Chapter 10: The Barrier Class

Chapter 10: The Barrier Class

Youjin, a skilled sealing jutsu master and a high-ranking shinobi, holds a prominent position in the Iwagakure village. During wartime, as the need at the frontlines became critical, the head of the barrier class was sent to the front. Youjin became the primary responsible person for maintaining the village's barrier, which was a vital defense line. This period had been very stressful for him, especially since there was a shortage of manpower.

Half a month ago, he received a notification that a student from the Ninja Academy would be coming to intern, and he was instructed to make the necessary arrangements. Although there was no precedent for this, Youjin didn't think much of it. He assumed the student was a nearly graduated student who would be assigned to the barrier class to get accustomed to the work early on. He had done such arrangements many times before.

However, when he saw Ishiro, his mind went blank. After confirming the authenticity of the task certificate multiple times, Youjin finally spoke up, "How old are you?"

Ishiro answered, "Five years old." Ishiro didn't want to explain much. After all, the certificate from Tsuchikage was in front of him, and there was no denying it. Plus, his age was undeniable, so there was no point in trying to convince anyone he was older. What's more, his chakra had already been mostly consumed, and he couldn't even prove himself with a transformation technique.

Fortunately, Youjin was a mature jōnin. After his initial shock, he accepted the reality. After all, geniuses were common in the ninja world. Since it was Tsuchikage's decision, Ishiro couldn't be treated as an ordinary child.

Youjin stood up and led Ishiro to the barrier class area. As they walked, Youjin reminded himself to treat Ishiro like a normal ninja.

After a short while, they arrived at the underground part of the barrier class. Ishiro didn't expect the area to be so vast. The underground space was much larger than the Ninja Academy, where Ishiro had been.

Ishiro observed the various sections of the underground area—there were a data room, a practice zone, workshops, and a restricted area whose purpose Ishiro couldn't figure out.

Youjin handed Ishiro over to another middle-aged ninja, instructing the ninja to help Ishiro get familiar with the barrier class duties. Youjin then left in a hurry, not even giving Ishiro a proper introduction.

Ishiro, seeing the person's stunned reaction, decided to speak up: "Senpai, my name is Ishiro. I am still a student at the Ninja Academy, and I look forward to working with you."

After hearing Ishiro's words, the ninja finally snapped out of his surprise. After a moment of thought, he no longer focused on Ishiro's age. Since Ishiro could communicate like an adult, the age difference was no longer an issue. He smiled and said, "I am Bunji, the squad leader in charge of sealing techniques here at the barrier class."

Ishiro immediately responded, "Nice to meet you, Squad Leader Bunji!"

Bunji, finding this situation amusing, decided to test Ishiro's knowledge to help determine his level and assign him appropriate tasks. He asked several basic questions about sealing jutsu.

Ishiro eagerly answered all the questions with the knowledge he had gained over the years.

The more Bunji listened, the more impressed he became, and he began asking more advanced questions and questions related to experience. This time, Ishiro could not answer.

Bunji thought for a moment before saying, "It seems you've read a lot about sealing techniques. Your foundation is solid, which saves us a lot of time. Next, you'll need to learn some specialized knowledge, do some practice, and then you'll be ready to start. You're still in school, right? Starting tomorrow after school, come to the data room for your shift. Your task will be to help others find the materials they need, and during your free time, you can read some specialized books."

As he spoke, Bunji handed Ishiro a book list and took him on a brief tour of the data room, introducing him to the ninja who would be working with him there.

Afterward, Bunji suddenly remembered something and took a closer look at Ishiro's physique. Seeing that Ishiro wasn't particularly strong, he asked, "Ishiro, how much chakra do you have?"

Ishiro replied quickly, "Just enough to perform one technique of the Three Techniques. I just used it today, so my chakra is nearly depleted."

Bunji initially frowned when he heard that Ishiro's chakra could only perform one technique, but then he was surprised to learn that Ishiro had managed to perform the transformation technique.

The amount of chakra a ninja has is an important factor in assessing their ability, and ninjas with excellent chakra control can save a lot of chakra when performing jutsu.

Ishiro's chakra amount, just enough to perform the transformation technique, showed that his chakra control was high. He could make one unit of chakra work like two, compensating for his lack of chakra.

Thinking about this, Bunji didn't dwell on anything else. He instructed Ishiro to come to the data room after school the next day to start his shift and then sent him home.

On his way back, Ishiro felt excited. He was very pleased with this job – it wouldn't just solve his financial problems, but it would also allow him to learn practical skills.

What helps protagonists in stories reach the top? One is their innate talent, and the other is having mentors. Naruto had Kakashi, Jiraiya, two toad sages, Killer Bee, the Nine-Tails, and the Sage of Six Paths. Each of them offered him tremendous support.

