Chapter 135: Preparations for the Bloodline Limit
The first step only took Ishiro two days, but the second step was much more troublesome. Both Ishiro and his Earth clone could cast jutsu independently, but once their chakra began to intermingle, the techniques could no longer be formed.
After the two chakra natures infiltrated each other, they would collapse and dissipate before a jutsu could be established, due to mutual interference.
This was the first major obstacle in chakra fusion training. If one couldn't even control chakra after mutual permeation, then fusion was impossible.
Fortunately, Ishiro had a solid foundation. His Earth nature had already surpassed the minimum requirements due to extensive S-rank ninjutsu training.
His understanding of Water Release was even deeper—after all, he had successfully developed an A-rank Water Release technique.
Additionally, Ishiro's chakra control was far superior to that of an average elite jōnin.
So although this process was difficult, after a month, Ishiro managed to overcome it.
However, when he began the third step, he ran into more trouble.
For a ninja, splitting focus wasn't too difficult—it wasn't like those martial arts novels where someone needed to draw a circle with one hand and a square with the other.
Chakra was a miraculous energy source—it enhanced not only a ninja's body but also their mind.
So multi-tasking came naturally to shinobi. The best examples were puppeteers who could simultaneously control multiple puppets with flawless precision.
But converting chakra within one's body into two different elemental natures at the same time? That was a true challenge.
After many attempts, Ishiro found that the real bottleneck was still his insufficient understanding of Earth Release.
So after returning to the village, Ishiro decided not to attend his disciples' chunin exams. Instead, he would spend the next few days pushing forward his S-rank ninjutsu training.
Ishiro had already reached the bottleneck of gravitational insight. So, he decided to seek out the Akatsuki.
Ever since the Akatsuki had left the Land of Rain, Ishiro had lost all contact with them.
At the time, he hadn't even known the Akatsuki's future direction. But now that over a year had passed since their departure, and with Ishiro deliberately paying attention, he had learned a few things about their movements.
Surprisingly, the Akatsuki had abandoned their stronghold in the Land of Rain and relocated to the small countries between the Land of Birds and the Land of Bears—places so minor they didn't even have hidden villages.
Over the past year, the Akatsuki had managed to convince the daimyos of those countries to allow them to establish Akatsuki branches.
Moreover, the Akatsuki avoided dealings with mid-sized countries like the Land of Rain, Birds, or Bears. Instead, they began promoting peace among the many tiny nations in between.
To these small nations without any ninja villages or protection, the Akatsuki offered security and peace that they had never known before. Many daimyos expressed enthusiastic support.
Since the Akatsuki didn't place unreasonable demands like the great nations did, the small-country daimyos were more than happy to cooperate.
From the looks of it, the Akatsuki were now fully committed to the "small country route."
Unlike Ishiro's tendency to wash his hands of political matters, Onoki had been keeping a close watch on the Akatsuki's movements. For every small nation the Akatsuki took under their wing, Onoki sent someone to establish trade deals with them.
So even though Ishiro hadn't followed up much over the past year, once he explained the situation to Onoki, he was immediately updated on the Akatsuki's recent developments.
Once Ishiro learned the whereabouts of Yahiko's team, he paid a quick visit to Ikura's home, asking him to watch over the three disciples. Then, he departed the village in a hurry.
While Ishiro's search for the Akatsuki will be covered later, back in the village, his three students' participation in the chunin exams had already stirred quite the commotion among the genin.
News of this special round of promotions had spread widely. Most genin had heard something about it, though many didn't take it seriously at first.
After all, they knew their own abilities well. Becoming a chunin was incredibly difficult.
This time, even though the standards were relaxed, it mostly benefited experienced genin or those who graduated one or two years ago and were considered geniuses.
Most genin could only admire them from afar and grumble a little.
Take for example this four-man patrol squad. Three of its genin had just graduated a little over a year ago. None were geniuses, and so they hadn't paid much attention to the rumors circulating around Iwa lately.
They would occasionally chat about who among their batch had signed up for the exam, or speculate which genius from a year or two ahead would likely pass and not take up a special promotion slot.
