After finishing their ramen, the two groups walked out of the shop together.
Having said their goodbyes, Aozora was about to return to his clan compound when he suddenly noticed Team One staring intensely at them—Team Three.
Rong Hyuga spoke first. "Please give it your best effort. We'll catch up to you soon."
Saya Kurama scoffed, "It's just a case of dumb luck. We'll show you which team from Class 49 is truly the strongest!"
Willow Seiichiro also declared, "We'll catch up to you very soon!"
With that, Team One followed their Jonin instructor Kona Aizawa and left.
Watching Team One disappear into the distance, Shibi Aburame remarked, "Did you see them? These are your rivals. The moment you slack off, they'll overtake you."
Inuzuka Aya clenched her fist tightly and said, "Hmph, there's no way we're letting them surpass us!"
Hayate Gekko nodded seriously and said, "We won't give them any chances."
Aozora didn't care much about it—it was just childish competition. He said, "I never look back because those I've surpassed only fall further behind me!"
With that, he waved and returned to his clan compound alone.
Hayate Gekko and Inuzuka Aya looked at Aozora, feeling an even greater sense of urgency. Team One's declaration had only caused mild anxiety, but Aozora's words brought intense pressure.
As Aozora's teammates, the two had gradually come to recognize his overwhelming strength. If they didn't work harder, they knew they'd soon be far behind.
The next day was Team Three's scheduled rest day.
Although it was a holiday, Aozora became even busier.
Aozora woke up sharp at six in the morning.
At 6:20, he reached the mountaintop near his clan compound to begin training his Yang Eye. Each time, his vision sharpened more, his gaze growing sharper with every glance.
By 6:40, Aozora was heading down the mountain while eating breakfast.
At seven o'clock, Aozora arrived at the Dense Forest below the mountain and began practicing the Body Flicker Technique. Since he rarely used it, he was somewhat rusty. After running into a few trees, he finally regained his usual skill and darted swiftly between the trees.
Once he got used to that pace, Aozora picked up the speed without pause—slamming into trees, pushing himself up, and charging again.
The sun rose in the east, bathing the forest in golden light as a lone figure flickered between the trees, dancing through the shifting shadows.
The Ninja World isn't some illusionary realm. Therefore, ninjutsu isn't a skill whose power remains constant. It's something you can keep refining through hard work, until using it feels completely natural.
Over the years, Aozora had strengthened his chakra control through consistent Dao Yin Lian Qi practice, making learning jutsu as easy for him as eating or drinking.
In theory, Aozora could learn hundreds—even thousands—of jutsu with his powers, maybe even earning a title like "Jutsu Professor."
But Aozora believed in the saying: "Better quality over quantity," and that held true for ninjutsu too.
Minato Namikaze became famous across the ninja world with just the Flying Thunder God Technique, while Naruto Uzumaki rolled Rasengans all the way to the end.
Mastering a technique is just the start. Real power comes from relentless training—training that pushes past limits, sometimes even doubling your strength.
Why bother learning more jutsu when he should just focus on mastering what he already has?
The Shifting Body Technique was Aozora's mainstay.
While ninja bodies are tougher than normal humans', they're still fragile against elements like water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning.
Survival is the foundation of damage output, so Aozora values his only mobility technique highly.
After practicing nonstop for two full hours, Aozora headed to a nearby river to begin training his Fire Release techniques.
Fire Release techniques grow stronger with refined chakra. Ao needed to get familiar with their destructive power.
Ninja battles can erupt anytime. Without knowing his techniques' true strength, he might accidentally damage property at best, or injure allies and cause disastrous consequences at worst.
[Fire Release - Great Fireball Technique!]
[Fire Release - Dragon Fire Technique!]
[...]
Blazing flames flashed and vanished over the river, steaming up the air as clouds of mist swirled around.
Through the entire morning, Ao practiced every ninjutsu he had learned.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Aozora finally got a break to learn new skills.
