Pfft.
Yubi spread his palm open without making a single move.
A perfectly round droplet of blood pierced through the Hidden Mist leader's brain.
After disposing of him, Yubi slowly turned around and looked toward the five Hidden Mist Ninjas who had run off first.
In that short amount of time, the five had already vanished into the darkness under the cover of night, their whereabouts unknown.
"They aren't sensory-type Ninjas... they must have scattered to escape..." Yubi rubbed his chin, pondering to himself.
Then, his gaze sharpened slightly.
Behind his back, under the watchful eyes of Pakura and the others, a blood ring suddenly emerged.
On the blood-red ring hung several small wings condensed from fresh blood.
Blood Release: Winged King!
This was exactly the technique used by Eso in the original story—a method to instantly increase physical mobility, providing both acceleration and propulsion effects.
In the next second, with a whistle, Yubi vanished from the spot. The airflow kicked up by his departure formed a small gale that blew against the students' faces, stinging their skin.
A few minutes later, Yubi returned.
He greeted the students waiting there with a smile: "All taken care of... let's go. We'll find a safe place first to treat your injuries."
His nonchalant demeanor once again filled Sakamoto and the others with admiration... Time passed bit by bit.
Yubi was quite mindful of Arai's warnings.
Since the Hidden Mist had discovered his identity, even though he had silenced everyone, the battlefield conditions in this area were complex for future missions. There were still cases of Sunagakure Ninjas mysteriously disappearing after clashing with the Hidden Mist... It was unknown whether the information about him leading a team for training had been leaked.
What Yubi cared about... was whether Konoha or Iwagakure would send people to assassinate him.
However... as time went on, he found that he might have been overthinking it.
Firstly, this location was completely opposite to the direction of the Land of Earth. If Iwagakure wanted to find him, they would have to cross almost the entire Land of Wind, wasting considerable energy and time. Secondly, he didn't know if the plans against him during the war had consistently failed... or if, having just ended their conflict with the Hidden Sand Village, they didn't want to cause more trouble.
No Iwagakure Ninjas ever showed up.
As for Konoha... it was clear that the Village's state was quite poor, focusing primarily on reconstruction. Even if intelligence about him had reached them, at this particular juncture, even someone like Danzo who loved stirring up trouble seemed... to have no movement.
It could be said that Yubi was benefiting from the special period after the smoke of the Ninja World war had cleared, when everyone needed to 'recover.' Otherwise, given Iwagakure's hatred for him and that old ghost Danzo's nature, they wouldn't have missed this chance to'strike' at him. Even if they didn't succeed, they would at least try.
So much time had passed; if his information had leaked and these two Villages intended to act, the people they sent should have arrived long ago.
Of course, this was only Yubi's judgment.
With no one 'harassing' him, he was happy for the peace. This way, he had more time to train his students and, in passing, study his Hand Seals to improve his mastery of Ninjutsu.
Yubi had been teaching Yashamaru Medical Ninjutsu and giving Pakura pointers on combat techniques for her Scorch Release. Although the progress of the four seemed a bit slow to him... compared to their greenness when they first stepped onto the battlefield, it could be considered a meteoric rise.
As for other changes... under his special training methods, all of them had visibly 'thinned down.' Especially the three high-ranking descendants like Pakura; they had lost that sense of 'wealth' and looked like destitute children fleeing a disaster.
If their parents saw this... they would likely be heartbroken.
They might even think Yubi was 'abusing' their children.
One had to know that in his daily training, Yubi was even harsher on himself... he felt the intensity he used on the students was gentle enough.
In short, so far, this mission felt much easier to Yubi than expected.
To him, it was purely like a vacation while mentoring a few students.
However, it seemed they wouldn't be able to return for a while... because he didn't intervene, the team's efficiency in striking the Hidden Mist was relatively low, and there were no signs of the Hidden Mist's activities ceasing... "Hmm... I think I'm starting to feel it..."
"The response and mobilization of Chakra... that's one aspect that comes with increased proficiency. But to make seals faster, or even complete them with one hand, seems related to Mental Energy, almost like a mental imprint... People with stronger Mental Energy naturally operate and respond to Chakra much faster than other Ninjas. Practicing like this is too slow... the best way is to obtain resources from the System that can enhance Mental Energy..."
One day, Yubi sat on a cliff edge, holding a book in his hand as he reflected.
On the ground below him, Pakura's group of four was in the heat of battle with the Hidden Mist.
