Chapter 19: Chapter 19: One Year of Hardship

__________ POV Narration__________

And so, Ken and Tosho trained earnestly, for the following year and a half.

In and out of that cave, sometimes venturing out and finding more scrolls and equipment.

Ken's luck was quite good, and his stealth skills were also impeccable, regardless of how many times he entered enemy territory, he always left it unscathed and undetected.

Most of his actions would be written off as attacks of enemy shinobi. The time of war made it easy for Ken to cover his tracks perfectly, and he knew to take advantage of that.

He didn't just attack one place though, he travelled a bit more, sometimes being gone for weeks on end in order to acquire more diverse techniques.

At some point, a few months into their training, Tosho became accustomed to it, and Ken was able to notice it as well. Instead of waiting to be hit, he now was able to anticipate attacks.

Blocking, dodging, and even hitting back at times. It was clear that his instincts had improved greatly, showing that he wasn't exactly lacking talent before, just willpower.

So, Ken took his training to the next level. No longer giving him an auditory clue, and just hitting him.

It took Tosho a while to get used to that, but he was able to. During that time, he had also mastered some jutsu, and he started using them effectively even in training.

Ken had no problems with that, as he allowed Tosho to use everything he had at his disposal to either dodge, block or make him retreat.

The rules were that there were no rules.

Well, with one exception... Fire Jutsus were a bit of a No-Go, as Ken usually hit him harder when using them, and once even ended the training early.

Ken's explanation for that?

'Using Fire Style Justu in an enclosed space is beyond stupid. Fire burns Oxygen, which is the main component of the very air you breathe...'

Ken always sealed off the cave they trained in perfectly, to prevent even a speck of light from getting in. So running out of oxygen was a possibility inside there.

The cave was large, large enough to sustain them for a few hours of regular training. The fire burned through that very quickly though...

Ken made sure also to give him a thorough explanation of some basic scientific concepts after that incident.

Tosho was like a sponge, he absorbed as much knowledge as he could, and he seemed to be eager to learn more at all times.

And, after an entire year of struggling... Tosho was now able to cross blades with Ken in a spar.

He wasn't as strong physically, and he wasn't as fast, but his reflexes were trained to an insane point, which allowed him to keep up in a short spar using only Kenjutsu(sword fighting) and Taijutsu(fisticuffs).

Ken always managed to overwhelm him with only skill though, as he was always holding back physically during their spars unless it was to prove a point and show Tosho that he still had a long way to go.

Tosho growing complacent and thinking he was too powerful was the last thing Ken needed, so he made sure to beat any thought even similar to that out of his head.

'Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer...'

Was a quote that Ken remembered from somewhere, and that perfectly applied to his line of work.

Being overconfident meant not taking things seriously, and not taking things seriously was just a way to die quickly.

Now, Ken had grown a lot during that year, and he was slowly approaching his 10th birthday at that point.

He was already tall for his age, standing at around 1.55 meters (5.08 feet). And his muscles were also becoming more and more well-defined.

No one was to mistake him for a child anymore, not that many had in the past.

Tosho was also loyal to him at this point, seeing Ken as the only reason he now had a chance to live a better life.

Now, Tosho no longer looked as he did before. No longer the same skinny waste of life he had been before.

Now he was a lean and fit assassin, likely stronger than the vast majority of Chunnin, even possibly at the level of a Jonin.

At that point, in Ken's eyes, Tosho only lacked a few more advanced Jutsu that one would need to be called a Jonin, but his taijutsu was definitely on par.

Tosho's progress mirrored his renewed passion, his power growing exponentially as he underwent Ken's hellish training.

And, after reaching this point in his training, he was also given a uniform...

A coat that covered his body completely, black and completely discreet and with plenty of pouches that contained throwables.

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He received a large straw hat, which covered his head completely, and had white strips of clothing going downwards and covering each side of his head.

But, the most important part of the outfit had to be the mask.

It was very similar to Ken's own mask. But instead of a dot in the middle, it only had one, somewhat thick, red line.

Ken made it so that the ranking in the organisation he was building would depend on the masks to some extent.

Tosho was to be the only one with a single line. 'The First Blade', after him would come two more blades, and after that would just be the numbered.

Ken was looking forward to developing the organization, and it was about time he started doing so...

Currently, Ken wanted to expand his influence, to become stronger before poking the proverbial wasp's nest that was the Mist Village.

Ken found out more about the 7 swordsmen during the one year he had been training Tosho.

They were basically the cornerstone for the Mist Village, their swords being akin to national treasures to them.

And Ken had no plans to just hand them over to the Mist Village after killing the Swordsmen wielding them. They were rightfully his spoils of war.

So he needed to prepare to face the entire village if needed. Though he assumed he'd just be able to hide from them if needed.

'As long as I kill them covertly I won't even have to worry about the Mist... But killing the 7 of them without making any noise whatsoever will be impossible...'

So, Ken decided to start developing his organization. And to do that, he needed money, a lot of money.

Resources, a proper base, it would all take time, which he had, but money, which he'd need to acquire.

He and Tosho theorised a bit on where to get that money and who exactly they could recruit.

They reached a rather straightforward conclusion.

Tosho would handle recruitment and finding a proper base. And Ken would handle the gathering of money for the entire operation.

Ken did make sure to put a rule in place for their recruitment.

'We are not allowed to force regular people to join us, and we must avoid getting them involved in any conflict we encounter at all costs.'

Ken truly didn't care about any shinobi or samurai, as soldiers were always prepared to die, but he didn't want the same fate to befall civilians.

Tosho was quite fine with that, as he wasn't exactly planning to recruit civilians in the first place.

He was to start building a few homes for new recruits, there were plenty of trees in the forest thankfully, so they didn't need to spend any money on that.

But he would use the rest of their savings for tools and other building materials.

Now... Ken was to earn money. And he had found the perfect tool to do so. The Bingo Book.

The book contained all wanted shinobi and criminals with information on their bounties and where to collect them.

The Bingo Book also gave some information regarding the abilities of these people. Giving them ratings and being constantly updated.

So, Ken left the cave with a stack of papers, handwritten by Tosho, and he was to hunt down all of them.

And so Ken started making his way through the forest, dressed in his usual red armour and black coat similar to that of Tosho.

He didn't bother wearing a hat though, as he didn't care about it too much. He also didn't have any backpack or blades on his body.

Instead of bandages, his wrists now had leather guards with storage sigils on them. Allowing for easy transportation for both his weapons and his supplies.

'It was about time I embarked on a long journey anyway... I've yet to feel a lot of this world... Who knows? Maybe I'll even visit the hidden villages?'

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Hope you liked the chapter! Pretty short, but from here on out, they do get longer and longer. 

Not much to say besides that I'll try to upload more often, but overall still just write whenever I feel like it :)) 

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