Chapter Eleven: First Attempt at the Secret Art

Time is truly a curious thing. Once a person becomes busy, the days seem to fly by, yet one never feels as though a moment has been wasted. In the midst of Kato Mikaze's diligent training and ceaseless missions, more than a month slipped away almost unnoticed.

During this period, Kato Mikaze’s days were filled with purpose. There was little need to dwell on missions—after all, a ninja is nothing more than an official mercenary for the government, surviving on assignments. For Kato Mikaze, missions also meant attribute points. Over these weeks, his squad avoided overly complicated or dangerous tasks, focusing mainly on C-rank missions, though they did take on two B-rank missions—and one of those eventually escalated to A-rank.

These assignments sent them northwest of the Land of Fire, into the Land of Rain, where they conducted reconnaissance missions focused on monitoring the movements of Sand Shinobi from the Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind, and Stone Shinobi from the Hidden Stone Village of the Land of Earth.

These missions replenished the attribute points that Mikaze had depleted during his previous study of the Soul Cultivation Technique. As of now, he had saved up another thirty-nine attribute points in his ninja system.

Mikaze’s own strength had already reached the level of a Jonin from the Hidden Leaf. Thanks to the Soul Cultivation Technique, which increased his spiritual power, the amount of chakra he possessed was considerable for a newly minted Jonin—perhaps even rivaling some of the veteran Jonin of the shinobi world.

Especially with the Soul Cultivation Technique, which, after a period of steady and diligent practice, Mikaze had now grasped to a foundational degree. The effects of its perception abilities and soul-splitting combat applications proved impressive in actual missions, particularly when it came to battlefield reconnaissance, information gathering, and assassination—the advantages were plain to see.

However, Mikaze kept the details of the Soul Cultivation Technique to himself, claiming only that he had succeeded in breaking through the family’s secret technique, the Spirit Transformation Jutsu, and had achieved the level where one could leave their body and kill from beyond the enemy’s line of sight.

Within the Kato clan and among a small circle in the Hidden Leaf, it was generally believed that yet another member of the Kato family had mastered the Spirit Transformation Jutsu.

To his teammates, Yuta Nanri and Itsuki Takenouchi, who had spent every day with him on missions, Mikaze’s recent transformation was especially apparent. Not only had his strength grown, but his demeanor had become more composed, more confident, and imbued with a palpable authority.

Yuta Nanri, who specialized in taijutsu, had once been able to spar evenly with Mikaze, and even occasionally gain the upper hand in swordsmanship—which was his forte. Recently, however, the gap in ninjutsu between them had widened, and in taijutsu and kenjutsu, where they once matched blow for blow, it had become almost one-sided. It wasn’t that Mikaze had left Nanri hopelessly behind, but the difference between them was now unmistakable. After about twenty exchanges in a spar, Mikaze could consistently suppress him.

And that was only a friendly spar. In a true battle between enemy ninja, Nanri would fare far worse.

As a Chunin specializing in taijutsu and swordplay, Nanri was frustrated for two or three days after realizing this, despite his normally carefree nature. But after adjusting his mood, he began to work harder than ever on his ninjutsu and taijutsu between missions, even postponing many dates with prospective matches his family had arranged, throwing himself into his training with newfound fervor.

For Itsuki Takenouchi, the most direct impression was that his squad captain had grown even stronger—so much so that he now seemed somewhat inscrutable. As a newcomer to the team, he had only a superficial understanding of the captain’s family secrets. It was said that the Spirit Transformation Jutsu was a closely guarded Kato clan technique, notoriously difficult to master. Until recently, only the clan’s rising Jonin, Kato Dan, was known to have succeeded.

This was a secret technique affecting the soul, shrouded in mystery, with unique capabilities in perception. If mastered to a high level, it was said to allow one to kill from beyond the enemy’s sight, even from miles away—a feat that sounded more like a ghost story than a ninja legend.

As for the precise range of Captain Mikaze’s perception now, Takenouchi could not say—he only knew it was vast and powerful. But the first time he witnessed Mikaze kill from beyond the line of sight, he was genuinely astonished, even shocked.

It was half a month ago, when their squad was dispatched to the Land of Rain to gather intelligence on a B-rank mission. Their target was an elite Chunin from the Rain, skilled in disguise and espionage, whose strength was nearly equal to that of a Jonin—comparable to Mikaze before his breakthrough, only lacking slightly in direct combat.

According to intelligence from the Hidden Leaf’s information division, their target had repeatedly scouted the western border defenses during missions to the Land of Fire. There was an eighty percent chance he was a spy planted in the Land of Rain by the Sand. Given the recent escalation of conflict among the Leaf, Sand, and Rain, their mission was to confirm whether this ninja had stolen critical information about the Leaf’s western defenses. If so, they were to capture him alive if possible, or, if necessary, eliminate him.

Takenouchi remembered that the three of them, under Captain Mikaze’s leadership, trailed the Rain ninja from the northwest border of the Land of Fire all the way into the Land of Rain. Ostensibly, the Rain ninja was escorting a group of Fire Country merchants returning from the Rain—a large caravan with a nine-ninja escort, including one Jonin from the Rain.

Through their investigation, Mikaze’s team confirmed the accuracy of the Leaf’s intelligence, and discovered that, apart from their target, the Jonin leading the group was also a spy—at least a spy for the Rain.

At that point, their mission was upgraded to capturing or killing a Rain Chunin and a Jonin. The three of them continued to tail the targets deeper into the Land of Rain, but as they neared the Hidden Rain Village, they still hadn’t found an opportunity to strike—their numbers were outmatched three to one, and one of their targets was a Jonin. While Rain Jonin were generally less powerful than their Leaf counterparts, they were still formidable.

Takenouchi was beginning to think the mission would end in failure, and that Captain Mikaze would ultimately order a retreat. But the three of them concealed themselves in a hidden tree hollow about ten kilometers from the target’s camp. There, Captain Mikaze ordered Takenouchi and Nanri to remain hidden and protect him.

Then, in that hollow, Takenouchi saw Mikaze sit cross-legged, form a series of hand signs, and activate the Kato clan’s secret Spirit Transformation Jutsu. Before their eyes, a transparent figure—identical in appearance to their captain—floated out from above his head and soared away into the distance. (Mikaze had deliberately let his teammates see his spirit form.)

Not long after, the translucent figure returned. Immediately, they began a rapid retreat. Along the way, Mikaze explained that his technique allowed him to remotely control others’ bodies with his soul, and that he had killed both target ninjas while extracting crucial intelligence through a soul interrogation before their deaths.

When they returned to the village and reported in, their mission was marked complete, and its rank upgraded from B to A.

Nanri and Takenouchi’s faith in their captain grew even stronger. After all, with such a powerful leader, the safety of the whole team was far better assured in future missions.

Kato Mikaze’s reputation within the Hidden Leaf, especially among the upper echelons—the Hokage and the council of elders—was rapidly growing. Though still officially a Chunin, his strength had already reached the Jonin level, and he had begun inquiring about the details of Jonin promotion.

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