The energy known as chakra flowed within him. At first, Haseo had to carefully sense and guide the chakra along the preset paths, but after a few hours, it became as natural as blood flowing through his veins.
Yet even with only this basic control over chakra, Haseo could already feel changes within himself... It wasn't just enhanced senses or stronger limbs; the abundant energy had activated every single one of his cells, making him feel as if he had entered an entirely new tier of life.
Indeed, there existed a profound divide between those who could wield chakra and ordinary humans, which was why Haseo, having just crossed from one side to another, felt such an obvious transformation.
From Konoha all the way to the border of the Land of Fire—this was something the previous version of Haseo could never have accomplished, but for him now, it barely met the standard. Although aside from the initial rest they had taken earlier, the group rested once more during their journey, by the time nightfall arrived and they prepared to set up camp, he was completely drained. Yet in the end, he hadn't fallen behind… though this was because everyone had considered his speed, after all, they were on the same team now.
Even without factoring in Haseo, they still needed to take into account Sansho's pace and physical condition.
During the second break, Sansho taught him how to form the twelve basic [hand seals], the fundamental techniques used by ninja, and while traveling with the group, he firmly memorized them—fortunately, when faced with such precious knowledge, Haseo's memory became exceptionally incredible.
As night fell, a bonfire was lit at the ninja squad's temporary campsite. Although they were already near the border of the Land of Fire, strictly speaking, they were still within its territory—the Land of Fire itself—meaning this area remained under Konoha's actual control. Before them, hidden deep within the darkness of night, lay a defensive line formed by countless Konoha ninjas.
It was precisely because of their presence that war would absolutely never reach this side of the defensive line.
Therefore, the bonfire burning at night wasn't due to negligence on Sansho's party, but rather, the flickering flames symbolized the trust placed in the Konoha ninjas' unwavering commitment. Even further than that, should any enemies somehow manage to penetrate this far, they'd soon discover what kind of ninja stood within this very squad.
Kagami Uchiha and Homura Mitokado—aside from the former bearing the name of the Uchiha clan, merely having trained under The Second Hokage was enough to show that these two were certainly not ordinary ninja.
"Tonight, we'll take turns keeping watch," Homura Mitokado said to Kagami Uchiha. "Sansho-sama is already quite exhausted. As for the young ones… it seems we can't place too much trust in them."
To be precise, one's far too young, and the other, though older, can't hold a candle to us.
Kagami Uchiha shook his head. If it weren't for Sansho's insistence, they definitely wouldn't have brought Haseo on this mission. Although... he couldn't really blame her for that decision.
Looking at Haseo lying motionless on the ground, Kagami's memories suddenly flashed back more than ten years ago, to when he first followed the Second Hokage. He had been about the same age as Haseo back then.
Seeing Kagami lost in thought, Homura Mitokado didn't say much and simply went aside to take watch duty for the night. Even though they trained under the same master, they barely spoke throughout their journey — actually, they practically never did. This wasn't due to any bad blood between them, but rather a case of "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." How could someone trained by Tobirama Senju, who was gloomy and scheming by nature, turn out to be a chatty person?
Every single one of Tobirama Senju's disciples was serious and humorless. Eventually, except for The Third Hokage (the only one among them who needed to maintain basic social skills), all others became completely emotionless statues.
...
As night deepened, the campfire was reduced to just scattered sparks nearly burned out, when Haseo finally woke up from his sleep — or rather, he was woken up by hunger.
That's when he realized — he hadn't even touched a crumb since breakfast.
He sat upright first, then pulled a small bottle from his ninja tools pouch. From the bottle, he poured out a large pill about the size of a big booger and put it into his mouth... this was the so-called Military Rations Pill, an ultra-compressed ninja biscuit essential for missions, combat, and survival in the wild.
As the pill slid down his throat, a sudden wave of fullness hit his stomach right away. Compared to regular army rations, this felt more like a stimulant.
Just as he was secretly snacking after waking up, Homura Mitokado, who was on night watch, abruptly stood up.
"Sansho-sama, there's movement."
Sansho, leaning against a big tree and dozing off, snapped her eyes open the moment she heard him. Seeing three shinobi in the team already on high alert, she didn't waste time with questions. "How many?"
Homura glanced at Kagami Uchiha, who opened his crimson eyes and answered, "Only one group."
"And their numbers?" Sansho remained expressionless as usual. First, she looked toward the darkness in the distance, then turned to glance at Haseo sitting there looking utterly confused. Then she waved a hand toward him.
"Haseo, I'll keep it short. You just heard what happened — someone is approaching our camp, and based on our judgment, they're most likely enemies. So get ready for battle. Listen well. I'm going to teach you a ninjutsu technique. You've already learned the chakra manipulation method for this technique — it's exactly what I explained earlier. All you need to do now is form hand seals to guide and condense your chakra into actual jutsu. The correct sequence of hand seals is 'Chū (U) - Shin (S) - U (M) - Shi (I) - Gai (H) - Tori (C)'. The key points are: channel your chakra as you start forming the hand seals, and release the built-up energy the moment you finish. Got it?"
"Wait, Lady Sansho," Kagami Uchiha initially didn't understand what Sansho was planning to do, until he heard her mention the hand seals. Then he couldn't help but step in. "What you're teaching is an advanced elemental technique. It's far too advanced for him—he's simply not ready for it..."
But Sansho raised her hand to stop him mid-sentence. Haseo had already become familiar with the chakra circulation required for this technique. Now she'd given him the hand seals too. All that remained was whether he could channel sufficient water-natured chakra during execution. Then she turned back to Haseo and asked, "Did you understand clearly?"
"I understood and memorized the sequence of hand seals," Haseo replied. "But... was that really all there was to explain about the technique itself?"
After all, he hadn't even learned the most basic *ninjutsu* yet. He understood the concept of chakra nature transformation, but from the way Uchiha had spoken just now, it seemed like Sansho intended for him to perform an advanced elemental technique... Wasn't it like asking someone who had just mastered arithmetic to solve a calculus problem?
"It's not as difficult as you think. Have some confidence in yourself. Didn't you beat a real ninja before, when you knew absolutely nothing?" Sansho encouraged him. Supporting herself against the tree trunk, she stood upright, then gave Haseo a push on his back.
Caught off guard by the sudden shove, Haseo stumbled forward a few steps and ended up standing right at the front—as if declaring to the approaching enemies that he was the team's main fighter.
P.S.
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