Chapter 18 (Patreon)

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Since Team 8 had been formed, they had not taken on missions very often.

So far, Kurenai Yūhi had only led the three of them through seven D-rank missions.

They had searched for missing cats, watched over children, collected garbage, and handled several other small jobs around the village.

Kurenai gave them time to rest for half of the remaining days, while the other half was devoted to training.

However, although she called it training, there was not much she could personally teach Mihawk.

Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyūga both relied primarily on their respective clans’ secret techniques, and neither of them showed much talent for genjutsu.

Mihawk, meanwhile, focused entirely on swordsmanship—an area in which Kurenai had little experience.

The only things she could teach them were the chakra-control exercises Kakashi would later teach Team 7, such as tree climbing, along with the water-walking exercise Jiraiya would eventually teach Naruto.

Both exercises were extremely effective for improving chakra control. Once mastered, they allowed a ninja to reduce the amount of chakra wasted when performing ninjutsu.

They were useful exercises for Shino, but they offered little benefit to either Mihawk or Hinata.

As someone who had been reborn into this world, Mihawk’s greatest advantage was his knowledge of the future.

Seven years had already passed, so he had forgotten many of the less important details from the original story.

However, he still remembered the principles behind tree climbing, water walking, chakra nature transformation, Wind Release training, and the process used to learn the Rasengan.

Since he was devoted to swordsmanship, Mihawk had never tested his chakra nature, nor had he attempted to learn the Rasengan.

Even so, he had not ignored tree climbing or water walking. Those two exercises allowed a ninja to run up walls, stand on ceilings, and walk across water, making them far too useful to overlook.

Hinata had trained beside Mihawk for years, so she had also mastered both exercises long ago.

Once Kurenai discovered that Mihawk and Hinata could already climb trees and walk on water without difficulty, she finally understood just how long the two of them had been training together.

There was almost nothing left for her to teach them.

In the end, she could only allow the two of them to continue training on their own and promise to contact them whenever a mission became available.

Mihawk, however, took the initiative to ask her about the Body Flicker Technique.

In response, Kurenai gave him a scroll containing the D-rank technique.

The Body Flicker Technique was not particularly complicated.

Its basic principle involved gathering chakra in the feet and releasing it in a sudden burst, allowing the user to move at high speed, almost like a gust of wind.

Anyone who had mastered tree climbing and water walking already possessed the chakra control necessary to begin learning it.

However, the technique’s true effectiveness depended entirely on the skill of its user.

At higher levels, ninja developed many different methods of high-speed movement.

The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, created the Flying Raijin Technique, while the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, mastered and further refined its use.

There were also the explosive movements made possible by the Eight Gates, as well as the Lightning Release Chakra Mode used by the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure.

Then there was Shisui Uchiha, who had become famous as Shisui of the Body Flicker.

His mastery of the technique was so extraordinary that he could leave behind numerous afterimages during battle, making it seem as though he had created physical clones of himself.

After understanding the basic principles, Mihawk began spending most of his free time training the Body Flicker Technique.

It took him only half a month to reach the point where he could use it freely.

The key to the Body Flicker Technique lay in the initial burst of speed, and it placed considerable demands on chakra control.

At the moment of acceleration, the user had to release chakra through their feet and maintain a firm connection with the surface beneath them. Otherwise, they could easily lose control of their movement, misjudge the distance, or crash into something.

Mihawk had already been capable of standing on water while practicing his sword swings three years ago.

Although his chakra control was not quite as precise as Hinata’s, firmly gripping the ground with chakra for a single instant was still easy for him.

Combined with Observation Haki, Mihawk could use the Body Flicker Technique even in areas with difficult or uneven terrain.

Whenever Team 8 received another mission to capture a runaway cat, Mihawk barely needed to spend any time searching for it.

The combination of Observation Haki and the Body Flicker Technique made such missions almost effortless.

While improving his speed, Mihawk had not neglected his physical conditioning.

He had maintained the same demanding exercise routine for several years.

Every day, he performed push-ups, frog jumps, pull-ups, and then ran around Konoha for two full hours.

Although Mihawk appeared slender when fully dressed, the body beneath his clothing was firm and well-trained, with clearly defined muscles and sharp V-lines around his waist.

Hinata knew that better than anyone.

Back when they still trained together outside the village, she had fainted more than once after accidentally seeing Mihawk without his shirt.

There was one main reason Mihawk continued putting his body through such intense training.

He wanted to awaken Armament Haki.

Once he successfully mastered Armament Haki, his overall combat ability would rise by several levels.

His weapon, physical strength, and defensive power would all improve dramatically.

……

That day, Hinata arrived at Mihawk’s house.

When she found no one in the living room, she made her way toward the dojo.

Inside, she found Mihawk sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room, completely absorbed in sword meditation.

“Mihawk-kun, Kurenai-sensei told us to gather.”

Hinata’s quiet voice pulled Mihawk out of his meditative state.

He slowly opened his eyes and gave a small nod.

“Understood.”

Mihawk picked up the bamboo sword resting across his legs and walked toward the sword rack nearby.

He removed the large sword resting on the rack before placing Shigure Kintoki in its place.

Japanese swords could be classified in several different ways depending on their shape and length, including the tachi, katana, wakizashi, tantō, and ōdachi.

A blade exceeding three shaku in length was generally classified as an ōdachi.

The sword Mihawk had selected possessed a blade measuring roughly three and a half shaku—about one hundred and six centimeters—making it an ōdachi.

When Hinata saw him replace the Shigure Kintoki he normally carried with the ōdachi, she could not help tilting her head in confusion.

“Mihawk-kun, aren’t you taking Shigure Kintoki with you?”

Mihawk fastened the ōdachi at his waist before giving her a faint, meaningful smile.

“At my current level, unless the weapon is an exceptionally valuable blade, it no longer matters very much which sword I use.”

His gaze briefly shifted toward Shigure Kintoki on the rack.

“Shigure Kintoki was the beginner weapon given to me by the system. It accompanied me through the beginning of my path as a swordsman, so it has already fulfilled its purpose.”

“Oh…”

Hinata still looked slightly confused, but she nodded anyway.

After securing the sword at his waist, Mihawk left the house together with Hinata.

When they arrived at the meeting place, Kurenai and Shino were already waiting for them.

“Kurenai-sensei, are we doing another D-rank mission today?” Mihawk asked.

“No. Not this time.”

Kurenai’s gaze briefly moved toward the ōdachi at Mihawk’s waist before she smiled and shook her head.

“Over the past two months, all three of you have developed a basic understanding of teamwork. Considering your current abilities, there’s no reason to keep making you sharpen your skills through D-rank missions.”

Hinata’s eyes immediately brightened.

“Today, I’m taking you to accept a C-rank mission.”

Unlike Hinata, Mihawk and Shino showed no obvious reaction.

Mihawk remained calm because of his steady state of mind, while Shino’s expression was difficult to read behind his dark glasses.

“Go home and prepare everything you’ll need,” Kurenai continued. “We’ll meet at the Hokage Building in fifteen minutes.”

After giving them their instructions, Kurenai formed a hand seal and disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique.