Meanwhile, in the middle of the stream.
Chiba walked slowly from the water’s surface back to the bank, secretly musing to himself: “As expected, with the blessing of top-tier Chakra control talent, the most basic Tree Walking and Water Surface Walking training are completely effortless.”
“Now that my Chakra control is sufficient to support the cultivation of introductory Ninjutsu, it is time to officially try unlocking Ninjutsu.”
Having made up his mind, he carefully took out two pre-prepared Ninjutsu scrolls from his bosom, unfolded them on the spot, and studied them intently.
On the scrolls, the hand seal trajectories, Chakra flow routes, and the core essence of the techniques were clear and understandable.
Relying on his comprehension and talent, which far exceeded that of ordinary people, in just a few minutes, Chiba completely grasped all the key points of the two Ninjutsu techniques and understood them thoroughly.
He slowly put away the scrolls, his gaze determined: “Let’s practice Earth Style Wall first; defensive Ninjutsu has a lower threshold and is easier to master.”
As the words fell, Chiba stood firm, his hands moving quickly to form coherent and fluid Ninjutsu hand seals, and the newly born Chakra within his body flowed rapidly along a fixed path.
Finally, he bent over and slammed both palms heavily onto the ground!
“Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!”
“Rumble—!”
A low, earthen roar suddenly echoed through the forest, and the ground trembled slightly.
Accompanied by the sounds of churning soil and rolling sand and rocks, a towering, thick earthen wall suddenly burst from the ground, standing firmly one meter in front of Chiba.
This earthen wall was over eight meters high, three meters thick, and extended more than ten meters horizontally; the barrier was solid and heavy, exuding a powerful presence.
The violent commotion instantly startled Minato, who was practicing Tree Walking.
He subconsciously turned his head to look back, happening to witness the shocking scene of the earthen wall rising from the ground, his pupils contracting suddenly, his face full of disbelief.
“Chiba actually learned Ninjutsu so quickly?!”
Under the extreme shock, Minato was instantly distracted, and the Chakra maintaining his balance under his feet immediately went out of control.
He exclaimed, his figure suddenly slipping and falling from the tree trunk.
Fortunately, he was only two or three meters off the ground at the time, not very high.
In the critical moment, Minato quickly steadied his mind, turned and twisted in mid-air, his body flipping lightly, and landed steadily on the ground, safe and sound.
“Phew… that scared me to death.”
Minato let out a long breath, and when he looked up, he met Chiba’s slightly teasing gaze, his cheeks instantly flushing with embarrassment.
He scratched the back of his head somewhat awkwardly, walked quickly to Chiba, and explained embarrassedly: “I was just startled by the commotion of you performing Ninjutsu, and I only fell because I was distracted for a moment.”
After speaking, he looked at the thick and solid Earth Style Wall in front of him, and then thought of all of Chiba’s heaven-defying performances today, and couldn’t help but sigh with helplessness: “Chiba, aren’t you being a bit too exaggeratedly impressive today?”
“Basic training like Tree Walking and Water Surface Walking is easy for you, and now even Ninjutsu is successfully mastered after just one look and one practice. This talent is too monstrous! I’m almost feeling discouraged.”
In the past, when it came to Taijutsu training, Chiba’s progress and talent were actually slightly inferior to his.
But ever since refining Chakra, Chiba seemed to have been reborn; his talent in Chakra control and Ninjutsu training was simply crushing ordinary people, making him feel incredibly dazed, with a sense of unreality.
“Hehe.”
Chiba chuckled upon hearing this, and spoke gently to comfort him: “Perhaps I just happen to have a little bit of talent in Chakra control and Ninjutsu training.”
He looked at the slightly frustrated Minato and said seriously: “Don’t sell yourself short. Your progress speed has already far exceeded all other Ninjas of your age; it’s just that you haven’t noticed it yourself. Practice hard, and it won’t be long before you can catch up to my progress.”
Chiba thought to himself: Minato is the future Yellow Flash, his talent and potential are unquestionable, it’s just that he is just starting out now.
He will be his most reliable right-hand man in the future, so he must be guided and cultivated well; he must not let a temporary gap extinguish his confidence.
“Is that so?”
After hearing Chiba’s reassurance, the gloom in Minato’s heart dissipated completely, he let out a long sigh of relief, and his eyes regained their clarity.
“I believe you! If you put it that way, the pressure in my heart is finally a lot less.”
He quickly composed his mood, his eyes becoming firm again, and turned to look at the ancient tree nearby, his tone high-spirited: “Enough talk, you continue practicing Ninjutsu, and I can’t fall behind either!”
Even though Chiba had offered reassurance and diluted the sense of frustration in his heart, Minato still secretly made up his mind.
He must completely master the basic Chakra control training of Tree Walking and Water Surface Walking as soon as possible, take the first step in practicing Ninjutsu, and desperately catch up to Chiba’s pace.
He is Minato Namikaze, born unwilling to be behind others, and even if his opponent is the gifted Chiba, he will never easily admit defeat.
Chiba took in Minato’s persistence and effort, a faint smile rising at the corner of his mouth, and then withdrew his gaze, focusing on reviewing the details of the Ninjutsu he had just performed.
His thoughts were incredibly clear, precisely analyzing every flaw: “Just now when performing Earth Style Wall, the Chakra input was excessive, wasting a full one-fifth of my Chakra reserves.”
“The rhythm of Chakra flow within my body was not steady enough, the speed of infiltrating the soil layer and prying up the soil quality was too slow, and there is room for optimization in the connection of the technique.”
In an instant, Chiba perfected all the details of the technique in his mind and corrected all the flaws.
He formed hand seals quickly, his Chakra surged steadily, and he shouted in a low voice:
“Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!”
“Rumble!”
The low roar of earth and stone sounded again, and the ground trembled slightly.
A brand new earthen wall burst from the ground, standing before him, its length, width, and height basically on par with the previous wall, but the surface of the wall was smooth and even, without any bumps or flaws, and the visual impression was completely different.
Chiba stepped forward twice, raised his hand to tap the wall gently, feeling the heavy and solid texture of the wall, and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes: “Not bad, the wall’s hardness has increased by 30% compared to the first time, and the stability is also better.”
Immediately after, he focused on looking inward, sensing the little Chakra remaining in his body, and his brows furrowed slightly: “Two B-Rank Earth Style Walls have already exhausted two-thirds of my Chakra. This consumption ratio is indeed on the high side.”
“Excluding the unnecessary waste from the first attempt, with my current Chakra reserves, at full power to perform a standard B-Rank Ninjutsu, I can only support three to four times at most.”
The shortcoming was instantly and clearly placed before his eyes.
Chiba understood in his heart: No matter how top-tier his Ninjutsu talent and Chakra control are, without sufficient Chakra reserves as a foundation, his actual combat power will ultimately be limited, and the upper limit will be tightly locked.
Increasing the total amount of Chakra is already the most urgent need at the moment.
He pondered for a moment and quickly set his next training plan: “The remaining Chakra is only enough to support one B-Rank Ninjutsu practice, just right to try Water Release.”