Earth-Style Wall

The clamor after the team competition gradually faded, and Konoha thoughtfully gave the advancing contestants a day to rest and recover.

Asami Ri returned to the familiar training woods.

Dappled shadows lay beneath the trees, with only the occasional call of a passing bird breaking the quiet.

He took a pale yellow Scroll from his Ninja Tool Pouch, ran his fingertips over its slightly rough texture, and slowly unrolled it.

The densely packed writing and circulation diagrams on the Scroll stood out vividly in the sunlight.

“Celestial Pivot, record B-rank Ninjutsu: Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.”

[Command confirmed. Analyzing and modeling Ninjutsu... Core logic extracted. Beginning synchronization...]

As the cold system voice sounded in his mind, countless intricate Chakra flow paths overlaid Asami Ri's vision like holographic projections.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, checking the theoretical data supplied by Celestial Pivot against the writing on the Scroll, point by point.

“So that's how it works...” Understanding gleamed in Asami Ri's eyes. “The core of the Earth-Style Wall isn't simply piling up earth. It uses Earth Release Chakra as a 'skeleton,' assimilating the surrounding soil to fill it out as 'flesh.'”

He couldn't help marveling that moving up a rank meant more than an increase in power.

Compared with the simple energy shaping of the C-rank Ninjutsu Lightning Ball, the B-rank Earth-Style Wall was exponentially harder to learn in terms of Chakra Nature Transformation and structural control.

He held his breath and focused, firmly committing the sequence of five seals and the key points of Chakra Nature Transformation to memory.

He drew a deep breath, filling his lungs with the earthy fragrance of the forest air.

Asami Ri planted his feet, his long, slender hands crossing sharply before his chest in a blur of afterimages.

Dragon–Ram–Dog–Ox–Snake

“Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!”

Asami Ri slammed both palms onto the ground.

In an instant, a dense surge of Chakra poured from his palms into the earth. A low rumble rose from the once-quiet clearing, and the ground shook violently.

Amid the deep rumbling, a broad, thick earthen wall surged out of the ground.

Compared with the wild, nimble nature of Lightning Release, Earth Release gave Asami Ri a sense of solid weight.

He stepped forward and ran a hand over the rough surface of the several-meter-high wall, feeling the fluctuations of Earth Release Chakra within it through his fingertips.

“The logic behind the Earth-Style Wall is essentially an application of 'civil engineering' on the Chakra level...”

Curiosity gleamed in Asami Ri's eyes. “Earth Release Chakra is channeled through the chakra pathways into the ground. Like weaving a net, it captures and binds loose soil particles to form a basic framework. Then the whole thing is raised.”

“But the most important part is the internal Chakra circuits.” Asami Ri closed his eyes, sensing the structure within. “They're like the reinforcing steel in a building, interwoven throughout the soil to provide the toughness and rigidity needed to resist physical impacts.”

Just then, a suggestion from Celestial Pivot appeared in his field of vision.

[The current Chakra structure has been detected as a linear array. Its resistance to impact is suboptimal.]

[Recommendation: abandon the linear arrangement and redesign the Chakra framework using a "biomimetic hexagonal honeycomb topology."]

Asami Ri's lips curved slightly as he read Celestial Pivot's optimization suggestion.

“Traditional Earth Release relies more on a ninja forcing things through sheer will and piling on Chakra. But I can use a more scientific structure to increase its rigidity.”

Asami Ri took a deep breath and half-closed his eyes. The complex geometric structures projected by Celestial Pivot glittered like stars in his vision.

He was attempting to build a stable "biomimetic hexagonal honeycomb topology" with Chakra, bit by bit.

Every hexagonal node, the thickness of every reinforcing bar, and every connection between load-bearing points required precise Chakra "modeling" within milliseconds.

"It's too intricate..." Fine beads of sweat seeped from Asami Ri's temples.

An ordinary Earth-Style Wall only required pouring Chakra into the ground like a flood. What he was doing now was no different from carving a miniature city with the tip of a needle.

If even one angle in a hexagon deviated slightly, uneven stress would collapse the entire honeycomb structure, reducing it to the original, mediocre linear array.

Sweat slid down his cheeks. Asami Ri held his hand seal but still didn't press his palms to the ground.

Compared with those monsters from powerful clans who had more Chakra than they could ever spend, his "mana bar" was hardly generous.

In an attempt like this, every failed practical trial would take a heavy toll on his stamina.

I can't keep trying blindly. There's too little room for error.

He simply sat down where he stood and entered a state of deep meditation.

Within his mental space, Celestial Pivot became a computer running at high speed.

Countless sets of simulation data flashed before his eyes: angle corrections, stress distribution, Chakra flow control... Using Celestial Pivot as a simulator, he rehearsed the construction of the hexagonal grid again and again.

Time passed quietly in the outside world, while experiment after experiment unfolded in Asami Ri's mind.

He was using Celestial Pivot's computing power to shorten the time he needed to become proficient with the Ninjutsu.

Since his Chakra reserves were limited, he would make up for it with greater precision and efficiency.

When he opened his eyes again, the initial uncertainty in his dark gaze had been replaced by the joy of success.

"Angle calculations complete. Structural simulation passed."

Asami Ri slowly rose, his hands crossing in a blur of afterimages with a rush of air.

"This time, let's put it into practice."

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

With his low shout, another thick earthen wall rose from the ground amid a rumbling roar.

This time, the wall's appearance had changed subtly.

Beneath the rough surface of yellow earth, an exceptionally regular pattern was faintly visible. The densely packed hexagonal honeycomb structure had taken physical form under the pressure of his Chakra.

Sunlight fell across the wall, giving it a texture like crystalline rock.

Asami Ri let out a long breath and casually wiped away the sweat running down from his temples.

Maintaining such a precise Chakra structure had pushed the strain on his brain close to its limit.

He approached the wall and spread his fingers across its cold, coarse patterns. It was no longer a heap of loose grains, but something like a highly compressed whole.

"Now that the theory holds up, it's time to test it."

Asami Ri took two specially made Explosive Tags from his Ninja Tool Pouch. With a flick of his fingers, two streaks of red fire landed at the centers of the two differently structured Earth-Style Walls.

He leaped lightly backward more than ten meters, landed in the shadow of a tree trunk, and formed hand seals.

"Detonate!"

BOOM!!!

The two explosions overlapped almost at the same instant. Thick smoke and flames swallowed the clearing as shattered earth and scorching blasts swept outward, startling the birds in the woods into flight.

As the breeze gradually dispersed the smoke, the starkly contrasting results appeared before Asami Ri.

The first earthen wall used the traditional linear Chakra structure.

A hole the size of a washbasin had been blasted through its center. Spiderweb cracks covered its blackened edges, and the entire wall teetered, as though the slightest additional force would bring it crashing down.

The second earthen wall, an improved version using the "biomimetic hexagonal honeycomb topology," remained firmly rooted in the ground.

At the center of the blast, only a layer of scorched earth a few centimeters thick had been stripped away, exposing the tightly packed, scale-like hexagonal structure beneath.

Though its surface was blackened, the wall's main body hadn't budged. The interwoven "Chakra reinforcing bars" had successfully redirected and distributed the force of the explosion across the entire wall.

"Its defensive efficiency has improved by at least forty percent."

Asami Ri looked at the almost intact wall, undisguised delight flashing in his eyes. "And this structure is especially effective against attacks that pierce a single point."