The spirit body of Renegade Qingyuan also flew out of the urn, hovering in the air and quietly watching Qingyuan eat ramen and taking in the surrounding scenery.
In his current state, only Qingyuan could see him, so no unnecessary trouble was stirred up.
Soon, Qingyuan finished the ramen and even downed the broth in one go.
The most important part of eating noodles is drinking the soup!
That’s where the essence lies.
After fulfilling the first dying wish, Qingyuan saw an orb of light float out of Renegade Qingyuan’s body and merge into his own.
Qingyuan immediately felt himself merge with part of Renegade Qingyuan.
That should be…
talent.
Qingyuan felt that his understanding of Wind Release and Lightning Release had deepened somewhat; many things he hadn’t understood before suddenly became clear.
It was like a high-school student doing elementary-school problems—practically a sure thing.
Along with it came a ninjutsu.
“Wind Release: Great Breakthrough”!
Qingyuan hadn’t known this Wind Release ninjutsu before, but now he felt a surge of knowledge about “Wind Release: Great Breakthrough” flooding into his brain, making his head feel swollen.
“Uncle Teuchi, here’s the money.”
Qingyuan placed the money on the table and hurried back to the tiny, run-down home on the edge of Konoha.
He began forming the three hand seals—Dog, Horse, and Rooster—guiding chakra through his body’s meridian system.
“Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!”
The next moment, the breath he exhaled was wrapped in Wind Release chakra, instantly turning into a gale that sent the small stone block in the yard sliding and slamming into the courtyard wall with a thud, nearly punching a hole in it.
“This power…”
Qingyuan felt the chakra within him sharply decrease and was quite satisfied.
A ninjutsu’s destructive power increases with the amount of chakra and one’s understanding of the technique; a skilled ninja using “Wind Release: Great Breakthrough” could even blow down an entire forest.
“It’s just that the consumption is a bit high.”
Qingyuan let out a breath.
One hurdle that a civilian ninja couldn’t avoid was having too little chakra.
But as the orb of light that had emerged from Renegade Qingyuan merged into his body, Qingyuan felt that his spiritual energy had also risen somewhat, and his chakra had increased as a result.
“Looks like you got part of my talent and a ninjutsu.”
Renegade Qingyuan said.
The two Last Testaments he had obtained in this timeline had contained only two E-rank ninjutsu, and nothing else, so his luck was actually pretty good.
“What’s your chakra nature?”
Qingyuan asked.
The future held infinite possibilities, and Qingyuan wasn’t sure whether the other version of himself would have the same chakra nature.
“Wind, lightning.”
Renegade Qingyuan said.
“I happen to have wind and lightning too.”
Qingyuan nodded.
It seemed Renegade Qingyuan’s future wasn’t too different from the present.
He might as well ask for more information about the future.
Something as fundamental as chakra nature should stay the same, right?
Maybe he could learn some new ninjutsu.
“To become a chunin, I have to complete the Kannabi Bridge mission…”
Qingyuan stroked his chin.
That was a bit difficult.
“Don’t be afraid. When the critical moment comes, I’ll step in.”
Renegade Qingyuan said.
He explained that he could possess Qingyuan for a certain period of time and help him fight in his stead, though this would accelerate his dissipation.
“You can do that too?”
Chapter 3: Does Cutting Yourself Count as Cutting Leeks?
Qingyuan’s eyes lit up, and his thoughts suddenly cleared.
Having a jonin help at the critical moment could very well save his life!
“Then let’s hurry.”
Qingyuan returned to the room and, under Renegade Qingyuan’s puzzled gaze, brought out a blank scroll and a brush.
“What are you doing? Are you going to buckle down and study now, to see whether you can get a top-student version of the future?”
Renegade Qingyuan asked.
“No, that would be too much trouble. I only got one ninjutsu from you; even with one-on-one instruction, I couldn’t learn very many others. But if you write them down, I can keep studying them.”
Qingyuan said with a serious expression.
That way, every time a future version of himself showed up, he could record all the ninjutsu that version knew.
Over time, he would inevitably build up an enormous ninjutsu library.
If he didn’t do this, how could he maximize what he gained?
Exploiting other people is called “cutting leeks.” But cutting yourself—does that count as cutting leeks?
It was like taking an exam where everyone was cheating, except the answers they were copying just happened to come from their own minds.
“…”
Renegade Qingyuan’s weather-beaten face showed a trace of astonishment.
His past self seemed to have become a bit of a capitalist.
After considering it, Renegade Qingyuan went ahead and wrote it down.
After all, this was his past self; helping out a little wouldn’t hurt.
After Renegade Qingyuan dictated another ninjutsu, he suddenly stopped moving.
“What’s wrong?”
Qingyuan thought Renegade Qingyuan needed more time to recall it.
“Someone’s coming.”
Even as a spirit body, he had a jonin’s keen senses.
Otherwise, he could never have lived safely in the ninja world until his death in middle age.
Hearing this, Qingyuan put down the scroll he had been writing on and cleaned away the traces on the table.
“Qingyuan!”
Sure enough, a moment later someone called Qingyuan’s name outside the door.
Qingyuan went to open the door and saw a beautiful woman.
Her crimson eyes were like a pair of rubies.
It was Kurenai Yuhi.
“Kurenai,” Qingyuan said.
Kurenai Yuhi was one of his teammates; the other was Shiranui Genma.
The three of them belonged to the same squad.
“This is the soldier pill you asked me to buy.”
Kurenai Yuhi handed Qingyuan a small bag.
“Thanks for going to the trouble, Kurenai.”
Qingyuan accepted the bag.
“How are your other preparations?”
Kurenai Yuhi asked.
In a few days, they would be carrying out a confidential mission together with the members of Minato Squad.
It was so secret that they didn’t even know what the mission involved yet—all they knew was that they were going to Kannabi Bridge.
Were they going there to gather intelligence or launch an attack?
Only when the day came would the jonin leading their squad reveal the details.
“Just about ready.”