The Art of Iai

In Shisui's squad, the concept of being late seemingly did not exist.

Because Shisui would personally go to people's homes to wake them up.

It took Shiraha only five minutes from the moment he recognized Shisui to stepping out the door.

"Good vigilance. To have such keen awareness just after becoming a Chunin—if you were on the battlefield, your chances of survival would be high."

Shisui praised him.

"Let's go!"

"Heh."

Shiraha let out a soft chuckle, splashed some water on his face, grabbed a piece of bread, and prepared to leave.

Peculiar!

This was the impression Shiraha left in Shisui's eyes.

He felt that Shiraha did not hold the same reverence for him as the other clansmen did.

Yet, his demeanor was undeniably that of an Uchiha.

He should have awakened his Sharingan by now, right?

Shisui carefully recalled the file he had read on Shiraha, combining it with his personality to analyze the strength of his future teammate.

"Alright."

At this moment, it felt as if Shisui had become the subordinate and Shiraha the captain.

Just as they stepped out of the house, Shiraha stopped in his tracks.

"Where are we going?"

Shiraha asked. This captain wasn't leading the way; he was hardly being competent!

Uchiha Shisui was the captain, and the mission scroll containing the requirements and specific details should have been in his hands.

"To carry out a mission. As for the specifics, we have to wait a moment. You have one more companion; once he arrives, I will explain everything to you both in detail."

Shisui said with a smile.

Gentle temperament!

This Uchiha genius was indeed just as the rumors described.

With a personality that made him easy to approach, it was no wonder the Third Hokage and the Konoha high-ups trusted an Uchiha clansman like him.

However, Uchiha Shisui underestimated the darkness and greed of human nature.

This was also the main reason Shiraha did not believe this personality of his could lead the Uchiha to glory.

Under Shisui's lead, he met the other member of the squad.

A clever and well-behaved little boy, just over a meter tall.

He wore a forehead protector, his black hair falling by his ears to reveal a delicate, handsome face.

One had to admit, every ninja of the Uchiha clan was a beauty or a hunk—high aesthetics, high intelligence.

"Let's start with self-introductions to get to know each other! My name is Uchiha Shisui, Jonin, fifteen years old. I like raising crows, and my dream is to write a book about ninjutsu."

Once the three were gathered, Shisui spoke first.

He was met with silence from the two. Shisui rubbed his forehead and laughed, "No need to be so stiff. We are companions from now on, so of course, we should understand each other. Why don't you start?"

As he spoke, he gestured toward Shiraha.

Seeing this, Shiraha felt a hint of awkwardness. Knowing this was tradition, he said in a low voice, "Uchiha Shiraha, Chunin, thirteen years old. My dream is to become the strongest in the ninja world, and I like..."

When it came to what he liked, Shiraha hesitated.

From the moment he transmigrated until now, he had spent all his time practicing his sword draws, his once-lively temperament becoming steady.

From initially wanting to challenge the Hokage in a fit of adolescent arrogance, to now silently growing stronger.

Loneliness had accompanied his five years of training.

No one to keep him company...

After a moment of silence, Shiraha subconsciously gripped his sword hilt and said, "The blade!"

That's right, he liked the blade.

From initially just wanting to obtain a cheat, to gradually understanding it over time, the companionship of the weapon made him fall in love with the blade.

Shisui's smile did not fade; he nodded slightly before looking at the other youth.

"And you?"

"My name is Uchiha Itachi, Chunin, ten years old. My favorite food is three-colored dango, and my dream is to protect Konoha and the important people in the village."

Uchiha Itachi replied, his tone seemingly a carbon copy of Shisui's—equally gentle, though his voice was slightly more youthful.

One has a slightly cold personality, the other is gentle and shy. I wonder if it's a facade?

Shisui silently tagged his two subordinates in his mind.

Having experienced the tragic death of his teammate, Uchiha Itachi completely buried the budding pain within his heart, revealing only gentleness to those around him.

