The next morning, dew still clung to the grass when Kurou summoned Shisui to a stone basin etched with ancient runes.
> "Defense is not just shielding. It's restoring. You must learn to protect with strength and grace."
He pressed his hand to the ground.
> "Arch Ninjutsu: Crystal Bloom Guard."
From the earth sprang transparent crystal flowers, forming a dome around him. An illusion? No—solid, humming with energy.
Shisui launched a test blast of Sunfang Bloom at it.
The petals hit the dome, vanished into the crystals—and moments later, a healing mist was released into the air.
Kurou stepped out, unaffected.
"Spirit-nature hardens through clarity of thought," Kurou said. "Let your mind be calm. Let the flowers bloom."
Shisui knelt and followed the gestures:
Root Curl
Fracture Echo
Bloom Gesture
Mist Pulse
On the third try, shards formed beneath his feet—tiny crystals that twinkled before vanishing.
A beginning.
That evening, as storm clouds rolled in, Kurou looked at him with a smirk. "One last technique, boy. The one meant for killing."
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
> "Arch Ninjutsu: Thunderclap Judgment."
He blurred forward in a flash of lightning. His palm struck a large tree—Arch Energy erupting in pulses. The tree didn't burn, but the leaves wilted, as if its very spirit had been rattled.
"Corpus + Lightning. You'll need absolute control of your muscles and nerves."
Kurou handed Shisui a leather strap.
"Tie this to your arms and legs. It'll slow your movements. Train in it until you forget it's there."
Shisui obeyed, and as the rain began to fall, he practiced the Thunderclap sequence:
Charge Coil
Pulse Ring
Vein Shock
Final Echo
By nightfall, the strap had begun to smoke—his own Arch Energy leaking through.
Kurou chuckled.
"You're progressing faster than I expected, Shisui."
The boy didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the horizon, where the mist of the Sacred Forest shimmered once more.
He was ready for the next step.