Chapter 71 Bone Spur

"Renjiro, let's stop here for today. Enough is enough," Nagisa Nara said to Renjiro beside him.

Right now, they were at a temporary training field set up outside Konoha base. Judging from the time, this training had already lasted the entire day, so both of them were extremely exhausted by now.

"Mm, I understand," Renjiro agreed. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, then began cleaning up the messy training ground alongside Nagisa... It's just standard practice for a ninja—clean up after yourself. It shows respect and discipline.

"You two are progressing too fast. I have to work harder, or else if I fall too far behind, I won't be able to stay in the same squad anymore," Renjiro muttered while keeping his head down. Right now, he was quite enjoying staying in this squad, so for various reasons, he definitely didn't want to get kicked out.

"Isn't it Haseo who's advancing too quickly?" Nagisa smiled. He could understand this sense of urgency from the other party. Haseo's progress had naturally brought pressure onto his teammates. "We've already submitted our applications for Chunin promotion. We'd better return to the village during this rest period to finalize everything… This would be my second attempt already. Hopefully nothing unexpected happens this time."

Nagisa was trying to get Renjiro to believe in himself a little more. Since they already qualified for becoming Chunin, that proved they'd made sufficient progress. There was no need comparing themselves with special cases… Although Nagisa should've been promoted to Chunin last time already, he got delayed temporarily because he'd been assigned to Haseo's squad. He didn't have any complaints about that, though naturally he hoped to become a Chunin as soon as possible, which was why he mentioned "hoping nothing goes wrong" just now.

Under normal circumstances, they were definitely qualified to become Chunin, and among them, Haseo—the one who'd become a ninja most recently—possessed the strongest credentials. Slaying Gate Menzuomen was already enough to justify his advancement.

The achievements obtained in actual combat against enemies were the ultimate demonstration of a ninja's true strength. Other ways of judging someone were always kinda shaky anyway. The fact that Haseo could kill an enemy elite Jonin one-on-one, especially someone well-known, although there might've been elemental advantage involved, at least proved he'd already possessed the strength of a Chunin.

Haseo's actual abilities increased rapidly, yet relatively speaking, his speed of becoming Chunin was merely average… During these special times, some ninjas could become Chunin merely after spending several days on the battlefield and experiencing several fights…

War forces a person's talent to bloom at breakneck speed.

Moreover, the ninja promotion system during wartime was completely different from peacetime. After all, for those ninjas who'd gone through real battles, examinations seemed somewhat inappropriate. Later ninja exams existed purely for practical combat purposes, but never had anyone heard of combat existing solely for exams. That would be putting the cart before the horse—practical combat should come before exams, not the other way around.

However, even though wartime promotions are straightforward—based purely on battlefield achievements—that doesn't mean they're decided by a single sentence.

Whether you're moving up from Genin to Chunin or from Chunin to Jonin, you've got to go back to the village. One reason is procedural: updating a ninja's official records can only happen within the village itself… Even the Hokage has to follow formalities with the Fire Daimyo, so how could ordinary ninjas expect any special treatment?

The other reason is about symbolism. Some things just don't hit hard enough when you only talk about them. Only after lower-ranked ninjas go through the serious process of promotion will they truly understand that the responsibilities of a Chunin are completely different from those of a Genin. Becoming a Chunin means they've become a crucial force on the battlefield, so they must value their identity more highly, fight diligently, and lead by example.

When Nara and Renjiro returned from the training field, they found only Chichio there; they didn't see Haseo's figure.

"Where's Haseo?" Nara casually asked, but unexpectedly received an unexpected reply.

"He was taken away by a Medical Ninja. Supposedly he's sick?" Chichio answered.

"Sick? Who?"

"Obviously Haseo. You really think it could be the Medical Ninja?" Chichio shot back. The question made absolutely no sense—who else could be sick besides Haseo?

"Is he okay?"

"At first glance, there was nothing physically wrong with him. He looked perfectly normal, but that Medical Ninja seemed very certain… Haseo said that if he hasn't returned by tomorrow, we shouldn't wait for him anymore and just the three of us should head back to the village to take care of our Chunin business." Remembering Haseo's last instructions before leaving, Chichio added this sentence.

Nagisa Nara and Renjiro exchanged a wary glance. Without their team leader, were they still supposed to return to the village? Talk about a flag getting yanked down in record time—it's like fate couldn't wait to throw a wrench in the gears.

