Naruto: From Novice to Grave

War never disappears, it just changes its form.

After the establishment of the ninja village, ordinary people lost their eligibility to participate in the war, and ninjas, who were organized into clans during the Warring States period, were integrated into a new army.

The organization and militarization of ninjas made war and killing more efficient.

In order to adapt to the new era of warfare, the major ninja villages are also gradually updating their military theories and enriching their offensive and defensive tactics.

Taking the southeastern defense line as an example, in order to counter the characteristics of ninjas—high speed, high mobility, and high concealment—Konoha, the defending side, constructed a defensive network consisting of small teams of ninjas stationed at fixed points, two intersecting defense lines—one in front and one behind—and mobile patrol units providing support.

The defensive tactics of other major ninja villages are basically the same.

The fact that Might Guy's team was attacked by two Mist Ninja squads and that the coordinated defense squads on both sides arrived to provide support and eliminate the enemy in a very short time is a result of this model.

If the enemy outnumbers them and they cannot fight back, they will not fight to the death and will immediately retreat to the second line of defense while quickly transmitting intelligence back to the command post.

This is the daily life of Konoha ninjas on the front lines after the Eastern Front war entered a stalemate.

When the mobile patrol arrived to provide support, they found that the battle was over. All they had to do was take away the enemy's corpses and prisoners, while leaving a small squad to replace Kaiban.

All three members of the Kaiban were injured. Although they had been treated by Higashino Makoto, they were entitled to a few days of leave to rest and recuperate, according to regulations.

The duration of the leave depends on the severity of the injury. People like Kai and his two companions usually get two days of rest.

Actually, each team has a holiday. The rotation period is said to be one week, but it's only 6 days, with the remaining day off.

After the rest period, tasks will be reassigned, possibly to a location on one of the two lines of defense, or to join a mobile patrol team; in any case, you won't be idle.

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Time flies, and 10 days have passed in the blink of an eye.

After completing their mission, the four members of the Cloud Squad rested for a day and were then assigned to the second line of defense, which was located near the command post.

It's much more relaxed here, unlike when we're on patrol missions where we have to run around everywhere. The team has more time to train.

Tsukikage and Hayate share the same fighting style as Yugao, so he regularly trains and teaches them to improve their skills.

As for Higashino Makoto, Jonin Kumomi said he couldn't teach him, and he even believed that no one in the entire Hidden Leaf Village could teach his overly talented disciple.

The fighting styles of the Gekko and Uzuki families are primarily based on swordsmanship, incorporating illusion techniques guided by various movements to form a bizarre and difficult-to-defend Konoha secret swordsmanship system.

The entire system consists of three key elements: swordsmanship, illusion, and shadow clones. Its offensive characteristic is that the enemy is killed in a daze before they can even figure out the pattern.

Representative moves include Crescent Moon Dance, Moon Shadow, and Oborozuki Night, among others.

Something seems off?

Why do they all have the character for "moon" in their names? Both families' surnames have "moon" in them, are they trying to antagonize the moon? Did you even ask Kaguya-sama for her opinion?

In short, the system is very unique, but Higashino Makoto's assessment of it is: it is quite effective against weaker opponents, but it is completely useless against slightly stronger opponents.

While two clans might produce some decent ninjas, it's rare for them to produce top-tier ninjas. This is the current situation for most small clans in Konoha.

Therefore, as a friend who grew up with Higashino Makoto and who both possessed wind-style chakra, he began to subject the two of them to high-difficulty chakra nature training very early on.

Neither of the two ninjas possessed a large amount of chakra, making them unsuitable as ninjutsu artillery, but they could follow the path of becoming Konoha's elite Jonin, Hayama Shirakumo.

Unlike Higashino, Hayate and Yugao don't have any special abilities and can't achieve his level of chakra control. Their nature cultivation can only be achieved through hard work over time, and they are currently struggling through it.

However, Gekko Unmi, as an adult Jonin, has a very good foundation in the nature transformation of wind-style chakra. After several months of training, he has already developed a technique similar to [Wind Release: Vacuum Sword] and successfully integrated it into his own combat system.

The Vacuum Sword is a level below the Shadowless Sword in terms of stealth, speed, and power, but it is the best Moonlight Cloud can achieve.

Therefore, ordinary ninjas have their limits. There are some boundaries that a mortal can never cross without great wisdom, perseverance, and good fortune.

Compared to Higashino Makoto, who has delved into areas beyond their comprehension, Tsukikage Unmi is currently the best teacher for Hayate and Yugao.

