Chapter 015 Chunin promotion

~Border~

It's been a month since the border patrol mission. Minato has come back and taken his team to the borders from which Mist Village can attack. Team Doma is still at the Cloud Country borders.

There are border patrols or Menma has to go out and provide medical assistance to the injured shinobi. He didn't stop his morning practice even on the battlefield. From the data provided by his fights, he has been able to clear up many of his flaws that could only be seen during the battle.

Menma enters the commander's office. He enters the room and finds Jonin Kaite already there, waiting for him.

Menma looked around, "Why am I being called? Is there an urgent border mission?" Menma was confused at this time. The last time he had seen the battlefront commander, he was injured, and they had only discussed credits.

The masked Anbu looked at him and said, "You have worked very hard during this war. The Hokage has granted you a promotion. Congratulations; you are now a chunin. You no longer need to take the Chunin Exam to become one."

Menma realized that he was being promoted. He had only been a Genin for several months. He expected to be promoted during the Chunin Exam or after one year of survival in war. Looks like the credit went to the time when he outsmarted a Cloud Jonin.

The commander has passed the Chunin vest and chunin certificate to him, along with a book of guidelines and other chunin-related materials.

Menma received it immediately. He had worked hard for it after all. He said, "Thank you."

The commander looked at him and said, "You have to be careful. You killed a bigshot Cloud jonin. Even if he was a little hotheaded. But now your name has been registered by all the other big and small ninja villages. Especially by the Cloud Ninjas, since it seems that the jonin you killed was the grandson of a Cloud village elder. He's also very close to the current Raikage. This means you will be targeted by every Cloud ninja as soon as they see you."

He continued, "They will think that you insulted them as a personal grudge. Killing a Jonin is not impossible, but it is very rare. And they see it as a black mark on their family. He was the last member of his family. So you can guess his anger. Be prepared for their retaliation at any time. Oh, and you also have a bounty on your head in the black market. Five million bounty is now your head worth, and it's very high for a Genin or Chunin."

The commander gave him the latest findings from their spies in the Cloud village. Menma had made more enemies than he expected. It didn't matter to him if they came for his head or not; he would kill anyone who tried to take him down. All he wanted was to live in this world and see the end of Naruto Shippuden with his own eyes.

After listening to the commander's warning, he left the office and returned to his tent. There, he donned his chunin vest and kept the Chunin certificate safely stored within his scroll.

Menma stood tall and looked at himself. His hair was still long, reaching down to his shoulders, with a bun tied in the back. A forehead protector was also placed on his head, without much difficulty. He wore dark blue clothes and blue pants, with ninja bandages wrapped around his legs and hands. He also wore hand guards just above them to protect his hands. Additionally, he now wore a chunin vest over his outfit.

Menma thought for a moment and realized that his Mind Computer had solved the problem of the Storage Seal, allowing him to keep his things in a separate personal space that even Obito could not break into. Even Kaguya or the Otsutsuki would have difficulty finding it, let alone breaking it.

His mind's hard drive looked like a page, but he could see that it had his various spaces and categories. It was like a gaming interface. He and the Mind computer would have to come up with some sort of collaboration.

Menma thought, "At last, the dream of every gamer is within my grasp. The inventory, even if it's created by a mind computer and I have to come up with different ideas and combinations to include it. So it can be perfect and easy to access. Mind computer, please create another inventory page like this and we can include any other items in it, such as weapons."

The poor mind computer immediately started processing it. It was not a sentient A.I was capable of slapping back or getting angry at Menma; it could only operate based on the progress of Menma and his ideas.

Menma kept all of his necessary items, including those stored in the storage seals, within the inventory of the mind computer he had just created.

Menma thought, "Grandma, your grandson has made a big progress. You would be very happy in the heavens. Wait for me to come back to Konoha to give you some incense and flowers. I should also do it for my deceased family in this world. They were ninjas but good people."

Menma sorted out many things which could be his new projects and other plans. Everything was kept in the inventory. He had many ideas, but his chakra was limited. One of his projects was to figure out how to increase his chakra tenfold. The other was that everyone's chakra could increase naturally, but Menma wanted a training plan on how to increase it.

Menma has been thinking about it for over six months. He discovered meditation exercises from his previous life a few months ago, which have increased his natural chakra levels in this world as his body ages. Menma sighed and wanted to continue improving it. The human body is very mysterious, but he doesn't want to do anything like Orochimaru.

Menma started doing his daily meditation which helped him relax both his mind and chakras. He spent over an hour just focusing on relaxation. Afterward, he headed out to find Jonin Kaite to learn water ninjutsu. His Jonin sensei had a fire affinity, but he had worked hard to learn some water manipulation.

Menma meets with Kaite Doma in a training area created for those who either want to vent or learn how to survive.

Kaite asked, "Have you completed the water manipulation exercises?"

He is very seriously dedicated to training his students.

Menma nodded his head and said, "I have completed all the water manipulation exercises. From making shapes, boiling, compressing, steaming, and even making it denser. All kinds of manipulation exercises are completed."

