In the blink of an eye, half a year passed quickly.
"Whew! Finally back!"
At the gates of Konohagakure, Tatsuya, whose figure had noticeably grown taller, looked at the familiar scenery before him, exhaled softly, and murmured to himself.
"We're back in the village. Shisui, Itachi, I'll head home first. I'll find you guys later to catch up!"
Breathing in the familiar scent in the air, Tatsuya turned around, said a few words to Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, and then strode towards the Akimichi clan compound.
Having been away for so long, Tatsuya couldn't wait to get home.
Behind Tatsuya, Shisui and Itachi, also looking travel-worn, had a sparkle of excitement in their eyes at being back in the village.
Watching Tatsuya leave, a glimmer of determination flashed in Itachi's eyes.
Remembering Shisui's evaluation of Tatsuya a few days ago, Itachi couldn't help but feel a surge of fighting spirit.
A few days prior, Shisui had privately told him that Tatsuya's strength had already surpassed that of most chunin in the village.
Itachi didn't doubt this; he had clearly witnessed Tatsuya's strength during their missions.
Even Itachi, who possessed the title of genius within the Uchiha clan, felt a sense of pressure from this former "dead last" of the Ninja Academy.
During these six months, Tatsuya's life had been extremely fulfilling.
In that time, the three of them had completed three A-rank missions.
Through these missions, Tatsuya's experience, knowledge, and mentality had all been greatly enhanced.
Besides the A-rank bodyguard mission for Yoshida Jin, the other two A-rank missions were to hunt down rogue ninja from Konohagakure.
These two missions left a deep impression on Tatsuya!
Both rogue ninja were Konoha jonin who had defected during the Third Shinobi World War.
On the bloody and cruel battlefields of the ninja world, not everyone could withstand the immense psychological pressure and persevere. This was especially true for the ANBU Black Ops members responsible for assault missions.
In urgent battlefield situations, these assault squads often carried out missions that were knowingly suicidal.
These two defected Konoha ANBU jonin had been unable to withstand the pressure and deserted on the eve of a suicidal assault mission.
Because they were originally from the ANBU Black Ops, they were very familiar with tracking and counter-tracking, as well as Konoha's intelligence network. Hunting them down was extremely difficult. The village had sent out ANBU teams multiple times to pursue them without success, which is why these two missions were eventually posted in the mission hall.
The hope was to mobilize more people to complete these two tasks, but who knew that three minors would end up accomplishing them.
The battles of wits and courage against these two ANBU veterans had taken a great deal of the trio's time. If it hadn't been for Shisui, an Uchiha genius with overwhelming strength, Tatsuya and Itachi wouldn't have been qualified to participate in such missions, nor would they have had any chance of completing them.
Even if Tatsuya and Itachi had found them through some means, their current strength was no match for the two ANBU veterans.
The two rogue ninja's desperate struggles and angry accusations before their deaths had given the inexperienced Tatsuya a profound spiritual baptism.
The ninja world was an incredibly realistic and cruel place.
There was no right or wrong, no black or white, only different stances and levels of ideological awareness.
From the perspective of the two rogue ninja, they had once been meritorious Konoha jonin who had made numerous contributions to the village. Simply because they were unwilling to carry out a suicidal mission, they were to be ruthlessly eliminated by the village under the label of "rogue ninja."
They just wanted to survive; what was wrong with that?
But from the village's perspective, ninja who disobeyed orders and refused to be managed, regardless of their past identities or accomplishments, were expendable once they were no longer useful to the village.
Without rules, there can be no order.
These rules might be detrimental to certain individuals, but they were absolutely beneficial to Konohagakure as a whole.
Otherwise, how could the renowned, number-one ninja village control its vast ninja forces?
This had nothing to do with human feelings or gratitude; it was simply a necessity for Konoha's management.
To break free from these constraints, only overwhelming power could shatter these shackles.
Although the intense training and mission journeys were arduous, the rewards were immense.
Psychologically, Tatsuya had completely abandoned the small-minded kindness and cowardice of a peaceful era, becoming decisive and hardened.
He had completed his transformation from a transmigrator to a ninja of the ninja world. Both his mental fortitude as a ninja and his personal strength had significantly improved.
During missions, following the meticulous Shisui and Itachi, Tatsuya had honed his tracking, concealment, and intelligence gathering skills to the point where he'd learned all he could for the moment. The rest would come with accumulating experience.
In terms of strength, ever since he earned a substantial amount of money from Yoshida Jin, Tatsuya's ninja career had been on the fast track, with all aspects of his abilities improving dramatically.
With Tatsuya's help using the Fujinhoin, Yoshida Jin had not only rapidly lost weight but also experienced a significant improvement in his overall physical functions.
Overjoyed by this, Yoshida Jin naturally opened his purse generously, not only giving Tatsuya an additional one million ryo as a "sponsorship fee" but also agreeing to Tatsuya's request to take care of Guren.
This time, Tatsuya didn't bring Guren directly back to Konoha.
For one thing, the village was already very strict about such matters. With Tatsuya's current strength and status, it wouldn't be easy to bring an outsider of unknown origin into the village.
For another, Tatsuya also recognized Guren's potential.
Once Guren, who possessed the Crystal Release kekkei genkai, matured, her strength would quickly reach the level of an elite jonin.
Once his own strength had reached a certain level, Tatsuya planned to personally train Guren.
With ample food support, Tatsuya's Body Activation secret technique had reached a very high level, and he had also maximized the power of the Fujinhoin on his body.
It could be said that Tatsuya's current physical fitness far surpassed that of ordinary ninja of his age. Even some weaker Special Jonin might not be able to defeat him.
The improvement in his physical fitness not only significantly increased the upper limit of chakra his body could hold, but also noticeably improved the quality of his Yang Release chakra.
This was directly reflected in the power of his clan's secret techniques.
He had secretly tested it; if Tatsuya were to use his clan's secret techniques at full power now, their power would be almost double what it was half a year ago.
While his physical fitness and chakra reserves were increasing dramatically, Tatsuya didn't neglect his study of ninjutsu, especially his understanding of fuinjutsu, which progressed at an astonishing pace.
With the help of the bio-chip, an external aid, Tatsuya felt that his proficiency in fuinjutsu was already above that of most ninja in the village.
Due to his limited status and strength, Tatsuya could currently only delve into ordinary fuinjutsu knowledge. He didn't yet have the authority to access more advanced fuinjutsu.
Without sufficient knowledge reserves, the bio-chip couldn't independently deduce more advanced fuinjutsu.
However, Tatsuya believed that day wouldn't be far off.
And most importantly, after spending this time completing missions together, Tatsuya's relationship with Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi had grown significantly closer. The two no longer treated him as just an ordinary ninja from the same village, but as a reliable teammate.
In a sense, all three were willing to consider things from the village's perspective.
With a shared ideology, getting along naturally became more harmonious.
As his strength gradually increased, Tatsuya began to think more about the future.
His proactive approach to Shisui and Itachi was in preparation for the future.
In Konohagakure, Shisui and Itachi could be considered top-tier talents. Their combat power was not to be underestimated. If possible, Tatsuya didn't want to see them walk down that tragic path.
With this bond and trust, Tatsuya would be able to intervene in many future events.