Terumi i did exactly as he had told her.
She stopped practicing the Water Dragon Bullet. Instead, she started from the very beginning: basic chakra control.
By the evening of the third day, she was able to stand on the surface of the river.
She ford the hand seals.
"Water Dragon Bullet!"
The mont the water dragon surged upward, she felt a difference. The sensation of her chakra leaking or scattering as it poured into the technique was gone; it was as if the flow of energy had finally found the correct channels to follow.
The water dragon slamd into the cliffside.
It didn't dissipate.
The form remained intact as it crashed, sending a massive spray of water exploding outward. A damp stain remained on the rock wall, and upon closer inspection, several shallow cracks had appeared.
It was leagues stronger than her previous attempts.
Still, it was nowhere near the crater he had casually blasted into the ground that day.
***
Four days later.
The mission office issued a joint support order. A border outpost had been attacked, and several squads were organized for the counter-strike.
Terumi i scanned the roster.
Team 3—Kitahara Kaede.
The marching column moved through the dense forests on the outskirts of the Mist Village, a line of over a dozen shinobi stretching out. During the last joint patrol, the two squads had traveled on parallel routes, separated by three hundred ters of woods. This ti was different; everyone was moving along the sa path.
Terumi i was positioned with the first squad, while Kitahara Kaede was about seven or eight people behind her.
She didn't look back.
However, after marching for over half an hour, she stole a glance during a brief mont when she turned to survey the flanking terrain.
He was walking in the middle of the formation, quiet and unassuming. Occasionally, other mbers of the column would whisper to one another, but he never participated. At first glance, he seed like anyone else.
But there was one difference.
While others looked around, their heads turning this way and that to scan the surroundings, his head barely moved.
It was such a small detail, yet for so reason, it made her feel that he was simply not the sa kind of person as those around him.
She withdrew her gaze and focused on the road ahead.
Behind her, Kitahara Kaede flicked his eyes upward. He noticed soone ahead had been watching him.
'Terumi i?'
He looked away and continued walking.
***
The column pushed through the dense forest for nearly another half hour. The leading Jonin stopped before a mountain hollow, raising a hand to signal everyone to drop low.
"The outpost is just ahead," he whispered. "Stone Village shinobi attacked the supply camp. Recon has confird the enemy hasn't retreated yet. Teams 1 and 3 will flank from the left; Team 5 will follow to provide a frontal distraction."
The deploynt was concise. The squads split up, advancing toward the periter of the outpost along the edge of the hollow. Through the gaps in the foliage, the outline of the camp beca visible. Several tents had been overturned, and the ground was marred by large patches of scorch marks.
Terumi i moved forward with the first squad, hugging the tree line.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet shuddered.
Explosive Tags.
It wasn't just one; an entire line of buried tags had been detonated simultaneously. As dirt and rubble flew into the air, two earthen walls erupted from the ground like massive floodgates, slicing right through the center of their formation.
The two leading Jonin and Team 5 were cut off on the other side of the walls.
The earthen walls continued to grow, the grinding sound of shifting rock and soil drowning out the shouts of the shinobi. Terumi i reacted quickly, grabbing a teammate and leaping back a few steps, but it was already too late.
Six Genin—three from Team 1 and three from Team 3—were trapped inside the encirclent.
Four Stone Village ninja dropped from the canopy on both sides, sealing the exits to the front and back. The eldest among them scanned the trapped group.
"All youngsters? How lucky for us."
He ford a seal.
"Mud Wall!"
New walls surged up from beneath their feet, the available space shrinking in tightening concentric circles.
Terumi i ford her seals and launched a Water Dragon Bullet. The torrent hit the earth wall, but it dissipated after barely penetrating a few inches.
A teammate from the first squad was squeezed against the wall; a piece of jagged rock sliced into his arm, and blood began to soak through his sleeve.
The space continued to shrink. Gritting her teeth, Terumi i raised a wall of water to block a volley of incoming shuriken.
But she was only stalling for ti. The Jonin were cut off, and there were likely enemies engaging them on the other side. Six Genin against four prepared Stone Village ninja—continuing to stall was simply waiting for death.
"Team 3, abandon defense. Full-power feint on the left," Kitahara Kaede's voice drifted from behind her. "Cover for three seconds."
The two mbers of Team 3 didn't hesitate. They had been on a few missions with Kitahara Kaede, and they knew that when this man spoke, he was never wrong.
The two switched instantly from defense to offense, charging at the two Stone Village ninja on the left.
The leading Stone Village ninja turned to deal with them.
As soon as the commotion started, Kitahara Kaede ford his seals.
"Water Dragon Bullet!"
He fired the technique directly at the base of the earthen wall beneath them. The water surged into the seams at the bottom of the structure; the soil softened, and a breach tore open in the wall.
Kitahara Kaede slipped through the gap, kunai already in hand.
The leading Stone Village ninja felt a gust of wind from the side. By the ti he turned his head, the blade had already arrived.
One strike.
The earth walls stopped moving. The man fell dead.
The tide of the battle turned instantly.
"Team 1, seal the right!"
Terumi i ford her seals. A wall of water erupted to block the right exit, the currents swirling and locking together with a density far higher than anything she had managed before.
The remaining three Stone Village ninja panicked and tried to ram through the right side, only to be bounced back.
Kitahara Kaede stepped back half a pace from the defensive line, intentionally leaving a gap. Two enemies lunged toward him.
"Now!"
Terumi i's Water Dragon Bullet slamd into them head-on. Team 3 finished off the last one.
The entire engagent had lasted less than two minutes. By the ti the Jonin broke through the walls and returned, the six Genin were standing among four corpses.
The Jonin surveyed the scene, then glanced at Kitahara Kaede. He said nothing.
***
Terumi i stood in place, her breathing still ragged.
She had always known this man was strong. No, it wasn't just strength.
When they were surrounded, everyone else had been thinking about how to hold on, how to block, or how to stall until the Jonin returned.
He hadn't.
He had imdiately formulated a counter-strategy. Who should feint, where the Water Dragon Bullet should hit, where the breach should be opened, and who should seal the exit.
Before anyone else had even processed the situation, he had already calculated the solution.
***
That night, they set up camp. The campfire was dim, the light diffusing into the mist. Everyone else had gone to sleep.
Kitahara Kaede leaned against a rock on sentry duty, his kunai resting by his hand.
Footsteps approached. Terumi i sat down beside him.
They remained silent for a while.
"I worked on the issues you ntioned before. It was very helpful," she said, staring at the fire. "Thank you."
Kitahara Kaede gave a short hum of acknowledgnt.
Another silence passed.
"There is still so much I don't understand." She paused. "Would you be willing to teach ?"
Kitahara Kaede didn't answer imdiately.
"What's the point of learning all this?"
Terumi i opened her mouth, but hesitated. A few seconds passed.
"...To survive."
Another pause.
"And sothing else. I haven't figured it out yet."
Kitahara Kaede glanced at her and stood up.
"Then co find once you've figured it out."
He walked toward the tents without looking back.
Terumi i remained seated. The firelight flickered across her face, casting alternating shadows.
As for that "sothing else"—she had actually almost figured it out. She just didn't dare say it out loud yet.
***
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