blogombal Chapter 143 Two Matters in Zhang Village and Bloodline
Chapter 143 Two Matters in Zhang Village and Bloodline
Chapter 143 A Few Things About Returning to the Village and Bloodline
Konoha Village, its towering gates cast long shadows in the afternoon spring sunlight.
The four members of Taiyi's team, covered in dust, with bloodstains on their clothes and barely concealed exhaustion, finally set foot on this familiar land.
Looking at the familiar gate, Yang Ping let out a long sigh, as if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. His voice was hoarse as he exclaimed, "Finally—finally I'm back! Seeing this gate makes me feel like my bones are about to fall apart!"
He stretched his stiff limbs, his eyes filled with weariness from a long mission.
Saori nodded in agreement. Unlike previous missions, this mission required high-intensity vigilance from beginning to end. Although the actual combat time was not long, the constant tension was the root cause of the fatigue.
"Yeah, it's too tense outside. The village is a place where we can catch our breath."
He Fengxu remained silent, gazing at the massive Konoha emblem with a complex expression. This mission had been far more impactful for him than any he had ever undertaken before.
From initially struggling to keep up with the pace to later being able to barely coordinate with the team to kill enemies, this month of tempering-like training has greatly improved his strength.
But it also made him realize the enormous gap between himself and these "little monsters" before him. The fact that they survived shows these guys really care about their teammates.
Taiyi's gaze swept over his exhausted teammates, his eyes filled with relief. As the captain, he had borne the most responsibility, but bringing his comrades back safely from such a mission was the only thing that made him feel perfect.
"Let's go, into the village!"
Passing through the heavy village gate, a bustling yet peaceful scene unfolds before you, a stark contrast to the lurking danger on the border. The calls of shopkeepers and the laughter of children proclaim the tranquility of the village.
Taiyi stopped at the first fork in the road on the main road of the village.
"Saori, Yohei, Sumi." His gaze swept over each of the team members' faces. "I'll handle the mission report. You—" He paused, his tone leaving no room for argument, "Go home immediately, wash up, and rest!"
The three of them were slightly taken aback, but then they understood what Taiyi meant. Smiles bloomed on their faces, and they replied in unison, "Understood, Captain!"
After a month of tension, Yangping finally felt a sense of relief. He turned almost immediately towards home, and Saori and Xuye nodded to each other before quickly leaving, their figures disappearing into the bustling crowd.
Looking in the direction his teammates had dispersed, Taiyi took a deep breath of the smoke-filled air. His fatigue seemed to deepen, but his eyes regained their sharpness and focus.
Reporting on the mission is the last responsibility of the team leader.
He turned and walked with heavy steps toward the Hokage Building, the center of power in Konoha.
The Hokage's office.
Pushing open the door, one sees Hiruzen Sarutobi buried in piles of documents. The escalating border tensions mean even the Hokage has an endless stream of paperwork to review.
This was evident from the relatively fresh air in the office; he didn't even have time to smoke.
"Taiichi, wait a moment, I'll finish approving this document." Without even looking up, Hiruzen Sarutobi casually gave the order, which showed both their close relationship and the fact that the Hokage was extremely busy.
Taichi waited quietly, his eyes scanning the Hokage's office. Each Hokage's office was slightly different. Perhaps because the Third Hokage was getting old, there were many old photos on the walls, including photos of the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and even more photos of the Third Hokage and his teammates, as well as photos of the Sannin.
In this photo, Taiichi saw a picture of his teacher, Tsunade, when she was young. She was so full of youthful energy back then!
"What's wrong? You saw your master's photo? What are your thoughts?" The Third Hokage's voice rang out, pulling Taichi back from his thoughts.
"Teacher was so beautiful when she was young!" Taiichi said without thinking. The Third Hokage barely suppressed his laughter, probably thinking of some unpleasant memories of Tsunade.
"The war is about to begin, and I wonder what Tsunade's condition is now?" Hiruzen Sarutobi looked worried, showing great concern for his disciple.
Taiichi inwardly sneered. Tsunade-sensei has been gone for so long, and you haven't even come to ask me once. Besides, as the Hokage, don't you know whether Tsunade is doing well or not?
He kept thinking about Naruto in his mind, but said something else entirely: "From my recent correspondence with my teacher, she should be in the Land of Demons, but she doesn't seem to have any plans to come back yet."
Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened. The village was in dire need of manpower, but Tsunade, a disciple of the Hokage, refused to return to the village. This was a silent blow to both Konoha and to him, the Third Hokage.
Fortunately, Tsunade's relationship with the village is still top secret, and very few people know about it.
Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the boy in front of him and couldn't help but sigh, "Tsunade really took on a good disciple. Not only is he a master of medical ninjutsu, but his strength is also second to none."
