Naruto: I have an attribute panel

Chapter 50 The Road to the Charter

As the morning mist began to dissipate, Class 8 embarked on their return journey. Having taken eight days to arrive, there was no need to rush back. At the request of Taiichi and the other two, Captain Yamaguchi agreed to let them spend some more time along the way.

Along the winding mountain path, Yangping enthusiastically waved his newly bought Kawa no Kuni fan, the waterfall pattern painted on the fan shimmering in the sunlight. "I heard that Mirror Lake is just ahead, and its waters can reflect the most desired scenes in people's hearts!" He tugged at the corner of Saori's sleeve, showing off the story he had heard at the stall yesterday.

Passing through the bamboo forest, the humidity grew thicker. The group arrived at Mirror Lake, a place with a rather magical aura. It was indeed magical; the lake was like a mirror reflecting the very essence of life. But not far from the lake, the rumbling sound of water could still be heard.

Take a few steps forward, turn a corner, and you'll see the source of the "rumbling" sound. A waterfall hundreds of meters high will suddenly appear before your eyes; this is the Thousand-Tier Waterfall, which is as famous as Mirror Lake.

Before anyone even got close, the deafening roar reached their ears, like the stirring war drums or the neighing of a thousand horses, giving them a feeling of exhilaration.

Yangping and Saori rushed to the bottom of the waterfall early in the morning to experience the powerful impact up close.

Taiyi stood before the roaring Thousand-Tier Waterfall, lost in thought, his fingers unconsciously tracing strange paths in the air—this torrent of water, descending from the sky with immense power, rushed towards the valley's exit. It reminded him of the key principles of Water Escape Technique; wasn't it precisely about mimicking the power of nature?

Chakra nature transformation is a very personal matter, and everyone has their own unique understanding of nature transformation. At this moment, Taiyi also has his own unique understanding, which is the vastness, immensity, and endlessness of water.

[During enlightenment, experience points for water attribute change increased by 400]

Congratulations! Your Water attribute change has been upgraded to Lv7 (262/1200)

[During this moment of enlightenment, your skill advancement meditation has been upgraded, and you have gained 300 experience points.]

Congratulations! Your advanced meditation skill has been upgraded to Lv1 (214/2000).

Coming to his senses, Taiyi was overjoyed. So this was also a way to cultivate elemental transformation—by traveling and observing, appreciating the natural scenery, and experiencing the changes in various attributes within it. This made Taiyi determined to travel throughout the beautiful lands of the ninja world.

As dusk fell, they stumbled upon a mountain folk's lantern festival. Saori was invited by an old craftsman to participate in making paper lanterns. With nimble fingers, she wove a novel lantern, drawing gasps of amazement from the children watching. Yohei had already blended into the crowd, playing a bamboo flute with a local musician. His Sharingan activated, and he quietly imitated the musician's movements.

On their last day in the Land of Rivers, the group arrived at a hot spring resort on the border between the two countries. Amidst the rising steam, Yohei enthusiastically recounted anecdotes about Konoha to his newly acquainted companions, while Saori carefully polished a lacquer headband she had bought at the market. Taichi floated on his back in the hot spring, enjoying the rare tranquility, overhearing Captain Yamaguchi's hushed conversation with the bathhouse owner, presumably about their lodgings for the night.

As dawn broke, Captain Yamaguchi woke everyone up. They had had enough fun and were about to set foot on the land of the Land of Fire. From now on, they could no longer take their time to play around.

After packing their belongings and having breakfast, everyone set off, leaving the hot spring town and the land of rivers. The scenery was completely different once they entered the land of fire, filled with trees of all sizes.

Without the burden of caravans, Taiyi and his companions did not only follow the flat trade routes, but headed straight for Konoha, passing through forests and wading through water, treating it as a form of training, and continued on their journey.

That day, the group suddenly heard the sound of explosive tags exploding ahead. Everyone stopped and looked at Captain Yamaguchi. Now it was up to the captain to make a decision.

"This is the Land of Fire, so this situation is a bit unusual. Let's sneak over in combat formation and take a look. Be careful, everyone," Captain Yamaguchi solemnly instructed.

Taiichi and the other two abandoned their leisurely demeanor and, following Captain Yamaguchi, stealthily made their way towards the explosion site in battle formation. From afar, they could see three Sand Ninjas surrounding a Konoha Ninja, who was covered in wounds, his left arm severed at the shoulder, and the severed arm lying under a tree not far away.

"You think making a scene with explosive tags will bring someone to your rescue?" the Sand Ninja leader said arrogantly. "If you tell us where the information is hidden now, maybe you can die a little easier."

The Konoha ninja remained unmoved, seemingly resigned to their fate.

Captain Yamaguchi, who had already lurked nearby, estimated the strength of these Sand Ninja: one Jonin and two Chunin, which he could easily handle.

Taiichi, who was hiding not far away, saw the coded hand gestures made by Captain Yamaguchi and immediately understood his intention—he would take on a Jonin, I would take on a Chunin, and Yangping and Saori would work together to hold off a Chunin and finish the job quickly.

Taiichi responded with a gesture of acceptance, then relayed the situation to Yohei Saori, who was standing nearby. After a short while, the team finished communicating and awaited Captain Yamaguchi's order to attack.

At this moment, it was seen that the Sand Village Jonin had lost his patience and gave the order to his Chunin subordinates to kill them.

The moment the Chunin made his move, Captain Yamaguchi gave the attack signal and charged towards the Sand Village Jonin. Taichi and the others immediately followed suit and rushed towards their pre-assigned opponents.

The instant Captain Yamaguchi lunged forward, the Sand Village captain, hearing the commotion, shouted "Who's there?" to warn his subordinates, while quickly drawing his kunai to assume a defensive stance. But even so, he lost the initiative.

With a loud clang of weapons clashing, the Sand Village Jonin was knocked back by Captain Yamaguchi's powerful attack, and then faced a barrage of attacks from his captain. He could only struggle to hold on for a time.

On the other side, Taiichi was facing a Sand Village Chunin who had just received orders. The reason for choosing him was that they hoped to use Taiichi's strength to save the Konoha ninja who was fighting to the death.

As expected, Taiichi did not disappoint. As he charged forward, he drew a short sword from his back. The short sword was now filled with wind-attribute chakra and appeared exceptionally sharp.

The Chunin clearly didn't have the powerful senses of a Jonin. After receiving a warning from the Jonin, he only belatedly prepared to defend himself when he saw Taiichi rushing towards him.

Taiyi had no time to prepare. After rushing to a certain distance, he moved in front of him and suddenly vanished from his spot, appearing behind the Sand Village Chunin. The Sand Village Chunin hadn't even gotten into a defensive stance when a wound opened on his neck. Blood gushed from the wound as his heart pumped, and he was clearly going to die.

It turned out that Taiichi used his instantaneous speed to slit the enemy's neck with his short sword, much like an ancient cavalryman easily slaughtering his enemy with the help of his horse. Such a swift kill not only startled the enemy but also frightened the Konoha ninjas nearby; the killing was far too decisive.

Just then, three kunai suddenly shot out from a nearby tree, followed by a Chunin attacking Taiichi with a kunai.

"Be careful!"