blogombal Chapter 300: An Initial Exploration of Natural Energy
Chapter 300: An Initial Exploration of Natural Energy
Chapter 300: An Initial Exploration of Natural Energy
This group of captured Hidden Mist medical ninjas totaled 23 people. The oldest was only in his early twenties, and the youngest was only sixteen or seventeen years old. Now they were all timid and cowering, showing no trace of their former selves as ninjas.
I don't know what the Mist Ninja were thinking, letting them fight directly on the battlefield. They must have been out of their minds.
However, Taiichi still has to thank them, because it was because of them that Konoha was able to win that battle at the lowest cost.
Thinking of this, Taiyi even lost his last bit of resistance. He decided to treat it as compensation for their contributions. He sorted out his thoughts, put on what he thought was a kind smile, and took a few steps forward.
"Hello, I am Matsushita Taichi————"
Before he could finish speaking, he wasn't greeted with a warm welcome from the girls, but rather with expressions of utter disbelief, and several of the younger ones even burst into tears.
Taiichi's smile froze on his face. He awkwardly turned to the guard captain beside him and asked, rather speechlessly, "Am I that scary?"
The guard captain, a shrewd man, offered a subtle compliment: "Sir, your might is unparalleled!"
Taiyi stopped pretending to be kind and said to the prisoners with a stern face, "You are probably aware of your current situation. Konoha is not a charity and will not support prisoners like you for nothing."
"Tell us what value you possess, whether it's intelligence, secret techniques, or ransom."
The guard standing nearby was completely bewildered. When did Konoha establish such a rule? He had no idea.
Aren't these prisoners all imprisoned, waiting to be exchanged after the war or redeemed by the other side? At most, they'll be tortured to extract intelligence.
However, these medical ninjas from Kirigakure became frightened, each wondering what value they still held.
Intelligence? Needless to say, they're all nobody; what intelligence would they know?
As for secret techniques, needless to say, they know nothing except the basic Three Body Techniques and some simple medical ninjutsu.
As for the ransom, they were all from commoner backgrounds; if they had that kind of money, they wouldn't have become medical ninjas.
Medical ninjas hold the lowest status in Kirigakure; only those who are poor and lack talent become medical ninjas.
The more they thought about it, the more desperate these Mist Ninja became.
As time went by and they remained silent for a long time, Taiyi's aura grew stronger, as if he was beginning to get impatient.
Sensing the chilling killing intent enveloping them, these already fragile-minded Mist Ninja nearly collapsed.
After a long while, it was the only Chunin here, the one who was the first to surrender, Mizuki, who spoke up.
"My lord, we medical ninjas, aside from some basic medical ninjutsu, really don't know what value we have. Please show us the way!"
After saying this, she knelt down and gave Taiyi a full prostration.
The group of genin behind her followed suit, all kneeling down and begging Taiichi.
Seeing this, Taiyi sighed inwardly. The differences between the various ninja villages were so great. The medical ninjas who were rising in status in Konoha were so lowly in Kirigakure. These prisoners had no idea where their true value lay.
He took two steps back, crossed his arms, and softened his imposing manner, as if he had been moved by their sincerity.
"Alright then, since you're medical ninjas, why don't you go help out at the medical camp!"
Tai paused for a moment, put his hands behind his back, and said casually.
"However, let me make this clear from the start: given your status as prisoners, I will place a cursed seal on you. If you harbor even the slightest intention to harm Konoha, this seal will activate. At best, you will suffer excruciating pain; at worst, you will die. Are you willing to accept this?"
These prisoners had no other thoughts at this point; they were already grateful to be alive, and they hurriedly kowtowed repeatedly in agreement.
"Alright, get up and get ready to come with me."
After saying that, Taiyi turned to the guard captain and said, "Then I'll take them with me. Please have someone remove their neck rings."
The captain of the guard didn't hesitate. He gestured to his men, and someone immediately stepped forward to remove the neck rings they had just been wearing.
At the same time, Taiyi also created 23 shadow clones, which came to the prisoners.
"Look into my eyes and do not resist. I will place a curse mark on you. If the spell fails, you will remain here to fend for yourselves."
A barrage of threats and intimidation left these already exhausted people with no will to resist, and they obediently let their minds wander.
The shadow clone began forming hand seals, its eyes gleaming faintly. "Look into my eyes!"
Their eyes met, and the ninjutsu was immediately activated.
