Sasuke Umino quickly formed the Tiger hand seal with one hand and pressed the fingers of his other hand against his summoned Water Bat, closing his eyes to sense his surroundings.
Under the tree, Inuzuka Ryo sniffed the air aggressively, while Akutamaru, refusing to be outdone, strained his senses as well.
“Damn it, it’s Sand puppet masters!” Inuzuka Ryo quickly gathered some crucial intelligence, and his face shifted dramatically.
There was a sickening smell of puppet joint lubricant in the air.
There was no mistake—it was definitely Sand puppet masters.
His long-time subordinate, Tekudo, ran up the tree trunk and landed beside Sasuke Umino, hesitating before speaking.
“Captain, are we going to reinforce them?
There are Sand puppet masters this time, maybe we should…” Sasuke Umino cut Tekudo off, speaking with absolute certainty.
“Reinforce them!
We must reinforce them this time!” Tekudo was stunned.
*What?* What was going on?
Had the captain taken the wrong medicine today?
This was extremely out of character for him.
To go reinforce when he knew Sand puppet masters were involved—how did this fit the captain’s usual style at all?
Could it be that the Survival Secret Technique he usually taught them were all fake?
Had the captain been pretending all along and had now awakened the Will of Fire?
*Shudder…* Just thinking about the Will of Fire made Tekudo shudder.
*I, Tekudo, am no fluttering leaf; I’m the hope of the Tekudo clan!
Captain, don’t drag me down with you.
Didn’t you say that burning young sprouts to illuminate oneself is the most shameful act?
Surely you don’t want to burn us three young sprouts, right?* Hearing that Sasuke Umino intended to reinforce the others, even Inuzuka Ryo and Koshino were surprised.
The captain had completely abandoned his usual style.
How could he show such responsibility this time?
Even the innocent Koshino could clearly sense how unusual the captain was acting.
On the contrary, Inuzuka Ryo, who hailed from a ninja clan, actually began to believe it.
Feeling a sense of shared purpose, he felt deeply encouraged, as if his own efforts and influence over this period had finally borne fruit.
In an instant, his fighting spirit flared, and his eyes shone brighter.
His mind and body seemed to undergo a transformation, radiating a conviction as if declaring: *Where the leaves of Konoha flutter, the fire shall burn unceasingly.* “Do you not believe in my Will of Fire?” Sasuke Umino glared at Tekudo, though his voice held a trace of bluster, clearly lacking the confidence his words implied.
He had obviously not awakened any Will of Fire.
Even if he did, it would be an extremely flexible version of it.
He would never do something as shameless as burning young sprouts to illuminate himself.
But when it came to slacking off and reaping cheap benefits, he was more than happy to do so.
Just moments ago, he had borrowed his summoned Water Bat’s chakra to unleash his sonic radar perception, gathering much more precise intelligence from Aoba’s squad’s defense zone.
It wasn’t that Sand elites had infiltrated their defense zone, but rather that Sand ninja were pursuing a Konoha intelligence squad.
Since the Sand ninja had even deployed a puppet squad, it seemed the intelligence the Konoha ninja were carrying back was of no small significance.
If he could slide in and lend a hand, helping to bring this intelligence back safely, even a supporting role should earn them at least a B-rank mission credit.
If they got lucky and played a crucial role, obtaining an A-rank mission credit was not out of the question.
An A-rank mission credit!
While it certainly wouldn’t be enough to exchange for an A-rank ninjutsu, it should be plenty to trade for knowledge regarding chakra nature transformation.
With that knowledge, and given his mental strength and chakra control, he was quite confident he could develop a second chakra nature.
Once he unlocked a second nature, his chakra would inevitably skyrocket, making his promotion to Jonin a natural progression.
With such massive rewards on the line, taking a little risk was well worth it.
Of course, he wasn’t the type to value jutsu over his own life; he would ensure the risks were kept within a strictly controlled limit.
Did they really think he chose this high-risk defense zone because of the Will of Fire?
If he hadn’t known beforehand that Kosuke Maruboshi, the Eternal Genin, was part of the mobile patrol unit in this defense zone, only a fool would have come here.
He knew all too well the sheer weight carried by the title of Konoha’s Strongest Genin.
The current Strongest Genin, Kosuke Maruboshi, possessed at least elite Jonin-level combat power.
