Team 4's first formal D-rank mission briefing wasn't dramatic. It took place in a small, bare room in the Hokage's Tower after the Genin teams had dispersed from their assignment announcements. Yumi Adachi stood before them, the mission scroll concise in her hand.
"Your first mission is 'Wild Boar Deterrent and Crop Protection'," Yumi-sensei announced, unrolling the scroll. "A farmer on the outskirts of the village, in District 3, is having trouble with wild boar crossing the perimeter into his fields at night, damaging crops. Your task is to deter the boars without harming them and secure the field perimeter before nightfall. This falls under basic perimeter defense and animal handling – standard D-rank."
She folded the scroll. "Duration is one day. We leave within the hour. Basic gear, minimal provisions. This is a test of applying your fundamental skills in a non-Academy setting. Any questions?"
Sora pushed her glasses up, looking thoughtful. "Sensei, will the boar actively attack? What level of threat are we expecting?"
"Unlikely they'll pose a significant threat unless provoked or cornered," Yumi-sensei answered smoothly. "Their primary drive is food. The perimeter likely has weaknesses they've exploited, or perhaps something specific attracting them. Identify and resolve. Riku, you have some basic trapping knowledge, correct?"
Riku nodded. "Yes, Sensei. Small-scale deterrents, simple snares for marking."
"Good. Leverage that. Kenji, any initial thoughts based on your… unique perspective?" Yumi-sensei turned her sharp gaze on him, using the slightly loaded phrase she'd coined for his abilities.
Kenji composed himself. This was his chance to integrate his ability naturally into the problem-solving process, framed by his cover. "Well, Sensei," he began, choosing his words carefully. "If it's just wild boar, they usually follow instinctual paths. If they're coming into the fields, it might be a gap in the current defenses, or a consistent path they find easy. Sometimes…" he feigned a brief thought, focusing on how 'desire' or 'instinct' might look as runic patterns on an animal. "…the sheer… focus… of the animal's intent can weaken certain barriers if those barriers aren't robustly reinforced." He looked at the simple perimeter lines on the mission sketch, perceiving their runic signatures – basic 'exclusion' seals, clearly lacking in redundancy or strength. "We could check the energy signatures of the current perimeter first. See if any sections feel… weaker, or show signs of repeated stress that might indicate a pathway."
Yumi-sensei's eyes seemed to glint with interest. She gave a small nod. "Analyzing perimeter energy signatures. An application of… sensing barriers? Consistent with a Fuinjutsu focus." She was deliberately integrating his perceived ability into tactical concepts. Good. This meant she wasn't dismissing it; she was observing how he could apply it. "Worth exploring, Kenji. But remember conventional observation first. Visual confirmation is paramount."
"Understood, Sensei," Kenji said, bowing slightly.
She turned back to the team. "Alright. Gather your minimal field gear. Meet me outside the Tower entrance in fifteen minutes. Punctual, organized, and ready to coordinate."
The brief hike to the farmer's land was uneventful. Kenji used the time to subtly observe his teammates in transit – Sora's sharp eyes scanning the roadside foliage, Riku's quiet, steady movements, his senses taking in sounds and scents. Yumi-sensei walked with an efficient, ground-eating stride, occasionally offering crisp points on proper road march discipline. Kenji could feel her attention subtly shift between them, observing how they moved and interacted outside the controlled Academy environment.
They reached the farmer's land – vast, open fields bordered by a low, seemingly incomplete earth berm and simple wooden fencing. The air here smelled of tilled soil and distant forest. Kenji's runic sight immediately picked up the simple 'exclusion' rune layered along the current boundary – a single, thin thread of energy meant to deter, weak and riddled with tiny inconsistencies. It wasn't a formal shinobi barrier; it was barely a civilian warning line. No wonder the boar were getting through.
