In the Land of Wind

CH4 In the Land of Wind

Hayate spends idyllic days with his master. He learned and improved a lot under her tutelage. While oftentimes it felt like hell, Hayate didn't mind the hellish training as long as he could eat the delicacies from Jingliu's hometown. His ear had been accustomed to hearing his master's chilly voice whether it was to scold or her stern lecturing tone sounds soothing. Looking at her flawless and enchanting figures is always an amazing experience.

In short, to keep himself sane, Hayate made his master Jingliu his emotional anchor. He tried to cope with the stress and the overwhelming feeling of having these monotonous days by enjoying anything he could enjoy in this space.

His physical aspect has gained tremendous increase, especially after Jingliu introduced him to a gravity chamber and forced him to do various lifts and cardio workouts. Along with the combat training fighting against enemies from beyond the stars starting from the grunt level, to the boss level enemies, his combat sense and reflex were upgraded significantly.

And then there's the study session, Jingliu was not an expert in the field of science, however, her knowledge even the general one was a thousand years more advanced than what Hayate already knew. Mainly she taught him the knowledge of material science and the symbol-carving on Jade Abacus. As she said, to wield an immaterial sword one must have a proper understanding of the material world. She taught him about the Jade Abacus after she saw how he utilized the exploding tag, the talisman had a mysterious symbol of ninjutsu which is somewhat similar to symbol-carving in Jade Abacus.

Jingliu also helped him with the chakra control and even enlarged his reserve it was a coincidence that this could happen. Hayate was the first chakra user she had encountered, and she was curious whether he could harness the cosmic energy.

So, she tried to teach him the cultivation of Path. But it seems that his body is incapable of harnessing the cosmic energy that was represented by concepts. Chakra is a combination of the physical and spiritual energy of a being. While Jingliu uses a cosmic energy bestowed by the Aeon of Destruction that she followed. 

Jingliu found that while the source is different, how to manipulate this energy is still fundamentally similar. She instructed him to circulate his chakra following the circulation based on the cultivation technique that she used. And the result was a tremendous upgrade. His tenketsu points have been opened and enlarged, meaning he could gather and utilize chakra more efficiently, and his chakra reserve which has reached its maximum point increased steadily. 

Jingliu also teaches him how to change the shape and form of chakra without the need for hand seals. The hand seals are some kind of activation sequence, and Jingliu stated that if he could mold the chakra into the desired shape and forms, there would be no need for this hand seal. 

Another ability that Jingliu passed onto him is sensory ability. One time Hayate asked him why she blindfolded her eyes. Jingliu answered with long profound philosophical talks, something about choosing whether gazing to the abyss or striding blindly and she chose the latter. While Hayate didn't know much about her condition, and he was not close enough to ask her about that he asked her how he could still see with eyes blinded. And then, she taught him on the probing. She used the cosmic energy while he used it with chakra, the same old.

There's one time that Hayate feels like he wants to give up he wants to return to the Elemental Nation. But no, he can't quit when there's an active training module. He's on the second training module and he needs to spend a year training in this space.

A year passed in a blink, and overall it was such a great harvest. His physique, chakra, and combat prowess increased. Right now, he might be on par with a low-tier kage level. 

Hayate's Status looks like this.

[Status]

— Name: Hayate Gekko

— Age: 26

— Rank: Tokubetsu Jonin

— Health: 4,120/4,120

— Chakra: 10,435/10,435

— Parameters:

—— Strength: 7

—— Intelligence: 6

—— Speed: 6.5

—— Stamina: 6

— Jutsu:

—— Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone, Clone, Body Flicker, Substitution, Transformation, Transparent Body, Chakra Proving, Fire Style: Explosive Kunai, Fire Style: Flaming Arrow, Fire Style: Fiery Spike Wheel, Fire Style: Flame Sword Formation, Fire Style: Fire Cloak, Wind Style: Wind Bullet

—— Taijutsu: Leaf Style: Hard Fist

—— Kenjutsu: Leaf Style: Crescent Moon, Secret Sword: Moonlight, Flowing Mirror: Lucent Moonglow, Flowing Mirror: Shine of Truth

Pay attention to his parameters, before his training it was similar to his latest character sheet minus the assessment for ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and hand seals. That assessment has a maximum value of 5. But now, every single one of them is off the chart! 

Hayate couldn't know whether he could contend with kage-level power unless he tried fighting one himself.

After finishing the second module of his training, Hayate bade farewell to Jingliu as he somehow missed the air of the Elemental Nation. 

"I will be gone for a while. Don't miss me that much, Master Jingliu."

"Such a pity, I've been quite fond of tormenting you. Hmmm ... very well, we shall meet again. When we do, show me your progress, Young Man."

"Goodbye." Hayate sent his kindest smile and operated the system to return to the real world.

