Chapter 31

Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation.

Fire Release: Dragon Flame Emission.

These were the two high-level Fire Release ninjutsu techniques that Uchiha Shikatau had given to Ruri, both reaching B-rank.

These were techniques that only jonin could access, and not all of them could master them proficiently.

After reading through them, Ruri realized that each of these B-rank Fire Release techniques required a large amount of chakra to be smoothly released and to ensure their power.

Moreover, since these were high-level techniques, even Ruri, who was proficient in fire nature chakra, could not master these three Fire Release techniques in a short time.

Fortunately, she was still in fifth grade, and there was more than a year until graduation. Mastering two high-level Fire Release techniques within this year was not a problem.

The key was how to increase her chakra capacity. Without sufficient chakra, even if she learned these high-level Fire Release techniques, she could only use them in critical moments.

Therefore, Ruri directly approached Shiro and told him about her desire to increase her chakra capacity.

Shiro, who was sitting in a chair in the laboratory drinking tea, listened to Ruri's request and put on a troubled expression.

Increasing chakra was more challenging than improving physical fitness. Shiro himself had nearly perfect control over his chakra, with minimal waste, and even with a moderate amount of chakra, it was more than enough for his own use.

Ninjas, with their flesh and blood, could easily be killed by a shuriken or a kunai. Shiro did not deliberately pursue the power of ninjutsu.

Therefore, Shiro currently had no significant demand for chakra; he focused on physical fitness.

Recently, he had spent most of his time researching the application of natural energy, using it in medicine to develop new drugs.

"I'll try my best, but it will take some time. I have other work on hand right now."

Ruri nodded upon hearing Shiro's assurance and did not urge him.

It would be great if it worked out, but there was no need to feel disappointed if it didn't.

Her body had not yet entered the rapid development stage. Once she reached a certain age, her chakra would not be lacking, but she wanted more.

"Does this mean that your strength is now on par with the jonin of your clan?"

Shiro held a test tube in his hand, containing solidified, slightly transparent white particles. He opened the cap, used tweezers to take out a piece of the solid particle, and placed it on a small iron stand.

These solid particles also contained natural energy, but the amount was very small, almost negligible.

"My chakra is not sufficient to engage in a prolonged battle with a jonin, so my chances of winning are less than 20%."

Ruri recalled the previous battle and made a fair assessment.

"That's already impressive. After all, the chakra capacity of Uchiha jonin is generally higher than that of ordinary jonin. The reason you lost is due to your physical and age limitations."

Therefore, Shiro believed that Ruri's current strength was not inferior to that of ordinary jonin.

At least when her chakra was sufficient, the gap between her and a jonin was not significant.

By the time she graduated from sixth grade, reaching the level of a jonin was a certainty.

The reason Ruri could become so strong was closely related to natural energy.

It was evident that natural energy, including the more advanced sage chakra, had a significant promoting effect on the growth of ninjas.

Although there were side effects... but Shiro thought about it, and there were many things with side effects. Even the food we eat contains trace amounts of toxins, and drinking cold water contains many bacteria.

We should not overestimate the human immune system, but we should not underestimate it either.

Side effects are not something to be feared.

After chatting for a while, Ruri left, possibly to train or take a bath.

I forgot to mention that there was a small outdoor bath in the backyard of Ruri's house, but there was a partition in the middle.

Shiro thought that the partition was a barrier to human honesty, a sin rooted in the world.

Putting aside various杂念, Shiro focused on his research. He was not in a hurry to train, as no matter how much he improved his strength, his body and age limitations were still there, and there was a limit to how strong he could become.

Researching natural energy was different. If one day he could fully master natural energy and perfectly extract sage chakra, his strength would grow exponentially.

Just by slightly penetrating a part of the truth of natural energy, he had enabled Ruri to have the strength to fight a jonin at her age, although this included Ruri's talent and the Sharingan's enhancement, the role of natural energy could not be denied.

