Naruto : Crimson wood

"Chain of Sacred Water!"

"Wood Release: Entanglement!"

"Holy Water Shield!"

Yuna Hoshizaki, Shun Hayashi, and Mei Kobayashi worked together seamlessly, pinning down a first-level beginner-class Snow Wolf.

"Wood Release: Wooden Spear!"

Renji Takahashi stepped forward to finish it off. Forming hand seals, he summoned four sharp wooden spears that pierced straight into the Snow Wolf's skull.

Perfect kill.

This was the tenth first-level monster the four of them had taken down together.

From clumsy teamwork on day one to perfect synergy now, they had finally developed solid chemistry.

After the wolf fell, Renji rushed forward, drew his dagger, and pried at its skull, trying to find a demon core.

But as expected—

Nothing.

This was the third time in a row he'd been disappointed.

Apart from the first Rampaging Demon Bear they killed, they hadn't found a single demon core since.

This was typical.

Normally, only second-level monsters consistently formed demon cores.

A first-level monster might rarely have one, but it was uncommon.

The violent demon bear had been a rare exception.

Other first-level monsters... nothing.

"No core again…"

Renji sighed in disappointment.

The thrill of the first core had faded quickly under repeated failure.

He wasn't strong enough to take down second-level monsters yet.

Getting energy was going to be much harder than expected.

A Small Victory

"But this makes the tenth monster we've defeated. Mission complete—woohoo!" Mei Kobayashi clapped her hands, delighted.

Each team's task was to hunt ten monsters over five days.

It was only day four—and they had finished early.

"Looks like our team really nailed it," Shun Hayashi smiled in relief.

After ten battles across four days, they'd gone from nervous beginners to confident hunters.

More importantly, ten straight victories had helped them grow comfortable with combat, master their abilities, and work as a cohesive team.

What surprised Yuna and Mei most, though, was how strong Renji and Shun's Wood Release abilities were.

"I never imagined that you could pull so many techniques from something like Wood Release. It's honestly incredible," Yuna said, admiration in her voice.

Over the past few days, she had watched Renji and Shun use wood-based powers for both offense and defense—far beyond what they'd learned at Azure Dragon Academy.

"Yeah, you guys are amazing. You turned something people thought was useless into something really powerful," Mei added, quickly correcting herself. "Actually... I guess it's not really a useless ability anymore."

Based on what they'd shown so far, Wood Release was every bit as strong as any elemental ability.

"Hehe, that's mostly thanks to Renji," Shun said shyly, scratching the back of his head.

He didn't try to take credit for their success.

"It's nothing special," Renji replied, a little smug.

"As expected of an S-Class awakening. Your skills are on another level," Mei said, giving him a cheerful thumbs-up.

Curious About Secrets

"By the way, Renji, your Spirit Eye is also S-Class, right?" Yuna suddenly asked, tilting her head curiously. "I've noticed your eyes sometimes change during battle. Have you developed other abilities?"

She looked at him with expectant, sparkling eyes.

"It's hard to say," Renji dodged the question with a grin. "But haven't you been hiding your holy powers, too?"

Yuna Hoshizaki was a double S-Class Holy Water user, but in all their battles, Renji had only seen her use water-based techniques—not the Holy attribute.

Could it be she hadn't unlocked it yet?

That didn't seem likely.

"Yeah, Yue-chan, I've never seen your Saint attribute powers either," Mei chimed in.

Shun nodded, also curious.

The Holy System was the most mysterious and powerful attribute in the world of psychics—universally acknowledged.

It was also incredibly rare.

At Azure Dragon Academy, apart from Yuna, only the Principal, Daisuke Okamoto, had the Holy attribute.

But no one had seen the principal fight in years.

They had only heard of the Holy System in stories, never witnessed it firsthand.

With all eyes on her, Yuna smiled softly and shrugged.

"There's nothing special about the Holy attribute. It's just like any other power. You'll see it when the time comes."

Then she gave Renji a playful glare.

"But YOU didn't tell me anything about your Spirit Eye either."

Renji waved her off.

"My Spirit Eye doesn't have any crazy powers. I just have a photographic memory and can remember monsters' attack patterns, that's all."

Obviously, none of them believed him.

But they knew better than to press further.

At Azure Dragon Academy, their teachers had drilled this lesson into them:

"Never reveal your special abilities lightly. It's foolish and dangerous."

In this brutal world, revealing your cards meant exposing your weaknesses.

Heading Back

"Alright, it's getting dark. Let's head back," Renji said.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the four of them dragged the Snow Wolf's body back to base camp.

Mission Results

Back at the camp, piles of monster corpses had already formed a small hill.

After four days of fierce battles, the other teams weren't as far along as Renji's group—but they had still made solid progress.

Roughly seventy to eighty monster bodies were stacked in the center of camp.

With one day left, it seemed everyone would complete the mission on time.

As Renji's team dragged in the Snow Wolf, heads turned.

Of course, most people were looking at Yuna and Mei.

In the harsh wilderness, having two beautiful girls on your team was a rare blessing.

Even though Mei wasn't quite on Yuna's level, she was still considered one of Azure Dragon Academy's prettiest girls.

Who wouldn't be jealous of Renji's group?

"Snow Wolf... Not bad. That makes your tenth kill. Congratulations on being the first team to complete your mission," said Kurokawa, one of the Executive Department instructors. His mask bore the symbol of Black Water.

He nodded with satisfaction as he recorded their result.

"Ten monsters already? That's fast!"

"Impressive. I guess that's what happens when you're teamed up with Yuna Hoshizaki."

"Not just her. I heard Renji Takahashi and Shun Hayashi developed some new wood-type combat techniques. They're apparently really strong."

"Tch, no matter how strong it looks, it's still just wood. Weak abilities dressed up fancy," sneered Hikaru Saito from nearby.

Hikaru couldn't hide his bitterness.

He had the best shot at teaming up with Yuna.

But that chance was stolen by Renji and Shun—and he wasn't taking it well.

"Alright, stop chatting. Get some rest!" shouted Qingyun, the captain of the Executive Department.

"Tomorrow's the last day. Finish your missions and we'll head home!"

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