Menma had completed all the exercises. He had completed some of the wind manipulation exercises in less than half the time. He even made sure that his manipulation technique was quicker and stronger for any jutsu he was about to learn. He believed in a solid foundation after all.

Kaite looked pleased that he had completed all the manipulation exercises he had assigned him. He said, "The first water-style technique I will teach you is Water Bullet."

He then explained how to condense the chakra within his body and release it through the mouth.

Menma saw that it could be easily cast and hand seals required were very few. In his opinion, even though it was a low-level ninjutsu, it would be very useful in the long run. It could be easily cast and its speed could be adjusted according to his wishes.

Menma performed the hand seals and attempted the ninjutsu.

"Water style: Water bullet."

A water ball came out of his mouth at a rapid speed and hit the tree. It caused severe damage to it. In his first attempt, Menma didn't put any extra effort into it. However, he had considered the affinity prowess. His water and wind affinities were too strong. He hadn't realized this until he cast a simple, low-level jutsu like a normal jutsu.

Kaite sighed and said, "It looks like your water affinity is too strong. The greater the affinity, the greater power you can display in that department. You should have heard about Lord Second, who was one of the greatest Water Style users. He could have produced water from thin air."

Kaite found out that he not only succeeded in water ninjutsu on his first try but also had tremendous affinity potential towards the water style.

Menma has other reasons to be surprised. He knows that he hadn't faced much difficulty in practicing both water and wind style manipulations. At first, he thought it was because of system data and analysis.

He thought he had it all figured out before, but now he realizes he was wrong. His affinity was just too strong. With enough manipulation exercises, he managed to gain some control over his powers. However, it seems like he needs more practice to fully master them. If he's not mistaken, this could be an ice-release or something similar.

Menma did the hand seals again.

"Water style: Water bullet."

He controlled the power even more, and its speed increased even more. He didn't try his best; this jutsu did more damage to the previous tree.

He thought the same as before. He looked at Menma and said, "Practice it for a week. I'll give you another water or wind jutsu next week. Just keep practicing it. You learned it so quickly."

After Kaite left to train his other students, Menma was thinking about something and then opened the Mind computer. He saw the data analysis of the practice and control during the wind and water affinity exercises.

He then looked at other data on chakra affinities and found that it was a chakra mutation, which he didn't know about. However, since he had never tried it for himself, he couldn't evaluate its perfection.

Menma thought, "When did this chakra mutation happen? There wasn't any data about it in my chakras before."

The report appeared instantly, and the computer responded at once.

[A chakra mutation occurred after the near-death experience. The host used all of his chakra to heal himself, but due to his stubborn will and determination to keep going no matter what, the new chakra in his body mutated at that time and gave birth to the awakening of this Beyond Perfect Affinity to the host.]

[Chakra mutation has many effects on the host, but no side effects on his body. The host's chakra has undergone a qualitative change.]

[Whenever an earth-shattering event occurs in a Chakra user's life, if they come out of it and still want to continue on that path, the body senses it, as well as the chakras within the body, which are connected to the physical aspects of the body by the analysis.]

[After chakra mutation, the usage of chakra becomes lower for every jutsu. The jutsu you cast should have a greater effect.]

[Even your secret techniques and mental strength changed; they became stronger as you recovered.]

[Due to the immense mental strength gained from that fight, it has also improved your sensory abilities, increasing the Byakugan's range and your sixth sense.]

Then Menma looked at the other reports which showed data before and after the fight. There was a huge difference in chakra usage.

Menma went back to his tent and shut himself in. He tried to control water and then tried to freeze it. The reaction was immediate. He immediately froze the water.

He stopped it immediately.

Menma thought, "I am already unable to use the Byakugan anymore. Now I have to keep another secret. Being a chuunin isn't enough to protect me. Damn it, it looks like some force is trying to keep me out of Konoha."

Menma thought deeper, "It looks like if I stay in Konoha, sooner or later I will be branded as a research object or a pawn of Root. It can be worse if they brand me as a traitor. First, I have Byakugan, and I am not branded. I don't want to be a caged bird of the Hyuga family. Second, if it is revealed that I have Ice style in my blood, there are more disastrous things following me."

He continued to think, "Orochimaru will view me as a research subject to awaken many bloodlines. Danzo will see me as a good pawn and he may try something like what I did to him back then. One wrong step and my freedom will be gone."

Menma was thinking of countermeasures at that time.

Menma sighed again and thought, "Looks like I have a chance. It is a very slim chance. But for the birth parents and grandparents, I have to take it. For their dignity. Some higher power is already keeping me out of Konoha. Let's wait for some time and see how things turn out."

He continued to think, "The timeline will change if I don't leave Konoha. Everything seems like a blessing, but it is a curse from the very beginning. I never wanted the Ice Style or the Byakugan."

Menma is angry at seeing the invisible cage of some destiny around him. But the world has given him a way out.

Menma's thoughts were messy at first, but he eventually calmed down and said, "Fuck everyone, even this world. I will follow my path. Let's see what fate throws at me, then I'll come up with some countermeasures."

Menma has a deep fighting spirit in his heart. He smiled a little and then listened to a song from his Mind computer.