Illusion: A Mind's Cage
This is the same illusion technique that Taiichi used on Tsunade before; both involve planting illusion seeds in the recipient's mind and influencing their subconscious.
Of course, this alone is not enough to control these people; the next step requires the use of curse seals.
Taiyi's hand seals continued to change. After a series of complex hand seals, his shadow clone grabbed the wrist of the victim, condensed his energy into a blade, and cut the back of their hand. Using their blood as a medium, he planted the curse seal.
Curse Seal - Sealing and Absolute Magic Restrictions.
This curse seal is based on the information fed back from the mental prison, and according to the pre-set instructions, it imposes different degrees of punishment on the subject, the most severe of which is, of course, death and annihilation of the soul.
As the spell ended, the 23 shadow clones vanished into white smoke with a series of "bangs".
Just as Taiyi smiled upon seeing this, a scream rang out.
An older prisoner was writhing on the ground, clutching his head with both hands.
As this prisoner's actions seemed to be contagious, five more prisoners cried out in pain, one after another.
Some of them simply covered their heads lightly, while others rolled on the ground in agony. The most seriously injured one was bleeding from her mouth and nose and was clearly not going to make it.
Taiyi's smile vanished again, and he didn't interfere, just watching quietly.
The prisoners who were not in any danger were now filled with terror, and they all kept their distance from the six men.
Only the Chunin named Mizuki, amidst the horrified gazes of the crowd and under Taiichi's scrutinizing eyes, rushed to the prisoner whose mouth and nose were bleeding and began emergency treatment.
The farce lasted for five minutes before it ended.
The quick-witted person soon dismissed the evil thoughts in their mind, and the pain disappeared as a result.
Those who were slower to recover suffered for a full five minutes before recovering after being reminded by others.
The worst case was the one whose mouth and nose were bleeding. Although someone tried to save him, he still lost his life.
Taiyi then turned cold and looked at the still-shaken prisoners, saying in a calm tone, "Remember your place. Don't mistake my mercy for weakness. I have already warned you that harboring evil intentions will be punished."
He pointed to the corpse lying on the ground. "This is the consequence."
Then, he walked up to the Chunin named Mizuki, looked down at her still kneeling on the ground, and smiled again: "You're very good, a qualified medical ninja. These people are in your care. I hope you won't disappoint me."
After saying that, he turned around, nodded to the guarding ninjas, and left with the words, "Follow me!" before walking straight outside.
Upon hearing Taiichi's words and seeing him already walking away, Mizuki struggled to her feet, glanced fearfully at the corpse on the ground, and hurriedly called to her companions to catch up with Taiichi.
Watching the crowd gradually disappear into the distance, the guard captain finally came to his senses. He ordered his men to clean up the scene, while he immediately followed Taiyi, as he needed to lead Taiyi out of the camp.
The remaining ninja guards swallowed hard, exchanging bewildered glances.
"Taichi-sama—you're amazing!"
"Of course not. Do you think the nicknames 'White Reaper' and 'Konoha's Twin Killers' were given for nothing?"
The crowd looked at the corpse on the ground and spat at it.
"They deserved to die; even in this state, they still harbored evil thoughts."
"They should be treated like ordinary prisoners and interrogated every day. Who knows if they're hiding any information?"
"Alright, alright, Commander Tsunade and Lord Taiichi have their own plans, which is not for us to comment on."
Taiichi was oblivious to the discussions behind him, as he had already led 22 medical ninjas to the medical camp.
Here, Taiyi felt right at home. Everyone who saw him, whether medical staff or patients, greeted him warmly.
"Taiyi-kun, where did you get all these beauties? Are you finding camp life too lonely?"
Taiichi looked over at the sound and saw a middle-aged Jonin with a full beard. He had once followed Jiraiya and later returned to the village to recuperate after being injured. It was Taiichi who treated him.
"Uncle Tsuru, don't you dare follow Jiraiya's bad example. This is Tsunade's camp. If she hears you, you'll be in big trouble."
Taiichi's teasing sounded like the devil's whisper to Tsuruya. He hurriedly looked around, but when he couldn't see that familiar golden color, he let out a long sigh.
"Don't worry, don't worry, Lady Tsunade is very reasonable and won't get angry over such a small thing."
He said he wasn't afraid, but no matter how you listened to it, Taiyi could tell he sounded quite guilty.
