration Pill, he began adding points according to his plan.

First, he raised the Level 6 Substitution Technique to Level 10.

The instant he added the points, Asuma's body stiffened. It felt as though a vast amount of information had suddenly been crammed into his mind.

It took him a full five minutes to recover. Then, delight surged through him, and he nearly burst out laughing.

Among the Three Basic Ninjutsu, the E-rank Substitution Technique was the most difficult.

It was not because, as Asuma had guessed in his previous life, it involved space-time ninjutsu.

Rather, it was because performing this technique often required using both the Transformation Technique and Clone Technique at the same time, especially the Transformation Technique.

For example, using a piece of wood to replace oneself.

In reality, one first had to prepare the wood, then use the Transformation Technique to turn it into one's own appearance.

At its most basic level, one had to predict the enemy's attack in advance before using the transformed wood to take the hit in place of the real body.

Thus, the strength of the Substitution Technique was often closely tied to the Transformation Technique.

Of course, that was only its most basic application.

It could be described as a sleight of hand, with no spatial properties involved whatsoever.

More advanced versions, such as Orochimaru's Snake Substitution or an earth substitution, often used a clone as the substitute, completing the cloning and substitution in an extremely short time.

That likewise did not involve space, and it came with range limitations.

So, the idea that the Substitution Technique was similar to Uchiha Sasuke's Amenotejikara simply did not exist.

However.

When the Substitution Technique rose to Level 10, its theoretical maximum level, the Six Paths Level, everything became different.

When used in conjunction with the Clone Technique, the Level 10 Substitution Technique allowed one to switch positions with a clone within one's sensing range.

Space-time ninjutsu!

It looked very similar to Amenotejikara or the Flying Thunder God.

But it was heavily restricted.

It had to be a clone, and ordinary clones were certainly too weak to withstand it, so a tangible clone like a Shadow Clone was required.

That created a distance limit.

Since Shadow Clones could only be maintained for a limited time, the distance they could be from the original body was also severely limited.

Unless one was like Naruto in the future, having mastered senjutsu while also possessing the Nine-Tails.

In other words.

The power of the Level 10 Substitution Technique depended heavily on one's mastery of the Shadow Clone Technique.

"With my current Level 5 Shadow Clone Technique, as long as it isn't high-intensity combat—even if it's just traveling or hiding—I can maintain it for a day or two without issue. Even on the battlefield, as long as I prepare in advance, it'll be enough to save my life!"

Asuma was overjoyed.

The Level 10 Substitution Technique had given him a tremendous surprise.

"Still, I'll need to test it properly. Now that it's become space-time ninjutsu, there'll definitely be pressure when switching positions, so the Shadow Clone needs sufficient strength."

"And if I use a Shadow Clone to die in my place, it'll put tremendous pressure on my mind. I'll have to keep training to overcome that as well."

Asuma analyzed it silently before another thought surfaced. If I raise the Shadow Clone Technique to Level 10, I wonder what effect it'll have?

But he restrained the urge to upgrade it.

With his current Chakra Control, the Shadow Clone Technique still had plenty of room to improve, especially after he raised his Chakra Control to Level 10.

Perhaps he could raise it to Level 8 through his own training in two or three years.

Without hesitation, Asuma added points again, raising Level 8 Chakra Control (Extraction, Control/45%) to Level 10 Chakra Control (Extraction, Control/45%).

Two minutes later, Asuma wore a somewhat dazed expression.

Because he discovered that Level 10 Chakra Control allowed him to control chakra with hair-thin precision, entirely as he wished.

The Three Basic Ninjutsu, Shadow Clone Technique, Fire Style - Fire Bullet, Wind Style - Great Breakthrough, and the Level 3 Hell Viewing Technique no longer required Hand Seals.

"For me now, as long as I'm proficient enough with a ninjutsu, I can completely discard Hand Seals or reduce them to a single seal."

The change left Asuma both amused and exasperated. It somewhat felt as if the past four years of practicing Hand Seals every day until his hands cramped had been entirely wasted.

After steadying himself, Asuma ended this round of adding points.

He had spent 6 Skill Points in total, leaving 17.

Afterward, Asuma began practicing the Shadow Clone Technique.

With his Chakra Control improved, he could rapidly improve it again.

It was not just the Shadow Clone Technique. Aside from Fire Style - Fire Bullet, his other ninjutsu also had room for rapid improvement.

In the blink of an eye, the half-hour rest period ended, and the group set off once more.

After traveling all afternoon, they stopped to rest again at nightfall.

After two hours of training, Asuma and Kurenai took the first watch.

During the latter half of the night, Hatake Sakumo and Shizune took over.

Early the next morning, after eating the fish soup Shizune had made, the group set off again.

Then, at around five in the afternoon, the group finally arrived at their destination.

A Konoha outpost established at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.

After handing over with another squad stationed at the outpost, Asuma and the others officially began their first mission.

For the next month, they would use this outpost as their base while patrolling the border to prevent unidentified ninja from infiltrating the Land of Fire.