The following afternoon.
Terumi i arrived at the northern training grounds of the village right on ti, carrying the sa water bottle from the previous night.
Kitahara Kaede was leaning against a tree, looking as if he had been waiting there for a long while.
i walked over and handed him the bottle. "Why didn't you answer yesterday?"
Kaede took the water bottle. "Haven't you already decided to move forward?"
i froze. She stared at his face, trying to find sothing—anything—behind that calm expression.
There was nothing.
He was the sa as always: indifferent, composed, and utterly unwilling to explain a single word more once he had spoken.
i pursed her lips. "Then don't fall behind."
Kaede turned and walked toward the training field. "Let's just start by keeping up."
i followed.
***
Their routine beca fixed.
Every afternoon, the northern training grounds.
Sotis they practiced taijutsu, sotis they worked on Ninjutsu coordination, but most of the ti, Kaede simply stood to the side, watching her strike and pointing out her flaws.
i was a fast learner.
Only yesterday, she had been knocked off a tree trunk by a few distracting pebbles. By the third day, she could reach the canopy even amidst a barrage of harassnt, and she could even use the branches to bounce and evade the stones.
When it ca to the taijutsu counter-techniques Kaede taught her, she grasped the essentials after two repetitions. By the fifth, she began integrating them into her own movents.
Kaede watched everything, but said nothing.
He simply increased the difficulty of the training day by day.
In itself, that was his answer.
***
Half a month later.
It was a rainy day.
The day's training had co to an end. Kaede lowered his hands and walked toward the edge of the field.
"That's it for today."
i didn't move. She stood in the center of the field, rain streaming down her hair, her breathing still ragged.
"One more set."
Kaede stopped and looked back at her. "I said we're done."
"I haven't quite nailed the timing for the finish of yesterday's combo," she replied, wiping the rain from her face as she dropped back into her stance.
Kaede watched her. Her chakra was already nearing its limit. Any further practice would be fruitless; it would only ruin her condition for tomorrow.
This wasn't effort. This was unplanned exhaustion.
He walked back toward her.
Thinking he was going to spar with her again, i lowered her center of gravity, but suddenly, her vision went dark. An outer coat had been draped over her head.
The fabric was damp and heavy from the rain, but it still held a lingering warmth.
i gripped the edge of the coat and stood still for a mont.
Kaede had already turned around. "If you catch a fever from the rain, you won't be able to train tomorrow."
Having said his piece, he continued walking toward the edge of the field without looking back.
i remained where she was, one hand clutching the coat on her head. She watched Kaede's retreating figure, then gripped the fabric tightly and followed him.
***
One month, then two.
i's growth beca visible to the naked eye.
The Water Dragon Bullet, which at first couldn't even leave a scratch on the rock walls, could now blast fist-sized craters into them. In actual taijutsu combat, the ti it took for Kaede to take her down increased from three moves to five; occasionally, she could even force him to use both hands.
***
During this ti, the two of them also carried out several joint patrols.
i gradually grew accustod to Kaede's style: a man of few words, precise judgnt, and soone who always spotted danger half a step before anyone else.
After one border patrol, the two stopped by a river to review their performance. i broke a few twigs and laid them on the ground to map out their marching route.
"Right here. If we had taken the lower slope, we could have flanked the enemy faster."
Kaede crouched down and shifted one of the twigs. "And if there had been a reserve force here?"
i looked at where he had moved the twig. It was the flank of the slope's entrance. The foliage had been too dense and the terrain too low at the ti; she truly hadn't noticed it.
She broke another thin twig and placed it on the side. "Squad One retreats this way, and Squad Three stays out of the entrance, using water mist to obscure the line of sight and force the enemy to expose themselves first."
Kaede stared at the ground for two seconds. "This is starting to look like a proper plan."
i waited for him to continue nitpicking. Instead, he stood up and turned to leave.
i opened her mouth to speak. She had been prepared to hear a "but" follow that sentence. In the end, all she got was "starting to look like a proper plan."
She looked down at the ground. The twig he had moved had effectively plugged the blind spot on the flank she had overlooked.
i wrinkled her nose. "I get it."
***
As evening fell, the two walked ho together, passing beneath the crooked tree. Two portions of food were placed by the cat's den: one of dried kibble and one of torn strips of fish.
The cat had grown rounder. Seeing them pass, it flicked its tail against the ground.
i crouched down to pet its back. The cat rolled over, exposing its belly.
Kaede stood by and waited. Once she finished petting the cat, she stood up and dusted off her hands.
They walked side by side along the river, their footsteps echoing one after the other on the stone path. Neither spoke, but the silence was different from the silence they had shared at the beginning.
***
The end of the fiftieth year of the Fire Shadow.
Both of them were now Chunin.
The wooden posts at the training ground had been replaced ti and ti again. The old posts had been burned through by Lava Release, corroded by Boil Release, or snapped by taijutsu. Finally, they were piled in the corner of the field—a heap of blackened, charred wood.
i had grown quite a bit since the beginning. Her features had fully matured. Her right eye was still hidden by her bangs, but the exposed erald-green eye was steadier than it had been two years ago.
She stood in the center of the field. "Watch closely."
Kaede stood at the edge. "Mm."
i ford a series of hand signs.
Lava Release.
A glob of viscous, high-temperature matter slamd into the target rock. White smoke billowed. A crater was scorched into the rock face, with molten material still dripping down the edges.
She didn't stop.
Boil Release.
Corrosive steam erupted, sweeping across the wooden posts. The surfaces of the posts rapidly blackened and cracked before a section finally collapsed.
Mist and white smoke swirled together.
i looked back at him. She didn't let triumph show on her face, but her eyes were screaming, *'This has to be enough this ti.'*
Kaede walked to the target rock and tapped it. The outer layer of the rock had been penetrated deeply. Her Nature Transformation had stabilized.
Her range control still had issues. The chakra consumption in the latter half of the release was too high. If she encountered a speed-type Jonin, she would be caught at the start.
But for soone her age, it was already staggering.
Kaede withdrew his hand. "Passable."
The smile on i's face froze. "Just passable?"
"Keep practicing."
i stared at his back. "One day, I'll make it so you can't say things like that."
Kaede walked away. "Then keep moving forward."
i stood her ground. After a mont, she smiled.
"That sentence is a lot easier on the ears than 'passable'."
***
Training ended, and the two walked back along the river.
In these two years, the Mist Village had changed significantly. The Third Mizukage had died mysteriously. The higher-ups were tight-lipped about it, and no one below dared to ask.
The Seven Ninja Swordsn had suffered heavy losses. Regarding the Three-Tails experint, the death of Rin, and that failed operation—only fragnted pieces of intelligence floated among the lower ranks.
But the training ground was still the training ground, the river was still the river, and the cat's den was still lined with dry grass.
i walked beside him as mist drifted up from the water's surface.
Kaede's gaze looked across the river, landing in the direction of the high-level conference rooms.
i glanced at him from the side.
He didn't notice.
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