Another seven days passed. Aside from eating, sleeping, and carrying out missions, Yechen spent all his time training.
His hard work naturally paid off. His Advanced Three Body Technique reached level 3, and his Fire Release-Great Fireball Technique reached level 9. These gains were also thanks to his three Shadow Clones training alongside him.
Without his Shadow Clones, Yechen could never have raised his skills so quickly.
He also had the Primordial Chaos Devouring Heaven Technique to assist him. His energy was ten times as concentrated as ordinary chakra, and that was what gave him confidence.
Yechen's combat power had also surpassed 10. His base combat power had now reached the Chunin level.
In an actual fight, he was confident he could hold his own against a high-level Chunin.
As for Jonin, Yechen was not arrogant enough to think he could take one on.
Every Jonin was an expert who had survived the battlefield. They had extensive combat experience, far beyond what a newcomer like Yechen could match.
"Yechen, the wild boar's heading your way!"
Abe Rō's voice came through the radio.
"Understood." Yechen pressed the button on his radio and looked at the huge wild boar charging straight toward him.
His right hand swept across his waist, and a Kunai spun between his fingertips. He sighted his target and hurled it.
Whoosh!
The Kunai sliced through the air like an arrow loosed from a bow, plunging swiftly and precisely into the wild boar's right eye.
Blood sprayed as the Kunai tore through its body and struck the ground with a bang, gouging out a hole.
Yechen had already done his utmost to control his strength, but he was simply too powerful. Even his slightest movements could unleash tremendous force.
A strength aptitude stat of 33 meant Yechen could unleash 1,500 jin of force-the equivalent of one and a half revolutions.
With 1,500 jin of explosive force, Yechen needed no other techniques. The force behind his Kunai alone could kill a fully grown wild boar in an instant.
Roar...!
The animals of the shinobi world truly had remarkable vitality. Not only were they enormous, but even after Yechen pierced its brain through its right eye, the boar still had not completely died.
It lay in a pool of blood, stubbornly twitching, though it was not far from death.
"Yechen, you're terrifying! You killed that wild boar with a single Kunai!"
Abe Rō and Ito Miyuki had both witnessed Yechen's attack. The force behind his Kunai had given them quite a fright.
That hardly counted as throwing a Kunai. They would have believed it had been fired from a heavy weapon.
Yechen brushed it off. He had not even unleashed his true power, nor had he used Space Compression.
Once he used Space Compression, its power would double. His 1,500 points of explosive force would become 3,000. That was what would truly be terrifying.
But Yechen would not reveal his strength lightly. He would keep something in reserve as his trump card.
Their mission this time was to drive away the wild beasts within a ten-kilometer radius and kill at least a third of their total number, so they had plenty of work ahead.
"You two go drive away the beasts. I'll check elsewhere."
With that, Yechen vanished from where he stood.
Watching him leave, Ito Miyuki could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. Ever since that bandit-extermination mission, she had often felt that Yechen had become a different person. He had also grown especially distant, and sometimes she could even see bloodlust in his eyes.
"Abe Rō, don't you think Yechen's changed?"
"Has he...?" Abe Rō scratched his head.
"He's gotten stronger, hasn't he?"
"That's not what I mean." Ito Miyuki frowned.
"I feel like something must have happened during that bandit-extermination mission. Yechen feels so cold now. If you try to get close to him, you'll find that his heart is like ice."
"Ah, then come closer to me instead. My heart's warm," Abe Rō joked.
Ito Miyuki rolled her eyes.
"I'm not wasting my time on you."
With that, Ito Miyuki dashed off in another direction.
"But my heart really is warm." Abe Rō placed a hand over his chest and muttered to himself.
"Why can't Miyuki feel it?"
Time flew, and a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Konoha's Chunin exams were also drawing to a close. Although they were not as lively as the joint exams held by several villages during peacetime, plenty of people still went to watch.
Yechen was not among them.
The day they would leave for the battlefield was drawing ever closer.
Yes, the news had already been announced.
Their graduating class would head to the battlefield in the Land of Rain alongside the newly promoted Chunin.
If there was one place Yechen least wanted to go, it was the Land of Rain.
The Land of Rain lay where the three great nations-the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Fire-met, and it also bordered several smaller nations. Its unique geography had made it a place every village fought over in successive Shinobi World Wars.
Naturally, this time was no exception.
Konoha Ninja, Sand Ninja, Rock Ninja, bounty-hunting ninja, ninja from the Land of Rain, the Akatsuki led by Yahiko, Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and others were all on that battlefield. The situation could hardly have been more complicated.
Under such complicated circumstances, the ninja from every nation's hidden villages were constantly on edge. The slightest disturbance could trigger a fight to the death.
And so the Land of Rain had become the graveyard of the shinobi world, a hardened battlefield full of ruthless veterans. The ninja there were like Explosive Tags: one spark would ignite them, and one touch would set them off.
That was why Yechen did not want to go. Of course, the decision was not his to make. With his current strength, he was not yet capable of defecting from the village.
Before you continue