Chapter 35 – Departure to Hidden Sand Village

"What do you think?" Ryujin Jakka asked in a stern voice.

Yusuke looked at the spirit of his sword, which looked at him with an imperious look and seemed to understand something: "Does this mean?"

"Devouring souls through murder!"

"Training in the spirit world!"

Ryujin Jakka and Yusuke responded at the same time, however their responses were completely different. The atmosphere instantly became awkward.

Ryujin Jakka coldly snorted, "Devouring souls through killing? Only Hollows do that!"

Yuusuke chuckled in response, "It's all because of your overly stern gaze, no wonder I misunderstood!"

Ryujin Jakki's face didn't move a single muscle, his eyes continued to stare indifferently at the young man in front of him, "Alright, since we're connected now, I'll guide you. Listen carefully Yusuke Uchiha, I come from the Soul Society - the underworld, also called the spirit world. Shinigami and most of the souls live there, which after a while reincarnate in the world of the living.

Soul Society has such a dense spiritual power that no matter what a Shinigami practices, his soul power will constantly be strengthened. The world we are currently in is completely unsuitable for spirits like me, there is no abundant spiritual energy in the space, so it will be extremely difficult to improve your soul by conventional means. At that moment, Ryujin Jakka glanced at the giant sharingan in the sky and continued. "I must admit, the bloodline of your so-called Uchiha clan is truly unique and amazing. This spiritual world is currently the best place to strengthen your soul. Although your spirit world is incomparable to Soul Society, it is better than nothing. As long as you train here, your soul will become stronger."

"So what exactly do I need to do to strengthen my soul?" Yuusuke asked.

"It's simple - fight!"

"Fight?!"

Ryujin Jakka nodded, "Yes, your opponent will be me! Strengthen your soul and spiritual strength through wrestling and training! In the long run, you will not only improve the quality of your soul, but also gain experience in swordsmanship from me!"

After listening to Ryujin Jakku, Yuusuke frowned and said, "With my current strength, I can stay in the spirit world for no more than an hour before my mental strength is completely depleted. It will take me almost a day to fully recover. And if I have to fight, I'm afraid my mental strength will be depleted even faster. I think twenty minutes is my maximum at the moment!"

Ryujin Jakka looked at Yuusuke and said, "Don't worry, as your soul power grows, your mental endurance will naturally increase. Thus, after each training, your time here will only increase. Moreover, once your soul has matured to a certain degree, it will only be a matter of time before your so-called Sharingan evolves into the Mangekyou Sharingan."

When talking about the Mangekyou Sharingan, Yusuke's heart trembled and he asked, "But according to our clan's information, the condition for opening the Mangekyou Sharingan is the death of a loved one or an incentive equal to that. Only then is the Sharingan able to break through the bonds and evolve into the Mangekyou Sharingan."

After awakening the Sharingan, Yusuke stopped hoping for the awakening of the Mangekyou Sharingan. In the end, he did not want to see someone close to him die, these eyes, in his opinion, were not worth such a sacrifice.

Ryujin Jakka chuckled, "It's only because the soul level of people from this world is so low that the only way to break through the shackles of their bloodlines is with strong mental stimulation. If your soul strengthens even to the entry-level level of the spirit world, then by relying only on spiritual pressure, you can easily awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan!"

After listening to Ryujin Jakki answer, Yuusuke nodded and said, "I see, everything is still based on soul power. It's just that relying on the method you suggested, progress will be too slow."

Ryujin Jakka looked at him and said in an indifferent voice, "Power is not given overnight, it takes great effort and sacrificing a huge amount of time. Don't worry, there's no need for you to rush, once you reach the level where you can freely use my first form, there won't be many people in this world who can resist you!"

Yusuke decided to listen to Ryujin Jakki words, "Okay, you're right."

After that, their conversation ended and Yusuke started training. As Ryujin Jakka said, his training was very simple. Yuusuke and Ryujin Jakka fought with swords in the spirit world.

As expected, Ryujin Jakka proved to be an excellent swordsman. Moreover, in addition to excellent swordsmanship, he exerted powerful spiritual pressure on Yuusuke, which he was still unable to cope with.

Whenever Ryujin Jakka attacked, Yusuke experienced a sharp pain, similar to being pierced by thousands of sharp needles. According to Ryujin Jakka, this was one of the methods of using Reiatsu in attacks.

