The handover of duties, familiarizing themselves with the patrol route, and understanding the various traps and warning devices set up by the previous team kept them busy until around 9 p.m.
After everything was in order, Minato Namikaze issued his command: "The first half of the night, Shisui and I will patrol together. Shūichi and Sanyō, you two will take the second half. Get some rest while you can."
"Understood!"
...
After only half an hour of rest, Minato Namikaze and Shisui Uchiha began their patrol.
Part of their duties included checking the traps and other arrangements to ensure they hadn't been damaged by wild animals or anything else that could compromise their effectiveness in battle.
Success lies in the details.
However, the patrol route assigned to Shūichi Hoshita's team was actually at the last stage of a tiered defense layout. There were three other defensive lines ahead of them. But as the team leader, Minato Namikaze remained vigilant, not allowing any room for complacency.
At 1 a.m., Shūichi Hoshita and Kurama Sanyō took over the night watch from Minato Namikaze and Shisui Uchiha, keeping watch until 5 a.m.
Before finishing their shift, Shūichi managed to catch a wild rabbit and two fish, cleaning them with his medical tools.
Minato and the others had grown accustomed to this and showed no discomfort.
After breakfast, Shūichi and Kurama Sanyō rested while they could.
At 9 a.m., the squad moved out together.
They had to dismantle some of the traps and setups left by the previous team and then reconfigure everything according to their own preferences and habits.
For Shūichi, this was another invaluable lesson.
Thus, the Trap Expert tag was triggered.
Unfortunately, Shūichi wasn't particularly interested in this tag for the time being.
Even though there were still conflicts between the ninja villages during peacetime, these clashes typically took place outside their respective countries. As a result, the borders of the Land of Fire were relatively peaceful.
The main purpose of a patrol squad's setup was to provide early warnings of large-scale invasions. However, if individuals were sneaking in covertly, it was almost impossible to stop them.
The Land of Fire's borders were simply too long.
...
Before they knew it, 12 days of monotonous patrol duties had passed.
On this particular day, Shūichi was in an exceptionally good mood.
After nearly half a month of hard work and hunting, he finally met the conditions to unlock the Ninja Tool Expert tag.
But Shūichi didn't rush to unlock it immediately. He waited until their patrol duties were done for the day and they had eaten and rested. Only then did he focus on the tag tree in his mind.
Ninja Tool Expert—unlocked!
With a single thought, the previously greyed-out tag was enveloped in a green glow.
Suddenly, Shūichi felt a surge of energy coursing through his entire body, leaving him tingling all over as his consciousness seemed to elevate.
About 10 minutes later, the strange sensation faded away.
In the darkness, Shūichi opened his eyes, which were now incredibly sharp.
He glanced around and noticed an insect flying in the moonlight.
Instinctively, Shūichi tried to focus on the insect more clearly.
To his surprise, the insect's rapidly flapping wings appeared to slow down. Though there was still some blurring, he could almost distinguish each individual flap—something he couldn't do before.
Prior to this, Shūichi's thought processing speed had been enhanced by a factor of two.
The speed at which his brain processed various information and thoughts had indeed increased.
This enhancement granted him a type of "dynamic vision" similar to the Sharingan, allowing him to process visual information faster and react more quickly. However, it was far from the level he's experiencing now, where he could almost discern each flap of a fast-moving insect's wings.
Tag: Ninja Tool Expert
Condition to Obtain: Proficient use of at least 10 different ninja tools.
Effects: 100% increase in ninja tool proficiency, 100% increase in physical attributes, and 100% increase in neural response speed.
While Shūichi hadn't yet experienced the benefits of improved ninja tool proficiency or enhanced physical attributes, the 100% increase in neural response speed was something he could immediately feel.
If, before acquiring the Scholar tag, his overall neural response speed—including his thought processing speed—was at a baseline of 1, then with the Scholar tag's 100% boost to mental processing speed, Shūichi's brain's neural response speed became 2, while the rest of his body remained at 1.
For instance, the process of his eyes transmitting images to his brain was now twice as fast. After spending considerable time training with Shisui Uchiha, he knew that his dynamic vision still couldn't quite match Shisui's single-tomoe Sharingan, but the gap had narrowed.
Now, with the Ninja Tool Expert tag, his neural response speed had doubled again.
This meant Shūichi's brain now processed information at a speed of 4, while his other neural responses were at 2.
Not only did his brain process information faster, but the speed at which his eyes transmitted visual data to his brain had also doubled.
The result was remarkable.
"This level of perception definitely surpasses that of a single-tomoe Sharingan..."
Shūichi was thrilled. "But just doubling the speed at which my visual nerves transmit information shouldn't have produced such a significant effect."
"The key is my brain's processing speed. It was already doubled before, and now it's doubled again. This is incredible."
"The concept of dynamic vision not only involves the speed of neural signal transmission but also the speed and efficiency with which the brain interprets the images seen by the eyes."
"Unless we're talking about insects with multiple compound eyes, which are like multiple cameras capturing separate images..."
He had dissected plenty of insects before.
"Before obtaining the Scholar tag, my neural response speed was definitely far inferior to Minato-sensei's. But with the Scholar tag, even if my brain processing speed was still a bit slower, the gap wasn't significant."
"And now, the difference should be negligible..."
Although this was just a hypothesis, Shūichi was fairly confident.
Previously, he had consulted Minato about neural response speed. Minato's reaction time was fast, but even he couldn't see the wings of a fly flapping at high speed.
In this regard, even three-tomoe Sharingan had an edge.
But Minato's strengths never lay in visual acuity.
His high neural response speed, strong perception abilities, immense chakra reserves, and most importantly, his space-time ninjutsu talents—all combined to make Minato's Flying Thunder God technique even more advanced than its creator, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju.
Of course, Minato stood on Tobirama's shoulders, which made it relatively easier for him, but it also highlighted Minato's terrifying talent.
Unfortunately, since joining Minato's team, Shūichi had only seen him in action once—and it was over in a single move.
As for sparring with Minato, it was too easy for him, making it impossible to gauge Minato's true strength.
...
"I need to quickly adapt to my enhanced neural response speed…"
"The improvement in physical attributes probably requires some exploration on my part as well."
Closing his eyes slowly, Shūichi began planning to intensify his training once they returned to Konoha.
Despite the physical enhancement, he didn't feel an abrupt surge in strength, indicating that it might require training to fully unlock.
But that was to be expected.
Content and at ease, Shūichi soon drifted off to sleep.
...
"Shūichi!"
Shūichi suddenly woke up.
It was Shisui Uchiha.
"There's an emergency mission!"
Shisui explained, "An Anbu ninja just arrived from the Land of Rain, and Minato-sensei had to return to the village briefly."
Shūichi quickly got up, noticing Minato resting with his eyes closed under a nearby tree.
He then spotted another person, not dressed as a ninja, resting against another tree.
After Shisui woke up Kurama Sanyō, Shūichi asked, "Shisui, what's the mission?"
Shisui replied, "We need to assist an intelligence officer who has critical information. The situation in the Land of Rain is complicated, and their escape route has been cut off."
(End of Chapter)
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