Shiori was happy, tired but very happy. She finally made some progress in her training. After hours of Akira throwing projectiles at her, she could reliably detect them.
Not only could she detect them, but she could move while doing so. This meant she would no longer get hit in the face, which was an accident and only happened once. Akira was not that cruel. Still, it surprised her so much.
While her movements were still not perfect, and she couldn't move at ninja speed while doing so, it was significant progress. Initially, it was hard for her to move within her sensory zone. She was more likely to keep the zone where it was and move herself, which was not good since her zone was relatively small.
But it still amazed her how much progress she had made in such a short time. They were done for the day, and Shiori was sitting on the ground panting.
"I think you should be ready for the next step soon. Take some rest for the next five days from training. We need your body to be well-rested for the next step. You can still meditate, but do not use any chakra." Akira said as he extended a hand for Shiori to get up.
Shiori accepted the hand and pulled herself up with a slight grunt. "Thank you, Sensei." She had taken to calling the man that after a certain point in their training.
She could also see the happiness gleam in his eyes each time he called the man like that, despite being reluctant about being addressed as such the first few times. But now he would give her a kind smile and even ruffle her hair when she said it.
They headed to the dining room for lunch. "Since you are going to rest for the most part, I think it would be nice to introduce you to Daichi today. He should have some tasks to keep you busy," Akira said as he put more vegetables on Shiori's plate.
Shiori nodded. It would be nice to officially meet the guardian. While she saw glimpses of him around the table, they never had a conversation with each other.
Daichi was of average height and build, with a slight frame that belies his strength of character.
She knew that his role in the library, with documents, and in making medicine required a sharp mind and steady hands. Daichi had long, wavy hair, dark brown in color, often tied in a low ponytail to keep it from falling into his face while he worked. His eyes were a deep, thoughtful hazel, always seeming to be in contemplation or focused on the task at hand.
Daichi's skin was paler than the other guardians', resulting from spending much of his time indoors surrounded by books and scrolls. He wears a pair of thin-rimmed glasses that add to his scholarly appearance, and his hands are often ink-stained from his meticulous documentation work.
Despite his quieter demeanor, there was a palpable intensity in Daichi's gaze, reflecting his dedication to preserving the temple's knowledge and healing arts.
Shiori was glad she was working with him. The man seemed to have an endless supply of knowledge, and he was glad to share it with her when he was not busy. After their initial meeting six days ago, the man quickly took her under his wing.
At first, he was reluctant to give her more delicate tasks, like working with the medicine or older scrolls. Still, after he witnessed her dedication and skills, he came to trust her.
She was currently working on making the medicine order from the village. The order was from the village medic and contained the medicine needed for different conditions.
Daichi was working on a similar order for another nearby village. Shiori was glad there were detailed instructions about each medicine since she was unfamiliar with them.
Daichi was glad to show her how to make them, and written instructions eliminated the chances of making a mistake. She was currently making small pallets that helped fight infections in wounds.
The idea was to mix these dried pallets with a pit of water or even saliva in case of emergencies to make a paste, which was then put on the wound and wrapped. This method was popular among hunters and shinobi.
They could carry the small pallets easily, and since they were dry, they wouldn't take much space or weight. Shiori used to mix her own plants whenever it was needed, but she could appreciate the idea of pallets.
Not only did the person with the wound not have to put in the effort of mixing their own plants and making things from scratch in the field, but it could have taken the valuable time they could have used to get away from danger.
She made a mental note to use a similar technique for some of her frequent medicines when she had the time in the future.
It was finally time for the training. She was once again in a clearing with Akira. "Now for the last step. So far, you know how to create a zone and detect information about objects in your zone."
"The last step is to not only connect your chakra to the zone but your mind. You should become within your zone. Where the objects are or how many places they are shouldn't matter. They should all be the same to you."
"While there will be a delay in getting the information the further away it is, you must have information about all places simultaneously. When it matters is when you are trying to have an active connection with the things in your zone."
"As I'm sure you noticed, it feels different when an object that contains chakra is in your zone compared to a living being. Objects will only contain the chakra put into them, but living beings will have different types of feedback."
"their chakra level may actively change, their emotions can affect their chakra and much more. While by now you can deal with one living creature and constant emotion, you need to first get used to multiple creatures and changing emotions."
"Then, as the last step, you will become one with your zone, and we can let your seal go in time. Remember that while I will give you the basis, you will take a while to master them, so there is no rush. All that matters is for you to perform it on a controlled scale for now."
"Now for the surprise, I promised." Akira's eyes gleamed as he made a high-pitched whistling sound. For a moment, nothing happened, and then Shiori heard it—the sound of wings flapping. Soon, a flock of ravens was sitting on the trees all around them.
Akira smiled. "As you know, the ravens are part of our temple. However, they are not normal ravens. They are quite intelligent and capable of using chakra. In a way, they are shinobi animals similar to the ones many clans keep. But remember, they are not pets. They are guardians of the shrine and its protectors." Akira said as a bird flew to his outstretched arm, and he gently petted its head.
Shiori looked around, but she couldn't see Scar anywhere. She also didn't see a few of the ravens she had come to recognize, so maybe not all of them flew here. It made sense since the temple had many more ravens than she believed possible.
She still wondered what they did to feed them since they never seemed hostile towards her, even when she was holding food. While they enjoyed the seeds she occasionally fed them, they never fought each other over food and treated it like a snack.
"I need ten of you to stay here and help me and Shiori-chan with training. The rest of you can go back to your duties." Akira said in a commanding yet gentle voice. It was said to be both a request and a command, and it wasn't forceful.
The birds simply started flying away until ten remained behind. "Shiori-chan. I need you to activate your zone like the previous time and start sensing it's inside. They will fly randomly inside your zone. There may be multiple ones flying in, or some of them may do different things. You need to tell me out loud everything you can sense happening inside your zone. We will start slow." Akira said. As Shiori got ready, Akira explained everything to the birds.
He simply talked to them as if they were humans. He didn't simplify his speech or repeat himself, and the birds attentively listened.
He was in the field once again, hiding. Tomorrow was his sixth birthday, and he had managed to avoid conflicts since his last incident. He mostly hid at home, refusing to leave.
He even took to training in their small backyard, which barely had space for hanging laundry. No one dared enter someone else's house without an invite, even kids. As a small clan living in a tight space, their little privacy was of high value to them.
Most kids also tended to be a bit rowdy, and no one liked to have their homes messed up. The change of routine was nice to him. he could train in peace and be safe from the bullies.
But today, his father had finally had enough of him and kicked him out to go and get some fresh air. Like most of the adults in their clan, his father was mostly active at night and slept during the day.
Having a bored kid at home didn't do wonders for him. He was a patient man, but that patience had limits, so in the end, he threw him out of the house for a day. Thankfully, it was early enough in the morning that most people were at home getting ready for the day.
While the men slept during the day, the women did the opposite. They guarded the clan during the day and took care of the children and other tasks while the men rested, helping their clan survive.
He quickly ran outside the gates and into the fields. There was a cornfield that children hardly entered since the adults would get mad if they damaged the plants. But he was careful and made his way to the middle of the field. The plants had been watered recently, and it was still a while before their harvest, so there wasn't a reason for anyone to search for him there.
He decided to meditate, working on his basic chakra exercises.