The Vacuum Sword Techniques developed by Tsukikage Yunjian, based on the "Shadowless Sword," served as a good example for the two. In addition, the sword techniques and experience they learned from the senior Maruboshi Kosuke were enough for them to practice for many years.

I believe that as long as I master these skills, reaching the level of an elite Jonin will not be a problem. I will be much stronger than the two people in Higashino's memory, and at least I won't be instantly killed by Maki in one move.

As for whether it's shameful for a teacher to ask his own students to learn from him?

Moonlight Cloud said, "What's so shameful? What face are you making? Do you know how happy it is to be able to improve your strength so much at my age?"

You can't even imagine the joy I experience. I'd love to have a dozen more disciples like this, thank you!

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On the treetop, Makoto Higashino sat cross-legged, holding the unmarked hand seal. His body seemed weightless, as if he were one with the tree, swaying in the wind.

Within the chakra pathways, wind-style chakra and water-style chakra coexist, colliding and seeking an opportunity to merge.

What is the substance in nature that undergoes the easiest phase transition?

It is water.

Water can easily switch between three phases under normal pressure. It freezes into a solid state below zero degrees Celsius, and when the temperature rises to a critical point, water molecules gain energy and escape into a gaseous state. In between, it is the common liquid state.

The ninjutsu of Kirigakure includes these three phases: Ice Release, Water Release, and Hidden Mist Technique.

But this is just water in nature. Water-attribute chakra is different. It is just a mimicry of this natural phenomenon and is not real water molecules.

Chakra is energy; it is distinct from matter, interferes with matter, and can mimic matter.

Therefore, it is unrealistic to try to synthesize ice using the conditions for ice formation in nature; it can only be used as a reference for phase transition conditions.

The key is the fluctuation of Ice Release chakra. Why did Higashino Shin spend time fighting the cross-dressing Mist Ninja and even let him activate Ice Release on him twice? It was to use his unique senses to understand that fluctuation and then use his ultimate chakra control to fuse and restore it.

He has been doing this for the past 10 days.

Higashino was completely focused, on the one hand suppressing the fluctuation frequency of the water-style chakra to make it more stable, and on the other hand controlling the light and flowing nature of the wind-style chakra to make it blow around the water-style chakra at high speed.

Collision experiments during blowing are conducted to find opportunities for fusion.

Today was his lucky day. Finally, at a certain point of collision, a chill appeared, and then, like a chain reaction, the chill spread rapidly from that point until all the two types of chakra that had been extracted were fused into one.

Once the fusion was complete, a sudden cold wave erupted, enveloping several large trees nearby, centered on Higashino Makoto.

It was nearly August, and the Land of Fire was in the midst of its hot season. Not far away, Hayate Gekko and Yugao Uzuki were launching a fierce attack on their teacher, all three of them drenched in sweat.

Suddenly, a cold wind blew by, and the three of them shivered and stopped what they were doing. When they turned around, they saw a scene they would never forget.

The trees in the forest swayed in the wind, but around Higashino Makoto, several large trees nearby remained motionless, all frozen into ice sculptures. A biting chill swept in with the wind, as if they had instantly entered a snowy winter wonderland.

Uzuki Yugao couldn't believe what she was seeing: "How is this possible? It's Ice Release? Could it be that Shin-nii is from Kirigakure?"

Gekko Unkan shook his head: "That's impossible. Jiro and Megumi are both native to the Land of Fire. When Megumi gave birth to Shin, your mother was outside the delivery room."

She witnessed the birth; oh right, you were there too, inside your mother's tummy.

"But this is clearly Ice Release."

Moonlight Cloud thought for a moment and said, "Do you remember the battle 10 days ago? He really fought against a Snow Clan ninja who had awakened Ice Release. I think he should have started learning from that day on."

Hayate murmured, "But Father, is this really something a ninja can do? To learn a bloodline limit in just 10 days?"

Seeing that Yueguang Yun didn't mind Jifeng calling him "father" during the mission, she even felt sorry for him. Sometimes, having too many outstanding friends can indeed be an unparalleled pressure.

But as a ninja, you have to accept this reality.

"Hayate, just because we can't do it doesn't mean we can't. He's different from us. In the ninja world, there will never be a shortage of people who are younger than you but stronger than me. He's that kind of person."

Upon hearing this, Gekko Hayate lowered his head and clenched his fists secretly. As his friend and the person he was trying to surpass, he knew that Higashino's genius was beyond imagination.

This was both a pressure and a motivation for his cultivation.

Wait a minute, isn't my chakra also wind and water? Should I give it a try?

Moonlight Gale fell into deep thought.