Think of Jiraiya's disciple, Minato Namikaze. The future of Konoha rests in the hands of these young people.
But now, I think I can hold on for a few more years and give these young people a good vetting.
Taiichi had no idea what the Hokage was thinking, otherwise he would have been churning out all sorts of rumors about Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He took out a prepared report scroll and handed it to the Hokage, while also reporting on the mission's achievements.
Although he already knew about Taichi's squad's achievements through the Anbu, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still slightly surprised to hear Taichi's personal report again.
In one month, there were thirteen encounters, resulting in the annihilation of four Jonin and twenty-six Chunin.
This record can be said to be Konoha's best result since the beginning of the year, especially considering the four Jonin, who were the backbone of the village. Losing four of them at once is a great loss for Sunagakure.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi had thought, when the escaped Sand Village Jonin returned to the rear base, his experience immediately attracted the attention of the Sand Village's higher-ups.
The elite squad that was specially formed was specifically to hunt down those cleansing squads behind Konoha, but they ended up being killed instead of hunting them down. It's really ironic.
This is why Taiyi's team's later clearing and strangulation efforts were so ineffective; they knew a formidable presence had arrived and were deliberately avoiding it.
"Thank you for your hard work, Taiichi. Your team did a great job this time. With you killing so many people, the border towards the Land of Wind is much more stable, and the village can also transfer its surplus forces to other directions."
"9
"Thank you for the praise, Hokage-sama. It was all thanks to the team members' bravery."
That's true. Given that the war hasn't officially started yet, Sunagakure can't commit any more manpower to Konoha. The remaining infiltration can be handled by the Anbu and the frontline outposts.
Moreover, if that elite squad had truly been allowed to wreak havoc behind Konoha's lines, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Fortunately, they encountered Taiichi's squad as soon as they appeared. And that is where Taiichi and his team's true merit lies.
After pondering for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally made a decision: "Your mission this time was completed exceptionally well, and the village cannot leave without a reward. How about this, the reward for this mission will be calculated as one S-rank mission plus four A-rank missions."
"There are S-rank ones too? Thank you, Hokage!" Taichi raised an eyebrow and smiled sincerely.
One S-rank mission and four A-rank missions, even if the team of four splits it equally, each person can get two to three million taels of silver, which is no small amount.
Moreover, the reward is only superficial; the mission record is the most important thing. With this S-rank mission record, many A-rank missions in the village...
Once you reach the highest level of ninjutsu, you'll have the authority to exchange for it.
After finishing his mission report and leaving the Hokage's office, Taiichi looked exhausted.
He was exhausted. Missions were tiring, and facing the Hokage was tiring too. Ever since the White Fang incident, Taichi felt that the bond he had with Hiruzen Sarutobi, which had been tied up with Tsunade, had become almost nonexistent.
Only by experiencing things firsthand can one truly understand the dangers involved. The Third Hokage's reckless actions during the White Fang incident made Taichi realize that Konoha's future was definitely not in the hands of the current leadership.
No wonder no matter how much I tried to persuade Tsunade-sensei, she didn't want to come back.
Associating with these "insects" won't bring peace to Konoha; the only one you can truly rely on is yourself. But right now, you're still in your developmental stage, so you must patiently wait for your own era to arrive.
As Taichi walked down from the Hokage Building and turned a corner, he ran into two unexpected people.
"Jiraiya-sensei, Orochimaru-sama!" The two, dressed in ninja combat uniforms, walked towards him. Taichi's gaze swept over Orochimaru before finally settling on Jiraiya.
Orochimaru nodded slightly in acknowledgment, while Jiraiya greeted him with a "haha" laugh.
"Hey, Taichi, you're back from a mission!"
"Yes, teacher. I just finished reporting my mission to the Hokage and am now preparing to go back to rest. What's going on with you?"
Taiichi asked, puzzled, "Judging from Jiraiya and Orochimaru's outfits, are they going out?"
Jiraiya, without any hesitation, patted Taichi on the shoulder and said frankly, "Come and say hello to the old man, we're about to head to the front lines."
"The situation has come to this point!" Taiyi sighed, wondering how many more people would die in this war. But he quickly put these negative emotions aside and his face was filled with smiles again.
"Then congratulations to you, Master and Lord Orochimaru, on your good fortune in battle! You two are now serving as commanders-in-chief on the front lines!"
"Haha, you're quite the smooth talker!" Jiraiya laughed three times with his hands on his hips, looking particularly smug.
Orochimaru also wore a confident smile.
Being the frontline commander-in-chief is the best way to accumulate experience and prestige. At this time, Orochimaru still had a strong desire for the Hokage position and wanted to compete with Jiraiya for it.
