Basara's POV
I stared at the leaf clasped between my hands, sitting on my cot inside the tent The canvas walls shifted faintly in the afternoon breeze, the muted sounds of the camp filtering through. I had been back for a couple of hours ago after the briefing. I infused the leaf with chakra, trying to grind my chakra into bladed edges, the basic training for transforming chakra into wind natured chakra, just as the scroll instructed.
I was surprised it had such detailed explanations. I had assumed it would have a couple of techniques.
Which it did...
Whoever had written it had taken their time.
I remembered the neat brush strokes, the emphasis written in darker ink:
"Master transformation before technique.
Without mastery of nature transformation, your jutsu will always be crude."
Below that, three techniques were outlined.
Fūton: Palm Gale (Reppūshō) – Hand seals: Tiger → Serpent → Ram.
A compressed burst of wind expelled from the palm, capable of deflecting projectiles or amplifying thrown weapons.
Fūton: Dai Toppa (Great Breakthrough) – Hand seals: Serpent → Ram → Tiger.
A wide, forceful blast of wind expelled from the mouth. And lastly...
Fūton: Hien (Flying Swallow) – Hand seals: Tiger → Dog → Ram.
Chakra extended through a blade, turning it into a vibrating edge of cutting wind. The scroll specifically emphasized mastering transformation before attempting any jutsu, claiming its mastery over rudimentary jutsu execution allowed one to modify wind jutsus on the fly, coating shurikens in cutting edges and alowing them to strike through multiple tragets cleaving them, and manipulating, say, how to vary the blast radius of the Great Breakthrough instead of just a frontal blast, and having razor-sharp wind in it that would shred anything inside the jutsu.
It was true that one could use an elemental jutsu just with the relevant hand signs and ample practice, but it would just be your chakra manipulating the existing elements around you to cause the specific effect, like how I could now transform my chakra into water nature and use my jutsu without a preexisting water source around me.
I would have to train up my earth natured transformation too, I thought with a grimace.
It would be next to impossible to use earth style ninjutsu in a desert without it. And I am at the border of Suna.
Great, just great.
I forced myself to focus and channeled my chakra through my channels in a controlled, constant current, then the nodes in my hands, trying to cutthe leaf in two. I was channeling the chakra constantly instead of in a pulse. A pulse would have been easier, but the scroll mentioned channeling it continuously was an essential skill for wind jutsus.
I forced the chakra to split and grind against the leaf, breathing deeply, and after many tries, I heard a little rip. Opening my palms, I smiled and saw a small part of the leaf torn in a serrated pattern.
Progress...
I dropped the leaf beside some of the other crumbled leaves on the cot and shook my hands, feeling the strain in my arms and the rest of my body from channeling chakra through them for so long. There was also a small pang of hunger reminding me I did not have any proper food today, only some field rations early in the morning...
I snapped my head to the side as the tent's canvas rustled as Shigure stepped in, looking tired and ruffled.
Damn, I must be really tired, I didn't hear her coming.
I smiled and stood up, uncrossing my legs, feeling the blood flow into them again.
"Hey! You're back. How was your journey?" I asked her.
She came inside the tent, dropping the canvas back down. She was dressed in standard Konoha jonin attire with a pouch attached to her lower back that was much larger than standard issue. Her black hair was pulled into a loose knot, strands escaping to frame her face.There were dark shadows under her eyes.
She smiled tiredly and said, "It was fine. The medical situation in this base is better than our base camp. I do not miss poisoned puss mixed with blood being squirted all over me from our dying comrades," and finished with a grimace.
I felt a little green imagining the scene. She stepped up and gave me a hug. We separated as she looked at the torn leaf on my cot.
"Wow, you're making surprising progress..." She picked up the leaf and looked at it.
"Yeah, I was surprised too," I replied awkwardly, ignoring my own thoughts on the extremely quick progress.
We continued small talk as she divested her flak jacket on the only remaining cot beside mine. She then ran her hand through silky black hair and grimaced, then looked around the tent to one side where there was a basin on the ground filled with water and a wash towel near. She looked at it and then at me with a smile.
