A strange room

After confirming a few things, Xia Yan's days became incredibly regular.

With no time off, he could only dutifully go on missions with Kakashi.

His luck was fairly good, though. None of his missions during this period were particularly difficult.

They mostly involved checking whether spies or rogue ninja had left the village, or intercepting people who attacked Konoha while posing as ninja from other countries.

All of this could be said to be very easy for Xia Yan and Kakashi.

At least they had not encountered any more troublesome opponents like Kakuzu or Yashamaru.

It was rather interesting, really. The first time they teamed up, they encountered a Kage-level opponent like Kakuzu, and the second time, an elite jonin like Yashamaru.

After those two occasions, however, the most troublesome opponents they encountered were merely jonin.

Jonin already counted as a village's elite. Even Konoha did not actually have many, with a total of just over two hundred.

Of course, if overall strength were taken into account, there might be a few more.

But however many there were, they were still far too few compared to Konoha's total population.

How many people lived in Konoha?

Including ordinary residents, there had to be over a hundred thousand. Against such a huge population, even doubling the number of jonin would still leave pitifully few!

Perhaps because the two of them performed so well, the Captain was in no hurry to have Xia Yan recruit new members.

The Captain clearly understood Xia Yan's meaning, too. After all, training ninja was no simple matter, and those who entered the Anbu were even more precious, even if they were only reserve members.

Soon, more than a month passed like this.

Xia Yan and Kakashi's outstanding performance over that month earned them three days off, which made Xia Yan very happy.

Although three days was not long, it was still an excellent stretch of time for Xia Yan to put to use.

Moreover, over that month of missions, he had read practically every book on Sealing Jutsu available to him, and had even memorized them.

What he lacked was systematic instruction and guidance to help him understand how to use the knowledge he had memorized to achieve the properties of Sealing Jutsu.

My leave starts tomorrow. I'll visit the Fourth Hokage tomorrow!

After finishing work that evening, Xia Yan said goodbye to Kakashi and headed toward his residence alone, opening his panel as he walked.

He was a little curious about what his panel looked like now.

But after examining it closely, he suddenly felt a little surprised, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face as well.

Name: Senju Natsuhiko

Sex: Male

Birthday: March 24, Year 34 of the Konoha calendar

Rank: Jonin (Chunin)

Bloodline Development: Beginner (Senju Secret Technique)

Seeds: Jonin Chakra Quantity Seed (60% maturity), Intermediate Senjutsu Seed (85% maturity), Advanced Earth Release Seed (71% maturity), Advanced Water Release Seed (71% maturity)

Fruits: Zero

Mission: Become the True Big Boss of the Shinobi World (unique)

Has the Intermediate Senjutsu Seed's maturity increased again?

Even Xia Yan himself had not expected this. Although his other seeds could not be said to have made no progress at all, the one-percent increase in maturity for Earth Release and Water Release still left him somewhat speechless.

As for the chakra quantity seed, he did not even want to give it another look.

If the Bloodline Development field had not clearly specified "Senju Secret Technique," and if the parents he had inherited had not been one hundred percent members of the Senju Clan, along with the aftereffects of his own reckless behavior as a child...

He really would have doubted whether he was truly a descendant of the Senju Clan. Chakra growth like this went beyond merely embarrassing.

Ah, let it be. At least there's a pleasant surprise, isn't there?

Sighing helplessly, Xia Yan could not be bothered to think too much about it. After all these years, he was already used to it.

Besides, the Senjutsu Chakra seed had indeed given him an enormous surprise, although it was relatively much easier to grow because the chakra was only intermediate in grade.

Still, it was a pleasant surprise. Xia Yan knew that once he mastered intermediate Sage Mode, he should be able to unleash even greater power on top of his existing strength.

And if I add the Flying Thunder God Technique...

At that thought, Xia Yan hardly dared to imagine further, because he had speculated whether he might directly become "Kage Level" by the system's assessment.

Kage Level was definitely a qualitative leap. Such people were even rarer than jonin, and even at its peak, Konoha had only had six Kage-level figures holding the fort together.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Hatake Sakumo, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya...

That could be considered Konoha's peak after the era of the two gods, but that period had long since passed as well.

Soon, however, he shook his head. He felt that even if he learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, his overall strength probably still would not reach Kage Level.

After all, his insufficient chakra made him ill-suited to prolonged battles, while Kage-level ninja simply did not have such a weakness.

Still, reaching "Quasi-Kage Level" in the system's assessment of his overall strength should be no problem.

Actually, the divisions of ninja strength in this world aren't nearly as clear-cut as the system's.

For a genin to kill a jonin, all it takes is using the right tactics and landing a stab with a kunai.

He shook his head slightly. The system's assessment of his strength did at least give him a sufficient understanding of himself.

Besides, even if his overall strength only reached Quasi-Kage Level by the system's judgment, at least he would have the ability to keep himself alive in this era.

At that thought, a smile appeared at the corners of Xia Yan's mouth. He really was looking forward to Sealing Jutsu and the Flying Thunder God Technique more and more.

He headed quickly toward his residence, not forgetting to carefully slip a scroll inside the elder's house as he passed it.

Afterward, he remained hidden nearby until he confirmed that someone inside the elder's house had taken the scroll, then slowly walked back to his little home.

"Hm?"

After returning home, Xia Yan was somewhat surprised to discover that his house had actually been cleaned, leaving him rather puzzled.

As far as he remembered, he had never hired anyone to help clean his room.

Besides, there was nothing in his room. Even if someone cleaned it, there was hardly anything worth cleaning. Had they cleared away cobwebs?

An enemy? Or something else?

Xia Yan could not figure it out, but he did very cautiously inspect the room thoroughly. In the end, he was one hundred percent certain that someone had simply come over to help him clean.

What on earth was going on?

Xia Yan rubbed his head. Could the clan be planning to find him a fiancée or something?

Large clans often offered a rather nice perk: they arranged marriages.

Although Xia Yan was only fourteen now, getting engaged would not be a problem.

At that thought, Xia Yan's expression turned strange. Were they really going to introduce a Renka to him?

Shaking his head, Xia Yan could not be bothered to think about it any further. He planned to get a good night's rest. He still had to meet Minato Namikaze tomorrow...