Swish~
A figure suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Furukawa-sensei!" ×3
Seimei, Ryosuke, and Mizutani Shizuko saw the newcomer and quickly stood up to greet him.
Indeed, the person was none other than Furukawa.
As a Jonin, Furukawa's responsibilities were much heavier than theirs, so he couldn't possibly stay with them all the time.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been bullied by a few Hidden Rock Chunin earlier.
"Sensei, has the fighting ended?"
Seimei glanced at the gradually calming sounds of battle in the distance and asked.
"Mm."
Furukawa nodded, his gaze sweeping over the three of them, and he said with relief, "You're all still alive, good!"
However, upon hearing his praise, Seimei and the others remained silent.
Furukawa didn't mind their silence.
Having been through it himself, he understood how they felt right now.
Despite this, he chose not to offer any consolation or guidance.
In Furukawa's view, a ninja must endure what others cannot; otherwise, they are unworthy of the title.
It was based on this philosophy that he never enlightened his students mentally; survival of the fittest was his principle.
After a moment of silence, Furukawa spoke again, "Pack up. The team will set off in about half an hour. If luck is on our side, we'll reach the base before dark, and then you can rest well."
With that, he hurriedly left.
"Alright, let's pack up," Seimei said after he left, then began searching for his belongings.
Because they would be staying outside for a long time this time, Seimei brought not only his equipment and tools but also a lot of daily necessities, such as change of clothes.
However, during the earlier battle, they were deemed a nuisance, so he had discarded them all.
Fortunately, they were the winning side, allowing them to search for their belongings without haste.
Seeing Seimei begin to move, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko collected their thoughts and started looking for their things as well.
About half an hour later, the convoy set off again, leaving only a small number of people to continue cleaning up the battlefield.
······
That night, in the heart of a dense forest, inside a tent, Seimei sat cross-legged, calming his mind and refining his chakra.
At this point, he had arrived at Konoha's base in the Land of Rain.
According to Furukawa, their main task for the time being was to adapt to the battlefield environment and adjust their mental state.
During this period, there would not be any heavy tasks.
Without a doubt, this was a rare opportunity for Seimei.
He could take advantage of this time to elevate his strength to the next level.
From today's battle, it was clear that without activating his Sharingan, his strength was only slightly stronger than that of an average Chunin.
He could hold his own in one-on-one situations, but encountering two or more enemies at the same time would be somewhat dangerous.
In fact, if the enemies did not hold back and unleashed their full strength, even one of them could pose a threat to him.
Although this threat was not significant, there was still a possibility of being injured.
If he activated his Sharingan, his strength would likely exceed that of the vast majority of Chunins.
However, Chunins were not very impressive on the battlefield.
Only by becoming a Jonin could he possess a certain level of self-defense capability.
Yet, with his current strength, even at full power, he would not be able to reach Jonin level.
Moreover, even against a lower-tier Special Jonin—provided they were not purely support types—he would most likely still be at a disadvantage.
Unless he could evolve his Sharingan to two Tomoe,
but that would take at least several months.
He could wait, but the enemies would not.
Relying on this to improve his strength was clearly unrealistic.
Therefore, Seimei planned to allocate some of his Chakra to enhance several Fire Release Ninjutsu and Genjutsu levels.
This way, he could increase his combat power in a shorter amount of time.
As a result, his self-defense ability would naturally improve.
Although doing this would slow down the evolution of his Sharingan, if he lost his life, there would be no point in having a Sharingan.
Only by preserving his life could he have the opportunity to consider the future.
Otherwise, everything would be in vain.
······
One month later.
At the outskirts of the base camp.
A group of four figures—one large and three small—were traversing through the forest.
It was evident that they were extremely cautious, constantly observing their surroundings while occasionally stopping to check for hidden traps and markers.
The four individuals were none other than Team 17, consisting of Furukawa, Seimei, Ryosuke, and Mizutani Shizuko.
At this moment, they were carrying out a patrol task to guard the base camp.
In other words, they had been performing this task for the past month, but as time went on, the areas they were responsible for had become increasingly important.
Of course, more important also meant more dangerous.
Initially, they would go ten days to half a month without encountering an enemy, making the tasks relatively easy.
However, once they adapted to the battlefield environment and their assigned areas changed, the tasks became far less relaxed.
Now, they would find traces of enemy incursions almost every few days.
Although most of the time, by the time they arrived, the enemies had already fled, there were a few occasions when the enemies had not managed to retreat in time.
In those instances, they had to fight desperately.
Enemies sent to carry out infiltration and penetration missions were never pushovers.
Therefore, every encounter could be described as perilous.
Only their leading sensei was a true Jonin, who could provide them with some level of support.
Otherwise, Team 17 might have already suffered casualties.
But it must be said that such an environment was very challenging and beneficial for their growth.
Whether it was Seimei, Ryosuke, or Mizutani Shizuko, after a month of missions, the youthful naivety they once had had completely vanished, leaving only a sense of professionalism.
Just like now, the four of them stopped in their tracks, and without needing Furukawa to give instructions, Seimei and the others instinctively began their tasks.
Seimei was responsible for vigilance, while Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko checked the nearby traps and markers.
Everything was so orderly.
Moments later, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko returned to the group and reported, "Sensei, there are no issues."
"Very good," Furukawa nodded and said, "Let's head to the last point."
"Yes, sensei!" ×3
The four of them made their way to the final mission point.
Unless necessary, no one spoke along the way, and all four pairs of eyes remained focused on their surroundings, alert for any potential dangers.
Fortunately, today was lucky.
After checking the last mission point, they found no traces of the enemy.
Seimei and the others unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
After waiting for a moment and completing the handover with the patrol team coming to replace them, they returned to their temporary base.
······
Late at night.
Inside the temporary base.
Seimei once again completed the casting of 'Heart Reflection Jutsu.' After a moment, he opened his eyes, and a glimmer of realization flashed in his gaze.
"This is Lv4."
He murmured, then raised his hands again, beginning to form the hand seals for 'Heart Reflection Jutsu.'
In the next moment, his hands moved quickly, and the seals were completed with incredible speed.
Not only was the casting speed impressive, but the promotion effect of 'Heart Reflection Jutsu' on the evolution of Sharingan also increased significantly after reaching Lv4.
Seimei closed his eyes, carefully sensing the process of that special Chakra nourishing his eyes.
After a moment, once it faded, he formed the hand seals again and cast 'Heart Reflection Jutsu.'
And so, he repeated the process over and over.
After a full five rounds, Seimei finally stopped the casting.
At this point, he felt that his Sharingan had advanced from a single Tomoe to a step closer to a double Tomoe.
***
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