Chương 158

I showed up at the training ground to find Sena already there, hands on her hips, scanning the mess like a property inspector about to fail me. The stones I had been drilling Flicker with for weeks were still scattered across the dirt, chalk marks smeared from rain and footprints. The ground itself looked like someone had lost a fight with fireworks.

"So this is where you train Flicker?" she asked, eyebrow arched.

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

"Sensei's been helping me polish it. He's kind of decent at it." Sena's mouth curved into a smile.

"Decent? You do realize people call him Shisui of the Flicker, right? He's literally famous for it."

"I know," I said, already stretching my shoulders. Her brow furrowed.

"Why are you stretching?"

"Old habit."

"We're training chakra seeding, not Flicker. You don't need to warm up like you're about to sprint through walls." I chuckled.

"Hey, don't judge me. Sometimes I stretch before reading scrolls. You never know when you'll pull a muscle turning a page." Sena gave me the kind of deadpan stare that could peel bark off a tree.

"You're ridiculous."

"Efficient ridiculous," I corrected.

"If I tear a hamstring in the middle of seeding, don't come crying to me." Her sigh said she regretted showing up. My grin said I was just getting started. Sena crouched beside one of the chalked stones and set her hand flat on the dirt.

"What we're doing is called chakra seeding. You spread a thin layer of your chakra into the environment so it stays behind after you stop feeding it. The point is to make the ground, the air, even the walls carry a trace of you without anyone noticing." I raised a brow.

"So I'm marking territory. Like a dog, but with chakra." To really drive the point home, I lifted my right leg and made a show of it. Sena's eyes slid toward me with the kind of look that carried the weight of a thousand years of disappointment. I slowly set my leg back down, cleared my throat, and gave a fake cough like nothing happened. She still didn't blink.

"If that helps you remember, fine. But you're not a dog. Don't spill chakra everywhere. You need the exact amount and clean control. Leave a trace that lingers without drawing eyes, quiet and steady." She lifted her hand, and I stretched my senses. A faint shimmer still clung to the stone. Subtle, but there.

"That's the first step," she said.

"Make it cling. Start with your palm on the ground. Surfaces hold better than air, so the dirt will give you something to work with. Breathe steady and let the chakra seep out slowly, just enough to settle. When you lift your hand, it should still be there for some time before it fades." I scratched the back of my neck.

"So… smearing chakra on rocks until they like me. Fantastic training plan." Her lips twitched, but she didn't rise to the bait.

"Layer it onto itself so it takes longer to disappear. That's where your control comes in." A line of drool slid down my chin as my brain wandered.

"Like a layered bun," I said. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Sena looked down and sighed.

"Yes. Like a layered bun." I grinned.

"You're a great teacher, Sena. You should consider a career as an Academy instructor." She laughed softly.

"Not a chance. I have goals in life beyond teaching kids who are only slightly less annoying than you."

"Well played," I admitted, chuckling as I pressed my hand to the stone. I pictured the bun, layers stacked neatly, and let the chakra spread. It was easier than I expected. My control was already sharp for my age, and as a sensor, radiating chakra wasn't unfamiliar. What surprised me was how much it resembled some of the principles in fuinjutsu, building on itself, linking layers, forming a pattern that persisted. After a few tries, I managed to get it right. The film clung under my senses, thin but steady.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sena's eyes widen before she gave a small smile that carried the faintest edge of envy. Rare for her.

"I see why Kaen finds you annoying," she said.

"It's like you were born to be a shinobi. For us this took a long time, and you just… do it." I tilted my head, smirking.

"Come on, Sena. You're smart enough to realize I laid the groundwork for this a long time ago." She nodded.

"True. But seeing it in person still makes me a little disappointed in myself for not learning it as quickly. Knowing the reason doesn't stop the feeling." She was more candid than usual, and I appreciated it.

"If I tried to pretend this was harder than it is just to make you feel better, you'd see right through it and probably get angry at me." Her laugh was light, genuine.

"You know me well." Sena clapped her hands together lightly.

"Alright, time for the next step." A devious smile tugged at her lips.

"This one will definitely take you some time to master. You're going to set up the seeding area by walking around it and pressing chakra through your soles into the ground. Think of it like sticking to walls, but instead of holding yourself up, you press the chakra into the dirt. Same layered concept as before, except now you need multiple points, spaced evenly, to cover the area. Those become your stabilization nodes." I frowned.

"And how many of these things am I supposed to make?"

"As many as you can keep stable. At first it won't be many, but with practice, you'll be able to shape the field however you want. The trick is keeping the spacing consistent. Miss that, and the whole thing collapses." I raised my hands.

"Hold on. Does this mean every time I want to seed an area, I have to stomp all over it like some deranged chicken? That sounds incredibly impractical." Her eyes narrowed, sharp and amused at the same time.

"Did you see me walking around when I cast my own jutsu?" I rubbed my chin, thinking back.

"No… you're right. You didn't."

"Exactly," she said.

"This drill is just to teach you the principle. Once you get the feel for spacing and balance, you won't need to walk it out. You'll be able to send your chakra out the right way from where you stand. But until then, you need these baby steps to understand how it works." That actually made sense. I nodded slowly.

"Alright. I get it." I started pacing across the dirt, focusing on each step the way Sena had drilled into me. Press a little chakra through the sole, keep it steady, don't let it flare. Simple enough in theory. The first node flickered for about two seconds before it dissolved like smoke in the wind. I scowled.

"That one doesn't count. Just warming up."

"Uh-huh," Sena said, arms crossed, tone flat as ever. I tried again, planting three steps in a row. The first faded before I even made the third. The second puffed out too strong, like I'd stomped on it. The third was so faint I couldn't even sense it when I looked back. Sena crouched, brushing her hand over the dirt.

"You're rushing. You need even pressure. Right now you're dumping, starving, and overfeeding all in the same line."

"Thanks, teacher. Always wanted to be compared to a bad cook." Her lips twitched, but she didn't rise to it. Hours blurred by as I walked lines in the dirt like some idiot farmer planting invisible crops. Sometimes the nodes came out too bright and collapsed. Other times they vanished the moment I lifted my foot. By midday, I managed to get four stable at once. Five crumbled the moment I tried to check them. Sena's voice cut through my frustration.

"Stop forcing it. You're thinking about covering ground instead of letting the chakra settle. Focus on the flow, not the finish line."

"Easy for you to say," I muttered, wiping sweat from my forehead.

"You're not the one being humiliated by dirt." That made her laugh. She watched quietly, offering advice now and then while I kept at it. The sun sank lower, shadows stretching long across the training field. By the time it dipped behind the trees, my legs ached, my patience was gone, and the best I had managed was a shaky half circle of six nodes that collapsed before I could complete the ring. Sena finally stood, brushing off her skirt.

"Enough for today. You're not there yet, but you're closer than you think." I flopped down on the ground, breathing hard.

"Closer to insanity maybe." Her smile was small, but real.

"I think you're already there."