Chapter 26: Chapter 26 – Intel
Chapter 26 – Intel
"Zzz—Seimei, get ready to intercept. It's headed your way."
Ryouji's voice came through the earpiece.
Seimei pressed the receiver and replied, "Got it. I see it."
Perched atop a tree branch, Seimei watched as a massive wild boar barreled through the forest. He raised his hand and hurled a kunai.
The kunai tore through the air like a bullet, swiftly and precisely piercing the boar's left eye.
Blood streamed down along the kunai's shaft as the beast let out a pained, furious roar.
ROAR—
Honestly, the creatures in the shinobi world were absurd—never mind their size, their vitality was just ridiculous.
Even now, despite its eye being punctured and likely some brain damage, the boar was still very much alive and kicking.
"But this is the end."
Muttering to himself, Seimei raised his right hand and activated the explosive tag tied to the kunai.
BOOM—
A violent explosion erupted.
A burst of crimson flames engulfed the boar entirely.
The pain from the fire sent it into a frenzy, crashing into nearby trees, even ramming into the one Seimei had been hiding in.
Forced to relocate, Seimei leapt to another vantage point.
Moments later, the fire began to die down. The boar finally collapsed to the ground, unmoving.
Staring at its charred body, Seimei didn't approach. Instead, he pulled out another kunai and hurled it like lightning, striking the boar's remaining eye.
Squelch—
The sound of blade piercing flesh echoed once more.
The boar suddenly sprang up, howling as it smashed through several trees before finally collapsing again.
Watching its chest rise and fall for the last time, Seimei coldly muttered, "Hmph. A beast is still a beast—no matter how cunning."
Despite its fake death trick, the boar's steady breathing had completely given it away.
Naturally, a trap that obvious wasn't going to fool him.
But now—
He could confirm it was really dead.
Rustle, rustle—
Two figures appeared—it was Ryouji and Shizuko.
"Seimei, that was way too wasteful," Ryouji said, eyeing the boar's scorched head. "You know the Great Fireball Technique. Why use an explosive tag?"
True, using an explosive tag to kill one wild boar wasn't cost-effective. Even with mission rewards factored in, the final calculation would still leave a deficit.
But it saved chakra.
While casting the Fire Release: Great Fireball would help raise its proficiency, that wasn't Seimei's current focus. So saving chakra wherever possible was the priority.
To Seimei, if spending a little money meant preserving more chakra for more important uses, then it wasn't a waste.
It had now been a week since that chance encounter with Kakashi and the others.
In that week, aside from eating, sleeping, and doing missions, Seimei had devoted every spare moment to training.
With such dedication, the results naturally followed.
First, he had fully mastered the three basic techniques—they were all now Lv3.
At this point, whether it was the easiest Transformation Technique or the most demanding Substitution Technique, he could cast them in under a second.
What did that mean?
Even many chūnin couldn't perform these jutsu as fluidly as he could.
Of course, that was the limit.
These were, after all, E-rank techniques. With a bit of effort, any chūnin could master them eventually.
Second, his Basic Taijutsu had also advanced from Lv2 to Lv3.
Originally, Seimei had hoped that—just like the jump from Lv1 to Lv2—it might increase his Physique stat again.
That would've raised his chakra capacity further.
But he was disappointed.
Even though Basic Taijutsu was now at the perfected stage like the three basic techniques, it hadn't improved his physical stats at all.
Then again, it made sense. If boosting Physique were that easy, there wouldn't be so many shinobi stuck as genin for life.
In the shinobi world, every single point in Physique was a transformation.
Just one or two such transformations during the genin stage was enough to ensure one had the chakra reserves needed for chūnin—if not a guaranteed promotion.
So it was only natural that a mere upgrade in Basic Taijutsu wouldn't result in a stat boost. He'd need more advanced taijutsu for that.
Finally—there was the Reflection Technique.
In the past seven days, its proficiency had increased by 125 points, rising from Lv2 (260/500) to Lv2 (385/500).
As a result, his Sharingan awakening had progressed from (85/100) to (87/100).
As expected, the pace hadn't slowed any further.
Now it was just a matter of pushing the Reflection Technique to Lv3. If the upgraded effect was substantial, Seimei might awaken his Sharingan before the Chūnin Exams ended.
Otherwise, he'd be heading to the battlefield without his Sharingan.
That's right—Seimei had received news that their graduating class would be sent to the front lines alongside the newly promoted chūnin.
It was precisely because of this that he now treated every bit of chakra as precious.
He had even temporarily shelved his plan to learn the Body Flicker Technique.
From now on, aside from essential usage, every drop of chakra would be spent on training the Reflection Technique.
Without the Sharingan as a trump card, he felt utterly insecure.
All these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
Seimei looked at Ryouji and Shizuko and said, "There are plenty of beasts in this forest. Our workload is heavy, so using a few explosive tags is nothing."
The mission this time was to expel all wild beasts within a ten-kilometer radius. The requirement was to kill no less than one-third of them.
With so many targets, using conventional methods to drive or eliminate them would cost a lot of chakra and drag out the mission.
Seimei didn't want to waste time or energy here. He'd rather spend a bit more money and finish early.
Before Ryouji could reply, Seimei pulled his kunai from the boar's body, wiped it clean, and said, "I'm heading to Area Two. You two drive the beasts toward me as fast as you can."
With that, he leapt away without waiting for their response.
Watching his retreating figure, Ryouji turned to Shizuko and said, "Shizuko, don't you think Seimei's been kind of tense lately?"
"Yeah."
Shizuko nodded.
In truth, she'd noticed for some time—but hadn't said anything.
"Do you know why?"
Ryouji asked curiously.
"Maybe it's because of the Chūnin Exams," Shizuko replied.
"The Chūnin Exams?"
Ryouji looked puzzled. "What does that have to do with us? We're not even taking part."
Hearing this, Shizuko hesitated for a moment. She glanced around cautiously, and only when she was sure no one was nearby did she finally speak.
"I heard from my father—he's a jōnin—that the village is planning to send our group to the battlefield after the Chūnin Exams, along with the new chūnin."
"What?!"
Ryouji nearly shouted in shock.
Although he often complained about doing mindless D-rank missions, he also understood how dangerous the battlefield was. He had no desire to be deployed so soon.
"Shh!"
Shizuko quickly raised her index finger and made a hush gesture. "Keep it down. My dad told me not to tell anyone. You mustn't spread it."
"Okay."
Ryouji finally came back to his senses and nodded. "Don't worry, I won't say a word."
Truthfully, they were overthinking it.
Even if word spread, it wouldn't matter.
The decision was already set in stone.
Although the news was still only circulating among jōnin and the major clans, it wouldn't be long before everyone knew. Keeping it secret was pointless.
"Alright, Ryouji, let's go."
After a brief silence, it was Shizuko who spoke first.
"Okay."
Ryouji nodded and replied, "Let's go."
The two of them then headed together toward Area Three.
[End of Chapter]
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