But today felt different. Their chunin squad leader, Narita Reizo, frowned slightly as he looked at one of them—a young girl named Meiko. Like the others, she was of civilian background and had only average talent. Unless something unexpected happened, she'd be a genin for life.
Still, Meiko was very diligent during missions. Though her strength was average, she excelled in theory and had used her sharp mind to help the team avoid danger more than once.
But today she seemed distracted, even absent-minded during the mission.
Normally, Reizo wouldn't have thought much of it—maybe she was tired or hadn't slept well. But times were different now. War was on the horizon. Even though they were close to the village, nowhere was truly safe anymore.
Reizo didn't want one of his subordinates dying due to carelessness, so he found a good vantage point and ordered everyone to take a break.
Afterward, he gently asked Meiko if she was feeling unwell.
Meiko looked embarrassed. She didn't want to admit she'd been lost in thought and hesitated when she saw her teammates watching. Then she clenched her teeth and said, "Captain Narita, I'm fine. I was just a little distracted after hearing something this morning."
Her teammates—Kimura Yousuke and Murai Tetsuya—had noticed her unusual behavior but said nothing until now. Hearing her speak, they both turned to her curiously.
Meiko continued, "I have a neighbor the same age as me. Back in the academy, her aptitude was about the same as mine. When we graduated, she was taken in by a jōnin as a disciple."
"She'd been on missions ever since, and I hadn't seen her. But this morning I ran into her—and found out she's taking the chunin exams."
Narita Reizo didn't react immediately, but Yousuke and Tetsuya practically jumped up.
Yousuke was the first to speak. "Meiko… that neighbor isn't Chiko Tomoe, is it?"
Yousuke remembered clearly—just before last year's graduation, a rumor spread like wildfire: a jōnin was looking to take on a personal disciple. The entire school buzzed with excitement.
And when they found out that the chosen one was Chiko Tomoe from an ordinary class, the reaction reached a fever pitch. Many geniuses were furious, while civilian students were inspired.
Chiko Tomoe's name became known to every graduate that year. Even younger students started recognizing her name.
When her graduation scores came out, the frustration reached its peak. Chiko Tomoe wasn't a standout in any field. Many people compared her report card with their own and found that they had scored higher in most subjects.
Because of Ishiro's decision to take her as a disciple, Chiko Tomoe became more famous than even the top students of her year.
And in doing so, she helped Kajiyama Ri and Kawakita deflect some of the heat. Those two were at least from the elite class. Kawakita's strength had ranked near the bottom even among them.
But Chiko Tomoe? She wasn't even from the top of the ordinary class. In fact, she had nearly failed her graduation exam. What had she done to impress a jōnin?
Some even speculated she must be incredibly beautiful. But when people saw her, they were disappointed—she was cute, sure, but nowhere near the level of a class beauty.
For a year, students whispered about it with envy and confusion.
Now, with Meiko's words, the shock came flooding back.
After a year of real ninja life, the trio understood just how far they were from chunin level. Only Murai Tetsuya had enough talent that—if he kept working hard for another five or six years—he might have a chance.
And only if the war was still ongoing and there were enough casualties to create openings.
Even then, he'd probably cap at chunin. Becoming a special jōnin was likely out of reach.
So while they admired Chiko Tomoe, no one imagined she'd be ready for the chunin exams so soon.
Tetsuya quickly realized that whether or not she passed, she would undoubtedly be the center of attention this year.
So while everyone else was still frozen, he stepped forward and said, "Captain Narita, I want to go watch the chunin exams tomorrow."
Reizo had no intention of granting leave at first. Many ninja had already been dispatched to the frontlines, and missions were piling up. To incentivize participation, the village was offering higher pay.
But Reizo was also curious—what kind of progress could a once-average student make after being taken in by a jōnin?
So he nodded. "Alright. I'll go with you. I'm curious about Chiko Tomoe too."
Upon hearing this, both Meiko and Yousuke quickly chimed in. "Captain Narita, we're going with you!"
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