Quickly.
The afternoon hours drifted by.
The originally packed classroom now became silent.
She was the only one left in the class.
The rain that had been falling for several days and nights finally eased up a bit, and the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the window sill was intermittent.
Ayane didn’t feel bored either.
She sat cross-legged, took the newly acquired arashikiri from her back, placed it in front of her, and lightly stroked the scabbard with her fair palm.
The girl closed her eyes and evened her breathing, her red ponytail swaying gently with the evening breeze outside the window.
This was the Blade-Nurturing Technique that Ichii Kei had also taught her.
It was somewhat like the Jinzen from the world of Shinigami.
Supposedly, this was a closely guarded secret of the samurai, which could help the owner calm their mind and communicate with their weapon, eventually achieving a state of spiritual connection where the person and the sword were one.
As for whether it was actually useful…
She didn’t know!
But the feedback on the status panel was very enthusiastic!
[You have completed a session of Ninja Blade cultivation.
Achievement Points +2!] Just over ten minutes of meditation yielded more achievement points than two hours of her usual strenuous Ninja tool throwing practice!
Ayane was incredibly excited.
This not only meant she had another way to farm achievement points, but it also meant one of her previous guesses had come true.
High-difficulty titles would certainly bring more achievement points at once.
But high-quality cultivation was the same.
Compared to daily training at the Ninja Academy or at home…
every battle in blood and fire, every fight with real blades and spears, would likely bring even greater returns!
She couldn’t help but think: the principle of “the bigger the wind and waves, the more expensive the fish” really is timeless, no matter the time or place.
While her thoughts were drifting…
suddenly, a masked Ninja appeared abruptly before her eyes.
Ayane was startled.
Her cultivation had just ended, and her hand was still resting on arashikiri.
The young girl almost subconsciously drew her blade and rose, a flash of cold steel!
*Clang!* A crisp sound rang out.
The opponent had somehow taken out a Kunai and held it in his hand, narrowly parrying the biting edge of her blade.
“A newly graduated Genin…
an Anbu rookie…” The gaze from behind the mask swept over the girl’s face, seemingly confirming her identity.
“Your reactions are good, but your strength is lacking.” The masked Ninja’s tone was icy, whether from anger or habit: “I am a member of the Anbu’s Owl Squad, code-named Woodpecker.
Now, put away your weapon and follow me!” The Ninja calling himself ‘Woodpecker’ had a powerful presence.
Despite not being tall, he possessed a chilling aura, clearly having shed much blood by his own hand.
He pulled out an ID from his robes, briefly flashed it before the girl’s eyes, and then said coldly, “Keep up.
I won’t be responsible if you fall behind.” Woodpecker spoke little and with urgency.
He didn’t even give Ayane a chance to speak; after finishing, he flickered away, leaping from the window onto a branch and then to the rooftop, quickly vanishing from sight.
Ayane took a deep breath, not daring to delay.
The girl quickly followed behind him, leaving the classroom.
The other’s speed was not slow, at least much faster than the Chunin teachers at the academy.
Yet Ayane followed closely behind him, heading towards a black tower in the northwest corner of the Village.
Seeing that she seemed to have energy to spare, Woodpecker was suddenly surprised.
He looked back again, a hint of astonishment in his voice: “You actually know the Body Flicker Technique?” Although the Body Flicker Technique wasn’t a high-level Ninjutsu, it was still somewhat overpowered for a newly graduated academy student.
Especially since the Hidden Rain Village’s Ninja Academy focused on crash-course training, with students graduating in an average of 2-3 years.
Nagano Takayuki’s use of the Three Basic Jutsu (Transformation Technique, Substitution Jutsu, and Clone Technique) was inconsistent, even worse than Uzumaki Naruto’s decades later, yet his grades were still among the best in the class, which spoke volumes about the teaching quality at the academy.
Ayane admitted candidly, “Yes, I’ve practiced it after school.” Woodpecker nodded upon hearing this and said no more, nor did he press her on where she had obtained the cultivation method for the Body Flicker Technique.
Before long, the two arrived at the base of the black tower.
Ayane looked up carefully, feeling a bit surprised.
This thing looked a bit familiar.
Wasn’t this the place Jiraiya infiltrated in the anime?
If she remembered correctly, the Deva Path Pain controlled by Nagato later enjoyed standing at the top of this tower to overlook the entire Village.
“This is Lord Hanzou’s office and also our Anbu headquarters in the Village.” Ayane nodded slightly.
In that case, its status was roughly equivalent to the Hokage Building in Konoha Village.
Woodpecker gave a brief introduction and then familiarly found a hidden side door by the tower: “The 1st to 5th underground floors are our Anbu headquarters.
The third floor is the supply area.
I’ll take you to register your identity information first, then we’ll go there to collect Ninja tools and Military Rations Pills.” Hearing the words ‘Military Rations Pills,’ Ayane’s heart stirred, and she quickly said, “Senior…” “Rookie!
The first lesson of the Anbu is to forget yourself!” “There are no such titles as’senior’ or ‘junior’ here.” Woodpecker spoke up, coldly interrupting, “Everyone only has a code name, so just call me by my code name, Woodpecker.” Ayane was stunned.
Now that he mentioned it, she realized Woodpecker really hadn’t called her by her name even once.
“Alright, Woodpecker.” The girl whispered, “Are we leaving the Village soon?” Military Rations Pills tasted terrible; they were only used during life-or-death combat or urgent missions.
Perhaps because Ayane had performed well during the journey earlier.
Woodpecker didn’t seem too impatient this time and revealed, “That’s right.
We’re heading straight to the Eastern Front to participate in the final battle against Konoha.” The Eastern Front was where Hanzou was currently in a standoff with Konoha.
Both sides had deployed nearly eight thousand Ninja troops around this area, facing off for almost a year!
Hmm…
Amegakure had fewer than three thousand.
But thanks to Hanzou’s poison, they weren’t at a disadvantage at all yet.
‘Final battle?’ ‘Does this mean the battle between Hanzou and the Sannin is about to begin?’ Hearing this, Ayane couldn’t help but scheme: ‘If I seize the opportunity, maybe I can get in touch with Tsunade and find a chance to defect to Konoha…’ Considering she was half Uzumaki.
Maybe Konoha would warmly welcome her as a ‘returnee from overseas’?
But seeing the black Anbu uniform on Woodpecker, she quickly shattered that naive fantasy.
This outfit.
It’s easy to put on, but hard to take off!
She feared that the moment she stepped into Konoha, she’d be greeted by Danzo’s Root.
At that time, she might have to play out a scene of ‘three strikes to break the Konoha soul, sir, I am a man of the Rain’…
Because of the war.
Not many Anbu were left in the Village now, and the few she encountered were in a hurry.
After following Woodpecker to the records room, Ayane received a registration form.
She found that most of the content had already been filled out in advance, with various backgrounds and details written more clearly than she, the person involved, knew them.
There was only one place left for Ayane to fill in herself, and that was her Anbu code name.
Before putting pen to paper, the girl didn’t forget to ask carefully, “Woodpecker, can I choose any code name?” The other’s reply was simple: “Our squad’s code name is Owl, so you’d better use a bird or poultry as your name.” Ayane hummed in response, thought for a moment, and then wrote down her ‘new name’ on the paper.
Code name: Black Swan!