With a mere thought, the traits on her panel shimmered faintly.
Moments later, three brand-new traits emerged.
[New Trait: Precision Ninja Tool Throwing (Green)]
[Description: Though young… my kunai are still sharper!]
[Effect: All ninja tools you throw gain a 10% power increase! Your throwing accuracy is unaffected by environmental conditions!]
[Upgrade Requirement: 1200 Achievement Points]
Not bad.
Though the damage boost was only 10%, Ayane was more interested in the second passive effect.
Unaffected by environmental conditions.
In the chaotic, rain-drenched Land of Rain—
That was perfect.
She looked further down.
[New Trait: Solid Taijutsu (Green)]
[Description: The girl next door comes of age—strong enough to lift mountains…]
[Effect: Taijutsu power +10%, stamina consumption -10%]
[Upgrade Requirement: 1200 Achievement Points]
Simple.
But effective.
Ayane rubbed her hands together and eagerly examined the final one.
As expected—
Her first blue trait.
[Trait: Intermediate Ninjutsu Mastery (Blue)]
[Description: With all five elemental affinities—Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, and Lightning—you have no inherent flaws in ninjutsu cultivation.]
[Effect: Increased learning speed for new ninjutsu. Ninjutsu power +15%.]
[Attribute-Specific Upgrade Requirement: 5000 Achievement Points per element]
Her brows shot up.
Wait.
I have all five chakra natures now?!
She hadn't expected such a simple—and overpowered—effect.
Not only a flat ninjutsu boost—
It had directly completed her elemental affinities.
She did a quick calculation.
With her current titles and traits combined—
Her ninjutsu amplification had reached 40%.
Just thinking about that number made her throat itch.
She wanted to spit out a Water Release on the spot just to test it.
In truth, she knew quite a few techniques.
Over a dozen E-rank.
Four D-rank.
One C-rank.
Nothing secret or rare—
But in the Ninja Academy, she had been top-tier.
The four D-rank techniques were:
Water Release: Wild Water Wave (spits water from the mouth)Water Release: Rushing Break Flow (generates a surge of water from the palm)Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (a whirlwind blast from the mouth)Lightning Release: Gratitude Wave (emits lightning from the palm)
Her lone C-rank technique:
Water Release: Water Bullet Technique
Most were Water or Wind-based.
Not particularly destructive—
But suited to the Land of Rain's constant storms.
Unfortunately, she was on a mission.
She couldn't exactly tell Woodpecker she'd had a nightmare and needed to test-fire a jutsu.
Suppressing her curiosity, she leaned back against the trunk and closed her eyes.
The night wind blew softly.
Occasional droplets fell.
Anyone who had lived in the Land of Rain knew—
This meant another downpour was coming.
Suddenly—
A faint noise drifted from afar.
Ayane's eyes snapped open.
At the same moment, Woodpecker warned:
"Swan. Four o'clock direction. Anomaly."
"Understood."
She rose smoothly and peered toward the source.
In the dark wilderness—
Only that direction flickered with unstable firelight.
The faint sounds of shouting, steel clashing, and battle carried through the wind.
"Are ninjas fighting over there?" she murmured.
Woodpecker pulled out a map.
"Ma Dam Village."
"Detour?"
"If we go around, it'll cost time."
"Troublesome," he muttered.
With the decisive battle against Konoha imminent, ANBU shouldn't have been dispatching personnel for a rookie escort.
But Woodpecker had returned to the village during squad downtime for personal reasons—
And this task had fallen to him.
Now this.
"Stay behind me, Swan."
He adjusted his mask and leapt down.
No detour.
"Be sharp," he warned. "I won't always have time to protect you."
Ma Dam Village was desolate.
Most buildings were crumbling ruins.
Broken pottery and furniture lay scattered among debris.
Ayane's expression tightened.
Her sharp eyes spotted corpses half-submerged in mud.
Old.
Young.
Men.
Women.
All left to rot in rain-soaked filth—
Food for beasts.
The woodpecker didn't slow down.
Such sights had become routine since the war began.
Rain's main forces were stationed at the front—
But that didn't guarantee safety inland.
Ninja were mobile. Destructive.
Enemy infiltrators slipped past patrols to sabotage supply lines—
Food.
Medicine.
Currency.
Even unarmed civilians.
And Rain's own ANBU had done the same in Wind and Fire Countries.
No side was innocent.
"The fighting is ahead," Woodpecker murmured. "Remember what I told you."
Ayane had already begun circulating chakra.
"I won't die here," she said quietly.
"Let's hope not."
They moved through mud under cloud-covered skies.
The moon vanished behind storm clouds, cloaking them in darkness.
Woodpecker led, assessing his new teammate silently.
Even on mud, her steps were nearly soundless.
Good stamina.
Fast Body Flicker.
Hard to gauge direct combat ability—
But under his supervision, she should survive.
Top graduate indeed.
Far superior to her peers.
Even among ANBU chūnin squads, she wouldn't drag them down.
Crack—
Lightning tore across the sky.
White light split the clouds.
At that exact instant—
A cold shuriken flew from the shadows of a broken wall at his flank.
Its edge gleamed in the lightning's flash.
Woodpecker's nerves snapped taut.
At the last possible moment, he deflected it with his kunai.
Clang—
Thunder roared seconds later.
From the wall's shadow, a figure stepped forward.
He glanced at the deflected shuriken and spoke icily.
"Too bad… You're lucky."