The farmer, a gruff man with dirt-stained hands, greeted Yumi-sensei with evident frustration. He led them to a section of fence that had been flattened. "They came through here last night," he grumbled, pointing at the destruction. "Every few nights it's a new spot! If this keeps up, we'll lose the whole crop!"
"Understood," Yumi-sensei replied calmly. "Team, examine the point of entry. Identify the weakness."
Riku immediately knelt, examining the disturbed earth around the broken fence. He noted the distinct hoof prints, the angle of impact, the loosened soil around the fence posts. "Looks like they pressured the fence here," he reported. "Focused weight. This wood is old, and the grounding wasn't deep enough. They likely hit it hard, testing."
Sora peered at the broader area, consulting the rudimentary map on the mission scroll. "Is there a water source or dens nearby?" she asked the farmer. "Something specific pulling them towards this side of the fields?"
The farmer scratched his chin. "Aye, little creek bout half a klik that way," he pointed towards the deep woods. "They probably watering up, then coming up to root. Easy path along the creek bed."
"Right," Yumi-sensei stated. "Likely vectors confirmed. Sora, examine the wider perimeter near the creek entrance area – look for worn paths or disturbed ground along the berm that might indicate repeated crossing points."
"On it," Sora said, her observation runes humming with focused activity as she set off.
"Riku, examine the fence line integrity – where are the weakest points? How can we reinforce it effectively?"
Riku nodded, already assessing fence posts with a practical eye.
"Kenji," Yumi-sensei turned to him. "Use your preferred method. Analyze the existing perimeter's energy pattern. Identify areas of weakness or stress that correlate with these potential entry points. Let's see how your… resonance reading matches the physical evidence Riku and Sora are finding."
"Yes, Sensei," Kenji replied, hiding his quiet excitement. This was a perfect application. He needed to show his method correlated with conventional findings, not replaced them entirely.
He knelt near the broken fence section Riku had been examining, but instead of studying the ground, he placed a hand near the fence post, eyes closed, focusing his runic sight. He didn't need physical contact, but it helped sell the 'sensing' cover. He focused on the 'exclusion' rune weaving through the simple fence. Where the farmer had pointed, where the fence was broken, the rune was completely snapped, a ragged break. Along the ground nearby, the energy of boar-instinct-and-force still faintly rippled.
He 'scanned' along the fence line, extending his runic perception. His focus felt less like sight and more like feeling a weak current – searching for points where the current thinned, faltered, or felt frayed and stressed. This felt remarkably like basic sensing, albeit with an added layer of structural perception only he had. He needed a way to interpret the pure runic feeling into something communicable.
He stood and walked along the perimeter, pretending to examine posts and ground visually, but internally letting his runic perception drift over the 'exclusion' rune barrier. There. A section of the earth berm, while physically intact, had a notable gap in the runic weaving, like a skipped stitch. The energy didn't flow cleanly. Further down, near the treeline where Sora was searching, another section showed multiple faint points of stress within the runic structure, places where it bent inwards under repeated, though perhaps not forceful, pressure – secondary test points.
"Sensei," Kenji called out after about fifteen minutes, during which Riku had identified several physically weak fence posts and Sora was confirming worn trails near the creek. "Based on the perimeter energy… there are a couple of significant weak points I can sense." He walked back towards the section he'd mentally marked. "Here," he pointed at a section of the berm that looked fine visually. "The flow feels… thin here. Like the exclusion isn't solid." He walked further. "And down there, near where Sora is working," he pointed towards the treeline, "it feels like the barrier's being pushed repeatedly. Bending."
Riku came over to where Kenji was pointing at the berm. He visually inspected it. "Looks solid enough, earth's packed well." He pressed his foot against it. No give. He gave Kenji a look that said, Are you sure?
"It's not about the physical structure here," Kenji insisted, selling the sensing aspect. "It's how the… protective feeling is woven through the dirt. Here it feels like the weave is just… gone for a short stretch. A gap."
