The next day marked the beginning of her training. Akira was careful not to push her and took things slow. Shiori was stubborn, but she appreciated the gesture. They trained until lunchtime.
After lunch, Shiori headed to the library to help Daichi organize some reports. The reports were already piled; she just had to put them in boxes so they could be moved to the archive room.
She got to work quickly. She ensured each box was neat and the reports were arranged so they wouldn't be a mess when someone needed to grab them. She also made an index for each box so they would be easy to find.
It took a few hours, and Daichi left to grab them some tea and refreshments. Shiori was almost done when she suddenly heard a sound from deeper in the room. It sounded like scratching.
She got up to investigate. It was probably a small animal, maybe a rat. She turned behind some bookshelves, following the sound. It was coming from the archive room in the back.
As she turned the last corner, she saw that the door was slightly ajar. It was strange. She was sure that the door was always kept locked due to the sensitive documents kept there.
She was not allowed to go in for the same reason, but the door was ajar. She had seen Daichi go into the room before, but he always closed the door fully behind him.
She could hear the scratching sounds coming from the inside. She didn't want to break the rules by going in, yet she took a step closer. She heard a small crunching sound from beneath her feet.
She looked down and saw a broken raven feather. Had one of the birds ventured inside? She calmed herself down and decided to check it out. If it was a bird, all she had to do was open the door and let them out. She didn't need to go inside and break the rules.
She took a few steps closer, approaching the door slowly. As she got closer and closer to the door, her heart was racing in her chest. She was about to break a rule set for her by the gracious host who had done so much for her, no matter how she looked at the technicalities.
She was hesitant. Disappointing Akira and the guardians was more scary to her than her sense of curiosity, so she decided to back away.
Right as she heard a loud crashing sound from the inside, she reflexively reached for the door. Just as her hand was about to reach the handle, it was gripped firm and solidly. She turned her head to see Daichi looking at her.
"You are not allowed inside." He said sternly.
Shiori calmed her rushing heart before speaking. "I heard some scratching noises. I followed them here to see the door ajar, " she said as she showed him the feather she was holding in her other hand. "I found this over there. I thought that maybe a raven ventured inside and got trapped, " she said with as much honesty as she could muster.
Daichi looked into her eyes, and when he found no lies, he let go of her arm. "Go back to the table. The tea and snacks are there. I will check out to see what made the crashing sound," he said. His tone had the usual warmth back in it, so Shiori knew he wasn't mad at her.
She headed back towards the table, not looking behind her.
When Shiori returned to her room that night, another book was waiting for her. This was probably what Scar was talking about. She quickly checked the rest of the room, and just like previous times, nothing was amiss.
She grabbed her futon, made it ready for the night, and sat on it to read. It seemed to be a storybook, much thinner than the previous book. Maybe there was something in the story, so she started reading carefully. This time, she won't take the book for granted and will make sure to memorize every detail.
There was a village known for its lack of crimes. The safety was so high that no one feared any crime. From pickpocketing to murder, not a single crime happened in the village for decades.
A traveler decided to find the secret of the village to such prosperity. He quickly found the truth. One side of the village leads to a large dense forest. Due to the climate, the forest would be filled with fog at night.
The villagers believed that a monster lived in the forest and would only feed on sinners. The monster entered the forest one day and stayed. At first, when some of their hunters and people went missing, they were scared.
They tried to find and kill the creature to no avail. But then they saw that the creature only kills those who have sinned. The innocents would only be knocked out and found at the forest's edge.
So they started doing it on purpose. They would send those who were deemed sinners to the forest for judgment, tie them to a tree, and leave them for the monster to find.
If they survived, it meant that they were not sinners, but if they were gone, it meant that the sinner would be gone. This was how the village became free of crimes.
The fear of death by the monster kept them at bay. The people of the village worshipped the monster as a god. They made an altar in the forest and would leave offerings for the monster to take.
The village grew and became more prosperous. People from all over the nation came to join and grow the village, which became their safe haven.
The next day, Shiori kept thinking about the book. Although it was written as a children's book, the story seemed more deep. It was a short story, and in it, the main character tried to convince people that this was wrong after finding out everything.
Not all crimes should be punished by death. He tried to convince people to use another way. But his actions only raised anger in people, and they tied him in the forest, never to be seen again.
To Shiori, the story seemed to be more about an ideology. The punishment for crime should be so high that people do not dare commit it. While it sounded good at first, it wasn't just. Even if all crimes were not punished by death, the extreme was dangerous. Suppose the punishment for theft and murder were close enough. In that case, the person might just as well kill the victim and hide their body in the hopes that there wouldn't be enough evidence to connect him to the crime.
