Naruto: From Novice to Grave

What takes an ordinary person a day to walk through the mountains, a ninja can do in a matter of moments.

Soon, Higashino and his two companions encountered a team that had requested assistance. It was Ritsu's genin team, but only the brothers Yuta and Yuto were present at the moment.

The two looked anxious and at a loss.

Upon seeing Higashino and his two companions, Yuta looked around but couldn't find them. Disappointed, he asked, "Where's your team leader, Jonin? Why isn't he here?"

Higashino Makoto: "Something's wrong, teacher. Have you encountered some kind of danger? Where's Ritsu-senpai?"

Yuta couldn't care less about anything else at this moment: "Yes, we encountered a powerful black bear, and Captain... Captain Ritsu lured the black bear away by himself to save us."

His younger brother, Yuto, was consumed by self-blame: "It's all our fault for being too weak. If we had been stronger, the captain wouldn't have been in danger. Perhaps he would be dead by now."

"Stop talking nonsense and lead the way. We might be able to save Senior Ritsu."

Yuta could only agree: "Okay, come with me, thank you."

Led by the two brothers, the five of them hurriedly chased after the direction Lu had left and soon found the tracks left by the black bear's large physique as it crossed the forest.

Following the trail, the group soon arrived at a cave, from which came the sounds of a black bear roaring and humans screaming.

Without a second thought, the two brothers rushed inside. The three of them, including Higashino, had identical expressions, as if they were cut from the same mold. They only glanced at the surroundings before following them inside.

The cave was quite deep, and the further in you went, the darker it became. When you had gone about halfway through, the roars and screams stopped at the same time, and it seemed that the two sides had decided the winner.

Yuta and Yuto burst forth with their fastest speed ever, but when they reached the end, all they saw in the dim environment was the carcass of a black bear lying on the ground.

Yuta looked around but didn't see Ritsu's body. He guessed, "Could it be that the captain won? But where is he?"

Yuto breathed a sigh of relief: "That's great, the captain will definitely be alright. There must be other exits here. Let's look for them. The captain must be injured and needs our help."

The three of them turned to look at the two brothers at the same time. With such a slow reaction, they shouldn't be ninjas anymore, if they ever have a future.

"I didn't expect you two to come in too. Were you worried about me? You really haven't improved at all. You have neither strength nor brains. This is all you're good for."

Lu's voice suddenly came from behind them.

The two brothers turned around in surprise.

"Captain, you're still alive?"

"I'm so glad you're alright."

After they finished speaking, the two prepared to run towards their captain. If they could have a passionate hug, that would truly be a happy ending.

Higashino Makoto grabbed the two of them: "Aren't you two curious why he appeared behind us?"

"Well, as expected of the top graduate of the Ninja Academy this year, he's much smarter than my two idiot teammates. If all Konoha ninjas were like them, that would be great. As for you outstanding guys, you should just die sooner rather than later."

"Captain, what are you saying?" x2

"Boom boom boom~" came the sound of continuous explosions.

As Lu spoke, he activated the trap without hesitation, and the five people in the cave, including himself, were caught in the explosion of the detonation array.

Unfortunately, he was just a clone, and after completing the mission, he turned into a pile of dust.

Earth Release: Earth Clone Technique is a clone technique that Iwagakure ninjas are skilled at. However, it seems that Ritsu's mastery of earth-based transformations is not very good, otherwise what would have been left after the clone dissipated would have been a pile of hard rocks.

At this level, it's no longer an earth clone, but a rock clone that Tsuchikage Onoki excels at, possessing stronger attack and resistance capabilities, making it very practical.

The fact that Ritsu could use such a distinctive style of ninjutsu made his identity quite clear. Even the slow-witted brothers, Yuta and Yuto, noticed something was amiss.

Without thinking too much, Higashino immediately raised his left hand forward, spread his five fingers, and instantly, a hemispherical blue transparent chakra shield enveloped the five of them.

Hayate and Yugao, dragging the two brothers along, made the five of them run towards the exit under the protection of the chakra shield, braving the explosions of the explosive tags and countless falling rocks.

