After that success, I asked Shisui, "Sensei, can you use your speed to flicker to my blind spot and throw a kunai?"
Shisui nodded, but before he disappeared, I added in a worried tone, "Don't throw it at your regular speed."
He gave me a look like I had said the dumbest thing imaginable, the kind that said he was already holding back. Still, after seeing him fight earlier, I figured it was better to be cautious than end up with a kunai lodged in my forehead.
He flickered with speed that went beyond comprehension, and then I sensed it. A kunai slicing through the Static Field from my blind spot. The feeling was strange, like a phantom brush of heat passing over my skin. It startled me for half a second, just enough to slow my reaction. Luckily, the Static Field wobbled the weapon's path, tilting it off course so it only grazed the air beside my shoulder before striking the dirt.
I exhaled and looked at Shisui. He crossed his arms, expression calm but sharp. "Since you're relying on your field as a fast-reacting sensory dome, your best path forward is to train your reaction to match it."
I nodded, and the next instant, he was gone again. Shisui began flickering from every possible blind spot, throwing kunai from directions my eyes could never catch. I focused only on the feeling, that slight static tremor spreading through the field whenever something entered it. Each time, I tried to move the instant the disturbance reached me. The window was narrow, less than a heartbeat between sensing and impact, but as the training went on, my timing grew sharper.
The more I adapted, the clearer it became how terrifying Shisui's speed really was. He could appear behind me, throw, and vanish before the kunai even hit the ground. And I knew he still wasn't going full out. If he had used his real speed and strength, I would have ended up skewered before realizing he had moved.
Eventually, I started improve. My reactions felt more instinctive than conscious. Shisui finally stopped, nodding with quiet approval. "Well done. You've improved on it immensely."
I smiled and sank to the ground, surrounded by dozens of kunai half-buried in the dirt. Closing my eyes, I tried to steady my breathing. The Static Field still hummed faintly around me, quiet but alive. Then I felt something, a faint ripple near the edge of the field.
My eyes opened immediately. Shisui was walking toward me, and he paused when he saw my expression. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, curious.
I squinted slightly, trying to focus on the sensation. "I can sense you approaching. My eyes were closed, but I still felt it."
Shisui raised an eyebrow, activating his Sharingan for a moment. He looked around, then glanced down at his arm before letting out a small chuckle. "Well, that is an unexpected side effect."
I frowned. "You're always silent. I can't hear you move or sense your chakra. Why could I feel you this time?"
Shisui tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Your Static Field isn't reacting to chakra signatures. It's responding to interference. Even with suppressed chakra, the body still carries electrical potential, muscle currents, static in the air, friction from movement. All of that disturbs your field, and since your chakra is seeded into the area, those disturbances flow straight back to you."
"So it's reading movement itself," I muttered.
"Exactly," Shisui said. "It's environmental awareness. You're detecting how life disrupts balance. The more control you gain, the clearer those disturbances will feel. Every living thing carries charge, so no one can hide from it. The only real counter is speed, moving faster than you can react. That's your only blind spot."
"I'll take that," I said quietly. "Though I am annoyed that at first I couldn't sense your chakra, then I couldn't hear you while you approached, and now that I finally found a way around both, I can't react fast enough for it to matter. How unfair the world is."
Shisui looked at me with deadpan eyes and grumbled, "For someone as gifted as you with lightning chakra nature, you should never complain about how unfair the world is."
I complained, "I work hard for this strength."
Shisui chuckled and ruffled my messy black hair. "I know. You work harder than almost everyone I've seen."
I looked up at him, curiosity slipping into my tone. "Almost?"
He smirked faintly. "Itachi."
Shisui didn't have to explain. Itachi's kind of effort wasn't something you could match through will alone. From the way people spoke about him and the strength he displayed, I could only imagine he trained like a man possessed, quiet and relentless, with a focus that bordered on frightening.
Shisui's smile faded a little as he added, "He's been like that since we were kids. I've never met anyone who pushes himself harder or blames himself more. But between us, you're not too far behind."
I frowned. "That's not a compliment, is it?"
Shisui's grin returned, playful now. "It means you're crazy enough to stand beside the real monsters, not just the so-called geniuses."
I nodded, pleased with that declaration, as Shisui decided the talking was over. In the blink of an eye, he flickered to my blind spot and sent a kunai faster than before, forcing me to react instantly. Our training continued until my arms ached and my Static Field hummed faintly around me like a living thing.
Later that day, I was back at the same training field, this time with Shizuru. I stretched a bit before taking a soldier pill from my hand seal and consuming it. It is slowly becoming a habit, something that helped me keep up with the intensity of my training.
Shizuru's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched me. "You keep using those, but they're meant for missions only. You've been taking them more and more lately."
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "I need the extra chakra they generate. They help with fatigue too. And I hydrate, eat right, and sleep enough, so the side effects shouldn't be a problem."
Shizuru frowned, unimpressed. "You don't need them, Noa. It's fine to move at a natural pace. You don't always have to push past it. Progress doesn't have to be constant."
I avoiding her gaze. "Alright, I'll try not to rely on them too much. Can we go back to our project now?"
Shizuru kept staring at me for a long moment before sighing and shaking her head. She opened her bag and began pulling out several notebooks filled with notes and diagrams. Each page was packed with variations of chakra concentration ratios, tenketsu activation sequences, and control patterns, ridiculous amounts of testing and recalculation.
Shizuru complained, "This is so tiring, and it feels hopeless."
I shot her a teasing look. "Stop it with that lazy, defeated attitude. We're close. I can feel it."
Shizuru's eyebrow twitched as she glared at me. "You're not the one keeping track of every single test, measuring chakra concentration ratios, adjusting control patterns, and recording the results. When one sequence shows even a hint of success, I have to isolate the variables, replicate the attempt, and develop the next step from that point based on my experience with a clan technique I cannot reveal to you. It's a never-ending chain of analysis and experimentation."
I chuckled, trying to sound useful. "I'm helping too, you know."
Shizuru didn't even blink. "Sure, and you'll be the one benefiting from it in the unlikely scenario that we actually find the correct sequence. I understand now why inventing new jutsu is so rare. It's absurd that even with your ridiculous chakra reserves and unnatural affinity for lightning, we still haven't succeeded."
I patted her shoulder with a grin. "Don't worry. I have a feeling it'll work."
Shizuru stared at me for a moment before finally nodding. "I've seen your instincts work too many times to dismiss them completely. But if we don't make progress before the Chunin Exams, I suggest you drop this project entirely."
I nodded, excitement sparking in my chest. "Fair enough. So, what hand seal sequence and chakra concentrations are we testing today?"