After finishing the last stack of rice, Uchiha Aozora dispelled his Kage Bunshin. The double fatigue hit him instantly, and he couldn't help but collapse onto the rice field.
Aya's pet dog, White Dog, had already transformed back into its small puppy form, lying on its back with its tongue sticking out while panting heavily.
Inuzuka Aya no longer radiated her usual boundless energy. While wiping sweat from her brow, she felt complicated emotions stirring within.
After a while, she walked over with a cold expression and said, "You win. What Ninjutsu Scroll do you want?"
Aya was already bracing herself for whatever unreasonable request Uchiha Aozora might throw her way.
However, much to her surprise, Aozora simply replied with a smile, "It doesn't matter to me. I'm not picky."
Then he added, "Just don't give me Fire Release techniques. Something off the beaten path will be fine."
This earned him newfound respect from Inuzuka Aya.
Not all C-rank jutsu are created equal; some contain Secret Jutsu, while others could easily be purchased for the right price.
Uchiha Aozora's request wasn't difficult to satisfy at all.
"I'll get it for you as soon as possible," she promised.
After a pause, she continued, "You won this time, but I'll definitely beat you next time. Just wait and see."
"Looking forward to our next showdown."
Seeing the pleasant atmosphere between them, Hayate Gekko approached and said, "Aozora, Aya, thanks to both of you for today's mission."
Inuzuka Aya quickly waved him off, saying, "No big deal, just cutting more rice than usual."
Uchiha Aozora also agreed, "Exactly, we're teammates. We should support each other. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses and plays different roles in a team. Since you struggle with physical work, we naturally help out more."
"Exactly. Each member contributes in their own way through strengths, balancing out each other's weaknesses as a team."
Unknown to them, Shibi Aburame and an old man had appeared quietly at the edge of the field.
Looking at the neatly bundled rice stalks, the elderly farmer wore a look of deep gratitude as he said, "Thank you so much. I hope you can come help with my harvest again next year."
Upon hearing this, Inuzuka Aya's smile faded. Hayate Gekko remained silent too.
Uchiha Aozora stood there motionless, stunned.
The normally still Heavenly Book quivered slightly, revealing a droplet of pale golden liquid upon one of its ancient pages.
Saying goodbye to the old widower, the three followed Shibi Aburame away.
Along the way, seeing Uchiha Aozora lost in thought, Aya surprisingly began offering comfort.
"Don't worry, Aozora. Our sensei said we won't take this kind of task ever again."
"Besides, by next year we might even become chunin. Definitely won't be taking D-rank missions anymore."
Snapping back to reality, looking into Aya's concerned eyes brought Aozora slight comfort.
"What a single-celled organism! She accepts 'enemies' so easily. When someone betrays her someday, she'll probably still help them dig their own grave."
"But wait, judging by her intelligence level, she'd probably mess up counting the money anyway."
Mentally complaining to himself, Aozora outwardly managed a fake smile, mumbling something like "yeah" twice under his breath.
Seeing this, Inuzuka Aya thought her words had helped, happily turning to play with her white puppy companion.
He paced around for a bit, noticing that the sky had completely darkened. Shibi Aburame said, "Let's turn in the mission tomorrow. For today, everyone go home and rest well."
"Okay!"
"Thank you, teacher!"
After three consecutive days of rice harvesting, all three of them felt quite worn out.
"Then meet at the Mission Hall at eight o'clock."
With that, Shibi Aburame parted ways with the three students.
Since the Uchiha compound lay in a different direction from the homes of his two fellow students, Uchiha Aozora also bid them farewell.
Once out of their sight, Uchiha Aozora swiftly leaped onto the rooftop and made his way home quickly.
Sitting on his bed, he didn't even pause to catch his breath. Instead, he immediately focused inward and entered his consciousness.
Without visualization, no text appeared on the ancient page, but there was a faint golden droplet resembling a tadpole swimming across it.
Uchiha Aozora felt both anxious and excited.
His concern was that this droplet might damage the Heavenly Book's functionality or even destroy it entirely. The Heavenly Book was his key to rapidly growing power and reaching Kage-level strength. Without it, drawing closer to altering his elder brother's destiny would grow ever more distant.
Moreover, since the Heavenly Book resided within his consciousness, if it collapsed, he couldn't be certain his soul or mind wouldn't suffer serious harm.
As for his excitement, though, that was no mystery at all.
Ever since discovering the Heavenly Book at age five, this was the first time Aozora had seen anything other than text appear upon it.
This meant the book had undergone new changes—it might even have new abilities.
The pale golden droplet flowed freely over the page. Uchiha Aozora felt as though the droplet weren't just moving across the paper, but darting through his very soul.
Eventually, curiosity overcame his fear of the unknown, and he decided to investigate further.
First, he attempted to sense the golden droplet.
As soon as his spiritual awareness touched it, he felt wrapped in warm water—as though his soul had taken a hot bath.
After only a brief test, Aozora withdrew his spiritual perception.
Looking again at the Heavenly Book, he noticed the droplet growing more transparent, its luster nearly gone.
"This droplet seems harmless—at least beneficial, possibly offering some kind of mental benefit."
Seeing how the droplet neared complete disappearance, Aozora decided to stop 'soul-bathing' and instead test whether it had any other effects.
Without hesitation, he began visualizing [Jia Xing] (a shape-shifting technique of lesser importance).
He wanted to test the droplet's influence on magical techniques.
To avoid any negative consequences, he selected [Jia Xing], which currently held the least importance among his skills.
Among the magical arts displayed by the Heavenly Book at present, [Dao Yin Lian Qi] (his foundational technique for body strengthening and chakra refinement) formed the base, [Yu Qi] served as his powerful offensive method, and [Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work] showed immense potential—compared to these, [Jia Xing] ranked lowest in significance.
As he visualized it, the characters [Jia Xing] quickly appeared on the Heavenly Book, gray and ancient-looking.
Once those two characters emerged, the once-drifting droplet halted its aimless motion. Instead, it quickly flowed toward the ancient characters and merged into them.
Before long, the droplet vanished entirely. Watching closely, Aozora noticed the characters [Jia Xing] seemed slightly brighter now.
He touched the Jia Xing with his soul, and once again experienced the sudden awakening of enlightenment (a sudden and profound realization).
After a moment, Uchiha Aozora opened his eyes and couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter.
The water droplets hadn't damaged the mystical techniques inscribed on the Heavenly Book—in fact, they could help perfect them.
During the process of receiving the legacy, he discovered that besides the original knowledge, Jia Xing now contained additional insights into using chakra to transform meridians and bones.
This knowledge definitely didn't belong to the Transformation Jutsu or Substitution Jutsu, nor had he ever learned such skills—these were heaven-sent revelations.
This meant that as long as he found enough water droplets in the future, he could refine and enhance the mystical techniques recorded in the Heavenly Book, eventually unraveling the full potential of [Dao Yin Lian Qi] and [Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work].
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