A comic book journey to see the Eye of Antiquity

"Yang Lei, just how heavy are you wearing?"

Once ashore, Asma strangely touched Yang Lei's two wristbands. These were special weight-bearing gear he had given Yang Lei a couple of days ago. Logically, he should have been very clear about Yang Lei's load, but he hadn't taken the twelve-year-old Yang Lei seriously before. However, it seemed that his common sense was about to be shattered.

“It’s not heavy,” Yang Lei breathed a sigh of relief, “only a little over 1,800 jin.”

"Varied?"

Shikamaru and the other two gasped in surprise, staring wide-eyed at Yang Lei, unable to believe that he had said 1,800 jin. If it were 180 jin, it would be more understandable.

"Sure enough."

Asuma smiled wryly. He had already guessed the approximate weight after trying it at the bottom of the river. The actual number he got now was not much higher than expected, which made him mutter, "Close to a ton of weight? Speaking of which, if this guy accumulates more combat experience, he will already be at the Jonin level by now."

This is no exaggeration. Putting aside the beast Mite Kai, it seems that Yang Lei has already surpassed Asuma and Kakashi in terms of physical fitness.

Given his practical combat experience, his Eye of Insight and the other two great dojutsu he acquired—the Byakugan and the Sharingan with three tomoe—as well as the powerful ninjutsu, secret techniques, and forbidden techniques he learned from the Scroll of Seals, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he possesses the strength of a Jonin.

However, practical experience is not so easy to accumulate.

It's important to understand that you can't gain real combat experience in battles where the strength difference is too great. For example, if a Jonin fights a Genin or Chunin, you could fight for your whole life and still not gain any experience because the gap between them is too big. A Jonin can easily defeat a Genin or Chunin just by playing around.

Conversely, it's the same; genin and jonin don't gain experience from fighting each other, but chunin can barely provide some help.

The best way to accumulate experience is to find an opponent of similar strength to fight, a real life-or-death battle, a fight where it's either you or me. This is the best way to hone your skills.

So, despite Asuma's high regard for Yang Lei, it's not something that's easy for him to achieve. If Yang Lei wants to truly possess the strength of a Jonin, he'll need at least a hundred or so fierce battles.

Leaving aside other characters, take Naruto from the original work for example. In the early stages, every battle he fought was won after going through countless hardships. It's just that he used too many cheat codes in the later stages, which made that aspect less noticeable.

The same goes for Sasuke. When he went to Orochimaru's place, he improved his strength through various battles. Otherwise, even though he once defeated Gaara, whose strength was at the level of Chunin or even Jonin, he was still instantly killed by Itachi Uchiha without being able to put up any resistance.

As mentioned before, qualifications are qualifications, and strength is strength.

At this point, Yang Lei already possessed the qualities to become a Jonin, but he lacked the ability to fully utilize his talents, so he could only remain a Genin for now.

"...once again..."

After briefly discussing the issue of the load, Yang Lei ignored his companions and Asma, who had strange expressions, and looked at the river with some distress. He saw that the river, which had been almost cleared before, was once again filled with a large pile of garbage.

You should know that he did the most work in the morning, which means that his basket had the most trash among the four of them, even more than the three of them combined.

Looking at it this way, his fall into the water has made all four of them waste their morning's hard work, or at least half of it.

"Let's talk about it this afternoon. There's no rush. We can take our time getting ready."

Asma offered a word of comfort, then reached out and ruffled Yang Lei's hair before instructing the four, "Alright, you guys rest here for a bit. It's not late now, there's no time to catch fish and eat grilled fish anymore. I'll go back to the village and buy some food."

Chapter 60

After saying that, Asma formed hand seals and used the Body Flicker Technique, turning into a wisp of white smoke and disappearing without a trace.

"Yang Lei".

After Asuma left, Shikamaru and the other two comforted Yang Lei, knowing he felt somewhat guilty, so they said, "Asuma-sensei is right, we can always do it this afternoon, there's no rush."

"Ah."

Yang Lei smiled and nodded. He wasn't actually that fragile. Although he did feel a little guilty towards Shikamaru and the other two, he didn't forget that he had done all of this by himself. All he had to do this afternoon was to collect more trash than the three of them.

Right now, while buying lunch in Asuma, the most important thing is to replenish my chakra first.

"I'll refine my chakra first."

After exchanging a few more words with Shikamaru and the other two, Yang Lei closed his eyes to replenish his depleted chakra.

0058 Summoning Beast Sarutobi

In the afternoon, Yang Lei and the other three ate the lunch that Asma had brought back, rested on the shore for a while, and then got back to work.