Before studying new abilities, Ao first considered how to use his Gongde Droplets.
From his previous bandit-eradication mission, Ao had gained seven droplets of Gongde through killing and arson.
Gongde Droplets could nourish the soul and cultivate one's spirit, or perfect mystical techniques.
Since Ao didn't know how effective his mystical techniques would be after learning the Vanishing Technique and Summoning Technique, he didn't want to waste all seven droplets on them.
"Embodiment Beyond the Self or Yin Yang Eye? Or perhaps Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work?"
"Embodiment Beyond the Self it is! I've always wanted to hide safely in the back while developing my powers, letting my clones do all the fighting. Plus, my clones could help me farm Gongde as well. Double the fun sounds great."
Having made his decision, Aozora immediately focused on the four faded Ancient Characters "Embodiment Beyond the Self" in the Heavenly Book.
Golden droplets quickly surged into them.
The first drop merged in, solidifying the faded gray Ancient Characters.
The second drop merged in, without any change.
The third drop merged in, still no change.
Only after all seven droplets had been absorbed did the "Embodiment Beyond the Self" remain gray Ancient Characters, never radiating golden light.
Aozora furrowed his brow.
Through multiple attempts at perfecting mystical techniques, Aozora already knew that gray-colored techniques represented incomplete ones, lacking the most critical element, thus making them unlearnable.
Previously, Aozora had received feedback about "**Yu Qi**" from throwing kunai, but because he lacked knowledge of multi-sensory focus and chakra attachment, he had been unable to truly master "**Yu Qi**." He could only barely alter the flying direction of kunai through this incomplete inheritance.
Only after mastering Kage Bunshin and obtaining crucial knowledge did "Yu Qi" shine with golden light, allowing him to freely control ninja tools as he pleased.
The transformation of "Embodiment Beyond the Self" indicated this technique lacked essential knowledge, which even Gongde couldn't forcibly complete.
This disappointed Aozora somewhat. If Gongde was this powerful, he wouldn't have to study new knowledge in the future—he could simply focus on performing righteous acts.
Taking a deep breath, Aozora steeled himself and prepared to practice the Vanishing Technique and Summoning Technique.
Since the Vanishing Technique was pretty basic, Aozora decided to try it out first.
The Vanishing Technique wasn't difficult. Although classified as an Advanced Three Basic Jutsu, its difficulty level was merely C-rank.
Aozora effortlessly grasped the method of chakra manipulation for the Vanishing Technique by skillfully utilizing a single hand seal.
[Vanishing Technique!]
Without forming any hand seals, Aozora directed his chakra to flow according to the technique's required pattern. His chakra surged swiftly and poured out through every pore in his body.
As this chakra emerged and began forming a transparent film around him, it immediately evaporated into mist.
Walking up to a mirror, Aozora saw his tall figure faintly obscured by swirling vapor, giving off an ethereal aura.
"This is supposed to be invisibility?"
Speechless, Aozora tried again, but once more only succeeded in increasing the thickness of the foggy mist surrounding him.
"Release!"
He waved away the mist and pondered why he had failed. He was certain his chakra circulation had not a single flaw.
His hand passed through the lingering vapor, and he felt a slight chill.
"Could it be related to Water Release techniques?"
"Does that thin film reflect light from all angles to hide me completely?"
Drawing upon knowledge from both his past and present lives, Aozora made an educated guess about how the Vanishing Technique worked.
"My chakra currently has too strong a Fire affinity to perform Water Release. The special film forms but evaporates immediately—I guess my overpowering fire nature is interfering. That must be why I can't stay invisible."
Aozora tried the technique again, carefully observing the shift in his chakra. This time, he felt a faint chill within the flow.
"What a shame. Maybe once I've tempered my fire chakra to perfection, I can find a way to balance it. For now, though, this technique just isn't compatible with me."
"At least it makes me look like a mystical breeze just walked in. Guess it's time to commission some cloud-like robes."
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>