Chapter 98: The Feeling of Flight
After seven days of training, Ōnoki no longer instructed Ishiro. Without the Tsuchikage's corrections and occasional hands-on guidance, Ishiro could no longer train as recklessly as before.
To continue improving, Ishiro began practicing the Light-Weight Boulder Technique on small wild animals.
The results were… tragic. Due to his lack of precise control, the animals' bodies became unbalanced—sometimes their upper halves crushed their lower halves, sometimes limbs detached entirely from the main body.
The gruesome details were best left unspoken.
However, Ishiro noticed something important: the damage wasn't solely due to his lack of mastery—it was also because the animals struggled.
He was altering the gravitational force on different parts of their bodies, but the animals, unused to the change, continued to flail and resist, which only made the situation worse.
Realizing this, Ishiro stopped using struggling live animals and instead switched to practicing on sleeping or already-dead ones.
And it worked—especially with sleeping animals. After applying the technique (which took some time), he'd gently wake them, and they'd suddenly find themselves bouncing around like astronauts on the moon.
They could float for minutes until the chakra within them wore off.
This made Ishiro very excited—because it meant that even if he didn't perfect the jutsu, he still had a chance to fly, as long as he remained completely still during casting.
Of course, he still didn't dare try it on himself. After all, he only had one body. What if something went wrong?
But seeing the results with animals gave Ishiro confidence. He was determined to keep practicing.
After another half a month of monotonous training, Ishiro finally decided: it was time to test it on himself.
Unlike before, where he stood to cast jutsu, this time Ishiro lay down flat.
He didn't take any chances. Fearing the jutsu might harm him, he asked Shironeko and Dan'go to keep watch. Once everything was in place, he formed the hand seals.
Despite its high rank, Light-Weight Boulder Technique had surprisingly few hand seals—only four originally, and after Ōnoki's guidance, Ishiro had reduced it to just two.
He formed the two seals, then slowly channeled chakra throughout his body.
After a long pause to confirm everything was normal, he began to move just slightly.
Even the smallest movement caused him to float—his body, freed from gravity, began to rise.
Thanks to his prior flight experience with Ōnoki, Ishiro quickly stabilized himself in midair.
Hovering half a meter above the ground, he spun gently in place to test his balance. Once confirmed, he deactivated the jutsu and landed safely.
Seeing him land unscathed, Shironeko and Dan'go—who had been holding their breath—rushed over.
The jealousy on Shironeko's face made Ishiro proud. He had finally mastered a high-level jutsu—an A-rank technique that gave him a unique trump card.
He practiced it over and over, more than a dozen times. As he became more confident, his casting speed increased.
Eventually, he even took Shironeko and Dan'go into the air with him, the three of them flying in circles ten meters above the ground.
He didn't go higher—not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to draw attention. After all, this was his secret trump card, and if enemy spies found out, it would be far less effective in battle.
After playing for a while, they returned and performed Dan'go's daily tests. Recently, Dan'go had become used to being tested, and since the data clearly showed he was growing stronger, he looked forward to the routine.
The tests went smoothly. Dan'go was indeed improving, albeit slowly. But after twenty straight days of data, the trend was clear.
As the higher-ups had guessed, natural energy was improving Dan'go's fundamentals.
Compared to twenty days ago, his strength stat had improved the most—and it was previously his weakest trait.
In contrast, his agility—already his strong suit—had shown less improvement.
Between Ishiro's A-rank jutsu mastery and Dan'go's miraculous growth, Ishiro felt that Dan'go's encounter was the truly enviable one.
A steady, balanced power-up, starting from his weakest area—was this the makings of a perfect, six-sided warrior?
If possible, Ishiro would've gladly swapped places with him.
Not that such a swap was possible, of course—but perhaps he could still benefit indirectly. Ishiro had been using sensory ninjutsu to observe Dan'go during his energy absorption each day.
Although he didn't know the exact reason Dan'go could absorb natural energy, Ishiro felt his own affinity with it increasing slightly.