The four of them first picked up the trash that Yang Lei had dropped earlier, and then walked downstream along the river, clearing a stretch of water several hundred meters long, making the stream much cleaner.

"Let's go back."

After taking the trash into the forest and disposing of it using fire magic, Asuma called to the four of them that they should hurry back to the village to hand over their mission.

"You should go back."

At this moment, Yang Lei handed over the basket in his hand and said, "I just want to do some cultivation, so I won't be traveling with you."

Yang Lei had a fairly fruitful day, gaining some insights into the holding and refining of chakra. He wanted to experience it in battle and also practice his combat skills.

"Ok."

Asuma nodded and granted his request to leave the team, then called Shikamaru and the other two to continue walking forward.

"Yang Lei is amazing."

As they walked on, they overheard Shikamaru and his two companions chattering about Yang Lei, realizing how vast the gap was between them and their friend.

"Oh."

Behind them, Yang Lei watched the four of them walk away, and just chuckled as he listened to Shikamaru and the others' conversation. Was he that good? At present, he could be considered the leader among the new generation of ninjas.

However, his goal is still far away. He is only at the beginning. He is far from the finish line, not to mention 117 miles away, but it is far from the time when he can stop.

"We still need to keep working hard."

Without being complacent, Yang Lei, having learned his lesson from the previous incident, has stopped slacking off. Didn't you see how hard he worked in his training today?

"Nobody's here."

Just like before, Yang Lei first pulled down his goggles, secretly opened his eyes, and scanned the surroundings to make sure he was all alone before preparing to start practicing.

However, even when he was alone, he was not careless and still used his Sharingan while wearing goggles.

"How about trying psychic magic again?"

Before starting the training, Yang Lei suddenly remembered the spirit communication technique.

Under the effect of the Eye of Insight, the least suitable situation for Yang Lei is fighting against his own shadow clone, because they know the same moves. As soon as one side makes a move, the other side can see through it. Therefore, in the practical training a few days ago, Yang Lei not only increased his four attributes, but also greatly improved his basic swordsmanship.

Today, he finally remembered the art of spirit communication and wanted to find a spirit beast to help him with his cultivation.

Why didn't he summon a spirit beast during his previous combat training? It was such a terrible first time he summoned a spirit beast. What was the point of bringing out a little monkey?

He didn't want to waste time, mainly because he could finally use the Sharingan, which was why he hadn't thought of summoning beasts.

This time was naturally different. It was already close to evening, so there was no fear of wasting time. In addition, he was no longer as excited as before. This was the second time he had opened his Sharingan, and he could even keep opening his Sharingan in the future. Naturally, he would not forget the existence of the summoning beast.

Yang Lei has always been the type to act on his words. Now that he had made up his mind, he didn't delay any longer. He raised his left hand, put his thumb in front of his mouth, bit off a small piece to draw blood, formed a hand seal, gently patted the ground, and softly uttered, "Spirit Communication Technique."

If it were someone else, they would usually choose to use their dominant hand to form hand seals for spiritual communication. But Yang Lei is different. Because of his Eye of Seeing Ancient Things, he doesn't distinguish between left and right hands, and he can command both hands as easily as an extension of his arm.

If you absolutely have to ask him which hand he uses most often, it's his right hand. He usually eats or does wiping his bottom with his right hand.

"Boom."

As Yang Lei used his spirit communication technique, a large plume of white smoke suddenly appeared in front of him. After the smoke dissipated, a black figure appeared with its back to him. It was a large monkey, about the height of a person.

"Ok?"

The big black monkey looked up and around, realizing that it had been suddenly summoned by a spirit. It roared angrily, "Which bastard from the Sarutobi family is this? Doesn't he know it's mealtime?"

Roaring, the big black monkey turned around and finally noticed Yang Lei's presence.

"what?"

With a soft "Eh," the large black monkey pointed at Yang Lei and said, "I know you, kid. You're not from the Sarutobi family, are you? Your name is Yang Lei?"

"it's me."

Yang Lei nodded, secretly raising his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. He had really been startled just now. Judging from the attitude of that damned spirit beast, it seemed like it was going to beat up its owner who had disturbed its meal.

"By the way, how did you know about me?"

Yang Lei looked puzzled. It's not like writing your name on the contract will make the summoning beasts aware of it. Signing the contract only proves that you can summon the summoning beasts of this lineage to fight. The relationship between them is built up little by little through experience.

"Because the pilgrim is my son."

Chapter 61

The big black monkey said with a proud look, as if the traveler was some great figure, when in fact the traveler was just a little monkey who had only been born a short time ago.

"so it is."

Yang Lei nodded as if he suddenly understood, and politely asked, "May I ask your surname?"

