The weekend sunlight was warm and gentle.
As promised, Ling arrived at the Yamanaka Flower Shop right on time. Before he even stepped inside, a rich but unobtrusive floral fragrance mingled with the fresh scent of greenery washed over him, lifting his spirits.
"Ling! Over here!" Ino was already waiting at the entrance and waved excitedly the moment she saw him. She wore a pale yellow dress that day, her golden ponytail neatly arranged. Her blue eyes curved into crescents, making her look especially lively and radiant.
Ino's mother was a gentle woman. At the sight of Ling, she smiled and nodded in greeting. "Welcome, Ling. Ino has been talking about you all morning."
"Sorry for the trouble," Ling replied politely, his gaze sweeping quickly across the shop. Flowers of every kind competed in beauty, but on a display shelf in the corner, he spotted several bundles of unusually colored dried herbs and incense products that gave off faint chakra fluctuations.
"This is it!" Ino pulled him over to the corner as though showing off a treasure and picked up a small bundle of pale purple dried herbs. "Mind-Calming Grass. They say its fragrance helps calm your mind when you burn it, and it's a little bit helpful for molding chakra, too! And this..." She pointed to the milky-white incense blocks beside it. "Tranquility Incense. Burn a little at bedtime, and you'll sleep better!"
Ling carefully sensed the energy fluctuations of these plants. They did have an effect, but it was extremely weak. With Tobirama's guidance and his own "Pure Water" constitution, the benefits were almost negligible. For ordinary Genin or even Chunin, however, they made decent aids.
[Hmph. Crude processing methods. They've wasted a third of the medicinal potency.] Tobirama was as sharp-tongued as ever. [Still, this is a good opportunity to buy some basic medicinal ingredients openly. I can teach you how to purify them and prepare stronger incense to support the Ice-Breath Concealment Technique and deep meditation.]
That was precisely why Ling had come.
He feigned keen interest and carefully selected several different aromatic herbs and basic medicinal ingredients. The quantities were small, fitting what a curious student might buy to experiment with.
"You're interested in incense too, Ling?" Ino's eyes brightened further, as though she had found a kindred spirit. She launched into an enthusiastic explanation of the properties and effects of various flowers and herbs. Clearly, growing up around them had taught her quite a lot.
Ling listened quietly, occasionally nodding or asking one or two questions that seemed basic but were perfectly timed, encouraging Ino to talk even more.
When it came time to pay, Ino's mother gave him a generous discount.
"Come visit us again, Ling," Ino's mother said with a gentle smile.
"Thank you, ma'am." Ling accepted the wrapped medicinal ingredients.
Ino walked him to the door, her face lit with a happy smile. "I'll let you know when we get new stock!"
"All right." Ling nodded.
After putting some distance between himself and the flower shop, Ling turned onto a relatively quiet street. His placid expression vanished at once, and his gaze grew cold.
[Still following you.] Tobirama's voice rang out.
Ever since he had left the flower shop, that familiar, chilling gaze had followed him like a shadow. His watcher seemed certain that Ling would not dare make a move within the village, especially just after coming into contact with the Yamanaka Clan, and had grown somewhat bolder in his pursuit.
Ling kept walking at the same pace, as though he had noticed nothing. His right hand hung casually at his side, but his fingertips gave an almost imperceptible twitch.
A highly condensed drop of "Pure Water," nearly invisible to the naked eye, silently seeped from his fingertip and hovered in the air. The instant it began to fall, a trace of exceedingly faint wind-nature chakra enveloped it, accelerating it!
Whoosh!
The faintest whisper of something slicing through the air!
As though fired from an invisible crossbow, the water droplet skimmed past the cheek of the Root ninja hiding in the shadow of a distant roof behind him with unerring precision!
Hiss!
With a faint sound, a tiny hole as narrow as a needle prick and too deep to see the bottom appeared in the wall beside the Root ninja's face! Its edges were perfectly smooth, without a single crack, revealing terrifying penetration and control!
The instant the droplet finished piercing the wall, it vaporized completely, leaving no trace behind.
The distant Root ninja went rigid, every muscle in his body tensing as cold sweat instantly soaked his back! He had not even seen where the attack came from. All he felt was a chill beside his cheek, followed by the faint sound of the wall being pierced!
That speed! That precision! That control over power! It was far beyond the level of a Chunin! Worse still, he hadn't sensed any chakra fluctuations from his target at all!
This was a warning! A silent but deadly warning! Its meaning was clear: I know where you are. I can hit you easily. Next time, I won't be aiming at the wall!
The Root ninja's heart pounded wildly. Not daring to linger another moment, he darted into the shadows like a startled rabbit and fled in panic, lacking even the courage to look back.
Ling never broke stride. As though he had merely flicked away a speck of dust, he continued toward the Hatake Clan's home at an unhurried pace.
[Fairly cleanly handled,] Tobirama commented. [That should keep them quiet for a while.]
Ling's gaze was icy. He did not want trouble, but that hardly meant he would tolerate endless spying. A measured show of force was a necessary rule of survival.
When he returned to the Hatake Residence, Kakashi was actually home for once, lying on the veranda with a novel.
"You're back?" He did not even lift his eyes.
"Mm." Ling took the medicinal ingredients back to his room.
"That little girl from the Yamanaka Clan... she's quite lively." Kakashi suddenly offered the remark without any lead-in, his tone betraying no emotion.
Ling paused briefly, then replied evenly, "Mm."
Kakashi said nothing more, as though it had merely been an idle remark.
Ling knew Kakashi must have been aware of his visit to the flower shop that day. Had this perceptive Jonin perhaps also noticed... that brief confrontation in the street?
He put the thought aside, took out the ingredients he had bought, and began trying some simple purification and preparation under Tobirama's guidance.
That night, Ling lit the Tranquility Incense he had made himself, its effects enhanced severalfold. A delicate fragrance with a hint of coolness spread through the room, gradually easing the slight tension left in his mind by the day's confrontation. Even the Ice-Breath Concealment Technique seemed to flow a little more smoothly.
He gazed at the bright moonlight outside the window, unconsciously rubbing the tiny grain of chakra metal in his hand.
Ino's smile, Root's threat, Kakashi's hidden meaning, the Third's attention... everything was intertwined.
The road ahead seemed to be growing ever more complicated.
But one thing remained unchanged: his determination to keep growing stronger.
Incense curled through the air, but the boy's heart surged without cease, like a hidden current beneath the ice.
Before you continue