Chapter 93: Combat Formations
Where they learn how to fight one-on-one against someone stronger, faster, and larger than themselves. Souta is paired against a student two heads taller than him.
Their hands touch, and in an instant, Souta's body is thrown to the sand. But Souta doesn't give up. Where Souta stands again. Every punch and body lock becomes sharper, faster. Beneath Souta's small frame, a determination grows.
This is learned to prepare the students for the possibility that after graduation, they will have to face ninjas much stronger, faster, and larger than themselves.
The instructors create challenging scenarios—thrown from a low height, fought by three opponents at once, or knocked down and told to get up within ten seconds. This isn't training for fair combat, but for survival.
More than a month passes quickly. Their muscles feel more solid. Small wounds adorned their arms and legs, but their faces—especially Souta's—became more determined, even as he stood still under the blazing sun.
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It was now the seventh month, and Souta had begun to learn how to read his opponent's movements in battle.
It wasn't about strength, but about attention. In the mornings, they were asked to observe the Jonin's fights and analyze their body language. In the afternoons, they were paired up in slow-paced sparring, emphasizing observation over aggression.
This was done to ease the fight and make it faster.
Souta was beginning to read his opponent's body language before a blow came. He learned from the way someone pulled their shoulders, or how their feet moved slightly back—every small gesture could be the beginning of an attack.
Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, over a month had passed.
Souta's reflexes had improved slightly, and his instincts had sharpened. Even as he walked down the village street, he began to see other people's movements with a different eye—as if everyone was preparing to fight.
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Then, in the middle of the eighth month, Souta learned about combat strategy and teamwork.
Now, the training wasn't just about body and technique, but also about mind and synergy. They were divided into small teams and given simulated missions with different conditions: rescuing a captive, surviving for a certain amount of time, or infiltrating enemy territory undetected.
Although in Souta's third year at the Ninja Academy, there had been a team lesson on Introduction to Basic Combat Formations, now they were learning about combat strategy and teamwork, and putting those strategies and teamwork into practice.
Long discussions took place in the evenings, as they sat in a circle with sand maps and wooden pawns in hand. Souta began to learn the characters of his teammates: the impulsive Makima, the analytical Pakura, and the new girl who was sometimes reckless but quite intelligent.
Souta, along with Pakura, Makima, and another girl, formed teams to complete the final exam of the training.
Their challenge was to infiltrate a stone fortress guarded by three instructors. They had to steal the scroll and return unseen. In the darkness of the desert night, they moved, whispered, and positioned themselves. When the mission was complete, sweat soaked through their clothes, but they burst out laughing as they realized they had succeeded.
More than a month passed.
Now, cooperation was no longer forced—they understood each other's strengths and weaknesses. Silently, they became a team.
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Now, entering the tenth month, Souta and the others began learning how to survive in the wilderness.
This time, the training was not conducted within the village, but outside the walls, in the desert that stretched to the horizon.
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Chapter 94: End of the Fourth Year
They were equipped with only a water bag and a kunai. No food, no tent. Just sand, rocks, and the sky.
This was necessary to increase their chances of survival while on missions.
They learned to dig in the sand for moisture, slice cacti for a sip of water, start fires by striking rocks together, and prepare food from the wild animals and desert plants they found.
Souta slowly grew accustomed to the silence of the desert night, which swallowed sound, and the cold, which dropped drastically after sunset. Souta slept on high alert—gripping his kunai tightly, with one eye half-open, as if expecting danger that could strike at any moment.
While this training seemed extremely harsh, it wasn't as cruel as it seemed. After all, they were still children. During the training, several teachers from the Ninja Academy would constantly monitor the entire area, ensuring everything was safe and under control.
Over a month passed.
They returned to the academy, thinner but with a lighter gait. No one complained; even the usually talkative students now simply smiled dryly. They had learned about the harshness of the world outside.
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It was now the middle of the eleventh month—the period that marked the end of Souta's fourth year at the Ninja Academy. This month, Souta and his friends underwent the most intense and decisive stage of their training: the Simulation Mission.
No longer just practicing basic techniques or dueling fellow students, they were now faced with a realistic test that demanded precision, teamwork, and complete control over their chakra and emotions.
Each group was given a scenario: a covert reconnaissance and rescue mission. Their goal was to secure a secret scroll, rescue a "hostage," and escape undetected by the "enemy."
Everything was designed to mimic a realistic situation. Hidden traps were set up throughout the mission area—from barely visible landmines to warning seals that would explode if touched carelessly.
Instructors disguised as enemy guards were willing to use psychological pressure, even physical attacks, to test their reflexes and courage.
Some of them acted as hostages, complete with expressions of fear so convincing, it seemed as if they were truly being forced to survive.
The training location was moved to a remote location, far from the hustle and bustle of the Academy, even from the main perimeter of Sunagakure Village. In a barren but strategically located area—protected by sand dunes and towering rocks—a replica of a small village was built, resembling a miniature version of Sunagakure.
The mud houses, wooden watchtowers, and narrow, winding streets created the illusion of a long-abandoned settlement. However, the place was guarded and closely watched by guards behind walls of sand.
The mock village was utterly silent, as if the spirits of the night still lurked behind its empty doors. The wind carried dust that eroded the walls of the buildings, and every footstep echoed like a small explosion through the deserted alleys. Everything felt strange and suspicious—exactly as it was designed: full of tension and uncertainty.
Each team was given a time limit to complete the mission. A large hourglass ticked in the center of the village, a reminder that in the real world, delay could mean death.
For Souta, this mission wasn't just training, but a life-and-death simulation—a test that tied all the lessons of the past four years into one brutal reality.
For over a full month, this training went on. Their days were filled with sweat, dust, and strategies that had to change at every moment. Frustration and failure were common. Some teams lost their "hostages," while others were detected before they could even touch the scrolls.
And finally, as the sun's shadows lengthened at the end of the month, Souta's fourth year at the Ninja Academy came to an end.
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