When it came to Hand Seals, the two most representative characters were Itachi and Jiraiya... Itachi was from the Uchiha Clan and had the Sharingan, which came with innate ocular powers. The Sharingan was precisely activated based on Mental Energy, belonging to Yin Release.
In this regard, Itachi had an advantage from birth.
As for Jiraiya, he could enter Sage Mode himself and had trained at Mount Myōboku... say no more.
"Aside from some ocular powers and Bloodlines, many secret techniques... like those of sensory Ninjas, basically involve Yin Power. My current combat power is sufficient, but facing certain special situations, it might still be difficult to handle—for example, in terms of sensing, some ocular powers... and Genjutsu. None of the enemies I've fought so far seem to specialize in Genjutsu... If I encounter an enemy specialized in Genjutsu... it might be a bit dangerous..."
After all, Mental Energy could be considered one of his current 'weaknesses.'
He didn't want to be like the future Kakashi, being stabbed repeatedly in an illusion for days on end, suffering agonizing pain.
Yubi thought of another thing... as the representative of the 'perfect Ninja,' Minato Namikaze seemed able to detect enemy targets and positions within a certain range just by pressing his palm to the ground, which was quite impressive.
"Mental Energy, Chakra reserves... tsk tsk, there are still many areas to strengthen..."
After a long while, Yubi let out a soft sigh.
It couldn't be helped; the methods in the Ninja World were simply too rich and diverse... every type of Ninja had a different fighting style.
To survive, one had to minimize shortcomings as much as possible. Otherwise... even if one could be arrogant for a time, once they met a 'natural enemy' who specifically countered them, it would be game over.
"However... this period hasn't been without its surprises."
"Because I obtained the Scarlet Blood Manipulation Technique, this ability itself is intrinsically linked to flesh and blood. Components like red blood cells can, to some extent, affect my body temperature, pulse, and various other states to strengthen my Physical Body. Even without relying on Reverse Cursed Technique, simply using some of the built-in functions of Blood Release can slightly augment and change various physical attributes, including self-healing. It also speeds up the circulation flow of Chakra in the body... stimulating and increasing the Chakra volume. Most importantly, after my Taijutsu reached a certain training Bottleneck, it has finally made significant progress again thanks to this ability..."
"And I've finally used this ability to apply Chakra to the 'cellular' level that I've been researching for a long time..."
Thinking of this, Yubi showed a smile.
Regarding Mental Energy, although he somewhat understood it now, he still felt a bit like he hadn't found the right knack for it. For now... it wasn't his forte.
But when it came to physical strength and Taijutsu, those were things he had been intentionally cultivating and pondering since he transmigrated.
His polishing of his body had never stopped.
Now that he was leading a team on missions, his time for private cultivation was even more abundant.
"Teacher!"
"Teacher!"
Just as Yubi was lost in thought, the familiar voices rang out again.
On the battlefield below, Sakamoto, caught in a dangerous situation, was screaming at the top of his lungs.
Terrified that his little life was at stake.
"Sigh..."
Yubi closed the book in his hand and shook his head helplessly.
Yashamaru and Pakura aside, they at least had talent.
This Sakamoto and Fukushima Taki were essentially forced upon him by the high-ranking officials.
The reason Yubi was willing to look after them was also because he had his own plans.
In the future, when he and Sasori implemented their plan to purge some of the Sunagakure high-ranking officials... the best way to change the Village's power structure and habitual style was to support young people in rising to power.
Because these young faces were less influenced by the Third Kazekage or the older generation... they would easily accept new ways of thinking and values.
Rather than stubbornly clinging to their own views and being obstinate.
As the prospective 'heirs' of their respective families, if Sakamoto and Fukushima Taki could grow up and carry this teacher-student bond... they would undoubtedly become great helpers.
This was equivalent to Yubi cultivating his own 'faction.'
The high-ranking officials wanted to use his ability to train their descendants... but Yubi was turning the tables, planting'seeds' for the Village's future.
If he had the chance later, Yubi also intended to deliberately Cultivate some young people in the Village, preferably with a wide range of influence across various institutions... some of them should ideally come from civilian backgrounds, unaffected by Family or external factors, focused solely on the Village.
Of course, given the current state of Sunagakure, it was too difficult for civilian Ninjas to stand out or rise to power.
Unless they could achieve the same level as him.
But that possibility was slim. Without the System, Yubi believed that no matter how hard he worked... he would likely have faded into the crowd.
Using his memories as a transmigrator, at most... he would only be slightly stronger than his Chunin father who died in battle.
"Stop shouting, I'm coming... I'm coming..."
Yubi patted his backside, slowly stood up, and responded.