At seven years old, Uchiha Itachi was already contemplating the things a Hokage would think about.

The precocious genius had traded the loss of a companion he spent every day with for an increase in strength.

The dialectic of gain and loss.

Uchiha Itachi was not as simple as he appeared on the surface.

Focused on his training, Baiyu did not care for the opinions of the outside world, pouring his heart into the single act of drawing his blade.

For a person, being able to do one thing well is enough.

"The difficulty of this mission is B-rank. We may encounter enemy ninja, so the danger level is higher than the missions you performed as genin. The objective is to head to the Mist Ninja border..."

Shisui took out the mission scroll and explained the details to the two of them.

While the major nations appeared to have no friction on the surface, the probing in the shadows had never ceased.

Since becoming a genin, Baiyu had only performed missions around the village. After the Nine-Tails incident, the village had increased its protection of the younger generation even further.

Newly graduated genin basically had no opportunity to leave the village.

The missions they encountered were merely ordinary D-rank, or at most C-rank; there might be scuffles, but they would never involve actual ninja.

This mission was B-rank.

Finally, a chance to cross blades with real ninja?

An ambush on a Mist Ninja unit!

A battle between ninja.

He had been drawing his blade constantly, and while he could feel his strength growing, he had no benchmark for comparison.

The Chunin Exams were only an internal assessment within the village.

A total of fifteen people from Baiyu's graduating class participated, and all of them were promoted.

Noticing the shift in Baiyu's mood, Shisui paused, gave him a deep look, and said:

"We depart now! Let's aim to reach the mission site by tomorrow morning!"

The southern border of the Land of Fire was located by the sea.

At midday, the weather was sweltering.

A squad of ninja stopped in the woods to rest, cautiously keeping watch over their surroundings.

Judging by the forehead protectors, the entire group consisted of Mist Ninja.

The Mist Ninja assassination squad, known for the "Bloody Mist," had secretly infiltrated the Land of Fire to gather intelligence.

At this moment, they were resting in a forest on the border of the Land of Fire.

"Ever since the Nine-Tails incident in Konoha, the border has been like a sieve, and yet I still have to stand guard!"

A Mist Ninja carrying a massive blade said with great dissatisfaction.

"Jūzō! Watch your tongue. Are you questioning the captain's orders?"

Another Mist Ninja asked in a stern, questioning tone.

"Hmph..."

Jūzō Biwa laid the Kubikiribōchō horizontally and leaned against a tree trunk, using his attitude to express his discontent.

"What is going on!"

The Mist Ninja captain emerged from a tent, followed by four other Mist Ninja.

After hearing his subordinate's account, the captain looked at Jūzō Biwa:

"Are you planning to disobey orders?"

"I've been sick of your bullshit orders since we left the village! We haven't rested once. We're exhausted from the march, and you still make me take the night watch! It's noon now, and you haven't even arranged a shift change. If we get attacked, are you planning to abandon me so you can inherit the Kubikiribōchō? If I were going to disobey, I would have hacked you into piec—Enemy attack!"

Jūzō Biwa knew the captain had been targeting him the whole way and was preparing to have a showdown. Just as the words reached his lips, the situation changed abruptly, and the words he was about to shout turned into two.

But it was already too late.

The head of the Mist Ninja captain in front of him suddenly floated into mid-air, and Jūzō Biwa remained oblivious even after being splattered with blood.

At this moment, only one thought occupied his mind.

What a fast blade!

"Who's there!"

Just as this thought flashed through Jūzō Biwa's mind, three figures appeared before him.

Jūzō Biwa scanned the people around him and realized they had all been caught in a genjutsu.

A trap!

Since when!

One of them was still exclaiming, "Shiraha, your blade is actually faster than my Body Flicker Technique!"

The person speaking was none other than the squad leader, Uchiha Shisui.

The target of his remark was Uchiha Shiraha, who was in the middle of sheathing his blade.

Click.

As the blade slid into its scabbard, the head hit the ground.

An art form executed with a blade!

It left everyone present in shock.