Hayate opened his eyes and checked his surroundings, it was the Konoha forest that he hadn't seen for a year. With vigilance still high he sent his chakra out to probe his surroundings. After knowing that the nearby shinobi was more than 4 km away, he felt safe.

"Hahahahaha, I'm finally free from that devil-like master!" 

Hayate let out a boisterous laugh as if a dam had been breached. He checked himself that he still had his ANBU uniform borrowed.

"Ugh, this attire is so lame. I should go to a tailor when I returned to Konoha and ordered a custom set." Hayate muttered.

Jingliu provided him with training and other everyday attires found back in her world and those are the most beautiful and comfortable clothing he ever wore in his life. Pity that he couldn't retrieve the Item Generated inside the Training Space to the real world.

"Now then, I shall continue the mission"

While Hayate has his eyes opened by the intergalactic civilization through Jingliu, the Will of Fire is still burning strong within him. He was a Konoha shinobi first and foremost. Life is a mission, literally. He never forgets about the mission to espionage the Sand Village. Every day inside the Training Space, he reminds himself about that mission.

Hayate activated the Transparency Jutsu and started leaping from one branch to another. His movement, while it was invisible to the naked eye it still be captured because there was a wind everywhere he passed, and he broke tree branches everywhere he stepped. His speed was superior to that of even Yondaime Hokage or Raikage A, and it was speed from his physique alone. 

'That's worrying.' Hayate jumped down and then he changed to running in the ground. 

Sunagakure no Sato, the Land of Wind. 

Sunagakure lies in a fortified valley behind cliffs of rock, with passage in and out of the village restricted to a single cleft between two cliff faces, making the area very hard to attack from the ground. The cliff was guarded by dozens of sand shinobi with keen observation or sensory ability. If some tried to be smart-ass and bypass this gateway by circling it or climbing it, they would be greeted by a multitude of traps lying about. Unless someone has the means of flight like the Third Tsuchikage, then it would prove difficult to attack the Sand Village.

Hayate Gekko waited for the night when there was a less of sandstorm and the line of vision decreased. Then, he walked slowly toward the entrance still with Transparent Jutsu activated. And as expected, no one can see him. After all, there are no Uchiha or Hyuuga with their dojutsu in this village.

Hayate plan was simple, he would go to the Kazekage office to gather some intel. And he will return upon finish. He walked and parkoured through the unique suna building with ease. He always keeps the Probe activated with a radius of 100 meters at the lowest possible frequency. While it could only vaguely detect chakras, it won't alert other sensors nearby. It was only to gauge and notify him whether there was any sand shinobi lurking nearby. He found the Kazekage Office Building.

'Is this person the Kazekage himself? Curious, why the chakra signature isn't that strong with this person.' Hayate mused as he probed and felt like the chakra reserve pool was lower than him, about quarter of it.

'If a Kazekage, the kage of one of the five great shinobi villages is this weak ... did that make me qualified to be the shadow of a hidden village? What the hell is even this reserve? And if I had a kage level chakra and abilities, why would I even obey the Lord Third?' Hayate mused.

On his travels in the desert, he thought a lot of things. A lot of unimportant things. For instance, why does he still go through all the troubles to complete this task? He's not the feeble tokubetsu jonin anymore. He's already a decent low-tier kage-level shinobi with unique jutsus.

He had asked about the homeland of his master, and he couldn't stop gritting his teeth for it. His master was the famed Sword Champion who once garnered thousands of admirers and received elevated fame. But then, when she got mara-struck and on the verge of insanity she was ousted and even labeled as Sinner by the government. 

The life story of his master shows how petty, unreliable, and dark the government body is. And Hayate has noticed this ever since the Third Shinobi War. He just ignored it as there was no need to be concerned with it. After all, either you go with the flow or are swept by it forcefully. Unless he got a means to navigate against the tide, he was incapable of making changes.

And now, with this Swordsmanship ..., Hayate felt that he had enough strength. He could make a change, he could change the lives of shinobi to not just revolve around kills or be killed.

'I think I get it now ... ' Hayate widened his sleepy eyes in realization. 

'So this is why they want me to sign that contract, when a man who lives all his life as a weakling, suddenly receives unimaginable power, they most likely would change following their worst trait. Become arrogant and didn't conform to the rules. That wouldn't be the case for someone who has principled and straightforward ideals, but an ordinary man like me isn't ready to wield this kind of power. I see, so that's why they pulled me over and talked about terms and conditions. It is to prevent the case when a system user like me goes out of control.'

He now understood why the Chief asked him to sign that document. It is a precaution if he succumbs to the darkness in his heart. 

'Well alright, let's not try anything drastic with the elemental nation. There's no need for a luxury like a lofty ambition or chasing a vague ideal. Let's just get the job done, get the money from Lord Third, get home, tease Yugao, and icha-icha with her all night.'