Yang Lei has always been a very polite person. Apart from Asuma and Hinata, he maintains basic courtesy no matter who he meets, even Naruto, except for the time he kicked him hard because of the Book of Seals.

You asked about my name?

The big black monkey's eyes lit up. He put his hands on his hips, raised his head high, and shouted, "I am Sarutobi, and I do not change my name or surname."

"?"

Yang Lei tilted his head and asked, "Your name is Sarutobi?"

“That’s right,” Sarutobi nodded and boasted to Yang Lei, “How about that? Impressive, right? Your village’s Third Hokage founded the clan in my name.”

"Ahem," Yang Lei was speechless. He coughed and said, "How about I go back and ask the Third Generation Grandfather?"

“No, please don’t,” Sarutobi quickly stopped him, speaking the truth: “I was just joking with you. Because our Demon Ape clan and the Sarutobi clan have a long history, and the contract we signed has been in effect for who knows how long, that’s why their clan’s name includes the word ‘ape’, to show how much they value and respect our clan.”

"As for my name, all the chiefs of our clan have the surname Ape, such as the current chief, Ape Demon."

"In other words, I am the successor to the next clan chief."

Once Sarutobi started talking, he went on and on, going on and on about the problems with the name alone, which made Yang Lei yawn, feeling drowsy.

Are you done talking?

Finally, Sarutobi stopped talking, and Yang Lei quickly spoke up, afraid that he would find another topic to continue rambling on, in which case they would have to do nothing today.

“Mr. Sarutobi,” Yang Lei nodded politely to Sarutobi and said, “I called you out not to help me deal with the enemy, nor to hear your stories, but to ask you to help me with practical combat training.”

"In other words, I want you to fight me."

0059 Fight with Sarutobi

"Oh?"

Upon hearing Yang Lei's words, Sarutobi couldn't help but look him up and down, saying, "If I'm not mistaken, you should only be in your teens, right? At most thirteen."

"That's right."

Yang Lei nodded and replied, "I'm twelve years old this year, and I just graduated from the Ninja Academy. Is there a problem?"

"Oh."

Sarutobi couldn't help but chuckle, his expression slightly arrogant as he said, "He's just a twelve-year-old brat, yet he dares to talk to me like that? And challenge me to a fight? He really doesn't know..."

"Whoosh."

A gentle breeze interrupted Sarutobi's incessant chatter, and Yang Lei drew his Kusanagi sword from his waist and slashed at Sarutobi.

"You just came like that?"

Sarutobi stared wide-eyed in surprise, for the blade was already right in front of him as they were so close.

However.

Suddenly, a sly smile flashed across Sarutobi's surprised face. He simply sidestepped the blade, lightly stepped in front of Yang Lei, and punched Yang Lei hard in the stomach with his right fist, saying, "Still too green."

It turned out that although Sarutobi was somewhat dismissive of Yang Lei after hearing his words, he dared not be too careless. After all, Yang Lei was a child who could summon him, and it was no exaggeration to call him a genius. He did not want to lose face because of carelessness.

Enma is the patriarch of the Demon Ape clan and a comrade-in-arms of the Third Hokage. They have been partners for a long time, and his strength is comparable to that of a Kage. As Enma's successor, how could Sarutobi's strength and mentality be any less impressive?

In the world of Naruto, some arrogant and conceited people don't live long; they usually don't last more than two episodes.

If some of them do live a long time, it means that beneath their arrogant exterior lies a truly cautious heart.

Take Sarutobi for example. His ability to become the successor of the clan leader proves that he is superior in every aspect, especially among apes, where the struggle for leadership is very cruel and the power is immense.

So even though he was facing a petty person like Yang Lei, despite his seemingly contemptuous demeanor, he had actually been secretly prepared. Not only did he prevent Yang Lei's sneak attack from succeeding, but he also took advantage of the situation to get in front of him and deliver a punch.

As soon as he came out, Sarutobi saw the Kusanagi sword that Yang Lei had on his waist. Although he hadn’t seen the blade, he could tell that it was extraordinary. He even had a sixth sense reminding him that it was not to be touched lightly. Even if his clan’s superpowers included the Vajra Indestructible Body, they might not be able to withstand its blows.

You could say that when Yang Lei proposed to fight him to improve his combat experience, he was actually deliberately provoking Yang Lei, with the aim of making him angry and attacking so that he could seize the opportunity to strike and succeed, just like in this case.

"Haha."

Sarutobi didn't give chase. Yang Lei, who had flown into the distance, laughed loudly and mocked him mercilessly: "How about that? I told you you couldn't do it."

"No way."

Suddenly, Yang Lei's voice reached Sarutobi's ears. Before he could react, a small fist had already slammed into him.

"it hurts."