Back in the large, empty Uchiha estate, Uchiha Aozora returned to his room and prepared to cultivate the "True Flame of Samadhi."
Of the entire Samadhi True Flame legacy, Aozora currently only possessed the knowledge of "Qi Flame."
Qi Flame was the fire born from refined internal energy—true fire conjured by a practitioner with mastery over Fire-natured Qi. It was a standard hallmark for anyone who had established a solid foundation in Fire-based internal cultivation.
When he first received enlightenment from the Heavenly Tome, he had been so focused on experiencing the power of the True Flame that he hadn't yet studied the specific training method.
Now, sitting cross-legged with a clear mind, he saw the characters "True Flame of Samadhi" glowing faintly in gold within the center of the Heavenly Tome in his consciousness.
As he focused on the characters, paragraphs of ancient script emerged in his mind like flowing water.
Though he now had the cultivation method, Aozora was not particularly pleased. If anything, he felt a bit let down.
The Heavenly Tome offered two paths to cultivating the True Qi Flame.
The first was the righteous and orthodox method: cultivate Fire-attribute Qi, then purify and refine it repeatedly. When it reached a sufficient level of purity, it would ignite on its own and become true flame.
This path was stable, safe, and relatively easy to execute. However, purification took time—long time. Even for a genius, it would take at least three to five years.
The second path was a more unconventional one: seek out a Heavenly Flame or other rare elemental fire, and use it to temper and refine one's Qi.
This method was the complete opposite of the first—extremely dangerous and difficult. Finding a Heavenly Flame alone was no easy feat, let alone using one to refine Qi. But it had its merits, namely speed. At best, it could produce a True Flame within a month.
Fortunately, the two methods didn't conflict. Aozora could slowly purify his Qi while also seeking a Heavenly Flame in the meantime.
"Looks like I won't be able to cultivate Qi Flame anytime soon…"
"The Heavenly Tome is powerful, but it can't create something from nothing. If only I had other ways to complete these mystic techniques."
With a sigh, Aozora let go of such idle fantasies. Refocusing his thoughts, he decided to first practice converting chakra into Fire-natured chakra.
There were many ways to train chakra nature transformation. The most common method was simply to perform ninjutsu.
Aozora slowly formed hand seals, fully concentrating on sensing the flow and transformation of his chakra. He wanted to understand how neutral chakra could be transformed into Fire-natured chakra.
"Serpent—"
He felt gentle streams of chakra flowing from his dantian, meandering like tiny brooks.
"Goat—"
Some of these chakra streams converged into a small river, while others remained independent, flowing in reverse along different meridians.
"Monkey—Boar—"
The chakra rivers passed through acupoint after acupoint, eventually gathering in his chest.
"Horse—"
The larger river of chakra began to boil and surge with heat.
"Tiger—"
Two hot chakra streams collided like dry wood meeting a blaze.
Aozora quickly opened the window. A burst of hot air exploded outward, and a massive fireball soared into the sky.
After releasing the jutsu, Aozora carefully reviewed what had just happened and identified that the "Horse" seal was key to triggering the Fire transformation.
It made perfect sense. The twelve basic hand seals were named after the Chinese Zodiac, and both "Serpent" and "Horse" were associated with fire in traditional Five Element theory. It was logical that they would relate to Fire Release.
Although he had a good idea, Aozora still conducted a few more experiments to confirm that the chakra flow during the "Horse" seal was indeed responsible for the Fire-nature transformation.
By the time he finished his testing, it was already quite late.
He concluded his night with a round of Dao yin (Guiding Breath) training, then drifted into a deep, restful sleep.
Cultivation was great and all—but he was still a child. He needed proper sleep to grow.
By the time dawn approached, just before 6:30 a.m., Uchiha Aozora was already awake.
Plan for the year in spring, and for the day in the morning.
He had known this principle in his past life, but modern work and life distractions always disrupted his routine. In this life, there were no overbearing bosses, no addictive smartphones. It was easy to develop healthy habits of early sleep and early rising.
After getting up, Aozora spent an hour doing morning training in the courtyard.
When he finished, he went to the bathroom to wash up—and admire his stunning face and perfect physique while he was at it.
He chose a set of rough, durable clothes, packed his ninja tools, and put on his forehead protector before heading out.
"The gears of destiny begin to turn. From this day forward, Uchiha Aozora embarks on his grand journey as a shinobi."
He narrated his own story aloud, hyping himself up with theatrical flair.
To mentally prepare for the hardships of upcoming missions, Aozora was making sure to brace himself in advance.
—
The first floor of the Hokage's Office was bustling with people.
After the Nine-Tails' Rampage, Konoha was still facing a serious shortage of active ninja. There were far too many missions and not enough hands to carry them out.
Yet the village couldn't afford to reject too many assignments.
The ninja world didn't revolve around Konoha alone. If the village refused too many missions, clients might start looking elsewhere—and those clients could be lost forever.
As a result, Konoha's shinobi had to work to the bone. Women took on the roles of men, and men were treated like beasts of burden.
Aozora was the first of Team Three to arrive. Soon after, Hayate Gekkō and Inuzuka Aya also showed up.
At exactly 7:50, Aburame Shige finally arrived.
He nodded to the three of them and led them to the Mission Hall.
Located on the left side of the first floor, the Mission Hall occupied nearly half the entire floor. It was packed with ninja and civilians of all kinds.
Shige glanced at the mission lines and led them to the end of the longest queue.
Aya, watching the painfully slow-moving line, grew restless like an ant on a hot pan. She pointed at a much shorter line off to the side and asked, "Sensei, why are we lining up here? That other one's completely empty."
At her words, Aozora rolled his eyes. She doesn't even know this much? And she dares call herself the bottom of the class?
Hayate, being more patient, explained, "That line is for A-rank missions. Our team isn't qualified to take those yet."
"A-rank?" Aya asked in confusion.
"You really don't know that? That's ridiculous." Aozora clicked his tongue, then turned to her and said, "Listen up, academic underachiever."
Aya huffed but still obediently stood aside and listened.
"There are five mission ranks in the ninja world—S, A, B, C, and D—based on difficulty. The different lines in this hall correspond to different mission levels."
Aya looked at the four lines and still seemed puzzled. "Wait, five levels but only four lines? Why?"
"Because S-rank missions aren't issued here," Aozora replied. "S-rank missions are the highest difficulty, often tied to national secrets. They're far too sensitive and dangerous, so they're assigned directly by the Hokage."
Aya nodded in understanding, though she quickly frowned again. "D-rank is the lowest, right? We're already pretty strong. Why don't we just take an A-rank?"
This time, Aozora didn't even respond—he just let out a long "heh."
Aya might not have understood the meaning behind that "heh," but the look of contempt in Aozora's eyes was crystal clear.
Just as she was about to explode, Hayate spoke up quickly to smooth things over. "We've just graduated and are still genin. By the rules, we're only allowed to take D-rank missions. To access B or C-rank ones, we need to complete several D-rank missions and prove ourselves."
"As for A-rank? Only jōnin are eligible to take those.
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Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!