Chapter 19: One Year of Hardship

Chapter 19: One Year of Hardship

__________ POV Narration__________

And so, Ken and Tosho trained earnestly, for the following year and a half.

In and out of that cave, sometimes venturing out and finding more scrolls and equipment.

Ken's luck was quite good, and his stealth skills were also impeccable, regardless of how many times he entered enemy territory, he always left it unscathed and undetected.

Most of his actions would be written off as attacks of enemy shinobi. The time of war made it easy for Ken to cover his tracks perfectly, and he knew to take advantage of that.

He didn't just attack one place though, he travelled a bit more, sometimes being gone for weeks on end in order to acquire more diverse techniques.

At some point, a few months into their training, Tosho became accustomed to it, and Ken was able to notice it as well. Instead of waiting to be hit, he now was able to anticipate attacks.

Blocking, dodging, and even hitting back at times. It was clear that his instincts had improved greatly, showing that he wasn't exactly lacking talent before, just willpower.

So, Ken took his training to the next level. No longer giving him an auditory clue, and just hitting him.

It took Tosho a while to get used to that, but he was able to. During that time, he had also mastered some jutsu, and he started using them effectively even in training.

Ken had no problems with that, as he allowed Tosho to use everything he had at his disposal to either dodge, block or make him retreat.

The rules were that there were no rules.

Well, with one exception... Fire Jutsus were a bit of a No-Go, as Ken usually hit him harder when using them, and once even ended the training early.

Ken's explanation for that?

'Using Fire Style Justu in an enclosed space is beyond stupid. Fire burns Oxygen, which is the main component of the very air you breathe...'

Ken always sealed off the cave they trained in perfectly, to prevent even a speck of light from getting in. So running out of oxygen was a possibility inside there.

The cave was large, large enough to sustain them for a few hours of regular training. The fire burned through that very quickly though...

Ken made sure also to give him a thorough explanation of some basic scientific concepts after that incident.

Tosho was like a sponge, he absorbed as much knowledge as he could, and he seemed to be eager to learn more at all times.Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.

And, after an entire year of struggling... Tosho was now able to cross blades with Ken in a spar.

He wasn't as strong physically, and he wasn't as fast, but his reflexes were trained to an insane point, which allowed him to keep up in a short spar using only Kenjutsu(sword fighting) and Taijutsu(fisticuffs).

Ken always managed to overwhelm him with only skill though, as he was always holding back physically during their spars unless it was to prove a point and show Tosho that he still had a long way to go.

Tosho growing complacent and thinking he was too powerful was the last thing Ken needed, so he made sure to beat any thought even similar to that out of his head.

'As long as I kill them covertly I won't even have to worry about the Mist... But killing the 7 of them without making any noise whatsoever will be impossible...'

So, Ken decided to start developing his organization. And to do that, he needed money, a lot of money.

Resources, a proper base, it would all take time, which he had, but money, which he'd need to acquire.

He and Tosho theorised a bit on where to get that money and who exactly they could recruit.

They reached a rather straightforward conclusion.

Tosho would handle recruitment and finding a proper base. And Ken would handle the gathering of money for the entire operation.

Ken did make sure to put a rule in place for their recruitment.

'We are not allowed to force regular people to join us, and we must avoid getting them involved in any conflict we encounter at all costs.'

Ken truly didn't care about any shinobi or samurai, as soldiers were always prepared to die, but he didn't want the same fate to befall civilians.

Tosho was quite fine with that, as he wasn't exactly planning to recruit civilians in the first place.

He was to start building a few homes for new recruits, there were plenty of trees in the forest thankfully, so they didn't need to spend any money on that.

But he would use the rest of their savings for tools and other building materials.

Now... Ken was to earn money. And he had found the perfect tool to do so. The Bingo Book.

The book contained all wanted shinobi and criminals with information on their bounties and where to collect them.

The Bingo Book also gave some information regarding the abilities of these people. Giving them ratings and being constantly updated.

So, Ken left the cave with a stack of papers, handwritten by Tosho, and he was to hunt down all of them.

And so Ken started making his way through the forest, dressed in his usual red armour and black coat similar to that of Tosho.

He didn't bother wearing a hat though, as he didn't care about it too much. He also didn't have any backpack or blades on his body.

Instead of bandages, his wrists now had leather guards with storage sigils on them. Allowing for easy transportation for both his weapons and his supplies.

'It was about time I embarked on a long journey anyway... I've yet to feel a lot of this world... Who knows? Maybe I'll even visit the hidden villages?'

____________________________

Hope you liked the chapter! Pretty short, but from here on out, they do get longer and longer.

Not much to say besides that I'll try to upload more often, but overall still just write whenever I feel like it :))

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 4 chapters in advance (or 2 depending on tier)