Chapter 65: Preparations
That evening, Shironeko was sparring with Shiden, primarily working on her evasion techniques. Shironeko's fighting style closely resembled Shiden's, so they trained together frequently, and thus, Shironeko had improved significantly—Dango had improved alongside her.
In contrast, Koseki, though also a taijutsu-oriented ninja like Shironeko and Shiden, specialized in strength-based combat. His sword techniques were aggressive, emphasizing raw power over subtlety. Like Ishiro, Koseki had to rely mostly on personal insight for improvement and was currently practicing strikes against a training dummy.
Meanwhile, Ishiro held a wooden spear, practicing against a training puppet. He rapidly thrust the spear forward more than a dozen times, but after the first seven or eight precise strikes, the subsequent thrusts began to veer slightly off target.
"Haah..." Ishiro exhaled deeply. He'd discovered this training method to be an excellent measure of his progress in swordsmanship—akin to the Uchiha clan's shuriken practice methods in the original story, clearly indicating his improvements.
According to Shiden's standards, Ishiro needed to be able to land over thirty consecutive strikes accurately in rapid succession.
When Ishiro had first started training, his precision was abysmal. He could barely land one strike accurately out of five attempts, and even completing five strikes was difficult due to insufficient strength and improper technique.
After more than ten days of rigorous practice, Ishiro could now manage about ten consecutive strikes, a clear sign of improved strength, endurance, and mastery of the technique. Landing seven or eight of those strikes accurately demonstrated considerable growth in control and reaction speed.
After massaging his sore muscles and taking a few deep breaths, Ishiro began practicing again, achieving similar results to before.
"Hmm…" He sighed. Clearly, he was expecting too much too soon. With his weak foundational skills, rapid progress was impossible. Improvement required steady, continuous effort, just as his physical training had gradually allowed him to narrow the gap between himself and more naturally gifted peers.
Accepting this reality, Ishiro dismissed other thoughts and resumed his basic sword training. Stroke after stroke, he swung his sword, repeating the specialized muscle movements thousands of times each day, gradually internalizing them through muscle memory.
After completing his sword-swinging exercises and replenishing his energy with a quick meal, Ishiro rested briefly before sparring with Koseki, who'd also just finished his individual practice. Both wielded wooden swords for safety.
Koseki's swordsmanship was significantly superior to Ishiro's. Many of his moves appeared effortless yet contained tremendous power. With a strange twist of his body, Koseki swiftly launched an attack, which Ishiro now anticipated. Sidestepping slightly, Ishiro avoided Koseki's slash, then immediately retaliated with a quick horizontal strike aimed at Koseki's torso.
However, Koseki's control over his body far exceeded Ishiro's expectations. He abruptly stopped his forward momentum, took a single precise step backward, evaded Ishiro's strike, and instantly launched a counterattack toward Ishiro's unbalanced flank.
Previously, Ishiro would have lost immediately in such a scenario, but this time, he was prepared. Quickly rotating his blade in a peculiar maneuver, Ishiro redirected Koseki's attack upward, simultaneously dropping into a deep crouch.
Yet Koseki adapted instantly, abandoning the sword attack and pivoting on his right leg, delivering a lightning-fast kick toward Ishiro's lowered head.
Caught off guard, Ishiro hastily raised his free arm to block. The force disparity was significant, and Ishiro was sent flying backward nearly a dozen meters before skidding to a stop.
After standing up and massaging his numbed arm, Ishiro felt lucky. Koseki had intentionally restrained his strength at the last moment. Without applying his recently learned deflection techniques and retreating immediately, Ishiro might have suffered serious injury.
He felt slightly discouraged. Despite carefully preparing a strategy, he'd lost even faster than before. Clearly, clever tactics alone weren't enough without a solid foundation of strength.
Just as Ishiro mulled this over, Shiden, who had been watching from the sidelines with Shironeko, suddenly drew her sword and faced into the darkness. "Be alert!" she warned sharply.
It was unusual for anyone from the border outpost to approach at this hour. Either something serious had happened, or this wasn't an ally at all.
Ishiro, Koseki, and Shironeko immediately took battle positions behind Shiden. Koseki silently swapped his wooden sword for his chakra-infused blade, Shironeko prepared her weapons, and Dango had already vanished into the shadows, ready to ambush. Ishiro began rapidly forming hand seals.
Before anyone appeared, a familiar voice called out from the darkness, "Shiden, it's me."
Recognizing Captain Owl's voice, Team 18 slightly relaxed their guard but remained cautious.
Soon, Owl emerged into view, accompanied by a group of shinobi, most notably the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki himself.
Counting quickly, Ishiro realized Ōnoki had personally brought four Anbu teams out from the village—a shocking sight. Ishiro wondered who could merit such a significant response. Even during the Second Ninja World War, Ōnoki had rarely left the village personally.
Captain Owl quickly explained the new mission to Team 18. Apparently, the information leaked to Konoha's Root had been deliberately planted by Ōnoki, clearly another trap intended for Konoha. Ishiro wondered if Sunagakure was also an intended target.
Without delay, Ōnoki gathered three teams from the border (including Team 18) and picked up two more teams already operating in the Land of Bears, resulting in eight total Anbu teams. Together, they escorted Sasori toward the agreed exchange location.
Near the meeting spot, Ōnoki personally created an underground chamber, hiding himself and most of the Anbu there. He sent two Anbu teams above ground, openly escorting the sealed Sasori toward the exchange site. At Ōnoki's order, the sensory ninja began scanning the surroundings for hidden threats.
Ishiro joined Ōnoki in setting up sealing barriers around the chamber to block spying attempts, particularly from Byakugan users.
After finishing the barrier, Ishiro activated his sensory technique. Apart from their own group and Sasori, he detected no other chakra signatures nearby. With about three days left until the agreed exchange, Ōnoki had deliberately arrived early.
After arriving at the designated location, one Anbu team stayed openly visible while the other concealed themselves.
Two quiet days passed without incident. Ishiro narrowed his sensory range, painstakingly scanning every inch of the area. After two hours, he detected a faint chakra source roughly 300 meters away—a source so subtle it would be undetectable if not for his exceptionally powerful spiritual strength.
Immediately, he guessed it might belong to Konoha's Aburame Clan's kikaichū insects. Sure enough, after further inspection, Ishiro detected several more insects scattered around.
"Lord Tsuchikage," Ishiro reported softly, "I've detected extremely small chakra sources nearby. I suspect they're Konoha's Aburame Clan insects."
Ōnoki wasn't surprised; avoiding detection by Konoha's reconnaissance techniques was precisely why he'd hidden underground. But sensing kikaichū insects through sensory ninjutsu was unprecedented, impressing him greatly.
Thinking briefly, Ōnoki asked, "Ishiro, what's your maximum sensory range?"
Ishiro responded, "If focusing in one direction, I can sense chakra signatures up to three kilometers away, though clarity diminishes significantly. Usually, I scan thoroughly within about 1.5 kilometers to ensure no chakra signatures are missed."
Comparing Ishiro's range to typical Jonin-level sensors, Ōnoki realized Ishiro's maximum sensory range was at least three times greater. Given sensory perception doesn't simply scale linearly with range, this capability far exceeded that of typical sensors.
Ōnoki nodded thoughtfully. "Since your maximum range is three kilometers, try to pinpoint the Aburame shinobi's position. They're probably somewhere nearby."
The Aburame Clan's insects could spread far beyond three kilometers, but given the importance of the exchange site, the insects' controller was likely nearby—potentially within Ishiro's sensing range.
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