Yumi-sensei was watching closely. She walked over to the spot Kenji indicated, knelt, and placed a hand on the berm, closing her eyes for a moment. Kenji's runic sight flared – he saw her runic analysis activating, scanning the local energy. She wasn't seeing the exclusion rune weaving itself, but perhaps the subtle disruption Kenji was feeling manifested as something anomalous to her developed senses.
After a moment, she opened her eyes. Her expression was thoughtful. "A… thinning, yes," she murmured, looking at Kenji. Her sensing might not perceive the rune itself, but perhaps she could sense the chakra flow (or lack thereof) within it. "Interesting." She then walked towards the area Kenji indicated near the treeline. After a brief visual scan, she had Sora bring over one of her scented rocks. Sora confirmed the area had a stronger smell of boar there. "They've definitely been testing here," Yumi-sensei agreed. "Physical signifiers and… energy reads… correlating." She seemed to be confirming the validity of Kenji's sensing through physical evidence found by others.
"Okay, Plan Update," Yumi-sensei announced, bringing them together. "Riku, reinforce the visibly weak fence posts and construct your basic deterrent traps along likely pathways you've identified. Sora, continue verifying major and minor animal trails and check the terrain further back towards the creek for other approach vectors." She looked at Kenji. "Kenji, you will focus on identifying these energetic weaknesses you're sensing. We need a more robust, continuous exclusion barrier along the perimeter. I want you to… adapt your Fuinjutsu knowledge. Design a series of simple, easily replicated seals we can place along the fence and berm that reinforce that exclusion principle."
Kenji blinked. Adapt his knowledge? Create seals? On a mission? This was accelerating faster than expected.
"Can you devise a simple symbol – visually recognizable for mass application – and teach Sora and Riku how to infuse it with chakra?" Yumi-sensei pressed. "Something basic that can be drawn quickly with minimal resources, reinforcing the existing energy line you're sensing?"
Kenji's mind raced. Design a seal from the ground up? Based on the pure runic concept of exclusion? He'd analyzed countless seals, seen how they anchored runes. He knew the core 'exclusion' rune well. Translating it into a simplified, trainable ink-or-chalk-or-mud pattern…
"Yes, Sensei," he said, feeling a surge of combined challenge and opportunity. This wasn't just showcasing a trick; this was showing functional, adaptable skill under pressure. "I can try. A basic reinforcing seal. Something drawing on the surrounding earth/wood chakra, simple enough to replicate quickly. We can draw it directly onto the fence posts or the berm with chalk or mud."
"Excellent," Yumi-sensei smiled. It wasn't a soft smile, but a sharp, pleased expression of seeing potential met. "While Riku prepares the physical defenses and Sora completes the wider survey, design and teach this reinforcement seal. We'll apply it to the entire perimeter as a final layer. Your methods are unconventional, Kenji, but if they contribute effectively to mission success… they have value. Now, let's see if your talent can translate into practical team application. Begin."
As Riku headed off with a bundle of thicker stakes and wire, and Sora disappeared back towards the treeline, Kenji crouched again. He pulled out his piece of chalk. No complex diagrams, no specialized ink. He needed a single, robust symbol that screamed 'exclusion' to the runes, simple enough that someone without his sight could copy it, powerful enough when infused with chakra to buttress the weak perimeter barrier. He pictured the core 'exclusion' rune, turning it in his mind, dissecting its structure – how it pushed energy outwards, how it defined a boundary.
He began to sketch tentative designs in the dirt with his chalk – rough shapes, interlocking lines, feeling their potential runic resonance. He erased, adjusted, erased again. Sora and Riku would be back soon. He had to invent a usable, simple Fuinjutsu application, drawing directly from the source code of the world, and then package it into trainable, conventional steps for his teammates. His first truly improvised technique, revealed under controlled conditions as 'Fuinjutsu adaptation.' This wasn't just about hiding; it was about subtly elevating Team 4, leveraging his secret to make them more effective, together. The challenge had just taken a fascinating turn.
--- End of Chapter 17 ---