The training grounds were especially quiet in the early morning.
The sun had only just risen from behind the rocky peaks in the east, spreading golden light across the smooth stone floor and driving away the lingering chill of the night.
Kyoshin stood at the center of the field, closed his eyes, and adjusted his breathing.
He could feel the chakra inside his body flowing steadily through his ridians, like a vast and deep river.
After continuous training during his Anbu missions and the accumulation from the Shadow Clone extraction thod, his chakra reserves had stabilized at around four hundred and twenty.
But that was still far from enough.
Dust Release required an enormous amount of chakra to support it.
Onoki had once said that chakra was the root, while Dust Release was the flower.
Without roots deep enough, no matter how beautiful the flower was, it could never bloom.
And what Kyoshin needed to do now was deepen those roots even further.
He opened his eyes and ford hand seals.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A chain of white smoke bursts exploded one after another, blooming in the morning air like fireworks.
One, ten, twenty, thirty...
Every single one looked exactly like him, wearing the sa black training clothes and carrying the sa calm yet determined expression.
The shadow clones all sat down cross-legged at the sa ti, closed their eyes, and began extracting chakra.
Kyoshin's original body sat down as well.
He continued attempting Dust Release training.
With every failure, his body beca more familiar with the mory of that chakra flow.
And with the system's linear growth, the progress of his Dust Release training slowly increased as well.
Ti passed little by little.
Kyoshin could feel sweat sliding down his forehead and dripping onto the stone ground.
Onoki had gone through nearly a hundred thousand attempts.
If Kyoshin used shadow clones for training, combined with endlessly consuming soldier ration pills, he could achieve training speeds dozens of tis faster.
But Onoki had also said that what the village needed was not strength built through shortcuts, but powerful shinobi who improved steadily and solidly step by step.
The total amount of chakra was extrely important. Right now, Kyoshin's chakra reserves were still insufficient.
So instead of accelerating his Dust Release training, he had the shadow clones carry out a form of training that could sustain a positive cycle.
Days passed one after another.
Kyoshin could clearly feel that his total chakra reserves were growing at a visible pace.
Although each clone's extraction efficiency was lower than the original body's, once dozens of clones stacked together, the efficiency beca astonishing.
It was like dozens of streams flowing into one great river at the sa ti. Each stream was tiny on its own, but together they were enough to raise the river's water level.
During this period, Kyoshin's life felt extrely fulfilling.
Training. Sleeping.
Occasionally going to the ninja academy to visit Karin.
Then stopping by to see Kurotsuchi.
Ever since the day Kyoshin arrived in Iwagakure, Kurotsuchi had taken especially good care of him.
It was like maintaining family ties.
You couldn't always expect others to co see you while never visiting them yourself.
One-sided effort could never last long.
Besides that, Deidara's monthly challenges against him had never stopped.
Now the kid hated Kyoshin so much his teeth itched whenever he thought about him. Every day he obsessed over how to defeat Kyoshin, gathered information on him, modified his clay bombs to target Kyoshin's fighting style, and frantically trained his taijutsu so he wouldn't get instantly defeated the mont soone got close.
But unfortunately, every single ti, Deidara was always just a little short of defeating Kyoshin.
Early that morning, after creating shadow clones to continue chakra extraction, Kyoshin headed straight for the Iwagakure Ninja Academy.
He had been invited to observe the graduation exam for Deidara's class.
The graduation exam grounds at the Iwagakure Ninja Academy were much livelier than usual.
The spectator stands were packed with academy instructors, parents of the soon-to-graduate students, and several Iwagakure jonin who had co to observe.
At the center of the field, a circular area fifty ters wide had been cleared out. The ground was paved with specially made shock-resistant stone, and protective barriers had been set up around it.
That's right, barriers.
Protective barriers, at that.
Thanks to Karin's mother getting involved, the research departnt had achieved major technological breakthroughs in sealing techniques and barrier techniques.
Kyoshin sat in the front row of the stands. Beside him were Onoki, Kurotsuchi, Karin, and Chinatsu.
"Deidara's finally reached this day," Kurotsuchi said with a hint of emotion in her voice. "You've basically beco that guy's nightmare."
Among the students participating in the graduation exam, thirteen-year-old Deidara had grown noticeably taller compared to a year ago.
His long blond hair was tied into a high ponytail behind his head, and the bangs in front covered one eye.
He wore Iwagakure's standard ninja uniform, though modified with his own style. The cuffs and pant legs were embroidered with explosion-pattern designs, and a specially made clay pouch hung at his waist.
At that mont, Deidara stared at Kyoshin with wide eyes, his gaze carrying even a trace of resentnt.
'How many tis has it been now?'
'How many tis??'
Deidara had applied for early graduation exams repeatedly, but every single ti he was defeated by Kyoshin.
The guy really was stubborn to the core. With his strength, if it had been any other examiner, he would have graduated long ago. He probably would have already caught the Akatsuki's attention by now.
Kyoshin simply said, "Deidara's talented, but his personality is a bit impatient. If you don't give him a goal he absolutely has to achieve, his pranks will just keep escalating."
Onoki deeply agreed with that assessnt. "He really has behaved himself a lot more lately."
"Graduation exam, third match!" the examiner's voice echoed throughout the field through an amplification technique. "Student Deidara versus Instructor Jonin Ishikawa!"
The mont Deidara heard it, his vision darkened and he nearly fainted on the spot. He roared at the examiner, "Hey!! Why does everyone else get genin opponents, but I get a jonin?! Hmm?!"
The examiner glanced at him and said sothing that instantly shut Deidara up.
"If you hadn't been so hardheaded about insisting on challenging Jintu, you would've graduated already."
"Your techniques are too destructive. It's too dangerous for ordinary genin to be your opponents."
'Oh~'
Deidara's expression changed instantly, and he grinned broadly.
"Hahahaha! Looks like my art has finally gained widespread recognition, hmm!"
Everyone else had genin for their graduation exams, but he got a jonin.
If word of that got out...
Although graduating early sounded more artistic.
In terms of showing off, though, this definitely sounded even better.
Beaming with delight, Deidara walked onto the field.
Opposite him stood his opponent, Ishikawa.
Ishikawa was an experienced special jonin who specialized in Earth Release defense techniques.
He nodded toward Deidara. "Ready?"
Deidara opened his eyes, excitent flashing within those blue pupils.
"I can start anyti, hmm!"
"Then... begin!"
The instant the examiner finished speaking, Deidara moved.
His hands slipped into the clay pouch at his waist, his fingers kneading and shaping at astonishing speed.
In less than two seconds, ten white clay spiders appeared in his palms. Each one was the size of a fist, their abdons slightly swollen and packed with compressed clay and chakra.
"C1: Spider Swarm!"
Deidara tossed the spiders into the air.
The ten spiders unfolded their slender legs midair, moving with the agility of living creatures as they crawled and leaped, charging at Ishikawa from multiple directions.
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