As his control over chakra was more proficient, Hayate Transparency Release became more hard to detect. Even a sensor-nin might be incapable of sensing him, well, he still doesn't know about the one with special dojutsu. Fortunately, there's no dojutsu clan in the Sunagakure. Even he had modified it to not only cover his body with transparency but also remove his breath and odor. He was confident that unless someone was a Hyuuga, then there's no one could see him.

Hayate still invisible to the naked eyes entered the Kazekage office tagging along with some sand ninja. The sand kunoichi has a jonin level chakra, she wears a brown flak jacket and a suna head protector, cloth headband, and also has purple makeup on her cheek.

The female chunin knocked on the door, a raspy voice sounded from the inside.

"Enter."

"Ha!" 

The Kunoichi entered and was greeted by a man in a Kazekage robe, for some odd reason wearing a veil covering his mouth, and also the Kazekage top hat looked similar to Konoha one but instead of red it was yellow with "Wind" character written in it.

"Kazekage-sama, I've returned bearing the news from the Konoha." she passed the scroll to the Kazekage.

"Thanks for the good, Maki-kun."

"Ha!" the kunoichi then left the office.

Kazekage opened the scroll and read it, Hayate slowly sneaked and stood behind Kazekage. The scroll was encrypted with seals, then he saw the Kazekage release the seal to show what the actual content. Hayate swiftly noted the information inside.

There was information on the upcoming invasion battle plan, how many shinobi were involved, the escape route, the logistics, etc. The Kazekage seems disinterested in the detail as he looks at the last entry written in the scroll.

— Midnight, Uchiha District Exchanged information with Orochimaru's trusted man. The proctor in the Preliminary of the Final Stage of the Chunin Exam followed him and eavesdropped until he got found out. The proctor is eliminated. No intelligence is leaked.

'I've seen what I need to see, well this is easy.' Hayate thought.

"Hahaha, old man Hiruzen ... your time is limited!" the 'Kazekage' let out a laugh after he read the intel. He turned his chair around and stared at the space Hayate stood and said, "Do you agree with me, Infiltrator-kun?"

Hayate stopped and furrowed his brows. Instead of shocked or flustered, his expression was puzzlement. He was more curious about how the Kazekage found out about him despite his best effort concealing himself with the Transparency Jutsu.

'How did he know? I've covered the sight, sound, and smell, and even cloaked my chakra to make it similar to an insect. I'll just pretend he hadn't seen me, isn't like he's seen me anyway.'

"There's no need for hiding, I know you're there. Show yourself!" 

Hayate was stubborn, he didn't believe in Kazekage's word. 

'If you're so capable, instead of directly attacking me why did you yell? Aren't you bluffing?'

Hayate was confident that he was still not exposed. Even if he is exposed, his identity is still concealed.

"Ninja Technique: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" a swarm of white snakes appeared from 'Kazekage's hand, these reptiles opened their maw wide and pounced toward the wall.

'The only one who's able to use a jutsu like this aside from Anko-chan it would be ... one of the Sannin, Orochimaru.' thought Hayate as he jumped upward to dodge the snake barrages. He stuck his feet into the ceiling and contemplated. 'I still wondered how he found me though.'

Before he could form a hypothesis to answer his doubt, the Kazekage summoned another snake to strike him. This time it was a single snake and it came from his mouth, making it look very nasty. It opened its mouth and a sword appeared trying to stab him.

It was fast, but Hayate was much faster. 

'Fire Style: Flame Swords Formation!'

He materialized a formation of floating fire swords, 3 swords in total, made from his chakra. The first blade deflected the sword which came from the snake's open maw. The second and third swords flew forward to stab the 'Kazekage'.

The snake-user Kazekage dodged the attack using a substitution but was immediately chased with the third sword.

"It seems that you already have this whole village in your pocket. Orochimaru. To think that your plan and manipulation is this good, as expected of the Sannin."

"Hehehe ... you say something funny. Why don't you reveal yourself already."

"I'm a bit introverted and shy, so I'll pass." after saying that, Hayate materialized another fire sword and grabbed it on the hilt. 

The sword was visible to the naked eye for a second. But when he grabbed the handle, the Transparency Release cloaked it and the sword turned unseen.

He learned the Flowing Mirror Swordsmanship from Jingliu. While the fundamental move is the same, the forms of the sword are different from one individual to another. It was like handwriting, people have different handwriting because it reflects their personality. The [Sword] materialized using Flowing Mirror is also like that. 

Jingliu has spent all of her life perfecting and pursuing her swordsmanship, she developed her sword to the point where she could wield the Fluoresphemeral or the Lunar Flame. The so-called Lunar Flame does not emit heat like the ordinary flame, yet it is the complete opposite. It was the origin of her Ice-power. This is the form of her Flowing Mirror Swordsmanship.

