Chapter 64: Training at the Border
Ishiro wasn't solely concerned about Dango just because it belonged to his teammate Shironeko. His primary motivation was to observe how other beings interacted with natural energy.
Despite having lived within the natural energy barrier for a while now, Ishiro had limited affinity for absorbing nature energy himself. Observing fellow shinobi would be seen as invasive, but watching Dango would pose no such issue.
Ishiro suspected animals might absorb natural energy better than humans due to their simpler, more instinctive nature. He eagerly anticipated Dango's results, hoping they could inspire his own training.
Unfortunately, the Anbu's busy schedule left Ishiro with little time to remain at home. Since joining the Anbu, he'd spent far less time inside the natural energy barrier than he had during his earlier experiments.
That evening, Dango was brought to Ishiro's home by Shironeko, who was filled with hopeful anticipation.
Dango was intelligent enough to grasp the potential benefits of natural energy, having listened carefully to Shironeko's explanation. Far from resisting, the cat was actually quite excited.
Neither Ishiro nor Dango slept well that night. The curious cat prowled around the room, sniffing, exploring, hoping to detect some difference within the natural energy barrier. But Dango's level was too low—it discovered nothing.
Dango was essentially a wild ninja beast. Lacking formal training, its strength barely reached the level of a Chunin, and even then, it was a severely unbalanced Chunin. It excelled at speed—faster even than Ishiro—but lagged significantly in other areas. On missions, Dango primarily served as a scout or for surprise attacks.
That night, Ishiro remained awake even longer than Dango, repeatedly casting sensory ninjutsu from his bed, but ultimately gained nothing from his observation.
A few days passed without noticeable changes in Dango. Both Shironeko and Koseki were disappointed, but Ishiro comforted them, reminding them that if natural energy absorption were easy, the ninja world would be overflowing with Sage-level shinobi.
After a brief rest, Team 18 departed again for border patrol. Unlike their previous deployment, this visit proved uneventful. Upon reaching the border outpost once more, they found Miyake's subordinates had already been cured of the poison.
Clearly, the village's intelligence division had successfully extracted information from Sasori. Ishiro wondered if they'd also obtained insights about the Sand's puppet techniques. Such information could significantly enhance Iwagakure's future advantage against Sunagakure.
Relations among the five major ninja nations were complex. Primarily, the four nations often opposed Konoha due to its central strength, as demonstrated during the past Ninja World Wars. Yet these four nations also had numerous internal conflicts—after all, even distant Wind and Water countries had previously clashed. Earth and Wind countries, separated only by minor buffer states, were practically neighbors, embroiled in constant friction and rivalry.
This intricate situation was often aggravated by hidden provocations, especially from Konoha's Root division under Danzo, experts in stirring discord among rival nations.
Once Sasori's capture and subsequent exchange became known, Danzo wasted no time taking advantage of the situation. Despite the recent Uzushiogakure incident, Danzo found great pleasure in causing trouble for Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Utilizing his status as Hokage's aide, Danzo convened a meeting, spinning the intelligence to favor his interests and pressing Hiruzen to dispatch Anbu to sabotage the exchange between Iwa and Suna.
Hiruzen, deeply annoyed, thought to himself: Last time you tricked me badly; are you becoming addicted to this?
Taking a slow drag on his pipe, Hiruzen calmly asked, "Last time, the Anbu relied on Root's intelligence to support Uzushiogakure, resulting in heavy casualties. Danzo, can you guarantee your information this time?"
This warning implied clearly: if Danzo tried another vague setup, Hiruzen wouldn't overlook it again.
Danzo narrowed his single visible eye, fully understanding Hiruzen's message. But this time, his intention wasn't to trick Anbu into danger. "This time, Root operatives will accompany the Anbu," Danzo announced firmly. His real aim was not merely to disrupt the exchange but to seize Sasori. Konoha, as Sand's primary rival, desperately needed puppet master intelligence, and whoever controlled this knowledge would have enormous influence in the next conflict.
Understanding Danzo's plan instantly, Hiruzen considered it calmly. If Danzo succeeded in capturing Sasori, Konoha would undoubtedly benefit, and Hiruzen could use moral authority later to pressure Danzo into handing Sasori over.
Soon afterward, Konoha dispatched ten Anbu squads and five Root squads to the Bear Country border area between Earth and Wind nations. Intelligence indicated the exchange between Iwagakure and Sunagakure would occur in about ten days, leaving little time to spare.
Leading this operation was Hatake Sakumo, known as Konoha's White Fang. Although Sakumo's reputation had suffered following the failed Uzushiogakure mission—largely due to Danzo's scheming—he'd since regained favor by successfully completing several challenging Anbu assignments.
Danzo originally proposed Orochimaru to lead the mission, given Orochimaru's proven strength and loyalty to Danzo. However, Hiruzen vetoed Orochimaru's involvement due to these very connections, instead placing White Fang at the head of this critical mission.
Meanwhile, Ishiro was unaware of Konoha's inner turmoil. At the border, he continued training as usual. He had prepared a set of swordsmanship training equipment near the border outpost, transported via storage scrolls from the village. This included special training dummies indicating vital organs, durable wooden poles, and various wooden and stone training blades.
Aside from their regular patrols, Team 18 spent most of their time training at this improvised facility. Ishiro maintained a disciplined routine: morning physical conditioning adjusted to emphasize swordsmanship basics, reducing overall body weights while increasing arm and wrist weights. He even wore specially designed weighted gloves for extra protection and strengthening.
After morning exercises, he'd join Team 18 for half-day patrols. During their midday rest at a nearby water source, Ishiro focused on developing his Water Pressure Line Technique.
In the afternoons, the team conducted another patrol. In the evenings, Ishiro practiced other ninjutsu.
Development of the Water Pressure Line Technique was exhausting and had recently stalled. Yet Ishiro progressed quickly in other skills. His proficiency with Earth Clone Technique improved rapidly. His clones could now perform simple Earth techniques like Earth Wall and Earth Spike, though other attributes remained inaccessible. It was only then Ishiro realized how limited elemental clones truly were compared to Shadow Clones, which could employ various attributes.
However, Earth Clones had their advantages: incredible durability and more reasonable chakra consumption. Ishiro's increased chakra capacity now made Earth Clones more cost-effective for him than Shadow Clones.
In addition to individual training, Team 18 conducted sparring sessions, including Ishiro facing off against Shironeko, Koseki, and even Captain Shiden, to hone his close-combat abilities.
His melee skills were still weak, limited to Huangtu's basic taijutsu and a C-rank sword technique he'd barely mastered. Initially effective, these basic techniques quickly became predictable, and Ishiro was repeatedly defeated.
However, after several weeks of intense training, his reflexes and technique gradually improved. He could now hold his own briefly even when his teammates stopped holding back.
This visible progress motivated Ishiro further, encouraging him to extend his sword training sessions. Meanwhile, he'd also become highly proficient in techniques like Binding Illusion, Shunshin, Earth Clone, and sensory ninjutsu, and had begun working on Earth Concealment and Anti-sensory ninjutsu. More basic techniques, such as Earth Spike, Earth Wall, and Transformation Jutsu, had already reached their current limits, freeing up his training schedule significantly.
Thus, Ishiro's time at the border became an invaluable period of growth, preparing him for future challenges he couldn't yet foresee.
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