Naruto, But With Li's Peerless Flying Dagger

"Idiot!"

Li Anshi crouched down beside the embedded Sakamoto Toshio. "You yourself said earlier that you only have enough chakra for three uses of the basic techniques. And with your level of Clone Technique, anyone who isn't blind can see through it instantly."

The Clone Technique within the Three Basic Techniques created illusory duplicates without physical substance. Li Anshi felt it was less a "clone technique" and more a "visual illusion technique."

"Instead of wasting chakra on such an easily deciphered Clone Technique, you'd be better off channeling all that chakra into enhancing your body, giving yourself greater speed and strength."

"And you two," Li Anshi added, looking up at Sagawa Yui and Kondo Kazuya after addressing Sakamoto. "Didn't I tell you before to treat me as the enemy?"

"What, is this how you act on the battlefield when facing an enemy?" he berated them. "You let your teammate charge forward alone while you two just stand back and watch?"

"And your reaction after your teammate was defeated – or killed – is also deeply disappointing, No move to avenge your comrade, no signal flare to warn other allies of the enemy's presence, not even a thought of escaping..."

With a flicker, Li Anshi vanished from before Sagawa, Kondo, and the still-stuck Sakamoto.

Before the other two could react, they felt a sudden chill on their throats. Startled, they touched their necks and found blood on their fingers.

"Ah! Aaaaaah!"

Instant terror seized Sagawa Yui and Kondo Kazuya. They let out terrified screams, clutching their necks and collapsing to their knees. They had never imagined that what they thought was just a test from Li-sensei would cost them their lives.

"Alright, stop howling like wolves," Li Anshi reappeared. "I just nicked your skin with my fingernail. Is that worth such caterwauling?"

"Eh?"

Taken aback by Li Anshi's words, Sagawa and Kondo slowly lowered their hands from their necks, revealing only thin red lines on their palms. The small cuts on their necks would likely heal completely within half an hour. Of course, Li Anshi could have used his own chakra to heal them instantly, but he felt the lesson wouldn't stick as effectively then.

"Through this little exercise, I've gained some understanding of your abilities."

He pulled Sakamoto Toshio out of the ground with one hand and shook his head.

"Your courage in stepping forward during Konoha's time of crisis, graduating early to become ninjas and resist the enemy, is commendable."

Although Sagawa and the others were essentially being used as cannon fodder by the Konoha leadership under the Third Hokage, Li Anshi had no intention of telling them the truth.

Firstly, knowing such news wouldn't benefit them and would undoubtedly cause major psychological issues. If they spread the word, to maintain the villagers' faith in the "Will of Fire," all non-clan ninjas aware of the truth would likely disappear under mysterious circumstances.

Secondly, while Sagawa and the others might have harbored thoughts of seeking glory, their initial motivation – wanting to help the village – was fundamentally good. The fault lay in how that motivation was exploited.

Li Anshi also didn't want Tsunade, when she eventually became Hokage, to have to rebuild trust with the village's civilian ninjas from scratch. His current goal was to protect as many civilian ninjas as he could within his capabilities; they would ultimately become the bedrock of Konoha.

Perhaps the ceiling for this generation of civilian ninjas wasn't high; maybe only one or two out of a hundred would reach Jonin-level strength, which would be considered remarkable. However, one couldn't forget the unique nature of ninja inheritance.

Due to the legacy of "Ninshu," the children of ninjas had a high probability of being able to refine chakra themselves. Furthermore, unlike the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths whose potential weakened over generations, the potential of ordinary ninjas' descendants tended to be slightly stronger than their parents'.

If a generation produced a genius capable of merging two chakra natures into a bloodline limit, it would mark the birth of another powerful ninja clan.

In terms of ninja strength, the difference between Genin and Chunin wasn't enormous. Three well-coordinated Genin could hold off an average Chunin. Five well-coordinated Genin might even be able to kill an average Chunin.

However, the power gap between Chunin and Jonin was staggering.

Every ninja with "Jonin" level strength had mastered chakra nature transformation. They could imbue their chakra with properties like sharpness, heat, hardness, or explosiveness, drastically increasing the power of their ninjutsu.

Even five coordinated Chunin were just fodder before a Jonin; the only difference was how long they could last.

To kill a Jonin typically required another Jonin of equal rank, or perhaps a squad of ten or more elite Chunin working together seamlessly and suffering heavy casualties in the process.

If this generation of civilian ninjas survived, then in ten years, most of their children would likely possess Chunin-level potential.

Fifteen years after that, a small portion of the next generation might reach elite Chunin level.

Another fifteen years, and it wouldn't be surprising for Jonin to emerge from the civilian ninja ranks. Thus, in forty or fifty years, it was conceivable that civilian ninjas could stand on equal footing with the established ninja clans.

"However the only thing about you worth my notice is that 'courage'. Courage alone is almost certainly not enough for you to survive the battlefield."

"Sagawa, Kondo, Sakamoto... To help you understand the reality of the battlefield, for the next two days, I will hunt you down. Run. I'll give you three minutes head start. After three minutes, I will begin my pursuit. If you can't survive my hunt... well, people really do die, you know..."

...

Two days later...

"Sagawa, Kondo, Sakamoto, you three remember this: when the battle starts, don't lose your heads. You must stay within my line of sight!"

Li Anshi instructed, looking back at his three subordinates as they moved through the dense jungle.

"That way, if you encounter danger and I have the capacity, I will provide support."

"Yes, Li-sensei," the three Genin replied gratefully.

Over the preceding two days, they had been repeatedly "killed" by Li Anshi in various ways, thoroughly teaching them the vast gap between themselves and real, experienced ninjas. On the battlefield, they now understood, they were like infants, easily eliminated.