By then, even if he left Konoha, he could still live well in the ninja world.

Therefore, many of Shiro's plans were already calculated and planned in advance.

He was not just developing physical enhancement drugs but also cold medicine, hemostatic drugs, and energy recovery drugs, among others.

In short, the drugs developed using natural energy were varied, but in terms of effectiveness, they were much better than similar drugs on the market, and some were powerful special drugs that did not even exist on the market.

If these drugs were released on the market now, they would certainly cause a stir and bring many unnecessary troubles.

When he left Konoha, Shiro planned to leave some of the drug formulas in Konoha as a way to repay the village for raising and teaching him.

Konoha could use these drugs to more conveniently and effectively treat patients in the village, and they could also sell them to other countries for huge profits.

The profit from drugs has always been very high, especially since these drugs could be used militarily.

At that time, it would be up to Konoha to decide whether to use them for commercial purposes, keep them for their own use, invest in the village's medical and military fields, or involve all three areas. Shiro would not interfere.

This way, when he left, he would not feel indebted and could part ways with Konoha more easily.

To be honest, Shiro did not dislike the Will of Fire, but—

His ideals and thoughts were completely different. Forcing them together would eventually lead to mutual destruction.

Konoha would only be a part of his life, not his heart's home.

So, when Shiro said he did not dislike the Will of Fire, he was not lying, and when he said he did not like the abstract concept of the Will of Fire, it was also true.

◎

In Konoha, there was no sense of the pressure brought by war. The adults chose to bear the pressure themselves, creating a seemingly peaceful haven for the young children to grow up in.

Over the years in Konoha, the things Shiro saw changed with the passage of time.

He gained a deeper and more intuitive understanding of the people, systems, values, ideals, and political landscape here.

Despite the many imperfections and bad habits, overall, it was still a relatively peaceful village.

Especially when standing on the Hokage Rock and looking out over the entire village, one could feel the prosperity and vastness of Konoha, which made Shiro doubt that this was the appearance of a village.

Life in school remained as peaceful and quiet as ever. If it weren't for the frequent arrival of wounded from the front lines, one might think that the war had not even started.

As a member of the first medical ninja experimental class, Shiro began his formal internship at the hospital.

The internship mostly involved assisting the on-duty medical ninjas, carrying things, and, if lucky, bandaging wounds for patients.

Shiro was assigned to drug testing and the maintenance of medical equipment. Occasionally, he would also work with experienced medical ninjas to develop new drugs and purify herbs.

Thus, his fifth-grade school life passed without any major issues.

When he entered sixth grade, Shiro was just eleven years old and had been interning at the hospital for more than half a year.

The team leader of Shiro's group was a medical ninja with ten years of experience at the hospital. Seeing that Shiro had a solid foundation and was meticulous and serious in his work, he let Shiro take charge of a laboratory, independently perform drug testing and maintenance of medical equipment, and even handle more complex herb purification tasks.

With Shiro's knowledge, these tasks, though tedious, were not particularly difficult. However, he felt very frustrated by the hospital's overwork and exploitation of child labor.

He knew that the hospital was short of staff, not just in the hospital but even more so on the front lines. As a result, he could only go to school in the morning and work at the hospital from noon until seven in the evening.

Moreover, his already meager salary was cut in half by the team leader, who claimed it was for educational guidance fees.

If he relied solely on the salary earned from the hospital, Shiro felt he might not even be able to afford food and shelter.

After all, he was penniless, and his daily living expenses and research funds were all provided by Ruri.

From this perspective, his decision to rely on Ruri for support was indeed wise.

Ninjas also need to eat.

Therefore, the salary earned from the hospital was kept by Shiro himself as pocket money.

At such times, Shiro was fortunate that Ruri's eyes were Sharingan and not the Byakugan, which could see through things.

Thinking about the possibility of accumulating several hundred thousand ryo in pocket money by the time he graduated from the ninja school, Shiro felt a bit pleased.