Currently at his peak, he might even be touching the threshold of Kage-level, making him highly likely to be a quasi-Kage level powerhouse.
With such a hidden powerhouse in the area, as long as they weren’t taken out silently or wiped out in an instant, there wouldn’t be much danger.
If they could just hold out for the first few minutes, someone of Kosuke’s speed would definitely arrive in time.
Furthermore, the intelligence just relayed by his Water Bat confirmed that Kosuke Maruboshi hadn’t returned to headquarters to report but was indeed patrolling nearby.
With the fire and noise from the Explosive Tags just now, Kosuke Maruboshi would have definitely noticed the disturbance and must be heading this way.
How could he miss such a perfect opportunity to slide in and piggyback on a high-value mission credit?
Of course, it was impossible for him to explain this to his subordinates.
If he did, how would he explain his ownership of a super-sensory technique like the sonic radar?
Exposing one’s own secrets was never a good idea for a ninja.
Moreover, this sonic radar sensory technique carried the potential risk of being accused of stealing Konoha clan secret techniques.
Ninjutsu monopolies and mission point exchanges were vital tools used by the hidden village to bind and control its shinobi.
The hidden village strictly forbade the illicit learning of jutsu, and stealing the secret techniques of Konoha’s clans was an absolute taboo.
If exposed, even if the Third Hokage himself stepped in to shield him, his life might not be spared.
After all, why would the Third Hokage offend powerful secret-technique clans like the Ino-Shika-Cho for the sake of an insignificant, unrelated Chunin?
However, the sonic radar sensory technique he had developed couldn’t strictly be considered stealing clan secrets; at most, it was a minor piece of “inspiration.” Back then, due to the ninjutsu monopoly, he had no channels to acquire new jutsu.
He had no choice but to accumulate mission credits while diligently practicing the few techniques he already possessed.
Since he was a transmigrator, his spiritual energy was exceptionally strong, and his chakra control was excellent.
He quickly trained the Three-Body Technique and his sole C-rank Water Style: Water Prison Technique to a mastery level that rivaled elite Jonin.
Faced with the ongoing inability to acquire new ninjutsu later on, he could only keep grinding these four basic techniques and his hand-seal speed.
But this relentless grinding allowed him to discover the extraordinary depths of the Three-Body Technique, especially the Transformation Technique, which had progressed the fastest.
As he ground the skill further, he couldn’t help but recall the future Konoha Crush incident, specifically the battle between Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara.
Naruto Uzumaki, borrowing the Nine-Tails’ chakra and collaborating with Gamabunta, had actually transformed into the Nine-Tails to clash back and forth with the partially transformed Gaara.
Once Inuzuka Ryo joined his squad and he witnessed Ryo and Akutamaru’s joint beast-human transformation combat style, he had a sudden realization: by borrowing a ninja beast’s chakra, one could transform into that specific beast and even employ some of its inherent abilities.
Naturally, this required an exceptionally high mastery of the Transformation Technique.
The fact that the Inuzuka Clan’s Beast Mimicry Secret Technique had remained uncopied and unraveled to this day was a testament to its sheer difficulty.
Difficulty wasn’t terrifying; what was terrifying was having no jutsu to learn.
Since he lacked access to other ninjutsu and had plenty of time and energy, he might as well use it to continue grinding the Transformation Technique.
Perhaps it was the result of his surging spiritual energy and enhanced chakra control, or maybe some unknown change his body underwent during transmigration, but he truly possessed a knack for the Transformation Technique.
Combined with his continuous observation of Inuzuka Ryo’s Beast Mimicry Secret Technique and his deconstruction of it using the rigorous scientific thinking from his past life, he soon grinded the Transformation Technique to the point where he could transform into inanimate objects.
During this process, he had even successfully ground out the Sexy Jutsu.
Transforming into a Kunai like Naruto Uzumaki did was an absolute breeze, though transforming into living organisms remained highly challenging.
Specifically, transforming into a summoned beast was only possible when borrowing the summon’s chakra.
Thus, finding a powerful summon was put on his agenda.
After careful and meticulous deliberation and weighing his options, he ultimately chose the Water Bat, the most common summon animal in the Land of Rivers.
It wasn’t because the Water Bat was common and easy to capture, but because of its unique skill: echolocation.