...

When someone tells another person "You're sick!" it's usually not an immediate invitation to start cursing.

After receiving such a warning, Haseo followed Kōga to the Konoha Frontline Hospital.

"Sensei Kōga, you haven't returned to Konoha after the campaign ended?" Since Haseo hadn't noticed anything unusual with his body, he even had the mood to chat casually with Kōga. So far, he didn't feel like he had any significant issues, despite Kōga's serious demeanor.

"Not yet. Medical resources are always scarce at the front line, so we need to stay here as much as possible. However, I do have plans to go back to Konoha later... At least I should visit my family." While answering Haseo's question, Kōga sat down on a chair and started discussing Haseo's "condition."

Judging from his age, Kōga indeed should have a family. Plus, he was definitely the charming, handsome uncle type.

To get straight to the point, your chakra increase index and degree are somewhat abnormal... Previously I noticed signs of this in you, but since you'd just become a ninja at the time, I mistook it for the typical explosive growth common among new ninjas. I thought after some time the growth rate would stabilize. However, not only has your chakra reserves increase failed to slow down as I expected, it's actually accelerated.

Setting aside the learning difficulty of advanced ninja techniques, the sheer amount of chakra they consume is beyond what ordinary ninjas can handle. Yet Haseo, who became a ninja such a short time ago, could already wield multiple high-level techniques... Sansho, as his teacher, didn't seem to notice Haseo's anomaly—probably because, by her standards, Haseo wasn't all that unusual.

Considering where Sansho came from, Haseo really wasn't impressive at all. The problem was that he was neither an Uzumaki nor a Senju—where was all this chakra coming from?

"Isn't it just the effect of the Senju secret medicine? I feel like the medicine works really well, and besides... having more chakra and gaining it quickly should be a good thing, right?" After some thought, Haseo said this. Reminded of the situation, he also realized that as a commoner, he seemingly did have rather excessive chakra reserves.

"There's no way the medicine could produce effects this strong. If so, then every Konoha ninja would have jonin-level chakra reserves. As for whether what you mentioned is a good thing or not, normally speaking it should be considered positive. The issue, however, is that your chakra growth is too rapid—it's reached the point of counterproductive extremes... If you keep pumping air into a balloon without restraint, it will soon burst.

The physical energy that forms chakra is derived from every single cell within your body. Your situation isn't even mere extraction anymore, it's forceful sucking. I believe continuing like this for long will inevitably cause physical problems. Of course, this is just my experience talking—it might be a bit subjective. I haven't yet figured out exactly what's causing your particular condition.

Additionally, this overly rapid growth similarly consumes your mental energy. Haven't you recently felt any significant psychological pressure?"

"Nope, not at all." Haseo immediately replied. He hadn't felt any physical issues, let alone any mental stress.

Kōga glanced sideways at him, his gaze now completely conveying the meaning: "Ever since you've gone completely nuts, your mental state seems better than ever."

P.S.: Yesterday evening when I went out for a walk, I encountered a Russian girl named Anjelina Medvedeva performing street magic together with her father by the roadside.

Her father was a typical middle-aged Caucasian male, barrel-chested and sturdy, with a full beard, although his eyes were particularly gentle when looking at his daughter; she had long hair, was very pretty, and possessed a sweet smile.

Later, in a nearby café, I fumbled through a chat with her in my broken English. She told me that before New Year they would continue performing magic shows within the country, likely returning to Russia around Christmas.

Man, my English is awful. I couldn't even get my thoughts across properly in just a few sentences, ending up causing quite a bit of amusement.

I didn't think much of it at the time—it was one of those simple, somewhat mysterious yet lovely encounters. Later we exchanged contact info and said goodnight. She continued touring the city with her father, dragging along that fairly large suitcase, while I headed home to get back to work.

The next day, using that contact info, I tried reaching her but failed.

The number was empty, leaving me feeling strangely hollow...

Of course.

In dreams, you have it all.

Even votes—tons of them.

Actually, I've never set foot in a Western-style café before. If situations like this really happen in the future, do you think it'd be okay if I just stick to Gong Cha or Happy Tea—those chain bubble tea shops?

Reality? Last night was full of mosquitoes, low votes, and restless sleep.

I wouldn't even dare wish for another encounter like that. So, could I maybe ask for some votes?

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