Chapter 26: News

"Zzzt... Seimei, get ready to intercept, it's headed your way." Ryosuke's voice came through the earpiece. Seimei pressed his earpiece and replied, "OK, I see it." On the tree branch. Seimei watched the giant wild boar charging towards him and threw a kunai. The kunai sliced through the air, hitting the boar's left eye as swiftly and accurately as a bullet. Blood flowed down the kunai, causing the boar to let out a painful roar. Roar— It had to be said that the animals in the ninja world were truly absurd. Not only were they large, but their vitality was also extremely tenacious. Just like now, even though its eye was pierced and its brain was injured, the wild boar below was still alive and kicking. "But, that's it." Muttering to himself, Seimei raised his right hand and ignited the explosive tag tied to the kunai. Boom— A loud explosion sounded. A crimson flame burst forth, engulfing the entire wild boar. The pain from the burning flames caused the boar to wail incessantly, frantically ramming into the surrounding trees, even the large tree where Seimei was hiding was hit. Seimei had no choice but to find another hiding spot. After a few breaths, the flames gradually disappeared, and the boar stopped rampaging, lying directly on the ground, motionless. Looking at the charred boar, Seimei didn't approach it. Instead, he took out another kunai and threw it like lightning, hitting the boar's other eye. Puchi~ The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out. The boar suddenly stood up, wailing and breaking several trees before falling to the ground again. Looking at the boar's gradually stilling chest and abdomen, Seimei snorted coldly, "Humph! A beast is a beast, no matter how cunning it is, it's still just that." Although the opponent knew how to play dead, its constantly heaving chest easily exposed its trick. Seimei naturally wouldn't fall for such a trap. But, now... He could be sure that the opponent was dead. Swish~ Swish~ Two figures appeared, it was Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko. "Seimei, you're too wasteful." Ryosuke looked at the boar's charred head from the explosive tag and said, "Don't you know the Great Fireball Technique? Why did you use an explosive tag?" Indeed, using an explosive tag to kill such a boar was not cost-effective. Even with the mission reward, they would still lose money when they settled the accounts. But this could save chakra. Although using the Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique could also increase its proficiency, his current focus wasn't on that, so he wanted to save as much as possible. For Seimei, if spending a little money could allow more chakra to be used where it should be, then it wasn't a loss. At this time, a week had passed since he encountered Kakashi and the others. During this week, apart from eating, sleeping, and doing missions, he spent the rest of his time on training. With such hard work, the results were naturally not bad. First, he had cultivated all three basic techniques to perfection, which was lv3. Now, whether it was the simplest 'Transformation Technique' or the most difficult 'Body Replacement Technique', he could complete them within a second. What did this mean? Many Chunin weren't as proficient as him in performing these three techniques. Of course, that was all. After all, they were basic techniques with only an E-rank learning difficulty. As long as Chunin put in some effort, cultivating them to perfection wasn't too difficult. Second, his 'Basic Taijutsu' had also improved from lv2 to lv3. Initially, he had hoped that it could, like the upgrade from lv1 to lv2, increase his physique slightly again. That way, his chakra limit could continue to increase. But he was disappointed. Even though 'Basic Taijutsu' had reached perfection like the three basic techniques when it upgraded from lv2 to lv3, it couldn't change his physique attribute at all. But, thinking about it, it made sense. If physique attributes could be improved so easily, there wouldn't be so many ninjas in the ninja world stuck at the Genin level their whole lives. One must know that every point of physique increase was a transformation for a ninja. As long as one transformed once or twice during the Genin stage, even if they couldn't become a Chunin 100%, at least their chakra amount would definitely be enough. So, it was normal that his physique attribute didn't increase when 'Basic Taijutsu' went from lv2 to lv3. At the very least, it would require some advanced taijutsu to make that possible. Finally, there was the 'Mind Reflection Technique'. In seven days, its proficiency had increased by a total of 125 points, and its level had changed from lv2 (260/500) to lv2 (385/500). Thanks to this, his Sharingan awakening progress had increased from (85/100) to (87/100). As expected, the speed hadn't decreased further. Now he just had to wait for the 'Mind Reflection Technique' to reach lv3. If the effect was powerful, maybe he could awaken the Sharingan before the Chunin Exams ended. Otherwise, he would have to go to the battlefield with his naked eyes... That's right, Seimei had already received the news that their graduating class would return to the battlefield along with the newly promoted Chunin. Precisely because of this, he valued every bit of chakra. He even temporarily put his plan to learn the Body Flicker Technique on hold. From now on, except for necessary consumption, he planned to use all his remaining chakra to practice the 'Mind Reflection Technique'. Without the Sharingan as a trump card, he really didn't feel safe. Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Seimei looked at Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko and said, "There are many beasts in this forest, and our task is heavy. It's nothing to waste a few explosive tags." The mission they received this time was to drive away all the beasts within a ten-kilometer radius, and the mission required them to kill at least one-third of the total number. With so many beasts, if they were to drive them away or kill them using conventional methods, it would inevitably consume a lot of chakra and also prolong the mission time. Seimei didn't want to waste time and energy here, so he would rather spend a little more money to complete the mission quickly. Without giving Ryosuke a chance to speak again, Seimei pulled his kunai from the boar, wiped it, and said, "I'm going to Area 2. Hurry up and drive the beasts over." After saying that, regardless of their reactions, he jumped away. Looking at his departing back, Ryosuke turned to Mizutani Shizuko and said, "Shizuko, have you noticed that Seimei has been a bit impatient lately?" "Yes." Mizutani Shizuko nodded in agreement. In fact, she had noticed this a long time ago but hadn't said anything. "Then do you know why?" Ryosuke asked curiously. "Maybe it's because of the Chunin Exams!" Mizutani Shizuko replied. "The Chunin Exams?" Ryosuke looked puzzled and said, "What does that have to do with us? We're not participating." Hearing this, Mizutani Shizuko hesitated for a moment, carefully glanced around, and after confirming that no one was there, she revealed the news she had gotten from her Jonin father. "I heard that the village plans to send our group to the battlefield along with the newly promoted Chunin after the Chunin Exams end." "What?" Suddenly hearing this news, Ryosuke exclaimed in surprise. Although he hated performing D-rank missions that required no skill, he also knew the dangers of the battlefield and naturally didn't want to go there so soon. "Shh!" Mizutani Shizuko raised her right index finger, gesturing for silence, and said, "Keep your voice down. My dad told me not to tell anyone about this. Don't spread it around." "Oh." Ryosuke came to his senses, nodded, and said, "Don't worry, I won't say anything." In fact, they were overthinking it. Even if it got out, it wouldn't matter. Because this matter was already set in stone. Although the news was only circulating among the Jonin and the major clans, it wouldn't be long before everyone knew, and there was no need for secrecy. "Alright, Ryosuke, let's go." After a moment of silence, Mizutani Shizuko finally spoke. "Oh." Ryosuke came back to his senses, responded, and said, "Let's go." Then, the two of them headed towards Area 3 together. (End of Chapter)