That day, Takuma moved all the shallow trays to the training ground.
The wind was stronger than in the backyard, making the ash layer difficult to spread evenly. Kiyo crouched on the ground, pinched a small amount of ash between his fingers, and scattered it once, only for the wind to blow it crooked. On the third try, he finally looked up. "Sensei, the wind is cheating."
Takuma set down another tray. "The wind on a battlefield won't stop just because you complain."
"Then can I apply to change battlefields?"
Morita Yu passed by them. "You can apply to become a rock. The wind won't move you."
"Rocks can't form hand seals."
"You're not doing much better right now."
Che set his tray at the edge of the training ground. The ash fell onto the water, and a few grains sank straight down, leaving tiny circles on the surface. Looking at those circles, he thought of the names that might be written on the list. Names were like that too. Once they fell into a registry, there might not be any immediate disturbance, but they would leave a place beneath the water.
Takuya did not write a topic on the blackboard. He merely had them finish their Fire Line training in the wind first, then leave a short reflection in the corner of a sheet of paper.
"Today, I'm not looking at who does it prettiest," he said. "I'm looking at who knows where their line is when the wind comes."
Once training began, everyone was more disheveled than they had been in the backyard. When the wind blew, the ash layer scattered on its own. The students could easily mistake cracks caused by the wind for their own errors, and they could just as easily blame the wind for