Free Web NovelChapter 277: Sake Spring Town
"It shall be called Sake Spring Town!" freewebnoveℓ.com
And thus, a new name, born from a young hero’s whimsical idea and bold action, was officially recorded in the geography and history of the Land of Fire.
Sake Spring Town.
Shinichi still did not know about this for the time being. However, if he did know, he would certainly feel gratified by how sensible the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was.
Because this was not merely a simple renaming.
This would become an official public endorsement and geographical inscription from the Land of Fire itself, a symbol formally binding his personal legend to this land.
From this day onward, whenever people mentioned Sake Spring Town, they would naturally associate it with the glorious military achievements of Crimson Flame Shinichi and his sharing of blessings with his comrades.
This was a form of cultural implantation, a fixation of recognition.
For the accumulation of his future prestige, the expansion of awareness toward his talents, and even deeper future plans, all carried subtle benefits.
...
Konoha’s northeastern main camp.
When the news that Narumi Town had officially been ordered by the Daimyo to be renamed Sake Spring Town returned to the camp, the entire camp was shaken.
Especially the members of Shinichi Battalion, they could hardly suppress their excitement and rushed to Shinichi to report this major news at the first opportunity, every face filled with proud joy as though they themselves shared in the honor.
Naturally, Shinichi maintained a smiling and humble demeanor, attributing the credit to the collective and the glory to all the Konoha ninjas who fought.
However, more than anyone else, he understood clearly in his heart that in this matter, the greatest beneficiary, or even the only beneficiary, was himself.
"This Daimyo is quite sensible."
After dealing with two more Konoha ninjas who spoke with him along the road, Shinichi silently remarked to himself, very satisfied with this outcome.
Then, he temporarily set aside this already-settled matter. With a slight movement of thought, he quietly summoned his system panel.
Compared to yesterday, there was indeed a subtle change on the panel.
The original green talent Diligence Compensates For Lack Of Talent had disappeared, replaced by a new talent radiating a blue glow [Perseverance (Blue): Your persistence itself has begun to create miraculous accumulation. While learning, training, or working, concentration increases and fatigue decreases, while a slight improvement is guaranteed. Additionally, as the time and effort you invest in a specific field increase, your long-term training efficiency in that field will gradually and permanently improve. The longer the investment, the deeper the accumulation, and the higher the efficiency.]
Diligence Compensates For Lack Of Talent could be said to be one of his earliest green talents, accompanying him since his Ninja Academy days.
But in the blink of an eye, five years had passed, and only last night had it finally completed its transformation, upgrading into the current Perseverance.
Over these years, his diligence had not weakened in the slightest. On the contrary, it had grown even harsher. But just as the future second pillar once said: "Don’t deny my hard work just because I’m a genius!"
The brilliance of genius could sometimes overshadow the shine of sweat.
As Shinichi’s reputation as a genius grew louder and his brilliance more dazzling, more and more people in the outside world began focusing on his astonishing talent, treating his diligence as a mere background element, even subconsciously overlooking it.
Now, perhaps as the great ninja villages continuously gathered and repeatedly reviewed his intelligence reports, while becoming more and more wary of his terrifying talent, they had also discovered his diligence from those records.
They came to think that the reason Shinichi Higashino could become so powerful was perhaps not only because of his astonishing talent, but also because of his nearly obsessive diligence, thus promoting the upgrade of this talent.
"Perseverance..."
Shinichi carefully examined the introduction of the new talent. Similar to when Diligent upgraded into Diligence Compensates For Lack Of Talent, the base effect had barely changed, merely adding a new trait. The same was true now that Diligence Compensates For Lack Of Talent had upgraded into Perseverance, only adding a new characteristic.
The longer one invests in a specific field, the deeper the accumulation, and the higher the efficiency.
This once again appeared to be a divine skill with theoretically no upper limit.
But the theoretical lack of limits and the actual value were two different things. Just like the guaranteed slight improvement effect of Diligence Compensates For Lack Of Talent sounded beautiful, but in reality, the degree of that slight improvement was minuscule.
He had personally estimated that if he only possessed Diligence Compensates For Lack Of Talent, then even after bitter training for thirty or forty years, he might not necessarily touch the threshold of elite Jonin.
The true value lay in time and compound interest.
Now, it would depend on how effective the snowball effect of Perseverance truly was to determine whether it was really a divine skill or whether it still counted as one for the current Shinichi, whose strength was advancing by leaps and bounds.
But regardless, as long as this positive cycle truly existed, as long as time continued to pass, and as long as he continued investing effort, efficiency would continue to grow faster and faster, and the snowball would continue to grow larger and larger.
One day, it would grow from a tiny stream into a surging river.
"Time... Truly is one of the strongest powers, and also the fairest judge."
Shinichi came to this realization internally, calmly closed the system panel, then stepped forward toward the rising morning sun outside the camp and began yet another day of unwavering cultivation.
Let the snowball of Perseverance begin rolling from this very moment.
Konoha Year 47, April 10.
After resting for several days in Narumi Town, renamed as Sake Spring Town, the massive northeastern army group of the Land of Fire began withdrawing in orderly batches.
The first to depart were the various local ninja clans and regional military organizations of the Land of Fire that had been summoned to cooperate in the war. For example, the Ninja Monks of the Fire Temple, after completing various handover tasks, embarked on their return journey first.
Afterward came those who had suffered severe injuries during this campaign and required long-term recuperation, as well as Konoha ninjas like the members of Shinichi Battalion, who had undergone months of ultra-high-intensity missions and whose spirits were already utterly exhausted.
Under the personal leadership of the third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, they set out as the first batch of personnel returning to Konoha for rest and recovery.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru remained as the commander-in-chief of the northeastern front, continuing to garrison the critical border regions.
Nearly five thousand Konoha ninjas still remained under his command, closely monitoring the movements of the Village Hidden in the Cloud and guarding against any possible counterattack.
After all, no one could guarantee whether those Kumogakure’s ninja, famous for their ferocity and even recklessness, might suddenly go mad from unwillingness to accept defeat and launch another southern invasion at all costs.
From a rational perspective, this seemed unlikely. After all, Village Hidden in the Cloud’s logistics and medical systems had suffered devastating blows, while massive amounts of core administrative files and intelligence materials had been burned to ashes.
For a very long period in the future, the Village Hidden in the Cloud would have to focus on cleaning up this disastrous mess and restoring basic operations, leaving them unable to launch another cross-border expedition.
But in the Shinobi World, never overestimate the rationality and bottom line of your enemies, especially enemies that have just suffered massive losses.