Taiichi knew the ending, but he could only mourn for them in his heart. Hiruzen Sarutobi was not someone who would relinquish power so easily, and there would be more trouble to come.
"Teacher, I'll head back now so as not to delay your meeting with the Hokage." Taiichi looked tired and took his leave from Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
"Let's go, let's go, let's go back and get some rest!"
Watching Taichi's figure disappear into the distance, Orochimaru finally spoke for the first time, his voice hoarse: "Jiraiya, when did you take Matsushita Taichi as your disciple again? Aren't you afraid Tsunade will come back to cause you trouble?"
"Haha, weren't you there when Tsunade handed him over to me?" Jiraiya said with a smug look on his face, showing no trace of the pathetic look he had when he was forced into it.
Orochimaru, however, didn't care. As a longtime friend, he naturally knew what kind of person Jiraiya was. Watching Taichi leave, Orochimaru muttered, "His strength has improved so much. Just now, when he was next to me, I actually felt a slight threat."
Jiraiya was taken aback by these words, something he hadn't noticed before. But then he burst into hearty laughter, which even the Hokage upstairs could hear. "As expected of my disciple, you haven't disgraced your master!"
Stepping into his long-lost home, shutting out all the noise from the outside world, Taiichi went straight to the bathroom.
After a month of living in the open and enduring bloodshed, even with supplies from the outposts, it was just a drop in the ocean. At this moment, only warm water could soothe the body and mind.
Taiyi skillfully filled a tub with hot water, took off his clothes which were covered in dust and dark red bloodstains, and slowly immersed his tired body into the water.
"Hiss—whoosh—"
The burning comfort instantly enveloped my whole body, and the tense muscles relaxed under the soothing heat, as if every pore was letting out a satisfied sigh.
Taiyi closed his eyes, resting his head on the warm towel, letting the warmth envelop him—a luxury of absolute security unlike anything he had ever experienced at the border.
With his tense nerves finally relaxing, Taiyi's thoughts slowly returned. With his eyes closed, he focused his attention on the panel and began to sort out the gains of the past month.
Congratulations! Your Chunin class level has been upgraded to Lv5.
[Attribute Points +1, Skill Points +1]
After a month of missions, Taiyi killed so many enemies and leveled up. However, the biggest gain during this time was the several skills he had already learned, which he finally managed to grind to level 10.
[Fire Dragon Flame Bullet Lv10 (Max Level), Fire Attribute Change Experience +1000]
[Water Formation Wall Lv10 (Max Level): +1000 experience points for Water Attribute Change]
[Hand Healing Technique Lv10 (Max Level), Yang Attribute Nature Transformation Experience +1000, Chakra Control Experience +1000]
Following the change of fire attribute, Taiichi's chakra control has finally become the second basic skill to break through Lv10, and it has now reached Lv11 (1243/3000).
After reaching the Lv11 level of chakra control, Taiichi could clearly feel that he saved at least 10% of the chakra consumed when performing ninjutsu, while the power increased by 10%.
This increase and decrease further enhanced Taiyi's combat power and endurance.
But that's not the most important thing. At this moment, Taiyi has a vague feeling that he can finally start trying out the bloodline limit that he has been longing for but has no clue about before.
That sense of complete control over chakra made Taiichi feel that fusing two types of chakra wasn't so difficult after all.
Of course, there are many examples where the mind thinks it's possible, but the hands are powerless to do it. But having this feeling at least gave Taiyi a direction to act.
Thinking of this, Taiyi couldn't stay in the bath any longer. He quickly washed up, got dressed, and went to the training ground. Bloodline Limit! The bloodline limit he had longed for for so long—he finally had the chance to touch its power.
On the training ground, Taiyi activated a protective barrier, mainly to prevent outsiders from spying on them.
With eyes closed, I stared at the panel, where all my current basic skills were laid out before me.
Fire attribute transformation Lv12 (323/4000)
Wind attribute change level 10 (1312/2000)
Water property change Lv10 (123/2000)
Earth attribute property change Lv6 (403/1000)
Lightning attribute change level 6 (258/1000)
Yang attribute property change Lv9 (856/1600)
Yin attribute property change Lv7 (131/1000)
Excluding the lower-level Earth, Lightning, Yang, and Yin attributes, what remains is the highest-level Fire attribute, and the next highest-level Wind and Water attributes.
The Fire-Wind combination is Scorching Release, the Fire-Water combination is Boiling Release, and the Wind-Water combination is Ice Release.
Scorching Release and Boiling Release—these are two high-attack bloodline limits, and Taiichi believed his Fire Release techniques were absolutely no less powerful than them. Furthermore, combining attack...
Ice Release, which combines defense and functionality, is one of the bloodline limits that Taiichi desires most.