The forest beyond Konoha's patrol perimeter was quiet in the way a predator's lair was quiet. Not the peaceful stillness of dawn, but the tense silence of something holding its breath, waiting. The MC Kaien in this new life slipped through the undergrowth, every step deliberate.
He had chosen this place for one reason: danger.
His earlier experiments with combining physical techniques had been progressing, but something gnawed at him he'd never truly tested them against the chaos of the unknown. Training dummies didn't fight back. Rocks didn't shift underfoot. Logs didn't crack and send him sprawling when his balance was off. If he was going to mold something new, it needed to survive the real world.
Today was about trial by fire.
Kaien's plan was simple: find the roughest terrain, push his body through every conceivable obstacle, and test how each enhancement Hachimon Tonkō strain control, leaf concentration balance drills, dynamic movement patterns held up under strain. He'd even fasted for 24 hours to simulate chakra fatigue.
The first hour went smoothly. He dashed through dense trees, alternating short bursts of speed with sudden direction changes, each time monitoring how his weight shifted, how his muscles handled the torque. Twice he used the Partial Gate Opening he'd been experimenting with half unlocking the first gate for just a second before sealing it again.
It worked, but each burst left a dull ache along his inner thighs and calves. The microtears would add up.
By the second hour, he was deep enough that even the background hum of Konoha's wildlife faded. Here, the air was heavier, the ground uneven. The soil gave way to jagged rock, wet with moss. He climbed, testing his grip strength and core stability.
And that's when he made the first mistake.
His right foot landed on what he thought was a sturdy stone, but the moss concealed a thin crust over a pocket of air. The rock crumbled, his weight dropping sharply. His training reflex snapped in he twisted midair, planting his left palm against the cliff wall, kicking off into a rough landing.
The cliff face didn't cooperate.
The moment his palm pressed into it, the rock gave way, a cascade of loose shale tearing down with him. His arm scraped raw, his footing smashed into a protruding edge, and he tumbled into the dark below.
He hit water cold, shockingly cold. The impact drove the air from his lungs. Disoriented, Kaien kicked up, breaking the surface into total blackness. The cliff above was gone; in its place, a jagged ceiling barely lit by a slit of daylight. He'd fallen into some underground river cavern.
The current was merciless. It wasn't just water; it was a liquid conveyor belt, dragging him into the dark, away from that precious slit of light.
Kaien's instincts screamed for panic, but his training screamed louder. He rolled his body sideways, trying to swim diagonally toward the wall where he might find something to grip. His right hand brushed stone slick as oil. He clawed at it anyway, nails shredding, but it slipped away.
The current shoved him forward.
His mind raced oxygen was already low. He'd been holding his breath since the drop. He kicked harder, not just with raw strength but with measured bursts, remembering the whip-like motions of certain taijutsu evasions, converting them into underwater propulsion.
A boulder loomed ahead, splitting the current. He angled toward the pocket of swirling water behind it. He slammed into it shoulder-first, pain lighting up his nerves, but his fingers finally caught on a jagged edge.
The reprieve was short-lived. The current still pulled, and his grip was weak. He forced his body higher, wedging one foot into a crevice, then the other, using a climbing grip he'd practiced thousands of times in the academy training yard. Only now, failure meant vanishing into darkness forever.
With a final heave, he pulled himself onto a narrow ledge. His chest heaved. Water streamed from his hair and clothes. He coughed hard, each spasm stabbing at his ribs.
The cold was setting in fast. He'd read about hypothermia in survival manuals back in his MMA days here, it would be worse with chakra depletion.
Move or die.
The ledge led deeper into the cavern, the air smelling of minerals and damp earth. He followed it, legs trembling, until he reached a dry slope littered with sharp rocks. Here, he began the slow climb up, hands bleeding, his breathing deliberately controlled.
Every few meters, he stopped not from choice, but because his vision blurred. He clenched his jaw. "Not here. Not like this."
The climb tested every ounce of his conditioning. His forearms screamed, his back ached, but his mind locked onto each microgoal: the next hold, the next step, the next breath.
After what felt like hours but was probably less than thirty minutes, the tunnel angled upward sharply. A faint draft kissed his face fresh air. He pushed harder, teeth gritted, until he finally emerged into open daylight.
Kaien collapsed onto the forest floor, staring up at the canopy. His entire body was shaking, his limbs leaden. He wasn't sure if he'd moved because of skill or sheer animal stubbornness.
But one thing was certain his techniques had been pushed past their design limits. The partial Gate bursts gave him that final edge underwater, but they also left microdamage in his tendons that he could feel now, a deep, steady burn.
He closed his eyes, letting the forest sounds slowly return around him. This wasn't just training anymore. This was proof: to create something worthy of surviving this world, he'd have to risk dying for it.
And today… he'd almost done exactly that.