Cultivation Stages

With the knowledge he had learned from Dan Katō, combined with the experience Uchiha Fugaku had shared that was better suited to Uchiha Fire Style, Uchiha Meikyō's aptitude for learning Fire Style could be called exceptionally outstanding.

"You've already mastered the Great Dragon Fire Technique to this extent. That's enough."

Uchiha Fugaku stopped Meikyō's movements.

"The Great Dragon Fire Technique is an advanced Fire Style ninjutsu that combines the traits of the Great Fireball and Dragon Fire Style. If you want to improve it further, you'll need to work from two directions. One is to master Fire Style Shape Transformation and improve your control over Fire Style, allowing you to release multiple Flame Dragons at once. The other is to master Fire Style Nature Transformation and further develop this technique's destructive power and accuracy."

"In other words, you'll gradually begin to come into contact with some Jonin-level training content. After all, nearly every Jonin has mastered at least two Chakra Nature Transformations."

Uchiha Fugaku took out a scroll and gestured to Meikyō.

Meikyō stepped forward and accepted the scroll Fugaku handed him.

"I heard Jonin Dan has already arranged things for you. You'll still be stationed on the Second Line from now on, right?"

"Mm." Meikyō nodded. "Aside from the usual camp guard duties and supply escort missions, we'll also be responsible for scouting the border. If stronger enemies or elite forces from enemy nations infiltrate, we only need to report them to the Jonin at the outpost. It's relatively safe, and we'll have plenty of free time. Master Dan probably wants us to use this time to train properly and further improve our strength."

By now, Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami both possessed combat strength close to the Chunin level. At the very least, as they had shown in the previous battle, they were capable of directly holding off a Chunin for quite a long time.

As for Meikyō, there was no need to say more. Even among all Chunins, he was considered highly capable.

If he could spend several months consolidating his progress, relying on the newly learned Great Dragon Fire Technique and the Spirit Activation Technique taught by Dan Katō, Meikyō believed that if he faced that middle-aged Rain Ninja with the Umbrella Sword again one-on-one, he might not necessarily win, but he would at least not be forced into such a miserable state.

Once one's strength reached that level, if they could achieve a breakthrough in some particular specialty and meet the Jonin standard—for example, by mastering the Chakra Nature Transformation of Fire Style—they could basically be rated as a Special Jonin.

Of course, actual strength and official rank were another matter. Without sufficient War Merit and leadership experience, promotion was not so easy.

However, they were now in wartime. When promoting ninja ranks, Konoha no longer emphasized seniority as much as it had in the past, instead placing greater importance on a ninja's ability and War Merit. As long as one met the standards, promotion was generally possible.

"This scroll records some of my experience from when I trained in Fire Style Nature Transformation. Next, I need to lead the clan to the Front Line and restore the Uchiha name, so I won't have time to guide you. That is why I intend to give you this scroll and let you study it yourself."

"Thank you, Clan Head!"

Different ninja often had different understandings of the same Chakra Nature Transformation.

The three Genin of Kato Squad each possessed a record of Dan Katō's experience in training Fire Style Chakra Nature Transformation.

Meikyō even carried the Fire Style training techniques Uchiha Yu had given him.

Together with Uchiha Fugaku's notes, the Fire Style training experience of three Jonin would undoubtedly help Meikyō study and draw reference from multiple perspectives.

This scroll was extremely useful.

Time passed swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, another three months went by.

During those three months, the three Genin of Kato Squad had all lived very fulfilling lives.

Even New Year had been spent in the middle of missions—they had arrived at the front during the twelfth lunar month.

They went out on a supply escort mission roughly once every month. However, perhaps because the village had sent a large number of elite reinforcements to the front and formed an alliance with Hanzo of the Salamander, no ninja from enemy nations came to disrupt Konoha's supply transport.

Most of those who had previously come to cut off Konoha's supply lines had actually been Rain Ninja.

Aside from those supply escorts, their assignments were mostly training-related. At most, they encountered some mediocre Rogue Ninja. As long as those people did not cause trouble, Konoha could not be bothered to waste extra manpower clearing them out.

All of those were counted as standard C-rank missions.

Over three months, they completed more than thirty C-rank missions in total. As for the previous supply escort attack and the subsequent escape, they were settled as two B-rank missions.

Other than those missions, the rest of their time was basically spent in intense training.

The experience of war had made everyone realize how insufficient their strength was.

If they wanted to ensure their survival in a large-scale war sweeping across the entire Ninja World, they had to improve their strength as quickly as possible.

Until one morning.

Since they had only finished a supply escort mission yesterday, they did not need to carry out any other missions that day.

That was one of the benefits of being on the Second Line. While there was still a certain degree of danger, at least they did not have to remain on a battlefield where they might encounter a life-or-death crisis at any moment, unable to relax their vigilance for even an instant.

Before dawn had even broken, Meikyō had already brought his two teammates to an open area to train.

Over the past three months, the technique in which Meikyō had made the greatest progress was still the Spirit Activation Technique taught by Dan Katō, followed by Fire Style. Although his Uchiha Style Swordsmanship had improved as well, at his age, his body still needed further development and stronger physical conditioning before he could master the more powerful moves.

The Spirit Activation Technique was basically divided into four stages.

The First Stage involved using meditation to eliminate distracting thoughts and reach a state of inner calm.

This was difficult, especially for someone as restless as Inuzuka Ryo. To truly reach a state of inner calm, one needed to cast aside distracting thoughts. Moreover, during this stage, even emotions one normally would not notice could interfere with them.

Training ninjutsu after meditation often produced good results.

As one subdued these restless thoughts and strengthened one's resolve, Mental Energy would gradually increase as well.

Only when Mental Energy had increased enough to allow one to control their emotions most of the time could they be considered to have reached the next stage.

According to the notes Dan Katō left behind, the ninja he knew who had learned this technique could generally reach no further than this stage. Most of them could only linger in the First Stage.