As for Shinichi, the captain himself, he still stood where he was, his gaze fixed on the distant sea.
At this time, dawn had just broken. The sea breeze carried a damp salty chill as it blew head-on, while waves repeatedly crashed rhythmically against the shoreline reefs and sand.
Looking at the tides rising and falling before him, the wind and waves clashing together, Shinichi suddenly felt something stir within his heart.
He slowly walked to the edge of the beach and faced the boundless sea, then slightly parted his feet and began stepping and moving his palms.
The movements were completely different from his usual violent, ferocious, fire-like combat style.
At this moment, his hands rose, traced arcs, and rotated back. Every movement was incomparably slow, like pushing mountains or parting clouds.
The trajectories were rounded and continuous, the outgoing and incoming momentum cyclical and endless, as though drawing upon some kind of invisible circulating force.
At the instant he assumed his stance, the sea winds blowing toward the shore seemed drawn by some invisible power. The originally chaotic, rushing air currents began to gather and turn toward his location.
Yet once these winds entered within half a meter around Shinichi's body, they seemed to crash into a mass of soft clouds, abruptly becoming gentle and slow, no longer carrying the slightest sharpness.
In an instant, countless fine and lingering air currents silently rotated and flowed around him, as though alive, following some mysterious rhythm.
Wind was formless and intangible, endlessly flowing.
It could be soft or hard, slow or swift.
Deflection, displacement, guidance, neutralization…
Shinichi's hand movements became slower to the point of almost stagnating. His mind seemed completely immersed in the flow surrounding him.
Yet at one moment between breaths, his movements suddenly changed!
As though a calm lake had abruptly raised monstrous waves, the gentle circulating currents exploded violently.
Between the opening and closing of his palms, countless wind blades shrieked forth, cutting and sweeping outward, transforming into a wildly howling hurricane centered around him!
Its momentum was fierce and tyrannical, forming a stark contrast with the previous tranquility and harmony.
Layers of fine sand on the beach were swept upward, forming muddy surging vortices in the air.
Nearby ocean waves were forced backward by the violent wind pressure, exploding into sheets of white mist that scattered in the morning light.
Yet this frenzy lasted only a few short seconds.
The next moment, the storm abruptly ceased.
All the fierce intensity receded like a tide, once more transforming into light and graceful flowing wind.
Ferocity and gentleness shifted freely between his gestures. Sometimes light and elegant like willow catkins brushing the face, sometimes wild and passionate like a hurricane passing through.
Softness and hardness, stillness and motion, restraint and release… all these seemingly opposing states flowed and transformed within his every movement, perfectly unified without boundaries.
And at that moment, a massive wave stirred up by the previous wind pressure suddenly surged toward Shinichi's direction!
Shinichi neither dodged nor evaded, nor did he even open his eyes.
He merely curved his arms slightly. The countless endlessly circulating airflows around him suddenly condensed, then transformed into layered, continuous rotating cyclones that spread outward like rolling cloud seas.
Flowing Clouds!
The giant wave crashed into this sea of wind-clouds, as though falling into an invisible yet flexible barrier. It was dispersed, guided, and neutralized layer by layer by countless flowing cyclones.
The immense force was gently redirected in all directions, ultimately transforming into countless streams of water that coiled around Shinichi like spirited snakes, flowing obediently according to his will like tamed beasts.
Shinichi's eyes remained slightly closed, yet his palm gently flipped.
The countless water currents surrounding him, controlled through the stance of Flowing Clouds, suddenly condensed, then, following the pushing motion of his palm, violently surged backward!
Flying Snow!
The wind force revolved, borrowing force to return force!
The power of the wave that had just been neutralized and guided by Flowing Clouds was now wrapped and reshaped by Shinichi's Wind Style, transforming into a towering waterspout that surged back against the sea wind. With a posture far fiercer and more condensed than before, it slammed violently back into the ocean!
Boom!!!
A massive depression exploded open on the sea surface. Countless sprays of water scattered like snow, refracting fragmented rainbow colors beneath the morning light.
Only then did Shinichi slowly open his eyes.
Clear light flowed through his pupils, as though wind and thunder flickered within them, before quickly returning to profound calmness.
Learn from heaven and earth, follow the natural way.
In Shinichi's previous life, there had been such a saying. Though this world lacked those words, many Ninjutsu in the Shinobi World had originally been created by geniuses of successive generations after gaining inspiration from nature itself.
At this moment, standing between sea and sky, listening to the wind and observing the waves, immersing body and mind in them, he, too, had touched upon the true meaning of wind: the harmony of hardness and softness, endless flowing movement, through this dialogue with sea breeze and tides.
From this moment onward, the six forms of Shinichi's Wind Style Nintaijutsu had basically taken shape: Dream Bullet, focused on explosive impact.
Storm Blade, focused on ultimate cutting power.
Quick Step, focused on agility and adaptability.
Sky Dance, allowing hovering and aerial suspension.
And what he had just comprehended… The defensive form focused on neutralization and guidance, Flowing Clouds.
And Flying Snow, which borrowed force to return force and transformed defense into counterattack.
The six forms complemented one another, balancing hardness and softness, with changes following the heart freely.
The sea breeze still blew, and the sound of waves remained unchanged.
Only the silent figure standing upon the beach, along with the subtle lingering currents of lively wind not yet completely dispersed in the surrounding air, testified to that brief resonance between man and nature moments ago.
"I really am a genius."
Shinichi sighed inwardly and smiled faintly.
...
That night, at the Konoha southeastern front headquarters.
Commander Koharu Utatane received the confidential message transmitted by Shinichi.
"Village Hidden in the Mist has already formed a secret military alliance with the Village Hidden in the Sand. Within one week, both sides will simultaneously launch eastern and western pincer attacks against the Land of Fire."
After reading it, Koharu Utatane's eyes suddenly sharpened. She then directly handed the confidential letter to the person beside her.
Shikaku Nara, who had recently been transferred here after the northeastern war temporarily subsided, was serving as chief strategist.
Shikaku Nara accepted it and quickly swept his eyes over the line of text. His brows immediately furrowed as he prepared to speak.
However, before he could say anything, Koharu Utatane's voice had already sounded: "Shikaku, immediately draft an urgent report and send it back to Konoha for the Hokage's judgment."
Wait, that decisive, my honored elder?
Shikaku Nara felt a wave of helplessness inside. Even if this intelligence came from Shinichi Higashino, even if his strategic predictions had already been verified many times before.
But something as major as the Village Hidden in the Mist and the Village Hidden in the Sand secretly forming an alliance, which concerned the direction of the entire war situation, by normal logic, shouldn't they first cross-check it through other channels? At least discuss the possibility a little?
And they were just skipping directly past all that?
He helplessly complained inwardly, but his face revealed nothing, because he clearly understood that within Konoha's higher-ups, and even among many people in the village, trust in Shinichi Higashino had already reached an unconditional level.
Check my Patreon for 122 more chapters
Pa treon. com/SweetestDeath