Although Bunji wasn't Ishiro's teacher and clearly not as powerful as those legends, he still had a solid foundation in sealing techniques that would undoubtedly benefit Ishiro.

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Starting Work at the Barrier Class

The next day, after school, Ishiro headed straight to the Barrier Class, handed over his paperwork, and began familiarizing himself with his new work environment. The archive room was quite large, filled with dozens of shelves, each lined with hundreds of scrolls. Most of them contained the experiences of past seniors regarding sealing techniques—taking up roughly 80% of the space.

Around 10% of the room contained basic texts, some of which Ishiro recognized from the Ninja Academy, though many were unfamiliar.

The final 10% comprised either complete sealing techniques or research and speculation about other nations' sealing arts. These scrolls had advanced seals on them, requiring specialized hand signs to open. Without the correct method, attempting to open them would trigger an alarm.

The first 90% of the archives could be copied and taken out of the archive room, but only if one spent contribution points, which were not too expensive. Anyone was free to read them on-site without charge.

One of Ishiro's main tasks was copying the materials that other shinobi redeemed with contribution points. During this process, Ishiro earned a small amount of points himself.

For every document he transcribed, Ishiro would earn 2 contribution points, while the person redeeming the text had to pay 10 points. Of those 10 points, 5 would go to the author, and the remaining 3 would be reclaimed by the village. It was a system designed to encourage everyone to share their insights – which is how Ishiro could access such a wealth of personal experiences.

However, by Ishiro's calculations, it cost 1000 points to exchange for a typical C-rank ninjutsu, with even higher costs (and additional merit requirements) for B-rank. So to learn a single technique, he might have to copy 500 documents or more.

Moreover, contribution points could also be converted into money. Ninja world currency was unified among the nations. In Iwagakure, 1 contribution point could be exchanged for 10 ryō, but swapping ryō for points required 100 ryō per point. This system further motivated ninjas to take on missions actively.

If Ishiro ignored his training costs, he needed around 500 ryō daily just for three meals. With other expenses included, that came to roughly 2000 ryō per month. For now, these costs were covered by the village. He also received a monthly pension of 2000 ryō, lasting six years – matching his time in the Ninja Academy.

If Ishiro failed to become a shinobi, that money would support him into adulthood, and the village would thus honor its responsibilities to the family of a fallen ninja. But Ishiro spent all of it on training every month, almost always depleting his funds. As his body got stronger and his training intensity rose, this allowance no longer sufficed.

To keep pushing his regimen and steadily grow stronger, Ishiro had no choice but to find work to subsidize his training needs. Bunji had previously explained that most newcomers to the Barrier Class began in the archive room – effectively a form of on-the-job knowledge training. That position paid the lowest wage: only 200 ryō monthly, plus the equivalent of one C-rank mission per month. Each C-rank mission granted an additional 200 ryō and 10 contribution points.

Because Ishiro wasn't an official ninja yet, Tsuchikage made it clear he could only earn his salary, not mission rewards. So his monthly pay was fixed at 200 ryō.

Ishiro had no complaints about this – simply having the job was already special treatment arranged by Tsuchikage, effectively an investment in Ishiro's potential.

From then on, Ishiro spent six hours after school each day working in the Barrier Class. To accommodate that, he canceled his evening physical training, switching to practicing the Three Techniques and increasing both his morning training and the effort he put into combat class. Luckily, the extended combat sessions allowed him to keep up with his physical training. And with his new salary, he was able to increase his budget for food and medicinal supplies.

Though his routine shifted, his life remained as busy and fulfilling as ever. If anything, his more intense training sparked curiosity among his classmates, who wondered what sudden motivation had driven Ishiro to work this hard.

Shouhara tried to figure that out by throwing jibes at Ishiro, but that "concern" was immediately shut down, leaving him fuming. Tanaka discreetly offered Ishiro a loan when no one else was around. Ishiro thanked her but politely declined without explanation.

To Ishiro's surprise, even classmates he'd rarely interacted with began reaching out. Tatsuya offered to help improve Ishiro's taijutsu under the guise of sparring, something Ishiro hadn't expected but found valuable, given Tatsuya's family's taijutsu heritage.

Meanwhile, both Ikura and Meiko came to him, one after the other, for exchanges on ninjutsu insights.

This sudden surge of solidarity from his classmates left Ishiro a bit stunned but also touched. He had always been a quiet person with mostly average relationships, focusing more on training. Outside of Shouhara and Tanaka, he wasn't especially close to anyone. Yet without realizing it, he'd formed ties with nearly everyone. That realization overwhelmed him; the ninja world was harsh, and the mortality rate high, so he wasn't sure he could handle the potential loss of a friend.

He had once believed that keeping a distance would save him from pain. But now he saw that, before he even knew it, bonds had already taken root.