Taiichi ignored the guy who had been led astray by Jiraiya and led 22 medical ninjas straight into the camp.
"Mute, come here quickly."
As soon as Taiyi entered the tent, he saw Jingyin organizing medical equipment and, without thinking, called her over.
Shizune was sent to the medical camp by Tsunade to help out from the start of the war, so she is quite familiar with the whole process here, and her medical ninjutsu is also close to the level of Chunin.
Hearing Taiyi's greeting, she happily ran over, but when she saw the large group of female ninjas behind Taiyi, she immediately became unhappy.
"Taiichi-kun, what can I do for you? I'm busy right now."
Taiyi looked at the girl suspiciously, wondering what was wrong with her. Was she going through a rebellious phase?
Let go of those unrealistic ideas and focus on getting down to business.
He turned around and pointed to the 22 people behind him, then solemnly said to Shizune, "These are 22 new medical ninjas who know nothing about the camp. You take them to familiarize themselves with the procedures here, and then arrange for them to do the most basic medical work."
Upon hearing that this was a serious matter, Jingyin immediately straightened her face and became much more upright. She listened carefully to every arrangement made by Taiyi, not missing a single detail.
Taiyi found her so cute that he couldn't help but pat her head. Now Taiyi is a whole head taller than Shizune.
"Alright, I'll leave them to you. I'll leave shadow clones here. For minor issues, ask Mizuki. If you can't handle that, come find me."
As he spoke, he beckoned Mizuki to the back of the room so that the two could get to know each other.
Before leaving, he emphasized to Mizuki: "Do a good job. The medical ninjas of Konoha have a bright future. If there are any problems that Shizune can't solve, you can come to me directly."
After saying that, he waved goodbye to them and left.
Hopefully, these medical ninjas from Kirigakure will truly appreciate his good intentions once they calm down.
Time passed day by day.
Just as they predicted, Kirigakure launched an attack on Konoha the very next day.
The entire coastline had become a battlefield, with small groups of Fog Shadow troops frequently attempting to break into the land.
Meanwhile, Konoha was also doing its best to defend, but the long coastline was ultimately not something that a few hundred people could completely defend.
There are always some Mist Ninja who manage to sneak into the inland areas during patrol breaks, at which point it becomes a matter of defense and pursuit on land.
However, Taiyi didn't have much to do during this period. He wasn't needed for ordinary rescues, and major rescue events didn't happen every day. In addition, his shadow clones were also contributing, which made his main body more relaxed.
Now that he has some free time, Taiyi naturally won't let himself be idle. Physical training, meditation, and physical conditioning are his recent focus of cultivation.
These are things that his shadow clones cannot replace; they can only be forged by his main body.
He had a premonition that his advanced meditation level, which he had been stuck at for more than half a year, would be upgraded today.
In the forest behind the camp, there is a cleared area, which is where Taiyi usually cultivates.
At this moment, Taiyi was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the field, with his five hearts facing the sky, and various complex runes were constantly being visualized in his mind.
That's right, this is Taiyi's current meditation practice, using visualization of sealing runes to enhance his spiritual power.
This was something Taiyi figured out on his own. Instead of visualizing real-world objects, he decided to visualize these runes, which also helped him improve his understanding of sealing techniques.
The sun slowly rises from the east until it reaches its zenith, its scorching rays shining directly down upon the sun's body without any obstruction.
As if some mechanism had been triggered, the long-unchanged prompt on the Taiyi panel finally showed a new change.
[You have engaged in advanced meditation practice, and your related insights have improved!]
Your skill advancement meditation has been upgraded, experience points +1.
Congratulations! Your advanced meditation skill has been upgraded to Lv8 (1/9000).
[Congratulations! After a long period of training, your Spirit has increased by 1.]
The moment Taiyi's skill level increased, he felt a sudden clarity in his mind. Although his eyes were closed, it was as if his vision was infinitely expanding, and everything around him was clearly reflected in his mind.
More importantly, he discovered many colorful points of light in the surrounding space.
Calling them light spots might not be accurate; that's just one person's subjective impression of them. Others might see a completely different scene.
Some are heavy, some are lively, some are agile, some are irritable, and some are gentle.
Of course, there were more than just these around, there were also some things that Taiyi himself could not describe.
They drifted around Taiyi, filling the entire world.
At that moment, Taiyi suddenly realized something: this was natural energy.