The first training did not last long, with Yusuke's current mental strength, he was forced to leave his spirit world ten minutes later, right in the middle of the battle.

Immediately after leaving, Yusuke felt very tired, he needed rest to restore his mental strength. However, although he was exhausted, the young man's tired eyes shone with happiness. Communication with Ryujin Jakka brought him great benefits and helped him see his goal. Now he was more confident about his future.

***

A day later, Yusuke prepared to leave for Hidden Sand Village.

"Happy journey, brother!"

"Son, take care of yourself!"

Izumi and Hazuki went out to see Yusuke off on a long journey. This mission should last more than half a month, as it only takes a little over a week to reach Hidden Sand Village.

"Izumi, come over," Yuusuke said.

Izumi obediently approached Yuusuke and looked at him with large, unblinking eyes.

Yusuke squatted down and smiled, "While I'm gone, mom's protection is on you."

"Don't worry, I'm not small anymore and also a shinobi!" Izumi nodded decisively.

The moment Izumi finished speaking, she saw three golden tomoe flash in her brother's eyes. Blinking, she looked at her brother again, but his eyes were the same as usual.

"It seemed?" Izumi said mentally.

Saying goodbye to his family, Yuusuke headed towards the main gate of Konoha. After meeting up with Hayama and the others, they set off.

The group moved at their own pace, at first the surrounding area was wooded, with mountains and rivers. But the closer they got to the border of the Land of the Wind, the warmer the climate became and the less vegetation became.

The journey lasted about five days, during which time they managed to pass through the Land of Rivers, which was located between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, and finally reached the beginning of a huge desert.

Although they were only on the edge, they could already feel the intense heat of the desert. Everywhere you look, there was only monotonous yellow sand.

"Is that supposed to be it?" Yusuke asked Hayama while examining the unrolled scroll.

"That's right, we can start," Hayama nodded, glancing at the unfolded scroll.

Yusuke put away the scroll and looked at the genin, "From now on, your exam officially starts! Six of you must cross this desert in three days and reach the village of Hidden Sand. If we don't see you in Hidden Sand Village in three days, you will be disqualified!"

With a serious face, Hayama added, "Don't expect help from us, rely on yourself! If you can't even pass this simple test, you don't need to take the rest!"

"See you in three days!" - as soon as Hayama finished speaking, Yuusuke and he made hand seals and disappeared.

As expected, the rules of the exam were set by the host. The first test required the participants to reach Hidden Sand Village within a certain amount of time.

Although the death rate in the Chunin Exams was not comparable to the high death rate in the war, it was not low either. Knowing this, Hidden Sand leadership left the decision to the team leaders. The leaders had every right to intervene in the test and save the student from death. True, in this case, the student was automatically disqualified.

"We only have three days, let's hurry!" Anko decided to take the lead.

"But there is only desert everywhere, are you sure we won't get lost if we hurry?" - asked Gekko and immediately coughed.

Itachi looked up at the sun and said, "It's noon now, we can rest a bit before we hit the road. Hidden Sand Village is to the west of us, we won't get lost if we follow the afternoon sun."

After listening to Itachi, everyone nodded in agreement. Anko smirked and put her arm around Itachi's shoulders and said, "Not bad, when we get back, I'll treat you to some sweet bean and dango soup!"

Itachi was about to break free from Anko's embrace, but stopped when he heard about the treats.

After that, the genin found a large tree at the edge of the desert and gathered under it. Since they were still children, their conversations were simple and light. Even the timid Kyōka quickly joined the group and laughed while talking.

During the conversations, Itachi noticed Mizuki's strange behavior. The latter seemed to want to get close to him, and this immediately alerted Itachi.

Meanwhile, while the genin were resting, Yuusuke and Hayama were running at full speed towards Hidden Sand Village. As team leaders, they had to arrive there before their subordinates.

Firstly, it was necessary to meet the genin later, and secondly, they needed to register their teams.

"How are they?" Hayama asked Yuusuke.

"It's okay, they're resting now," Yuusuke replied. Wanting to leave the genin, Yuusuke left a ghostly fire crow to look after them.

They continued to run for a while before Hayama suddenly asked, "Yusuke, are you sure you're leading us in the right direction?"

Yuusuke gave him a strange look, "I'm just following the direction you Hayama-san is heading."

After these words, both stopped and looked at each other in surprise. Before silently following their direction and quickly changing the route, they continued their movement towards Hidden Sand Village.