Three months passed.
Ken completed only three missions in that time. All C-rank. All bandit clearing. He treated them as interruptions rather than progress.
Most days were spent elsewhere.
Training Ground Three became routine again. Dawn to dusk, sometimes later. He ran until his legs burned, practiced until his hands shook, and rested only when his body forced him to.
The results showed.
Body Flicker no longer felt unstable. The chakra flow settled faster, the strain predictable instead of jarring. He still couldn't use it freely, but it stopped punishing him for every mistake.
Proficient.
Earth Ears was different.
Once he understood the principle, the technique came together faster than he'd expected. He learned it through repetition, not struggle. Each attempt taught him something. How chakra spread. How vibrations overlapped. How the ground carried information outward like ripples in water.
By the second month, it worked every time he tried.
Not clean. Not detailed.
But reliable.
Proficient.
Ken wrote both changes down without ceremony.
There was only one technique left from his father's collection untouched.
Hiding in Mist.
A C-rank jutsu. Present in Konoha's records, though rarely favored. Ken had been confused by that at first.
Then he understood.
Mist blocked vision, but it forced everyone inside it to rely on sensing. Sound. Movement. Chakra. In that sense, it was a sensory technique.
Just an inefficient one.
It had to be condensed and maintained. It consumed chakra quickly and announced itself the moment it formed. Subtlety died instantly.
And there was another issue.
Water.
Ken didn't have the nature for it. Forcing the technique would mean inefficiency at best and wasted time at worst.
He closed the scroll and slid it back into place.
Some techniques weren't bad.
They were just wrong for him.
A voice shattered the quiet.
"Senior! Already training again! As expected of you! Your youth burns brighter every single day!"
Ken paused mid-motion.
He straightened, exhaling slowly, and turned toward the familiar noise. A wry smile crossed his face before he could stop it.
"…You're early today, Guy."
Might Guy stood near the fence, hands on his hips, green jumpsuit spotless despite the dust. He grinned like this was the highlight of his morning.
They hadn't always trained together.
Nearly a month ago, Guy had appeared out of nowhere while Ken was in the middle of his routine. Loud. Energetic. Completely out of place. He'd asked if he could train here, earnest beneath the enthusiasm.
Ken had agreed without much thought.
This wasn't his land. And there was no reason to turn away the Blue Beast of Konoha over something so trivial.
Later, Ken learned how Guy had found the place. One day, he'd noticed Ken heading toward the forest instead of the usual paths and followed. The field wasn't impressive. Cracked posts. Worn dirt. Forgotten equipment.
But it was quiet.
And that was enough.
Ken glanced toward Guy as he finished stretching.
"How long until you graduate?" he asked.
Guy blinked, then scratched his head. "Soon! Very soon, I hope!"
Ken nodded faintly.
Guy was the same age as Kakashi. Same generation. And Ken remembered how quickly that generation moved once the gears turned.
Kakashi had advanced fast after graduation. Chūnin not long after. Jōnin by thirteen.
By then, the war had already begun to wind down.
Which meant... Ken looked toward the forest, eyes distant.
Two years, At most.
Guy bounced on his heels nearby, full of energy, unaware of where Ken's thoughts had gone.
Ken stepped back into position.
Training resumed without another word.
The ground beneath his feet felt familiar now. Responsive. Steady.
Progress that stayed.
Whatever was coming, he intended to be ready for it.