What...
She stood up from the cot and stood in front of me, close enough I could touch her if I reached out, then slowly removed the undershirt in a smooth motion and walked across me towards the basin, bending down, ensuring I could see her, and she finally undid the button, shimmying out of her pants. The fabric pooled at her ankles, leaving her in nothing but a pair of black panties that clung to her hips. She kicked the pants aside, then hooked her thumbs into the waistband , pausing just long enough to watch my reaction.
"Want to help me clean up ~"
That's not even a choice...
The next day dawned quietly, bright and quiet, as I dressed in some fresh clothes, rechecking my weapons pouch, securing my kunai and explosive tags, adjusting my flak jacket along with all other things I would need for a mission: medical supplies, food pills. Tsume and Shigure had left earlier in the morning. I had informed them I would follow them in some time and proceeded to sleep some more. I smiled as I remembered Tsume coming back to the tent after both me and Shigure helped each other clean up.
She took one look at the tent and sniffed the air and glared at us both in accusation.
I chuckled and clasped my flak jacket.
We had dinner with the rest of the squad out the tents near the little campfire. Tsume had informed us of our next assignment. We, along with another contingent of shinobi, would be escorting some medic-nin to the capitol of the Land of Rivers. Apparently, a key member of the ruling family was gravely ill, and Konoha was using this as a diplomatic opportunity to expand the village's influence, and to show the village's sincerity, Elder Touka Senju would be leading the mission; man, wasn't that a surprise, learning who that woman was.
The youngest sister to both the First and Second Hokage.
We were to meet near the south of the camp in another few minutes.
I left the tent as dry air hit me immediately along with the hot sunlight. A steady breeze rolling in from the direction of the desert, carrying faint grains of sand. The sky was a pale, endless blue.
I picked up my pace toward the meeting point, noticing I was the last to leave and picked up my pace through the other shinobi going through their routines. I reached the point and noticed a couple dozen shinobi, and from their features, I could tell most of them were clan shinobi. I opened myself up to my chakra senses to find my team.
I walked to them, noticing absentmindedly a chakra signature of the Senju elder, and reached Hanmi, who was standing with Takeru. I tried to search for Riku and Yukimara and noticed him a few paces away with Gin and Tsume. I turned my attention away from them and noticed the medic-nins standing near the front and noticed Aiko and Rei, the medics from the Grass front.
Aiko-san noticed me and looked over with a smile. Seeing her Byakugan brought back some unwanted memories of the battle in that front where the Hyuga that saved me exploded into blood and gore.
I grimaced but still managed to keep a neutral face and smile back, nodding.
Hanami, who had seen my weird interaction, tried to ask about it when...
"Alright! You all know your mission. We move as one, do not fall behind," a jonin at the front commanded.
I snapped my attention to him, as did everyone.
The group surged forward, breaking into a steady run out of the camp gates. The camp receded quickly, tents shrinking to dots as we hit the open terrain.
The journey stretched over four grueling days, each one blending into the next in a haze of motion.We ran through rolling grasslands, stopping at dusk by a shallow stream, setting up a quick camp for the night. Day two brought more greenery, thicker forests edging the plains. We crossed a wide river mid-morning, walking across its surface in formation. Stops were brief for quick rations.
Days three and four blurred: more rivers to ford, some swollen from recent rains. The terrain undulated into gentle hills, lush with verdant fields and occasional villages we skirted to stay covert. Exhaustion set in, but so did camaraderie. I had gotten to know some more shinobi in my cohort.
Most Konoha shinobi had a sort of easy camaraderie, especially ones that fought together.
Finally, on the afternoon of the fourth day, we crested a ridge and there it was: the valley unfolding below like a painting come to life. The capital of the Land of Rivers, Suien, the City of Rivers, sprawled in the basin, its high walls and Rivers wove through it like silver veins, channeling water from the surrounding hills into canals that intertwined with streets and bridges.
The architecture was beautiful: curved tile roofs on wooden buildings, lanterns hanging from eaves, markets bustling even from this distance. At the heart rose the pagoda-like castle.
Well here we are...