Preparing for Battle
The Counter Force is a power that exists in every world—its strength simply varies from one reality to another.
In the Type-Moon world, the Counter Force is exceptionally strong, manifesting as the continuous decline in the power of magic and even affecting the potency of Heroic Spirits' Noble Phantasms. Although their formal rank may remain unchanged, their destructive capability is noticeably reduced. The Counter Force plays a decisive role in this suppression.
By contrast, the Counter Force in the Naruto world is comparatively weak—evident in the borderline reality-breaking powers of techniques like the Mangekyō Sharingan. Take Obito's Kamui, for instance: its ability to warp space and create a personal dimension is something the Type-Moon Counter Force would never allow to exist unrestrained.
With that in mind, Shirō's plan had a high probability of success.
If the world could tolerate something as absurd as Kamui, then surely his comparatively modest Displacement Magic could be pulled off without issue.
However, for Shirō to create a displacement channel using Medea's magical knowledge, he first needed to learn the spell and reach a certain level of mastery. There was no need to achieve the legendary level of the Ensign family's unique Displacement Magic—that technique took generations of research to perfect, and a beginner like Shirō could never replicate it overnight.
Originally, even with Medea's knowledge, that kind of mastery would have been impossible. But there was a catch—his previously "useless" system had been fully repaired, and its database now contained most of the magic from the Type-Moon world, including the Ensign family's Displacement Magic.
Unfortunately, raw magical theory wasn't enough. The system's database functioned like a vast textbook—having access to it didn't mean one could instantly understand and apply the knowledge. Medea's teachings were different; she didn't just pass on spells, but also her personal insight, intuition, and experiential understanding of magic. Between the two, Shirō knew which was more immediately valuable.
And while his quick mastery of Projection Magic might make him seem like a magical prodigy, the truth was less flattering—his talent was decent, but not extraordinary. His rapid progress had been due to the efficiency boost provided by the Heroic Spirit Card, not sheer genius.
For this reason, Shirō had avoided diving into the Ensign family's advanced Displacement Magic—it was powerful, yes, but useless if he couldn't control it. Instead, until his new weapon was completed, he focused on training in basic Displacement Magic.
Thanks to his growing magical foundation, he mastered the beginner-level form within two days. That was no surprise—he was practicing a simplified version, not the Ensign family's high-grade space-manipulation art. But refinement beyond that point would be far harder; he had already absorbed almost everything Medea could offer on the subject.
The Ensign family's method was another matter entirely. Their magic could not only displace matter but even manipulate space itself—freely relocating physical locations, or, at the highest level, displacing concepts. For example, transferring the concept of a person onto a doll, allowing the doll to inherit their power and partial memories.
It was a level of mystery comparable to EMIYA's Projection Magic, though the two had different origins. EMIYA's craft was a degraded form of his Reality Marble, inherently difficult to reproduce, whereas the Ensign family's technique could theoretically be taught—though only through rigorous direct instruction. Still, there were similarities, and by cross-referencing system data, Shirō could barely begin to piece together the principles.
In the days before the final assessment, Shirō split his training: his main body practiced combat applications with his new weapon, while a Shadow Clone researched Displacement Magic. Each evening, after his Chakra recovered, he would use the technique to further enhance his weapon while incrementally improving his own proficiency.
Four days before the exam, Nakamura and the other Jōnin finally returned. Shirō couldn't help but think—after watching over 600 episodes of Naruto—that these squad leaders were far too hands-off. At such a critical time, there had been no intensive training camp, no special drills.
Still, they hadn't been idling—they had been gathering intel.
"Here, Shirō. This is information on Heijō Masamura," Nakamura said, handing over a scroll.
"Thank you, Captain," Shirō replied, immediately scanning the contents.
Nakamura added, "He's also a Magnet Release user. Avoid relying too much on shuriken and kunai."
Shirō frowned. "Troublesome."
"His Magnet Release isn't as strong as the Fourth Kazekage's, but it's still dangerous."
"Understood, Captain. By the way, can you help me make a weapon using Earth Release?" Shirō asked, presenting his new armament.
Nakamura examined it before shaking his head slightly. "I can, but its durability will be low—too fragile for real combat."
"That's fine," Shirō grinned. "Have you forgotten which Ninjutsu I'm best at?"
"Oh… right. Your reinforcement technique." Nakamura's eyes lit up. "In that case, I'll make a few more ninja tools and disguise them. Might give that guy a nice surprise."
Shirō didn't exactly approve of the underhanded approach… but it wasn't being used against him, so he let it slide.
The new intel forced a small change in his training. Instead of enhancing his main weapon at night, he focused on applying Displacement Magic to his new Earth Release tools, making them easier to deploy in the assessment. The timeframe was short, but with Reinforcement Magic, it would suffice. The downside was that his primary weapon might not reach peak performance before the finals.
Not that he was certain he'd reach the finals anyway—this year's roster was stacked.
Rasa, Minato, and Sasori were obvious threats, already showing signs of their future Kage-level potential. Kitsuchi, though less famous, was equally dangerous. While he'd top out as an elite jōnin in canon, here he was several years older than Minato—practically in his physical prime.
The age gap mattered. In the shinobi world, even a two- or three-year difference could mean the difference between an accomplished warrior and someone still maturing. Minato's generation was already fierce—but Shirō was younger still, and that made the climb ahead even steeper.