A Battle and Results Filled with Helplessness
The familiar ceiling.
Lin Ke opened his eyes. The ceiling of Konoha Hospital really never changed; once you've seen it, it's hard to forget.
The real world is truly full of surprises.
He hadn't even fought any elite monsters, and the BOSS jumped right in his face. If he hadn't been careful, he might have been beaten to his knees by Orochimaru and dragged back to be his slave.
In the past, when bullying small monsters and weaklings, he could fight however he wanted, using unique techniques to easily crush them, even instantly kill them. But once he faced a master, the gaps and flaws were immediately exposed.
First, there was the problem of basic taijutsu skills. His physical fitness was barely passable, not much inferior to even a Jonin (non-taijutsu type, like Nara Yan Shui), but his innate nerve reaction ability wasn't much better than others, and he hadn't undergone a long period of intensive training, which led to him being at a great disadvantage in taijutsu confrontations.
Especially against a powerhouse like Orochimaru, who had almost no weaknesses, a moment's slow reaction was enough for him to attack and then retreat with ease.
Even if his strength and speed weren't too flawed among ninjutsu-type fighters, his reaction speed was still a fatal weakness in close combat.
Reaction speed limited his close combat ability. The 'speed' in a ninja's ability values often emphasized reaction ability. Pure speed wasn't as popular. Kakashi was an example. When using the Lightning Blade, the Lightning Release Chakra Body Activation made him extremely fast, so fast that his own eyes couldn't see clearly, and he had to rely on the Sharingan's powerful dynamic vision.
The Body Flicker Technique was the same. You could increase speed by stuffing Chakra into it, but reaction ability was limited. Too fast, and you couldn't control it at all. Even without the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Fourth Hokage was a powerhouse just by relying on the Body Flicker Technique and his innate, terrifying nerve reaction speed.
Fighting wasn't a race; it wasn't about being as fast as possible. A ninja's speed was often limited by their own nerve reaction ability.
His limited reaction speed prevented him from controlling his body to make effective reactions in battle. Even if he saw it, he still couldn't react in time to complete the steps of extracting Chakra, gathering Chakra, and launching an effective counterattack, let alone thinking about controlling his Stand, which couldn't move on its own, to feint attacks during the battle.
So, I need to find someone to train me in taijutsu...
The solution Lin Ke came up with was simple: find a taijutsu master to train him, working on his weaknesses. He wasn't afraid of hidden injuries; he'd train to the death.
As for how to find someone to train him?
He was kidding. His teacher was the Jonin squad leader, the biggest boss among the Jonin in Konoha Village. When the Hokage was gone, Nara Shikaku would replace the Jonin to talk to the Daimyo. Finding someone to train him was a simple matter.
Then there was the problem of ninjutsu—
His Chakra control ability and the characteristic of his mutated ninjutsu not requiring careful control of the latter half of the ninjutsu's formation made him seem to release ninjutsu at about the same speed as an ordinary Jonin, but in reality, he was taking a shortcut. His nerve reactions didn't match his ninjutsu release speed at all.
It could only be said that battles in the real world meant that any flaw would immediately affect the whole body. The problem of nerve reaction speed limited the frequency of his ninjutsu release to a certain range.
Reflected in actual combat, it meant that he couldn't quickly release multiple ninjutsu in a short battle, nor could he multitask while releasing ninjutsu.
With limited frequency, it didn't matter how fast a single ninjutsu was released. This was actual combat, not a turn-based game.
It could be said that if Orochimaru hadn't been so reckless and unwilling to end the battle by throwing ninjutsu from a distance, all his plans would have been just castles in the air—
Visible but untouchable.
Replaying the entire battle process, it was actually full of Lin Ke's helplessness.
At the start, his strongest combat power, Nara Yan Shui, the only one who could somewhat keep up with Orochimaru's reactions, lost an arm, forcing him to use Shadow Clones at the start to act as probes and temporarily withstand the pressure, and he was forced to give up the Shadow Clone's ambush characteristics.
Standing on the Earth Dragon's back, he could choose to let the Earth Dragon move freely to interrupt Orochimaru's actions, but besides him, his two teammates and the seriously injured Nara Yan Shui could also be affected. If they were thrown from the high altitude...
The randomness of the Substitution Jutsu made this technique a complete side effect in the entire battle, with no use other than consuming his Chakra.
The hidden trump card, the Five Elements Sealing, failed on its first attempt because no one could interfere with Orochimaru. Originally, he was betting that the other party would be reckless to the extreme, but the result was still a thorough defeat.
Then, he was forced to ask Nara Yan Shui to use himself as bait to cooperate with him. These were all helpless choices. Even if Yan Shui Teacher, as a Jonin, ignored his almost sacrificial proposal, it would have been reasonable.
Finally, in desperation, Lin Ke could only use the characteristics of the shadow having the same qualities and similar experience as the main body, release the Shadow Clone in advance, keep the shadow still, and throw out the hand that used the Five Elements Sealing to cooperate with the shadow to complete the seal.
At this point, he was at his wit's end. The subsequent appearance of Yakushi Kabuto, whether Orochimaru would show other abilities...
He couldn't control so much anymore.
"Boss, you're awake?" Xia walked in carrying a bento box, her expression looking a little heavy.
Lin Ke sat up, looked at her expression, and asked, "How is Yan Shui Teacher?"
"Yan Shui Teacher is out of danger." Xia gave a piece of good news, and then said, "The doctor said that he may not be able to continue being a ninja..."—Nara Yan Shui's ward.
"Da, da, da"
Footsteps approached. Yuan Wei, who was a little drowsy, stood up and looked over, his expression relaxing a little. He whispered, "Boss, Xia."
Lin Ke, wearing a hospital gown, nodded, walked to the bedside, looked at Nara Yan Shui lying on the bed, his whole body wrapped in bandages, and reached out his hand with a very calm expression.
Just by probing, even with his not-so-profound medical knowledge, he could understand that such injuries would prevent him from strenuous exercise even if he recovered...
It would require Tsunade, a medical saint, to return, leading the Medical Team to dissect Nara Yan Shui's body, treat the twisted muscles, nerves, bones, and internal organs, use a large amount of Chakra to maintain vital signs and regenerate all the defects, while also considering whether the patient's own will could persist, and the loss of lifespan after large-scale regeneration.
Under normal circumstances, ninjas at this stage would be retiring. Healing them might actually shorten their lifespan, so it would be better for them to retire peacefully and enjoy life.
Lin Ke clenched his drooping hand, then relaxed it again. He felt much more at ease. It doesn't matter. No matter how severe the injury, as long as he's not dead, with my Mystical Palm Technique, even if it's a bit slow, I'll be able to heal him sooner or later.
I will heal you, Yan Shui Teacher...
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 130+ full translations or to request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the Random Translator Community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------