Chapter 16 (Patreon)

The next morning, Mihawk and Hinata left home promptly at eight-thirty.

When they reached the clearing from the previous day, Shino Aburame was already there, leaning against one of the wooden posts.

“Good morning.”

Mihawk greeted him as they approached.

They would be teammates fighting side by side from now on. There was no reason for Mihawk to maintain the distant attitude he had shown most of his classmates at the Academy.

“Good morning, Aburame-san,” Hinata added softly.

“Good morning…” Shino paused before continuing, “You can just call me Shino.”

He apparently had not expected either of them to greet him first and answered a little hurriedly. However, with most of his face hidden behind his high collar and dark glasses, neither Mihawk nor Hinata could see his expression.

Still, that simple exchange finally broke the distance between the three of them.

Mihawk and Hinata moved toward another wooden post.

Hinata began checking and reorganizing the contents of her ninja pouch, while Mihawk stood nearby with his bamboo sword in hand and his eyes closed.

After a moment, Shino walked over to them.

“Mihawk-san, do you think we should prepare a strategy?”

The question made it clear that Shino had already begun treating Mihawk as the team’s leader.

Everyone in their class had noticed the relationship between Mihawk and Hinata. The two were almost always together, and Hinata naturally trusted Mihawk’s judgment.

Mihawk had also held the position of top student for years.

Shino assumed that someone with that level of talent would possess a certain amount of pride. Trying to force his own ideas onto Mihawk would only create unnecessary conflict.

That was why he had chosen to approach Mihawk first and ask for his opinion.

“We’ll be teammates from now on,” Mihawk replied, opening his eyes. “Just call me Mihawk.”

He then answered Shino’s question.

“As for a strategy, we don’t need one.”

Shino remained silent.

“We’ll have plenty of time to develop our teamwork later,” Mihawk continued evenly. “Right now, I finally have the chance to test myself against a jōnin. I’m not going to waste it.”

“I understand.”

Shino nodded slightly.

His expression remained impossible to read.

Perhaps he thought Mihawk was being extremely arrogant.

Perhaps he had simply accepted the decision.

Either way, when he saw that Mihawk had no intention of preparing a team strategy, Shino did not press the matter. He returned to his original position and quietly waited for Kurenai to arrive.

Time passed minute by minute.

With five minutes remaining before nine o’clock, a graceful figure suddenly appeared in front of the three genin.

Kurenai’s crimson eyes moved across Mihawk, Hinata, and Shino. Seeing that they had clearly been waiting for some time, she smiled.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s begin.”

A clear jingling sound rang through the clearing.

Kurenai produced three small bells and held them up for the team to see.

“For today’s survival exercise, your task is to take these bells from me.”

She smiled as she tied them around her waist.

“You may use any method you like. A surprise attack, a direct confrontation, deception—it doesn’t matter. As long as you manage to take the bells, I’ll treat all three of you to barbecue.”

Before Kurenai could say anything else, Mihawk suddenly called out.

“Hinata.”

“Yes!”

Hinata immediately understood.

She reached into her ninja pouch, pulled out a strip of cloth, and handed it to him.

Mihawk took the cloth and quickly tied it over his eyes.

“You two should move back.”

Hinata and Shino immediately leaped away, creating distance between themselves and Mihawk.

Hinata already knew what he intended to do.

Shino did not.

However, seeing how completely Hinata trusted Mihawk—and remembering what Mihawk had said earlier—Shino realized that the top graduate had been concealing an ability none of them had seen before.

Kurenai studied the blindfolded boy with open curiosity.

“You intend to face me directly?”

“Yeah.”

Mihawk rested one hand on the hilt of his bamboo sword and lowered his body into a drawing stance.

“Kurenai-sensei, you should be careful.”

For a newly graduated genin to warn an experienced jōnin sounded absurd.

Kurenai might have laughed under normal circumstances.

Instead, her expression changed instantly.

A sudden chill ran through her entire body.

Every instinct she possessed screamed that something dangerous had locked onto her.

Mihawk drew his sword.

“Shhk—!”

A brilliant Ranged Slash erupted from the blade.

The crescent of white force immediately deepened into a dark crimson as it tore across the training ground, carving a long, perfectly straight trench through the earth on its way toward Kurenai.

It moved so quickly that the attack seemed to cross the distance in an instant.

Kurenai trusted her instincts.

The moment the Ranged Slash appeared, she threw herself to the side.

“BOOM!”

The forest behind her shook violently.

A thick tree caught in the path of the attack split apart and collapsed with a thunderous crash, as though it had been struck by a powerful storm.

Dust and broken leaves filled the air.

A deep, smooth trench now stretched across the ground.

Everyone present stared at the destruction.

Kurenai turned toward Mihawk in shock.

For several seconds, she could not calm the storm in her mind.

“So powerful…” Shino murmured from a safe distance. “Is this his true strength?”

Only now did he fully understand what Mihawk had meant earlier.

Hinata’s eyes, on the other hand, were already shining with undisguised admiration.

“Kurenai-sensei, please stay alert,” Mihawk warned again.

His eyes remained covered by the strip of cloth.

“My sword won’t stop simply because this is an exercise.”

He had not seen the expressions on their faces.

He did not need to.

Through his Observation Haki, Mihawk could clearly sense Kurenai’s presence and movements. He had already predicted that she would evade the previous attack.

The next moment, he rushed forward.

That swordsmanship is terrifying… and his perception is just as impressive.

Kurenai watched the blindfolded Mihawk rapidly close the distance between them.

The shock on her face gradually transformed into open delight.

She immediately understood why he had covered his eyes.

He knew genjutsu was her specialty.

By removing his own sight, he had cut off the easiest way for her to trap him in a visual illusion.

Even while blindfolded, his extraordinary perception allowed him to track her location without hesitation.

Combined with those terrifying sword techniques, Mihawk placed genuine pressure on her despite being a newly graduated genin.

I was given an incredible student.

Kurenai could barely contain her excitement.

This boy was undoubtedly a genius.

In her eyes, his talent might even surpass Kurama Yakumo’s and stand alongside prodigies such as Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Itachi.

The joy of discovering such a remarkable student surged through her.

At the same time, her crimson eyes became completely serious.

Fighting a genius of this level would not be easy.

Especially now that Mihawk had deliberately limited her ability to use visual genjutsu and forced her into a direct confrontation.

As he rushed toward her, Kurenai had no choice but to draw a kunai and meet him head-on.