The energy called chakra flowed through Hanyu's body. At first, he had to sense it constantly and consciously guide it along its intended path. But after several hours, it had become like the blood in his veins, circulating naturally.
Even though he had only learned to control chakra in the most basic way, Hanyu could already feel the changes in himself... It wasn't just that his hearing and eyesight had sharpened or his limbs had grown stronger. The surge of energy had brought every cell in his body to life, even giving him the illusion that he had entered an entirely new level of existence.
There was indeed an indescribable divide between chakra-wielding shinobi and ordinary people. Having just crossed from one side to the other, Hanyu felt the change all the more keenly.
Before, Hanyu could never have run all the way from Konoha to the border of the Land of Fire. Now, he could just about manage it—even though the group had rested once after their initial break, and by the time they were ready to make camp that evening, he was exhausted enough to drop dead. Still, he hadn't fallen behind... though that was because everyone had adjusted their pace for him. After all, they were now part of the same team.
Even if they hadn't been looking out for Hanyu, they would still have had to consider Sanshao's feelings and her physical condition.
During their next rest stop, Sanshao taught him how to form the twelve basic hand seals used by shinobi. Then, as he traveled with the team, he committed them to memory. Fortunately, when it came to such precious knowledge, Hanyu's memory was astonishingly good.
After night fell, the shinobi squad lit a campfire at their temporary campsite. Though they were close to the border of the Land of Fire, they were still within its territory, and so in an area under Konoha's control. In the deep darkness ahead lay a defensive line made up of countless Konoha shinobi.
It was thanks to them that the war would never reach this side of the defensive line.
So the campfire they lit that night wasn't a sign of carelessness on Sanshao and her team's part. Its dancing flames showed their trust in the Konoha shinobi fighting and bleeding for them... And besides, even if a few enemies did slip through, they'd have to see what kind of shinobi were on this team.
Kagami Uchiha and Mitokado Homura—regardless of the Uchiha name the former carried, the fact that both men had become disciples of the Second proved they were no ordinary shinobi.
"Let's take turns keeping watch tonight. Sanshao is already exhausted, and as for the youngsters... I don't think we can trust them with the job," Mitokado Homura said to Kagami Uchiha. When it came to combat, the only truly reliable members of the team were the two of them.
"To be precise, one is too young, and the older one is no use at all." Kagami Uchiha shook his head. If Sanshao hadn't insisted, they certainly wouldn't have brought Hanyu along on this mission. Still... he could understand why she had.
Kagami's thoughts drifted back more than ten years as he looked at Hanyu, sprawled face-down on the ground and completely motionless. When he had first followed the Second, he had been around Hanyu's age.
Seeing Kagami lost in thought, Mitokado Homura said nothing. He went off to keep watch by himself. Though they had both studied under the same teacher, they hadn't spoken much during the journey—or, for that matter, ever. It wasn't because they disliked each other. It was simply that different teachers produced different disciples. How could someone like the Second, a gloomy man who was always scheming, have taught a talkative student?
Every disciple of Senju Tobirama was, without exception, serious and reserved. And as time went on, everyone except the Third, who needed to maintain a certain level of social decorum, would evolve into a complete poker face.
The night wore on. The campfire had nearly burned out, with only a few embers remaining, when Hanyu finally woke from his deep sleep. More precisely, hunger had woken him.
Only then did he remember that he hadn't eaten a single thing since morning.
He sat up, pulled a small bottle from his ninja pouch, and shook out a pill about the size of a large booger. Then he popped it into his mouth... This was the so-called Military Ration Pill, the ultimate compressed snack for shinobi on the road—or when they needed to kill and loot.
As it slid down his throat, Hanyu instantly felt his stomach fill up. It made him think the pill was more like a stimulant than a ration.
Just as he woke up and snuck a bite to eat, Mitokado Homura, who was keeping watch, suddenly sprang to his feet.
"Sanshao, we've got trouble."
Sanshao had been dozing beneath a large tree. At the report, she quickly opened her eyes. Seeing that the three shinobi on the team had gone on high alert, she skipped the pleasantries and asked, "How many?"
Mitokado Homura looked at Kagami Uchiha. The latter opened his blood-red eyes and answered, "Just one squad."
"About the same number as us?" Sanshao's expression remained as calm as ever. She glanced at the darkness in the distance, then at Hanyu, who was sitting there with a bewildered look on his face, and beckoned him over.
"Hanyu, I'll keep this brief. You heard just now that someone is approaching our camp, and based on our assessment, they're very likely enemies. So get ready to fight too. Listen carefully. I'm going to teach you a ninjutsu. You're already familiar with how the chakra flows for this technique; it's the same one I told you about earlier. All that's left is to use hand seals to guide the chakra's energy and shape it into a technique. The seal sequence is Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Rat, Boar, Rooster. The key is to gather chakra as you begin forming the seals, then release it when you finish. Understand?"
"Wait, Sanshao. That's a high-level elemental technique. It's too advanced for him. There's no way he can..." Kagami Uchiha hadn't understood what Sanshao was trying to do at first, but when he heard the seals she listed, he couldn't help trying to dissuade her.
Sanshao raised a hand to stop him. Hanyu already knew how the chakra flowed for this technique, and now she had taught him the seals. All that remained was to see whether he could gather enough water-nature chakra when he performed it... So she turned to Hanyu and asked again, "Did you understand?"
"I got the seals and memorized the order, but..." Hanyu had indeed memorized the sequence, but was that really all there was to explaining the technique?
He hadn't even learned the most basic ninjutsu. He understood the concept of Chakra Nature Transformation, but from what Kagami had just said, Sanshao seemed to be expecting him to perform a high-level elemental technique... Could someone who had just learned arithmetic solve a problem in advanced mathematics?
"It's not as hard as you think. Have a little confidence in yourself. You defeated a shinobi without knowing anything at all, didn't you?" Sanshao encouraged him. Using the tree trunk behind her for support, she stood up, then gave Hanyu a push from behind.
The unexpected shove made Hanyu stumble forward a few steps, until he found himself at the very front of the team... As if he were telling the approaching enemies that he was the star of the show.
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