Subtle Changes in the Yin Release Barrier

Over the next few days, Shinji was the most anxious one.

She kept asking pitifully, "When will it be my turn?"

She looked nothing like a tomboy.

The problem was that Retsuo did not have Lightning Release. If Shinji wanted to experience the feeling of jumping out of the well, she would probably have to wait until he succeeded in cultivating chakra nature transformation and developed Lightning Release.

Over the past few days, Retsuo had gained quite a lot. First, he confirmed that the Yin Release Barrier's warnings about malicious intent were indeed strongly tied to distance—Shinnō's malice could be treated as a constant.

This was a major breakthrough. Only now had the Yin Release Barrier's function as an alarm truly been fully developed.

Compared to that, the Kekkei Genkai aspect was simply heartbreaking.

It was not just Shinji whose heart was broken. Retsuo's was even more shattered. He discovered that Minato's so-called controllability merely meant being able to withdraw Yin Release at any moment, like being able to cut a rocket's engine during liftoff.

That was certainly already impressive, but it did not reduce a single variable. Developing a Kekkei Genkai would probably take years!

But perhaps not entirely? During one experiment, Tenma's chakra contained not only Earth Release—his Yin Release had followed along as well.

Only then did Retsuo realize that Tenma's Spiritual Energy had risen over these past few days. Though it was still nowhere near Retsuo's, it was no longer merely "more or less a little."

That tiny strand of Yin Release, layered atop Retsuo's own Yin Release, produced a change he had never expected! He casually pulled the Yin Release and Earth Release apart, only to find that Tenma's Yin Release was not under his control and directly merged into the Yin Release Barrier.

Retsuo clearly felt the Yin Release Barrier expand, only for it to return to normal immediately afterward.

The instant had been extremely brief, but it affected Retsuo greatly. It felt like... when he charged the Yin Release Barrier? The problem was that the Yin Release Barrier had already been charged at the time.

Unfortunately, Tenma's Yin Release was simply too faint. That strand of Yin Release had appeared entirely by chance and could not be replicated at all.

For Retsuo, everything required personal exploration. Everything was hazy and unknown.

But the unknown was good. More unknowns meant more possibilities. As for Tenma's Yin Release, there was plenty of time ahead!

At that thought, Retsuo suddenly burst into exaggerated laughter. "Hahaha—hahaha—"

Tenma hurriedly covered his face. His friend's insanity was getting worse and worse. He had an episode every day.

Shinji, meanwhile, stood before Retsuo with her hands on her hips. "The Ninja Academy is about to resume classes. Are you really okay laughing like that every day?"

"The Ninja Academy? Let's graduate early."

At the thought of the Ninja Academy, Retsuo's head began to ache. He had already received the notice about classes resuming, along with the curriculum, only to discover that the new semester's classes would actually focus on mathematics and physics...

Where was the Will of Fire? Where had my beloved Will of Fire class gone?

Then there was nothing more to say. The most urgent matter was for me to graduate immediately!

Shinji immediately pulled a bitter face. "You can graduate early, sure, but how could the two of us possibly do that?"

"Your Basic Transformation Jutsu and shuriken skills are both decent, right? Your taijutsu has also improved quite a bit lately."

After saying that, Retsuo added silently, By Ninja Academy standards, anyway.

Tenma continued covering his face. "Those are graduation standards from the Third Shinobi War, okay? To apply for early graduation now, you either have to defeat a genin in a test battle or be able to cast a D-rank ninjutsu."

Retsuo thought that was a reasonable requirement. A genin's standard chakra reserves were no more than that.

But he also knew why Tenma and Shinji were depressed. Defeating a genin was too difficult for them. As for the other option, setting aside whether they had enough chakra, they did not know any ninjutsu...

The civilian Ninja Academy students of Konohagakure basically did not know ninjutsu. When they went to war or carried out missions, they muddled through with taijutsu, shuriken, and Explosive Tags, with chakra mainly spent on taijutsu.

Mastering ninjutsu before becoming a ninja was the privilege of clan ninjas.

Moreover, Retsuo could not teach his own ninjutsu to others, because all of his ninjutsu had been passed down by his clan. Only ninjutsu one acquired or created oneself could be privately taught to others.

That was the order of the ninja village.

Just then, someone knocked on the small courtyard's gate. Retsuo looked up, and was immediately overcome with surprise and delight.

"Uncle Ukyo, Sister Yulong!"

Uchiha Ukyo had been injured while saving Retsuo's life during the Third Shinobi War. He was nineteen, had Two Tomoe, and was a jonin. Because he was bald, Ukyo wore a hat all year round, and today was no exception.

An Uchiha did not need to awaken Three Tomoe to become a jonin. His swordsmanship was exceptionally fierce, fully bringing out the taijutsu advantages of a dojutsu Kekkei Genkai user.

Uchiha Yulong had not saved Retsuo's life, but she had also helped him quite a bit during the Third Shinobi War. She was sixteen, had Three Tomoe, and was an Elite Jonin.

She looked even younger than her actual age. There was a faint sword scar on her cheek, but strangely enough, it did not diminish her beauty. The ends of her black hair curled slightly, and her fair skin stood in sharp contrast to her brother's.

Moreover, Yulong was one of the extremely rare Uchiha Clan ninja who possessed Yang Release and could use the Mystical Palm Technique.

These siblings could be said to be the most important people to Retsuo within the Uchiha Clan. They had previously gone to the Hidden Mist battlefield on the Eastern Front and had not been in the village. It seemed Shisui was not the only one who had returned to Konohagakure.

The reason for his delight was not gratitude for saving his life.

Because of awakening his memories from a past life, that sense of gratitude had now become an emotion viewed from another person's perspective for Retsuo.

But Yulong cleaning his wounds, bandaging him, and treating him during the Third Shinobi War was still vivid in his mind. Retsuo had been fortunate enough to witness Yulong using the Mystical Palm Technique with Three Tomoe blazing in her eyes. It had been deeply moving...

When Uchiha Yulong heard him call out "Uncle Ukyo," she burst out laughing, her voice crisp and pleasant. Tenma and Shinji exchanged silent looks. They had found the cause of Retsuo's insanity!

Uchiha Ukyo's skin was already dark, but now his face darkened even further. His lean body flashed forward, and he gave Retsuo a sharp knock on the head. "Kid! That's enough!"

Then he turned to Tenma and Shinji with an awkward smile. "I'm only nineteen."

At that smile, Retsuo suddenly felt that he looked a tiny bit like Heiji Hattori. He just did not know whether his brain worked the same way.

Uchiha Yulong shoved her brother aside and said to Retsuo, "I heard you want to graduate early?"

Early graduation was nothing unusual within the Uchiha Clan. These two had both been top students back then and had graduated early as well.

The top students of the Konohagakure Ninja Academy over the years were basically monopolized by the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans. At the academy, the Hyuga Clan dominated with the Byakugan and Gentle Fist, even suppressing the Uchiha. But after graduation, once an Uchiha prodigy awakened the Sharingan, the situation immediately reversed.