Different from his mentor, whenever Hayate used the Flowing Mirror Swordsmanship, he always materialized a flaming sword. It was made out of chakra turned into a fire element, but condensed and then shaped into a sword. Maybe it was because of the strong Will of Fire that burns within, or because of his elemental affinity. The fire sword is his form of Flowing Mirror.

Whether Jingliu's Fluosphemeral or Hayate's Fire Sword, they're not solid state matters. They're intangible and fleeting plasma. Yet, just like the fabled Susano'o of Uchiha Madara, Hayate's Fire Sword behaves like a solid material and has the property of the strongest metal alloy. Jingliu's lesson on material science proved to be insightful, when he comprehends the materials he can visualize better his sword.

Hayate swung and jumped forward brandishing his sword. The Kazekage Orochimaru as if expecting it, used the snake sword Kusanagi to block it. They exchanged a few strikes, and even with an invisible enemy and unknown swordplays, Orochimaru proved his extraordinary ninja skill as he blocked 8 out of 10 of Hayate's moves.

'I see now ..., it's heat right?' Hayate realized this when he fought against Orochimaru.

He had turned himself invisible and cloaked his whole body with the Transparency Release. The jutsu also covers the sound he makes, and the smell that he releases. But not with the heat he emitted. Normally, humans might be unable to detect precise movements by perceiving the heat. But there are a lot of animals who can, with snake being one of them. And Orochimaru was the master of Snake.

After finding out about this, Hayate knew that his Transparency Jutsu still had room for improvement. He covered for that weakness and manipulated the cloak to encase his body and make it not emit heat. The heat would be similar to the surrounding temperature at all times. This cloak also extends to his sword, and now he has become unperceivable to even Orochimaru with his snake-like sense.

Orochimaru who had lost the vision of his assailant widened his eyes, he grew incessantly curious about what kekkai genkai that able to do this feat. Although, this kekkai genkai won't be as prized as Uchiha's Sharingan, having this unique kekkai genkai would bring trouble to the enemy. Orochimaru wanted to capture this person, dissect him, and study the DNA sequences. He licked his lips with his long snake tongue in anticipation.

Hayate didn't idle, he used the first stance of the Flowing Mirror: Lucent Moonglow to decapitate the fake Kazekage. Fighting an unseen enemy, even the Snake Sannin would be troubled with that. And his foe is stronger than him who has reached kage level powerhouse. 

The Fire Sword beheaded Orochimaru's head, but he was still able to use kawarimi and appeared a few meters behind. Biting his thumb, and making hand seals, Orochimaru used Kuchiyose to summon the Manda from Ryuuchi Cave. 

"Ninja Art: Kuchiyose!"

BOOM!

The humongous size of the psychic animal instantly destroyed the Kazekage building. Suna shinobi and civilians were alerted. The senior advisors Ebizo and Chiyo stood atop a building.

"Enemy attack!"

"That's the psychic summon of Orochimaru."

"Konoha is so shameless and rampart, how dare they!"

"Orochimaru is nuke-nin, he had nothing to do with Konoha. The snake boy is affiliated with Otogakure and we're an ally."

"Ohhh I know that, Ebizo. Don't treat me like an old senile woman, you senile old man."

"... where is Rasa when we need him?"

"Ebizo-sama, that robe ... isn't that Kazekage-sama robe?" commented a chunin from the side pointing at Orochimaru in his Kazekage robe.

"Sunagakure no shinobi, do not interfere!" Hayate transmitted these words to everyone.

"What, who's talking?"

"Am I crazy, I heard voices in my head ..."

"What the hell is that? What's happening?"

The suna ninja watched without making a move as Orochimaru just stood there on top of his summon beast. They didn't dare to run forward as they knew that aside from Rasa, there was no strong kage-level shinobi fit to fight in the village. Of course, there are retired advisors like Chiyo and Ebizo, but they are too old to handle such a catastrophic fight and could only provide some minor help or guide the civilians to evacuate.

"Orochimaru ... never know that you've gone crazy to wage war against one of the great ninja villages. Very well, this great me pleased and will devour them all."

"Quit yapping, Manda. Can you sense him?" Orochimaru from the top of Manda's head asked.

"Yeahhh ... I still can faintly sense the distortion of heat radiation around him."

Hayate looked at the huge ass purple snake and shook his head. He had enough experience facing enemies with plus size, and to be honest there are pros and cons about this. With great size they have more strength and can tank more damage, however, they were prone to getting hit and moving slowly.

'I've fought against Phantylia the Undying ... what can an overgrown snake possibly do to me?' he thought recalling how he was toyed by a huge pale-skinned woman.

"Swordward!"