Hanamaru, bustling with preparations for the soldiers' annual exam, had been in turmoil for several days. Men were moving furniture in a hotel to fit out the rooms and accommodate more people. One of the employees tripped on the stairs and fell backwards, with the bed, which broke with a violent uproar. The cries of frantic passers-by and the annoyed proprietor woke up the nappers, their blankets pulled over their heads to cover the noise.

  After five o'clock, Tsukinoko sat on the grass, waiting for a hawk to land on her shoulder with a message attached to its leg, telling her to go to the Academy's large gymnasium. When she got there, the Chief hadn't put on his usual combat outfit but his diplomatic finery, and she was wary.

  - Ready for your session?

  - Who are they?" she says, looking him in the eye.

  - Who?

  She rants and points to part of the bleachers.

  - All of them in hiding! Are they training with us?

  The spectators had come out of hiding to get a better look, while the Chef explained himself.

  - Different masters are curious about our training methods, and-

  - It's not a show!" she shouts in annoyance.

  - Think of it as learning. They've been insisting for a while, so I agreed to do it today.

  - Fucking hell... I don't like people looking at me, it bothers me," she says, arms folded, before turning her back on him.

  The Chief sighs at his whim, again, but a familiar voice rings out from the bleachers.

  - Tsuki ahoy! Show us what you can do.

  Ren leaning on the railing waved, accompanied by his friends behind him. Tsukinoko stared at him and asked haughtily, pointing at him.

  - Is he a teacher?

  - Not yet. Come on, here are the instructions-

  - No, I don't want to be observed!

  - We won't be here all day," blows a voice from the bleachers.

  - What's that? If you're not happy, go away, you'll be doing me a favor! she shouts, pointing at him.

  Ren sneered among those who took offense, but the vexed adjutant retorted at once. Tsukinoko glared at him as he looked down at her, arms proudly crossed.

  Her hair slowly ruffled, she clasped her hands together, then leaned against the ground. Ren squinted, excited to see the denouement as her aura came to the fore, but Haruo lost patience and struck his disciple's fingertips with his pipe.

  - Silence in the stands!" he growls.

  Without wincing under the pain, Tsukinoko shook her fingers before sitting nonchalantly on the ground in front of him. The day's training consisted of a reunion of tactics with her former brigade. Mikio and Takeshi arrived with Shikaru at the same time. Ren teased Takeshi about Tsukinoko, and the assembly sniggered for a moment, but the Chief calmed the atmosphere and the young soldiers set off, updating their strategies. Mikio and Takeshi had developed their technique in pairs, so Tsukinoko had to create a diversion at first, then react in case of difficulty. At the end of the training, the three of them received a document inviting them to the next senior soldier exam. While she was deciphering the paper, Ren came down to them, curious.

  - Is it because I can't make it with Ishi-ka suru seidenki ? she sulks. It's only been three months since we started!

  - Ishi-ka what?" asks Ren.

  - The technique I'm trying to do!

  - Let me see.

  - It is not yet-

  - Yeah! Tell me what you think," she giggles, cutting off her Chef.

  Tsukinoko immediately complied, raising her sabers and crossing them over her head. Shikaru's, Mikio's, Takeshi's and Ren's hair bristles with static electricity as the Chief suddenly disappears. Shikaru doesn't have time to realize that Tsukinoko's sabers are filled with electricity, sending lightning bolts in all directions.

  They tried to avoid them, but the poorly controlled energy exploded violently in the gymnasium. Tsukinoko opened her eyes to find her comrades scattered on the floor, twitching nervously as spectators emerged from their shelters

  Exclamations could be heard in the stands as Le Chef, who had reappeared alongside his son, sighed at his soldiers, who were struggling to regain their composure.

  - As I was about to say, Ren," he says, taking a drag on his pipe, "Tsukinoko hasn't mastered her technique enough to give a conclusive demonstration.

  - Ouch... You could have said that earlier.

  - Sorry..." she mumbles.

  Ren let out a wail as he and Shikaru rose slowly to their feet, while Mikio and Takeshi lay unconscious on the ground, clenched from head to toe.

  - And what's that supposed to achieve?

  - She must be able to concentrate her Lightning in her swords, and-

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  - And I'd have lightning swords!" she shouts excitedly. Great, eh? And I'll use a lot less chakra thanks to my sabers!

  - Yes, it's especially useful to compensate for the fact that your hands are clutched by your swords, which penalizes you for signing incantations," adds the Chief.

  Shikaru and the adjutants came down from the bleachers and tried to wake up the two young soldiers. Shikaru expressed his concern to the Chief, but the first test, to be held tomorrow, did not require any physical effort. Tsukinoko watched the adjutants and her comrades, distraught.

  - Sorry, Jījī... Say, aren't they going to die?" she worries.

  Shikaru stifles a nervous laugh, having felt his attack, but Ren immediately scoffs.

  - Don't abuse it, your technique isn't that powerful.

  - For the time being, no," his father quipped.

  On his way out, Ren had caught up with Tsukinoko and offered to accompany her to eat sweets with the Soldiers who had gone ahead. Shy and hesitant, she was reassured by the green-eyed girl who had joined them, Hina Matsuda. They get to know each other.

  - What can you do?" asks Tsukinoko innocently. And what do you like and dislike?

  - I love gardening," says Hina, "I don't like people wasting my time, and my specialty is bewitchment. What about you?" she asks Ren.

  - I like to go to restaurants and I don't like to be disturbed for nothing, and that's my specialty," he says, brandishing his brass knuckles. They have chakra blades like your sabers.

  - Oh yeah?" she wonders.

  Tsukinoko had taken out one of her swords to compare with her fist, whose blade was made entirely of it, a precious and rare metal. Hina admired the second sword while Ren brandished the other in front of the sun before exclaiming, squinting.