Maybe it was psychological, but Ishiro had a theory. He wasn't envious of Dan'go—he was genuinely happy for him. And during the moments when Dan'go absorbed natural energy, Ishiro was the closest person to him. Perhaps natural energy mistook Ishiro's feelings for Dan'go as goodwill toward itself—and started getting closer to him too.
This was all Ishiro's speculation, of course. There was no way to measure natural energy affinity—it was just a feeling.
He shared the theory with Shironeko and asked if she felt anything similar, considering her bond with Dan'go was even deeper.
But Shironeko rolled her eyes. "I can't even sense natural energy. How would I know?"
Embarrassed, Ishiro scratched his head. "Well… how about this—try sleeping with Dan'go at night. Maybe you'll absorb some natural energy through osmosis or something."
After all, the area around them was full of natural energy. In theory, just breathing it in should do something. But Ishiro wasn't sure if such passive exposure had any real effect—it was probably just wishful thinking.
Still, if his theory was correct, then Shironeko—who was even closer to Dan'go—might also begin to benefit.
After the test, Shironeko hugged Dan'go and returned to Ishiro's cabin in Sealing Zone One. She wasn't wasting a second of their one-month window.
Lately, she and Dan'go had been training entirely inside the zone. The village had even relocated some ninja to make space just for them.
Other than the daily tests, they rarely left. In fact, if Ishiro hadn't needed their help earlier, they wouldn't have come out at all.
Watching them head off without delay, Ishiro shook his head. He still needed to practice Light-Weight Boulder Technique, so he stayed behind.
Back at the training ground, Ishiro activated Camouflage Technique, then tried to use Light-Weight Boulder Technique.
It worked—but the moment he activated it, Camouflage was dispelled.
Frustrated, Ishiro realized that he still couldn't maintain both jutsu at once. His grasp of the technique wasn't strong enough to multitask.
That seriously limited its usefulness.
He was rushing now. After over twenty days off, his break was almost over. He didn't know when the village would order him to head to the Rain Country.
If he could cast both techniques simultaneously before leaving, he'd go alone. If not, he'd bring his three subordinates.
Because the two strategies required completely different tactical approaches.
Let's just hope the higher-ups weren't in a hurry…
In fact, they were. But due to Dan'go's situation, the village had decided to wait until his one-month absorption and test period was complete.
During that time, Ishiro acted as Dan'go's guardian. Replacing him would require someone who understood Dan'go's situation and could also sense natural energy—something few ninja in the village could do.
So they waited. Only one week remained, so the higher-ups decided to delay the mission.
As for the Rain Country… any alliance between Hanzō and Danzō wouldn't happen overnight. Those kinds of dark deals always took time.
For Ishiro, that final week was critical. Determined to master Light-Weight Boulder Technique, he spent every moment he had floating.
If he had chakra left, he was in the air.
The intensive training paid off. In just five days, he succeeded in casting jutsu while flying—including Camouflage.
During the final two days, he practiced aerial combat and developed various strategies based on his unique movement.
The day Dan'go's one-month trial ended, Ishiro received the notification—report to the Tsuchikage's office immediately.
He didn't hesitate. Grabbing his gear, he followed the Anbu messenger to the office.
He had long since prepared for the Rain Country mission.
At the Tsuchikage's office, seeing Ishiro's fully equipped attire, Ōnoki nodded and gave his approval.
There wasn't much briefing. Instead, Ōnoki asked how Ishiro's training was going. Upon hearing he could now fly while casting jutsu, he was visibly impressed.
When Ishiro said he planned to go alone, Ōnoki paused, then nodded.
After all, Ishiro's mission wasn't to confront Root head-on, but to sabotage their operations using his close ties to Akatsuki.
Whether he went solo or with a team didn't make much difference—and solo missions were more discreet.
Leaving the village, Ishiro quickly checked with his sensory jutsu—no one was tailing him.
He activated Light-Weight Boulder Technique, then Camouflage, and ascended into the sky.
Since Camouflage was less effective against the sky's monochrome background, Ishiro flew at an altitude of over 2,000 meters—high enough that even if someone was watching, they wouldn't notice.
He was now airborne—heading straight for the Rain Country.
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