After all, if the victim was alive, they would tell everyone who committed the crime. Even if this was an extreme example, people were likelier to commit more significant crimes if the punishment was heavy enough.
A hungry child who would have been satisfied with stealing a few coins here and there would be greedy for more since the punishment for a whole wallet and a few coins didn't make a difference.
Shiori snapped herself out of her thoughts and headed for the clearing. Akira was going to spar with her today. She had neglected her physical training for a while, and it was time to rectify that.
Akira was swift and graceful. His movements flowed from one to another, creating an intricate dance that was enchanting to watch. They were using taijutsu to fight, while Shiori used an agility-based style.
While her size meant she couldn't use many styles to their fullest, her sensei helped her combine his style with Uzu's style and create one that best suited her.
Her sensei was amazing at both taijutsu and kenjutsu. He even taught her the basics of using different weapons. She didn't like fighting, but she understood the need for it. They decided that short daggers would be the best choice for her.
So she had developed a fierce and tactical fighting style centered around staying in extremely close proximity to her opponents, where her two daggers shine. She weaves in and out of range using her speed and agility, slipping past long weapons to force her enemies into hand-to-hand combat, where their options are limited. By staying close, she denies them the ability to form hand signs, preventing the use of ninjutsu.
Her attacks were fast and precise, with each strike aimed to disrupt the opponent's chakra flow. Drawing from her Uzumaki heritage, she infuses her daggers with chakra, delivering blows that sap her opponent's energy. In addition, she incorporates sealing jutsu into her fighting, quickly activating seals she inscribes mid-battle to bind or suppress her enemies, making them vulnerable to her relentless assault.
Though not physically strong, her speed allows her to overwhelm her enemies through a series of continuous strikes, never giving them a moment to recover. She fights with aggressive tenacity but with the finesse and chakra control of the Uzumaki, making her a dangerous and unpredictable opponent in close combat.
But today, she was fighting without any weapons or chakra. She worked on getting closer to Akira to get into his blind spots. Still, each time she got close and struck, Akira would move in a way that should have been impossible for someone of his size and would counter her easily.
She barely managed to get a few hits in. Akira landed more than a few hits, but he always pulled his strikes at the last second, so she wasn't hurt. She knew that she couldn't win. But that was not the point.
This was a spar, and Akira was using it to teach her. He constantly pointed out her mistakes and advised her on how to fix them. Shiori listened to his advice and did her best to fix them.
Akira was so much ahead of her that, in a way, it hurt her pride to admit. She made a mental plan to find someone to train with after her training here was done. She had so much to improve on.
But it made her happy to get all the advice on what she needed to improve. They were nearing the end of their spar. Shiori was visibly tired, and it was almost time for lunch, so she decided to use a trick.
She jumped back, and as Akira moved to follow, she jumped as high as she could and aimed a chakra-enhanced punch to hit Akira. She was thankful that Tsunade sensei taught her a few tricks as well. Akira, who sensed the chakra-enhanced punch coming, jumped back, but she expected this.
She wasn't going to hit the man with a chakra-enhanced punch. She let her fist collide with the ground and sent the usual shockwave into the ground to make the ground blow.
Akira, who barely moved since he didn't expect the amount of power in that punch, had to move back again. However, in the quick second he needed to gain his balance, Shiori, whose hand was still on the ground, did a cartwheel and managed to land a kick to Akira's forearm.
The kick was not enhanced, and her aim was a bit off since Akira moved last second. Instead of getting hit in the stomach, he got hit on the forearm. But it was a solid hit.
Shiori quickly got up as they both bowed to each other to signal the end of the fight. Akira was smirking at her, not mad that she used a trick to land the hit.
"Very sneaky, Shiori-chan. While we promised to use taijutsu, we never said that you couldn't use chakrato enhance your body. It was a loophole, and you took advantage of it. I'm so proud of you." Akira said with a full-blown laugh.
Shiori noticed that the man was holding her forearm. "I'm sorry, sensei, I didn't mean to kick that hard. Can I take a look at it?" She approached the man.
"It's okay, little one. I know you didn't mean to. If anything, it makes me happy to know that you can kick that hard if it comes to it." He smiled kindly as he offered his arm for her to take.
She rolled the sleeve up and ran a diagnostic jutsu. It was just a bruise. She used a jutsu and healed it completely before letting go. She noticed old scars littering his arm. They told the story of a great warrior. She wondered what could make a man involved in so many fights that caused the scars to live in a temple.