Chapter 37: One Month Later

Swish! A figure suddenly appeared before them. "Furukawa-sensei!" x3 Seimei, Ryosuke, and Mizutani Shizuko saw the newcomer and quickly stood up to greet him. Indeed, the person was none other than Furukawa. As a Jonin, Furukawa's missions were much heavier than theirs, so naturally, he couldn't always stay with them. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been bullied by a few Iwa-nin Chunin earlier. "Sensei, is the battle over?" Seimei glanced at the gradually subsiding fighting sounds in the distance and asked. "Yes." Furukawa nodded, his gaze sweeping over the three of them, and said with a hint of relief in his voice, "You're all still alive, that's good!" However, hearing his praise, Seimei and the others remained silent. Furukawa didn't mind this. He had been through it himself and understood their current feelings. Despite this, he still didn't choose to comfort or enlighten them. In Furukawa's view, ninja had to endure what ordinary people couldn't; otherwise, they didn't deserve to be called ninja. Based on this philosophy, he never offered ideological guidance to his students. Survival of the fittest was his principle. After a moment of silence, Furukawa spoke again, "Pack up. The team will set off in about half an hour. If we're lucky, we can reach the main camp before dark, and then you can all get a good rest." With that, he left in a hurry. "Alright, let's pack up." After he left, Seimei said this and then started looking for his belongings. Because they would be staying outside for a long time this time, in addition to carrying equipment and tools, he had also brought many daily necessities such as a change of clothes. However, during the battle earlier, he had thrown them all away because they were in the way. Fortunately, they were the victors and could leisurely search for their belongings. Seeing Seimei start to move, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko gathered their emotions and also began searching for their things. About half an hour later. The convoy set off again. Only a small group of people remained to continue cleaning up the battlefield. ... That night. In the middle of a dense forest. Inside a tent. Seimei sat cross-legged, meditating and refining chakra. He had now arrived at Konoha's main camp in the Land of Rain. According to Furukawa, their main task for the next period was to adapt to the battlefield environment and adjust their mentality. During this time, there wouldn't be any heavy missions. Undoubtedly, this was a rare opportunity for Seimei. He could take advantage of this time to further improve his strength. Judging from today's battle, without activating his Sharingan, his strength was only slightly stronger than that of an average Chunin. He could handle one-on-one fights, but if he encountered two or more enemies at the same time, it would be somewhat dangerous. Even if the enemy had no qualms and used their full strength, one person could still pose a threat to him. Although this threat wasn't significant, there was still a possibility of him getting injured. If he used his Sharingan, his strength should surpass most Chunin. But Chunin weren't considered anything special on the entire battlefield. Only by becoming a Jonin could one have a certain degree of self-protection. But with his current strength, even at full power, he couldn't reach the Jonin level. Even against a slightly lower-ranked Tokubetsu Jonin, as long as they weren't purely support-type, he most likely wouldn't be a match. Unless he could evolve his Sharingan to two tomoe... But that would take at least several months. He could wait, but the enemy wouldn't. Relying on this to improve his strength was clearly unrealistic. So, Seimei planned to allocate some of his chakra to increase the levels of a few Fire Style ninjutsu and genjutsu. This way, he could increase his combat power in a relatively short time. Thus, his self-preservation ability would naturally increase. Although doing so would slow down the evolution of his Sharingan, if he lost his life, what use would the Sharingan be? Only by surviving first could he talk about the future. Otherwise, everything would be in vain. ... One month later. On the outskirts of the main camp. Four figures, one adult and three children, were moving through the forest. They were very cautious, constantly observing their surroundings and occasionally stopping to check for hidden traps and markers. These four were none other than Furukawa, Seimei, Ryosuke, and Mizutani Shizuko, forming Team 17. They were currently on a patrol mission to protect the main camp. Or rather, they had been performing this mission for the past month, but as time went on, the areas they were responsible for became increasingly important. Of course, importance also meant danger. Initially, they wouldn't encounter enemies for ten days or half a month, and the missions were relatively easy. But after they adapted to the battlefield environment and their assigned areas changed, the missions weren't so easy anymore. Now, almost every few days, they would discover traces of enemy infiltration. Although most of the time, the enemies would have already fled by the time they arrived, there were a few instances where the enemies didn't manage to retreat in time. In those situations, they had to fight for their lives. The enemies sent on infiltration missions were all formidable. Therefore, every encounter could be described as perilous. It was fortunate that their team leader was a true Jonin who could provide them with some level of protection. Otherwise, Team 17 might have already suffered casualties. But it had to be said that such an environment was very beneficial for growth. Whether it was Seimei, Ryosuke, or Mizutani Shizuko, after a month of missions, the childishness on them had disappeared, replaced by competence. Just like now, the four of them stopped, and without Furukawa's instructions, the three of them tacitly went about their own tasks. Seimei was responsible for vigilance, while Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko checked for traps and markers nearby. Everything was so organized. A moment later, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko returned to the group and reported, "Sensei, no problems found." "Very good." Furukawa nodded and said, "Let's go to the last checkpoint." "Yes, sensei!" x3 The group of four headed towards the final checkpoint. Along the way, no one spoke unless necessary. All four pairs of eyes were focused on their surroundings, alert for any potential danger. Fortunately, luck was on their side today. After checking the last checkpoint, they didn't find any trace of the enemy. Seimei and the others couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. After a short wait and handing over to the next patrol team, they returned to their temporary camp. ... Late at night. Inside the temporary camp. Seimei once again completed the 'Heart Reflection Technique' and opened his eyes a moment later, a flash of understanding in his gaze. "So this is Lv4..." He murmured and then raised his hands again, starting to form hand seals for the 'Heart Reflection Technique'. In the next moment, his hands blurred, and he had already completed the hand seals at an unimaginable speed. Not only did the casting speed increase, but after the 'Heart Reflection Technique' reached Lv4, its effectiveness in promoting Sharingan evolution also improved significantly. Seimei closed his eyes, carefully feeling the process of the special chakra in his brain nourishing his eyes. A moment later, when it disappeared, he formed hand seals again and used the 'Heart Reflection Technique'. He repeated this process over and over again. After a full five repetitions, Seimei finally stopped. At this point, he felt that his Sharingan had taken another step from single tomoe towards double tomoe.