Kairen spent two days at the eighth frontline of Area A. After training all his ninjutsu to the level of reducing the number of hand seals to perfection, he began practicing one-handed hand seals.
Ninjutsu was generally performed with two hands, but a rare few geniuses could do it one-handed. For example, Haku, Uchiha Itachi, and Minato Namikaze, who could do almost everything a little bit…
Compared to two-handed seals, one-handed seals had more advantages. In close combat, one-handed seals allowed a ninja to counterattack faster, gaining the upper hand.
One shadow clone practicing Fire Release suddenly exploded, and its memories flowed into Kairen's mind.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu One-Handed Hand Seal Training Progress 10%]
At this moment, the figure of an adult appeared before Kairen.
Kairen gave him a glance, then continued his training.
Jūjirō was holding a body bag, apparently intending to collect someone's corpse.
But instead of finding Kairen's corpse, he saw him alive and kicking, training ninjutsu.
Jūjirō stared in shock. The death rate at the eighth frontline of Area A was the highest of all—on average, one ninja died every two days.
Yet Kairen had survived here for nearly a week without broken limbs, not even a bandage on his body.
"What the hell is going on?"
His heart was full of doubts. He examined Kairen carefully—wearing a white robe that left his chest bare, a thick black snake-patterned belt tied around his waist…
He found nothing unusual, except the outfit was styled in a way that made him want to punch him.
"Boom!"
The sound of another shadow clone exploding reached Jūjirō's ears. He turned his gaze to see Kairen's clones scattered among the rocks.
Each of them was practicing hand seals, spitting fireballs…
Jūjirō froze. Across the mountain, there must have been around a hundred shadow clones, all practicing ninjutsu.
What kind of training method was this? And more importantly, for a Genin to possess such dense chakra—was this really a Genin?
Moku Kairen… could he be a descendant of the Senju or Uzumaki?!
"Spit!"
A glob of spit landed on Jūjirō's face, making him look up in fury.
"Kairen!"
Kairen spread his hands and pointed at a shadow clone beside him.
"He did it. Not my problem."
Jūjirō's face burned with anger. "You can't even control your own shadow clones?!"
Kairen looked innocent. "I really can't control him!"
The shadow clone grinned arrogantly.
"That's right. He really can't control me. I've rebelled against heaven itself!"
The clone puffed its cheeks again and spat another mouthful of water. Jūjirō quickly used Body Flicker to dodge the clone's Water Release attack.
His voice turned cold. "I don't know how you survived, but your fate has only one outcome—death!"
Kairen ignored him. Instead, his shadow clone spewed even wilder words:
"Even that old Danzo from the Shimura clan means nothing to me. And you? Just a little Special Jōnin—who gave you the courage to look me in the eye? Get lost!"
"Kairen, you dare insult Elder Danzo?! You're finished, completely finished now!"
Kairen waved his hand again, his face full of innocence.
"What did I say? I didn't say anything! The shadow clone said it. What's it got to do with me?"
Jūjirō's face twisted with malice.
"Don't play games. You're going to die. Too bad you don't have family in the village—otherwise, just that one insult to Elder Danzo would've been enough to wipe out your entire clan."
Kairen stood up. All his clones exploded, and in the billowing smoke he reset his body state.
He opened two of the Eight Gates, drawing out all his chakra. Instantly, he formed the Tiger hand seal.
"Fire Release: Demon Lantern!"
In an instant, the entire hilltop was bathed in fiery red. Over a hundred blazing Demon Lanterns floated in the sky.
Jūjirō stared in disbelief. "This Fire Release… and that amount of chakra!!"
"Demon Lanterns, release!"
In a flash, hundreds of Demon Lanterns roared toward Jūjirō. With such a vast attack range, there was nowhere for him to retreat.
Two of the lanterns struck him, wounding him badly. At the brink of disaster, Jūjirō endured the searing pain, formed hand seals, and slipped into the earth.
Kairen watched him flee but did not pursue. This time, it was only a warning. Next time, he wouldn't care whether they were from the same village or not.
After all, Jūjirō had already said those kinds of things. Why should he maintain camaraderie just because they were on the same front line?
Down the slope, Jūjirō crawled out of the dirt in disgrace. He looked at his left hand, the skin charred, and hatred boiled to its peak.
He shouted up toward the hill, "Kairen, you will die!"
From above came a calm reply:
"A rat in the mud, no matter how strong, can only see the pit it crawls in. How could it ever see the eagle soaring in the sky?"
Kairen's words nakedly mocked Jūjirō as a rat. Jūjirō's lips curled into a cold smile, murderous intent rising in his heart.
But then he looked at his left arm and shook his head slightly. With his arm wounded, he couldn't form hand seals—and that brat's chakra reserves!
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, Jūjirō turned and headed back the way he came.
He soon reached the frontline encampment. His face dark, he strode past the tents where ninjas lived, ignoring the pointing fingers and stifled laughter around him.
Because of his ties to the Shimura clan, Jūjirō often abused his petty authority to bully others. The civilian ninjas were only too happy to see him humiliated.
He quickly memorized the faces of the ones laughing the loudest, already planning how to use the Shimura clan to get rid of them.
Without realizing it, he reached the command tent of the frontline officer.
"Jūjirō, what happened to your hand? It's burned so badly!"
Jūjirō shook his head. "Let me in first. I need to report to the commander!"
"Alright!"
Shimura Masao quickly granted him an audience. He was working through paperwork and didn't even look up when he asked,
"That civilian Genin, Moku Kairen—is he dead yet?"
"He's not dead. Not even seriously injured. He's perfectly fine."
"Oh?"
Shimura Masao set down his pen and lifted his head—only to see the miserable state of Jūjirō's left arm.
"What happened to your arm?"
Jūjirō explained everything in detail. When he finished, a thoughtful glint flashed in Shimura Masao's eyes.
"So what you're saying is… that boy can use high-level Fire Release, and his chakra reserves are far beyond ordinary?"
Jūjirō nodded. Not wanting to appear too incompetent, he added,
"That Fire Release jutsu of his required only a single hand seal. It was too fast. I didn't even have time to react before he ambushed me."
"Enough, I understand." Shimura Masao waved a hand, uninterested in hearing more excuses.
He picked up his pen again, continuing with the documents.
"If what you say is true, then that boy already has the combat strength of a Chūnin. He can use the forbidden Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, he has that advanced Fire Release requiring only one seal, and most importantly, his chakra reserves are extraordinary."
Shimura Masao's pen paused. He looked up and locked eyes with Jūjirō.
"A descendant of the Senju!"