Under the moonlight, two children could be seen sweating profusely as they accelerated through running and repeatedly chopped at training dummies. Their progress was modest. After several rounds of this grueling training, Hayate Gekko was soaked with sweat and gasping for breath. It was clear his body could no longer handle such intensity.
Yugao noticed and advised, "Hayate, rest for a bit."
"No," Hayate shook his head. "I still have strength left. I can keep practicing. I'll definitely meet his requirements."
"You don't need to push yourself so hard. Go back and rest," Anya stepped forward. "You're both still young. Make sure to get enough rest. Honestly, you train more effectively when you're energetic during the day."
Hearing Anya say this too, Hayate finally slumped down onto the ground. His face was pale, his body weak, his heartbeat racing. He even saw blurred shapes in front of his eyes and nearly fainted, which visibly alarmed Yugao.
Anya lightly furrowed her brow, formed hand seals, and green chakra lit up on her palms as she pressed them against his chest. Under the effect of the medical ninjutsu, Hayate's complexion gradually turned rosy again. His breathing calmed, and his strength slowly returned.
Yugao thanked her on his behalf, "Didn't expect you to know medical ninjutsu. Thank you."
Anya withdrew her technique and said plainly, "Take him back. I'll be here every night this week. You have one week to practice."
Upon hearing this, Yugao didn't speak further. She helped Hayate Gekko up and slowly walked out of the training field.
Watching their retreating figures, Anya fell into contemplation. Truthfully, even though their training efficiency had been modest tonight, it was only the first day, after all. Being able to reach this level already showed promise. Both possessed talent for swordsmanship—Yugao's skill surpassed Hayate's—but Hayate's fragile physique remained a burden.
If they truly met her standards, Anya considered bringing them into Anbu. However, judging by Hayate's physical condition, it would likely prove difficult.
After the two left, Anya began studying sword techniques alone. Honestly speaking, tonight's battle had given her significant inspiration. Nocturne's blade techniques might've taken a deviant path, but they were undeniably effective—especially in killing. The methods were eerily unpredictable, almost impossible to defend against.
She carefully recalled the scenes from their earlier fight while unconsciously wielding her tanto. For the first move, Nocturne had clearly combined Shadow Clones to launch three attacks at once. The second and third moves built upon that with genjutsu—not just ordinary illusions either. They created a sudden switch between reality and illusion the instant they struck, making them incredibly powerful.
So the Konoha Style Sword Art really wasn't as straightforward as it seemed. No wonder her teacher had sent her here to find him.
After some contemplation, Anya suddenly realized: Her opponent's sword technique had been meant to facilitate killing by confusing her vision, preventing her from mounting an effective defense—just like how she used genjutsu with her Sharingan during assassinations. The difference was that he had combined both aspects into a single sword technique. In the anime, during Team 7's first mission, Zabuza's Silent Killing Technique worked on a similar principle; but what if you could do more than just confuse the opponent's sight?
The five human senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. If one could use sword techniques to block those senses, then in future battles, assassination skills would undoubtedly reach a whole new level.
Suddenly enlightened, Anya's eyes transformed into the Three-Comma Sharingan. She grabbed a wooden sword and started slashing at the training dummy.
After training for a while and seeing nothing to show except numerous cuts across the dummy, she dropped the wooden blade, muttering to herself that she was being stupid—of course the dummy had no senses to begin with. Practicing on it was utterly useless.
No good. She'd have to trouble her teacher.
Using Shunshin, Anya vanished from the spot. It was already late at night, and the village lay quiet, yet the interrogation department remained brightly lit. Clearly, White Fang was still working.
Seeing his student come knocking again, White Fang rolled his eyes without hesitation. With bloodshot eyes and obvious signs of exhaustion, he sighed, "What now?"
Since they were alone in the room, Anya removed her mask and grinned as she said, "Teacher, how do we usually handle those useless prisoners anyway?"
White Fang gave her a sidelong glance. "What kind of scheme are you plotting this time?"
With no reason to hide anything from her mentor, Anya explained honestly, "I recently sparred with that guy you recommended, and I've got some new ideas regarding sword techniques."
Intrigued, White Fang asked, "Oh? Go on."
"I want to develop a sword style capable of blocking all five senses. That way, in future combat, I could achieve perfect one-strike kills—especially useful for covert assassinations."
White Fang understood what Anya meant and fell silent. He knew clearly in his heart that such a sword technique had been created purely for killing, so ruthless that the victim wouldn't even understand how they died.
"What is it, Teacher? Something wrong?" Anya asked, puzzled.
White Fang sighed, "Why did you originally start learning swordsmanship in the first place? Was it really always about killing?"
Anya paused, then answered thoughtfully, "It wasn't at first, but after experiencing war, it certainly is now. If I don't kill them, they'll kill me. Between dying myself and having my enemies die instead, obviously the latter feels better."
That was a hard argument to argue with. After a pause, White Fang tossed her a key. "Go ahead."
Anya took the key and smiled while asking, "Teacher, is there a limit on numbers?"
"No. Just don't trip over your own feet."
"Thank you, Teacher. I'm off."
Anya descended into the depths of the Interrogation Department with the key. A large excavated hollow had been carved out here, with chambers built inside. Using the key, Anya unlocked one thick, heavy door. Inside, over a hundred ninjas were sprawled all over the floor in disarray. Clearly, these people had already been deemed useless and received no special treatment—there wasn't even a bed to lie on. They might eventually have their chakra sealed and be sent to the back mountains to perform hard labor.
Some of the sleeping ninjas became aware of the newcomer's presence and opened their eyes. Seeing only a masked Anbu member, their eyes gleamed with eager anticipation.
Anya shut the heavy door behind her and raised the key in her hand toward those who had woken up. "Don't worry, it's only me," she said. "The key is right here. Defeat me, and you'll get a chance to escape."
Some of them hesitated while still waking up, but the ninja closest to Anya suddenly launched an attack without hesitation.
A flash of steel cut through the air. The ninja clutched his throat and collapsed in disbelief.
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