Basic Sword Art

Two days passed without anyone coming to find the Brown Bear Squad Commander—not even the Uzumaki ninja showed up at the seaside.

During the boredom, Yagami took the chance to ask some questions that had been nagging at him. As long as they didn't touch on Konoha's secrets, the Brown Bear Squad Commander was still willing to answer.

"Squad Commander, the Uzumaki Clan is known for their Sealing Jutsu, right? Why don't they seal up their supplies and carry them away as scrolls?"

The Brown Bear thought back to the abysmal teaching at the Ninja Academy and realized Fox knew nothing, so he said: "You're talking about the Object Sealing Mark, a sealing technique that stores items away. The Object Sealing Mark requires Chakra to be injected into the sealed object. Once the Chakra inside the sealed item naturally dissipates completely, the seal will break and destroy itself. In other words, sealing supplies requires a lot of manpower to prepare and maintain the Sealing Scrolls. Unless absolutely necessary, no ninja maintains an Object Sealing Mark for long periods. The Uzumaki ninja we encountered could be killed any day—they don't have the energy to keep up the Object Sealing Mark, so their supplies are piled up in the warehouse."

Yagami nodded repeatedly. So that was it. The Object Sealing Mark required continuous Chakra injection and constant upkeep from the sealing ninja. That explained the Battle of Kannabi Bridge in the original story. Minato Namikaze's squad blew up Kannabi Bridge, and the Stone Ninja couldn't transport large amounts of supplies to the front lines, forcing them to retreat. If the Object Sealing Mark had no cost, all supplies would be sealed into a single scroll, and there'd be no supply line at all.

In the blink of an eye, over ten days passed, and a new month began. Yagami stared at the Brown Bear Squad Commander's back, restless. Maybe this month he'd die on the Brown Bear Squad Commander—at least the commander was an Elite Chunin, so he could draw something good.

Other squads occasionally reported to the Brown Bear Squad Commander. These squads were also suffering heavy losses. By now, out of the four squads in the company, Fox had taken over Captain Antelope's position. The Azure Wolf Squad was wiped out, effectively losing one squad. Of the remaining two squads, one had two members, and the other had three. In the three-man squad, the squad leader flat-out refused to give Fox a single member. Fewer people meant less combat power. These squads were something else—Yagami had gotten them Soldier Pills, and they didn't even say thank you.

"Fox! I've got a mission for you." After hearing reports from two squad leaders in a row, the commander gave Yagami an order: "Capture a live one—a Cloud Ninja Squad Leader. I need to interrogate him for intel. It's normal to have Mist Ninja around here; Kirigakure has always had its eye on the mission shares in the Land of Waves. But there are too many Cloud Ninja. I don't know what they're plotting."

"Capture a live one? A Cloud Ninja Squad Leader?" Yagami swallowed hard. "Alright, I understand." The good news was that he'd performed well on the last mission, and the commander trusted him. The bad news was that he'd performed too well on the last mission, and the commander trusted him too much.

After leaving the seaside, Yagami's mouth tasted bitter. Capturing alive was far harder than killing. Especially ninja—every single one was a battle-crazed maniac who didn't care about dying. How could you possibly take them alive? Yagami touched the short sword strapped to his back. Cloud Ninja were all strong with blade techniques, but he didn't know any—he only used the short sword like a long Kunai.

After getting intel on the Cloud Ninja from the other squad leaders, Yagami set out alone. Arriving at the area where the Cloud Ninja operated, he picked a road leading into town, set up an Exploding Tag trap, and hid. Like Konoha Ninja, the Cloud Ninja had come from afar. Once their Soldier Pills ran out, they'd need to go to a town or fishing village to replenish food. Waiting outside the town made it easier to catch the enemy. He lay patiently in the bushes. Soldier Pills were small, required little eating, and produced little waste. As long as he endured the hollow ache in his stomach, he could stay motionless for a day or two.

Until one early morning, just as the Morning Star rose. Three figures moved swiftly, racing toward the small town. At some moment, an explosion suddenly erupted beneath their feet.

Boom!

The three dark figures were blasted in three directions. Yagami leaped up and threw Kunai in three directions. Two Kunai struck their targets, confirming the enemies were injured or killed by the Exploding Tags. One enemy dodged the Kunai and charged at Yagami.

Yagami saw the forehead protector—a Cloud Ninja forehead protector.

Lucky break, running into a Cloud Ninja squad. Judging by this ninja's strength, he should be the squad leader.

Yagami held his Kunai reversed, closing in for close-quarters combat, ready to find an opening to use the Sealing Jutsu: Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal.

The Cloud Ninja squad leader's swordsmanship was extremely refined. A single sidestep made Yagami lose track of his target.

As he sidestepped, he combined it with a horizontal slash of his ninja sword, nearly cutting open Yagami's flank.

The two exchanged blows, Kunai clashing against ninja sword.

Yagami struggled. The Cloud Ninja's footwork, paired with his swordsmanship, made it impossible for Yagami to pin him down.

In an instant, the Cloud Ninja squad leader suddenly ducked, dodging Yagami's Kunai.

By the time Yagami tried to evade, it was too late.

The ninja sword had already pierced through Yagami's abdomen.

At first, there was no feeling at the wound. Then it burned. Then came searing pain.

The Cloud Ninja squad leader was about to pull out his blade when he suddenly spotted an Exploding Tag!

Boom!

After the explosion, both Yagami and the squad leader were killed.

The Cloud Ninja squad leader's last thought: Is this guy insane? Is he sick? Blowing himself up with an Exploding Tag for mutual destruction?

Could it be that some enemy from the village tracked him here, just because he'd cuckolded him?

--

His vision went black, then shifted.

Yagami appeared on the previous full moon, before he had even met the Brown Bear Squad Commander.

[Arc of the Crescent Moon activated!

The host has one resurrection chance per month, reviving on the previous full-moon night after death.

Awarded one draw opportunity:

1—Lightning Release Chakra;

2—Muscle Healing Technique;

3—Swordsmanship (Beginner).]

Lightning Release Chakra—not really needed.

Muscle Healing Technique—didn't expect the Cloud Ninja squad leader to know a Medical Ninjutsu.

Medical Ninjutsu was out of the question. Compared to healing himself, killing the enemy as fast as possible was more critical.

Yagami focused on the third option: Swordsmanship.

To dodge an enemy's ninja sword, he needed to be better at swordsmanship than the enemy.

Yagami didn't understand the angles, speed, or power of the ninja sword, which put him at a constant disadvantage in taijutsu combat.

Without hesitation, Yagami chose the third option: Swordsmanship (Beginner).

Beginner-level swordsmanship included two major parts.

First, basic techniques: slash, chop, thrust, flick, sweep, block, lift, hook, wipe, and parry.

Second, basic footwork, used to coordinate with various sword techniques and find the most efficient way to apply force.

It wasn't just knowledge. Yagami instantly gained a wealth of muscle memory, allowing him to naturally execute these sword techniques.

Drawing his ninja sword, Yagami practiced the techniques over and over until every swing came smoothly.

With swordsmanship mastered, he was no longer passive when facing the Cloud Ninja.

No wonder the Cloud Ninja squad leader's swordsmanship was so strong—turns out proper swordsmanship made the blade both faster and more angled.

As for the source of the swordsmanship, it was easy to explain.

He had gradually mimicked and figured out the techniques during his fight with the Cloud Ninja.

Having strong comprehension skills couldn't be wrong, could it?