Whether it was by a stroke of luck for Danzo Shimura or not, a ninja from the Shimura clan, while gathering intelligence, happened to overhear the conversation of Sagawa and his friends.
Afterward, the Shimura ninja secretly followed the trio. Upon seeing them take out Li Anshi's signature flying daggers to begin their practice, he confirmed that what they had said was true and relayed this information to Danzo Shimura.
At this time, this member of the Shimura clan still held Konoha in his heart, viewing Sagawa and his companions as ninjas of the Leaf.
Unfortunately, while he felt this way, Danzo did not.
Having been sidelined, Danzo's thoughts were consumed with how Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sakumo Hatake, Li Anshi, and the other ninjas who had turned the tide of the war had wronged and betrayed him.
Therefore, what he wanted most now was to increase his own strength and reclaim everything he had lost!
As for Sagawa and his friends, they were merely a few commoner ninjas.
Thus, Danzo Shimura acted directly, abducting the three of them and bringing them here.
"Who are you?"
"How dare you attack us in Konoha? Aren't you afraid of the patrol teams?"
"Our master is the Little Li Flying Dagger, Li Anshi! Let us go, or our master will not let you off!"
Traces of a sealing jutsu were visible on Sagawa and his friends.
Although they were only Genin, and perhaps even weaker than the average Genin, the three had been taught the "Secret Flying Dagger Art" by Li Anshi.
Danzo Shimura did not want to be careless.
Who knew if they too could kill him and his men with a single, small flying dagger?
"Who am I?"
"I am the 'Root' of Konoha, buried deep beneath the ground. I am an instructor who provides elite ninjas for the Anbu."
"The so-called 'Root' is an organization that protects Konoha from the shadows, eliminating all threats to the village."
"The training method for the Little Li Flying Dagger is Konoha's greatest secret at this time."
"Li Anshi has entrusted this secret to you. It is my duty to test you, to see if you can protect the secret of the Little Li Flying Dagger under severe torture."
"This…"
The faces of the three youngsters changed.
As ninjas, though they had never personally experienced interrogation, they knew the cruelty of the ninja world.
After being captured, it was better not to be tortured for information. If torture was involved, suicide was the easiest way out.
And when committing suicide, one had to prioritize destroying one's own brain with chakra.
Otherwise, there were those in the ninja world skilled in spiritual secret arts who could extract information from a corpse's head.
This was also the reason why many assassination missions required the head as proof of completion.
Before becoming Li Anshi's subordinates, they were just the dead-lasts of the third-year class at the Ninja Academy. How could they possibly withstand the interrogation of Anbu ninjas?
But, even if they couldn't endure it, should they just give up?
This was Master Li's secret flying dagger art!
"Bring it on! I'm not afraid of you!"
Sagawa Yui shouted.
Although Yui's voice trembled with fear, it couldn't hide the determination his words conveyed.
Kondo Kazuya and Sakamoto Toshio were taken aback for a moment, but then they smiled.
Sagawa was the weakest of the three, but it was undeniable that he was also an indispensable part of their trio.
In most situations, it was the boisterous Sagawa Yui who acted as the harmonizing agent among them.
Otherwise, with the personalities of Kondo Kazuya and Sakamoto Toshio, they might not speak more than five sentences to each other in a day.
"Sagawa, I heard what you said."
"If I hear you can't hold on later, I'll laugh at you for the rest of your life."
"Same here!"
"Aaaah—"
"Kondo, Sakamoto, don't you two look down on me!"
Seeing the three of them like this, Danzo Shimura's face darkened.
He seemed to have done something foolish.
The "test" he had mentioned to the three of them earlier was just an excuse he had prepared to use with others after his actions were exposed, to avoid putting himself in a more dangerous position.
After all, as he had said before, the importance of Li Anshi's "Little Li Flying Dagger" secret art was no less than that of the "Scroll of Seals" created by the Second Hokage.
If Li Anshi's secret art was leaked and other villages succeeded in cultivating it, the ninja who leaked it would become a disgrace to Konoha, forever nailed to the pillar of shame.
Therefore, his justification for testing the three of them was sound.
However, Danzo's fundamental goal was to obtain Li Anshi's secret art.
But now, it seemed his words had strengthened the trio's resolve. He feared the results of his interrogation would not be ideal.
But torture was not the only way to extract information!
Spiritual secret arts, genjutsu… there was always one to suit the situation.
