The first step was to quiet his mind.
He closed his eyes and began counting from one to nine, over and over.
This was to clear away distracting thoughts.
The second step was to light a candle in a dark room and stare at it.
He could not blink until his eyes watered. Then, when he closed them, an afterimage of the candle would appear in his mind.
It moved constantly and erratically, gradually shrinking after a few seconds until it vanished.
He had to work to hold it still until it evolved into a flame in his mental world.
Using mental energy as fuel, he would continually refine it, discarding the dross and preserving the essence.
The third step was to interfere with reality and light the candle.
For now, Aoki Tsuki could only extend the candle flame's afterimage from the original few seconds to more than ten.
The path was difficult and long.
The outward benefits were more effortless Chakra control, faster Ninjutsu, and a modest increase in power.
After training for two hours straight, he felt mentally exhausted, much as if he had stayed up all night.
Next came physical training. He had installed a pull-up bar in his room.
It was for training explosive strength.
As someone who specialized in Taijutsu, especially as a swordsman, basic strength was particularly important.
He did 1,500 pull-ups-500 each of wide-grip, narrow-grip, and reverse-grip-to train his arms and back, followed by 500 hanging L-leg raises to strengthen his waist and abs.
There were also leg exercises: squats, lunges, and squat jumps, to improve his lower-body stability and jumping ability.
Doing these exercises consistently over the years would yield excellent results. By the time he finished, his muscles were utterly exhausted.
Lastly came the mandatory training before bed: tempering his hair with Chakra.
He had to be able to control it at will, like Gaara's sand or Jiraiya's hair.
He could not put all his hopes in his hands. If they were injured, his hair would also be a weapon, and an unexpected one at that.
So far, Aoki Tsuki had only tempered about a hundred strands.
A person had more than 100,000 hairs. Who knew when he would ever finish?
Fine work took time, and he could not rush it. His cheat meant there was no taking the fast track.
Two hours later, he had finished five strands.
"Mm, one more than before, just as I thought. Choosing to focus on mental energy training really was the right move."
Aoki Tsuki believed that as his strength continued to grow, the speed would increase exponentially.
"That's enough for today. I have training tomorrow morning too. Time to sleep."
The night passed quickly.
Morning in Amegakure was still dark and gloomy.
Aoki Tsuki sat cross-legged on a wooden board on the roof, his hands forming the Kai seal.
This seal sharpened the five senses and enhanced perception and insight, making it ideal for sensing Natural Energy.
His brow furrowed from time to time, and his chest and abdomen rose and fell at a particular breathing rhythm.
A moment later, he let out a long breath.
"Phew... I still can't get used to it."
The breathing method was still in the exploratory stage. Shira's Seven Heavens Breathing Method activated the entire body by absorbing large amounts of oxygen, but he did not know the specifics.
He could only experiment on his own and find a Rain Breathing method suited to an environment like the Land of Rain.
The general approach was to let his thoughts rise and fall with his breathing, bringing mind and breath together to enter a state of tranquility.
However, the suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe freely left him restless. Fortunately, the chill of the rain soon soothed his inner agitation.
This natural environment provided an excellent medium for sensing it.
That was also one reason Aoki Tsuki had decided to specialize in Water Release first, despite possessing both lightning and water attributes.
Natural Energy was everywhere, and rainwater contained "energy" too. Increasing his sensitivity to water would help him master Senjutsu sooner.
An hour later, Aoki Tsuki ended his training for the day and silently checked it off in his mind.
Perception +1
Perhaps he would become a sensory ninja before he mastered Senjutsu.
Come to think of it, everyone who had mastered Sage Mode was an expert in sensory abilities.
He did not dare stay in the rain too long either. Ninja might be physically robust, but they could still get sick.
He took a quick bath. By then, his mother Eiko had finished cooking porridge and bought a few steamed buns from Grandma Chiki's bun shop next door.
That was how breakfast was usually prepared in their family.
Mother and son hurried through breakfast and started their day's work. On days when he had no missions, Aoki Tsuki helped his mother wrap gifts and make greeting cards.
The gifts included tea sets, nail clippers, drinking cups, decorations, and so on.
The highlight was the packaging, the core of their business. Otherwise, how would they be any different from a two-yuan store?
Aoki Tsuki never offered suggestions blindly, for fear of driving the business under.
The shop was his mother Eiko's life's work.
The only change he had brought to the shop was using his advantages as a ninja to make some wooden figurines.
He could easily execute many difficult, intricate techniques.
The figurines he carved were lively and entertaining, featuring characters like Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man, and Hulk.
They were aimed at children and teenagers.
To make them more appealing, he also wrote a story for each figurine and bundled it with the figure, so customers would feel they were getting their money's worth when they bought one.
There were not many gift shops in Amegakure, and their Hardware Hall was among the most distinctive.
When people thought of giving gifts, Hardware Hall near Shibuki Bridge was the first place that came to mind.
Three days passed quickly.
A sudden summons came from the village. When Aoki Tsuki arrived, he found the hall packed with people, both Chunin and Genin.
"Captain." Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi gathered around him.
Aoki Tsuki noticed that Shinichi now had two umbrellas on his back instead of one.