  - You should sharpen them, they're full of nicks.

  - Well, I'm trying... But it's hard and I keep cutting myself! she complains, brandishing her middle finger. I even cut my nerves.

  - Oh, yeah? Don't you feel anything?" laughs Ren, pinching him.

  - Nothing at all!

  - Don't you have a whetstone? I can lend you mine if you like. They should be perfectly sharp, ready to cut heads off," he laughs, miming movements with it. Wait a minute... Maybe that's why you can't do it with your technique!

  - Huh?

  - But yes, if the blade is damaged, it can deflect the chakra.

  - You could show her," suggests Hina.

  - Not now," he whispers. I'll show you tomorrow after the first test... If you pass," he sneers.

  Tsukinoko pouted as she worried about the exam. Reassured that Tsukinoko would be fine tomorrow after chatting with the Soldiers, Hina walked her home. On the way, Tsukinoko was uncharacteristically silent, her face worried, then she called out in a small voice.

  - Would you mind if we were... girlfriends?

  With softened eyes, Hina nods, and Tsukinoko jumps for joy in her arms. They burst out laughing and plan to see each other from time to time, before Tsukinoko heads home via the terrace, delighted to finally have a friend, even if she was taller.

  The first test of the Soldier exam had been passed for the Shikaru brigade, with the help of Tsukinoko who communicated with her comrades via her third eye, of which the three of them had established a coded repertoire for the occasion. With their complicity consolidated, they set off to tell Le Chef the news. On their way out, they bumped into Ren, who offered to help Tsukinoko with his technique, as promised

  The second test took place on a training ground nicknamed the terrain of death, renowned for its unfailing hostility and a haven for monsters, each more hideous than the last. Shikaru was waiting for them on arrival to congratulate them on their success.

  The final test was in two weeks, an individual one, but the brigade decided to continue training together. But the boys couldn't keep up and Tsukinoko got bored after a few days, Shikaru not knowing what to do with her other than keep her in shape and push her on her new technique.

  She then escaped to find her grandmaster standing in the large room with pale yellow walls, sabers in hand, a smile of determination on his face. The Chief was busy with two men, and she reflexively braced herself in front of their porcelain masks. The Colony Agents in turn straightened up with their tantos, facing her. She didn't know whether to relax or remain on the lookout. The Chief, dressed in beige samue and orange haori, sighed heavily.

  - It's all right, it's all right. This is my disciple.

  - Who enters silently, weapons in hand? asks the one with the tousled grey hair.

  - True to form," he replies.

  Tsukinoko stood there as the Colony Agents stared at her, recognizing themselves with the gray-haired one.

  - What do you want, Tsukinoko? asks Le Chef.

  She puts her sabres away, then plants herself in front of him, placing her hand abruptly on her work.

  - It's time for Jījī training! It's five o'clock!

  - Training? I've got my hands full Tsukinoko, you'll have to continue with Shikaru, and if not, you'll have to fend for yourself.

  - Am I allowed to use my techniques alone? she asks.

  - No.

  - What the hell?! It's the final fucking test! she moans. How do I train?!

  - I know, but-

  - Besides, you're the one who signed me up, I didn't ask for anything! You've got a nerve, Jījī!" she snaps, crossing her arms.

  As he raises an eyebrow at her remark, the other agent takes offense behind his mask without having been able to restrain himself.

  - So what's the point? I have to win to become a Superior Soldier! You've got to tell me if I got your technique right and Ren helped me with mine I've got to show you! Huh?! So! she screams.

  - She's working on two techniques at the same time? wonders the gray-haired agent.

  - Uh... she hesitates fearfully. Who the hell are you? Hey Jījī, who are those masked men? Why don't we ever see them? They-

  The Chef rubbed his eyes with his fingertips, sighing as Tsukinoko gave him not a second's respite since his arrival.

  - They're Colony Agents," he replies. And I do understand Tsukinoko, though-

  - Colony agents? What's this?

  - From special agents to the secret service.

  - Is that why we never see their faces? Is it secret? What's the secret service? What are their missions, huh? S rank? Is that it?" she shouts at the two men.

  - Sort of," replies the other. Well, I wouldn't have expected you to be so chatty, considering what you did last time.

  - When? When?" she panics.

  - Your messed-up mission with Shikaru-san and the deserters.

  Tsukinoko turned to Haruo, who hadn't moved an inch, and exclaimed with a casual look as she tried again, fingers crossed behind her head. But he refuses again. Unsatisfied, her face sketches a disapproving pout as she slowly crosses her arms to emphasize her revolt.

  - Enough! Go and train on your own in the meantime, I'll find you a teacher later.

  - But no! I want to train with you! she sulks.

  - Tsukinoko, you're disturbing my work.

  - Then there's no point in me taking the test!

  - Tsukinoko... he growls.

  She turned and motioned for the agents to leave, but they weren't moving, and she took offense again and tried to compromise. He gritted his teeth, heated, but she held her ground.

  - These are sensitive matters, not all of which concern you. Now leave us.

  Refusing to admit defeat, Tsukinoko turns on her heels with a cheeky air and orders, with her back to the landing, flicking her long black hair with the back of her hand.

  - I want a teacher, now!

  The door to the room slammed shut, Le Chef slumped back in his seat with a sigh, drained of his energy for the day.

  Tsukinoko had gone off to lie on the grass and watch the clouds while she waited. While she was daydreaming, she opened her eyes and saw Ren leaning over her.

  - You? But you're not a teacher!

  - I've already come this far for you, so don't waste my time," he grumbles.

  Over the next few days, the two trained in close combat, their specialty, and refined their lightning sword technique together. On the last day, Ren finally validated the mudflow technique in place of Le Chef

  Technique: petrifying static electricity