Moreover, Sagawa and his friends were only nine-year-old boys.
And they had received no special training.
If he couldn't even extract the secret art Li Anshi had taught them from their mouths, then Danzo felt he would have been a former Anbu squad leader for nothing.
"Very good. I have felt your will."
"Well then, I wish you good luck."
…
Scrape, scrape…
After carving the last few strokes on the wooden figure, Li Anshi blew on it.
Instantly, the wood chips on the carving flew away.
As the chips departed, the true form of the carving in Li Anshi's hand was gradually revealed.
It was a statue of the Two-Tails, Matatabi.
However, this one was not quite the same as the Two-Tails everyone was familiar with.
If the rampaging Matatabi on the battlefield was a violent, terrifying killing machine, then this palm-sized Matatabi in Li Anshi's hand was a chubby, round, and endearingly cute pet.
Li Anshi could guarantee that once this carving was on the shelves, it would be a hit with the children.
Those who didn't know Matatabi would just think the two-tailed cat he carved was very cute.
Those who did know Matatabi might think it was normal for a powerhouse like Li Anshi to see the world differently than they did.
To them, Matatabi was a symbol of terror and slaughter.
But to Li Anshi, who could easily kill the rampaging Two-Tails Jinchuriki, it wasn't strange for the cat to have such a cute appearance.
It was like how they viewed ordinary cats.
In the eyes of a mouse, a cat was the most terrifying existence in the world.
After all, who would be afraid of something they could crush with a single finger?
Li Anshi was very satisfied with this carving of his.
Carving was also an important part of training for the Little Li Flying Dagger.
In carving, he infused his "will" into the dagger, allowing the dagger to manifest this "will" in the wood. This was the cultivation of "unifying spirit and will."
It could be considered the training for the second and third steps of his secret art.
After setting the carving aside, Li Anshi looked up outside the shop.
"Strange. Usually, those three little rascals would have come to greet me by now. Why are they so late today?"
Ever since Li Anshi had taught them the dagger-throwing technique, Sagawa and his friends had spent almost all their time practicing.
However, after learning of their training methods, Li Anshi had vetoed their approach.
For the three of them, now was the best time to build their foundation.
To go further in the future, their chakra reserves had to be increased.
Physical training was also an indispensable part.
As for technique, it was not something that could be mastered overnight.
Even with Li Xunhuan's training memories, Li Anshi himself had only completed his training at the age of fourteen. For Sagawa and his friends to complete it, even just the first stage of technique, would be impossible without seven or eight years of effort.
If they spent those seven or eight years focusing on dagger techniques while neglecting their physical and ninjutsu training, it would be a great loss.
Sagawa and the others were not yet ten. In seven or eight years, they could at least reach the strength of a Chunin.
And the first stage of the dagger technique, while more refined than the Uchiha clan's kunai throwing, would not be the decisive factor in a Chunin-level battle.
The secret art of the flying dagger only became a major threat after completing the second stage of training, comprehending "dagger perception," which allowed one to see through the enemy's true form within the dagger's range and perceive its trajectory.
Dagger perception could see through real bodies and not be deceived by genjutsu. Only then could the Little Li Flying Dagger live up to its name of "never missing its mark."
As for the third step, infusing one's own "spiritual will" into the dagger, it greatly enhanced its lethality.
Otherwise, if one only completed the second stage of training, one could hit the mark every time, but against enemies with powerful defenses like a Tailed Beast or the Third Raikage, the dagger would be like a tool for scraping skin, merely laughable.
Therefore, Li Anshi's advice to Sagawa and the others was to engage in at least two hours of physical training every day. The rest, they could arrange themselves.
Normally, around ten in the morning, after completing their physical training, the three would come to Li Anshi's shop to ask him about problems they had encountered in their training.
But today, looking at the sky, Li Anshi estimated it was already noon.
And the three of them had yet to arrive.
"Could it be that they were delayed by a mission today?"
Li Anshi's brow furrowed slightly.
After expressing his intentions to the Third Hokage, Li Anshi had not gone to the Hokage's building again.
Naturally, the three of them had to go to the building themselves to accept missions.
However, they had also followed his instructions, only accepting D-rank missions within the village to practice, spending more time on their training.
Sweat more in training, bleed less in battle!
This was what Li Anshi had always told them.
Having experienced the Cloud battlefield, the three of them also agreed with his words.
Compared to the students who had not yet graduated from the Ninja Academy, they had much less time for training.