"Mm, you're here early. Do you know what this is about?"
Summoning so many people at once meant a major operation was coming. Either they were going to wipe out rebel forces or go to war.
"I heard there's been some unrest in the Land of Wind lately. Things aren't peaceful at the border, so they're stepping up patrols."
Mieko shared what she knew, her brow deeply furrowed.
During the Second Shinobi World War, the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain had been enemies. Though they had signed a ceasefire agreement, relations between them could hardly be called good.
"What? The Land of Wind!"
The news immediately brought to Aoki Tsuki's mind the major incident of the Third Kazekage's disappearance, which had also been the spark that ignited the Third Shinobi World War.
He immediately grew tense as well.
Sure enough, in Amegakure, only Hanzō's guards were the safest. That strengthened his resolve to take the civil service exam.
"What's wrong?!" Minako asked, puzzled, thinking Aoki Tsuki knew something.
He merely shook his head and said softly, "A storm is coming. Get ready to fight."
Ryōta and Shinichi exchanged glances, suddenly uneasy. They had only completed one mission, and now they were going to the battlefield?
Soon, a group came to stand before everyone. The man at their head was none other than the Jonin Takenaka Osamu, who swept his gaze over those present.
The atmosphere instantly turned serious.
"Something major has happened in the Shinobi World recently. Sunagakure's Third Kazekage has vanished, and the Land of Wind has fallen into internal strife."
When a ninja went missing, it was as good as death.
All the more so for someone as important as the Kazekage, who had many matters to deal with every day. As long as he was alive, there was no way he would fail to contact the village.
"I can't believe even someone like the Kazekage could be killed."
"Who could kill the Third Kazekage? He was known as the strongest Kazekage."
Everyone began discussing it among themselves.
Once they had digested the news, Takenaka Osamu raised a hand for silence.
"Why the Third Kazekage disappeared isn't important to us. The Land of Wind is now embroiled in internal strife, and friction with the surrounding countries is intense.
"Our country must also prepare, strengthening border patrols while guarding against illegal armed forces within our borders taking the opportunity to stir up trouble."
Takenaka Osamu explained why he had summoned everyone.
They were to prevent an invasion by an enemy nation and step up the campaign against rebel forces within their own borders.
The armed rebellion at home had been going on for a long time, and there was simply no dealing with it. This was just going through the motions.
Border patrol was another matter. At such a dangerous time, they were highly likely to encounter Sunagakure ninja.
Wind Release and puppets were a headache for anyone who faced them. No one liked fighting Sunagakure ninja.
Especially since most of those present were weaklings.
Just then, a ponytailed Jonin standing beside Takenaka Osamu stepped forward and said:
"I am Satō Ichirō. Following Lord Hanzō's will, I am in charge of this border patrol. Those whose names I call, stand on the left."
"Oguri Ishi, Nogi Masaru, Kurokawa, Umatsu, Aoki Tsuki, Sōfū..."
Every member of Aoki Tsuki's team was selected.
"Ugh, I knew it. Good things never come my way, and there's no escaping the bad," Mieko complained.
She then looked at Aoki Tsuki and the others with resentment written all over her face. "It's all your fault, going to his wife's shop and staring at her for no reason."
"Don't talk nonsense. I just like eating grilled fish, that's all," Aoki Tsuki firmly denied.
Ryōta and Shinichi protested that they had been wrongly accused. They had only been there once.
Satō Ichirō was the husband of the woman who owned the Silver Fish Pavilion, as well as the captain of Hanzō's guard squad. He was formidable.
Because he wore a gas mask, his face could not be seen clearly.
A poison sac had been implanted in Hanzō's body, so even his breath gave off poison. As a result, he had to wear a mask, and even his guards had to wear them.
It made them look like faceless extras.
But in Amegakure, being allowed to wear a mask meant one was able to approach the leader.
The thing protected against poison, so there was no need to fear puppets. It also allowed the wearer to dive and fight underwater.
"Each team, go back and prepare. Assemble at the village entrance at eight tomorrow morning. Anyone who is late will be treated as a deserter."
Satō Ichirō gave the order coldly, then used the Body Flicker Technique and left.
Everyone looked enviously at the people on the other side, who had been assigned to clear out the rebel forces within the country. Feeling bitter, they dispersed in twos and threes with heavy hearts.
Aoki Tsuki turned to the three members of his team and said:
"Mieko, prepare some hemostatic bandages, medicine, and antidotes. We'll split the cost. As for the rest, use your judgment. I'm heading back first."
"Understood."
They had received payment for their last mission yesterday, and part of it had been given to Mieko to manage as the team's common funds precisely for times like this.
After giving those instructions, Aoki Tsuki turned and headed home.
At present, he relied on Taijutsu in combat, so there was not much to prepare, and not much could change in such a short time.
His defensive Ninjutsu, Water Formation Wall, was still a little short of completion. He could keep grinding away at it during the patrol.
At dinner that evening, he told his mother about the border patrol, and she naturally became worried.
But there was nothing to be done about it. From the day he had decided to become a ninja, he had needed to be ready to face all kinds of situations.