Fortunately, the cave was still quite sturdy and was not destroyed by the explosive tags. The flames from the explosion and the falling rocks hit the chakra shield as if they were hitting a highly flexible protective membrane. Although they could compress and deform it, they could not penetrate it.

"Water Release: A Corner of Tranquility".

The defensive ninjutsu developed by Makoto Higashino involves chakra injected from his five fingers, imbued with water-based properties, which, under the constraint of sealing runes, transforms into a practical chakra shield.

In order to develop this series of ninjutsu, he also went to study the basics of sealing techniques.

Does the ninja world have chakra shields that can be solidified?

Yes, bro, yes, the idea for Water Release: Tranquility comes from the Machine Light Seal technique of Granny Chiyo of Sunagakure.

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"Boom~~"

The sound of the explosion inside the cave echoed through the forest, startling a flock of birds into flight.

On a distant tree, Ritsu felt a slight tremor and was quite satisfied. He muttered to himself with a hint of smugness, "Consider it a parting gift. Taking down the best class of this year's graduates from Konoha will give me a satisfactory explanation when I return to the village."

But as he turned to leave, he saw Moonlight Whirlwind and Uzuki Yugao standing on a large tree in front of him, holding ninja swords and staring at him with murderous intent.

"You really are no good!" Uzuki Yugao said angrily. If they hadn't been prepared, they would have been blown up by now.

"Shimadada!"

Realizing something was wrong, Lu immediately tried to change direction and escape, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, lost consciousness, and his body fell straight to the ground.

"Oh dear, that was dangerous. Such a parting gift was quite unsettling. I was worried you were going to throw out a giant spiral wheel."

The one appearing behind Ritsu was naturally Makoto Higashino, while the people following the two brothers were all his shadow clones.

Therefore, as long as there is enough chakra, various physical clones are very useful techniques, but unfortunately most ninjas in the ninja world cannot afford such luxury.

Hayate Gekko had gotten used to the strange things Higashino Makoto said from time to time, so he didn't bother to ask. He went straight to the ground, put on gloves, and quickly searched Ritsu's body, including his teeth, collar, cuffs, and any other places where he might have hidden poison to commit suicide.

As it turned out, this guy was probably an unqualified spy, as he didn't have those things. So, Gale had to use his knowledge to tie him up with wire in various ways to make him look like a salted fish.

Seeing that the danger had passed, Uzuki Yugao asked curiously, "Hey, Shin-nii, what is the Great Spiral Wheel Technique? Is it a very powerful ninjutsu?"

"It's a fat man and a little boy."

"You're speaking in a language we don't understand again."

Higashino Makoto didn't hit hard, and Ritsu woke up after a short while.

Seeing his predicament, he struggled desperately, but the more he struggled, the tighter the wire became, and a burning, cutting pain shot through his body. At that moment, he regretted not listening to the advice of his predecessors.

To be a spy, one must be prepared to die at any time; otherwise, being captured alive by the enemy will only lead to a fate a hundred times worse than death.

Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets. He looked at Higashino Makoto and said, "You're quite the impressive junior. As a reward, kill me. You've never killed anyone before, have you? Imagine cutting my throat or piercing my heart with a knife. That would be a wonderful feeling."

Ninjas are trained to kill from a young age.

The law's words seemed to be tempting the beastly instincts hidden in the three of them.

The ninja world is such a distorted place. Ninjas are taught from a young age that they cannot drink alcohol, have sex, or be obsessed with money before adulthood, but they can kill.

There are many perverts among ninjas; just look at Kirigakure. Why? Because they become addicted to killing too early, and their minds are completely twisted by bloodshed.

Fortunately, Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao had been well-educated since childhood, and although they were somewhat tempted, it did not affect their judgment.

Higashino Makoto has always been very clear about what he wants: to become stronger, to live a wonderful life, or anything else, as long as he doesn't become a ruthless killing machine.

Killing is a means, not an end.

He looked at this bastard who was about to die but still didn't forget to dig a pit for them: "You want to die more easily, don't you? You don't need to come to us, go and talk to the Anbu yourself."