"Your hands are too stiff; they need to flow so you can move quickly" says Touki's voice.
"Yes, master" replies a girl's voice.
…
"That seal is poorly done, remember the thumb goes inside"
"Yes, master"
…
"Take your vitamins or you won't recover, I need you healthy"
"Yes master"
…
"I don't want any food on that plate when I get back. You're no good to me if you're skinny, and no avoiding broccoli"
"Ugh... Yes, master"
…
"Come on, I need ten more push-ups. Focus on the chakra, let it flow through your arms"
"Ufff Yes.. Ufff, master"
Watching the little girl do her best to meet the goals imposed on her leaves a bitter taste in Touki's mouth, as he increasingly resembles an animated film villain, abusing his adopted daughter. But reality differs greatly from fantasy, for while Touki borders on being a movie villain, in this world he's more of a pragmatist with unorthodox methods.
Touki made a decision at the beginning of this crazy adventure: to use every means possible to ensure his survival and screw those who threaten him. The girl in front of him is just another tool he needs to achieve his goals, a gift from heaven at a time when he can no longer make significant progress with his seal language.
Suki, a homeless and blind orphan, but with a great affinity for chakra and abnormally mature for her age, is truly the perfect candidate to help Touki with his experiments.
Since taking in the girl, Touki stopped hunting criminals and settled in one of the villages near Tamita City, where he bought a vacant house on the outskirts, away from the general public. There, he began his most ambitious project yet: turning a blind, starving girl into an expert chakra manipulator, capable of executing seals faster than he could.
Suki is by no means a prodigy, but the first thing Touki learned from her is that she has incredible tenacity. If he asks her to do 100 repetitions of an exercise, she'll do it until her body can't take it anymore. The word "giving up" doesn't exist in Suki's vocabulary, and it seems she doesn't intend to waste the opportunity Touki has given her.
Touki was very clear with the girl when accepting her as a disciple, partly to test her directly, so without sugarcoating the truth he clearly told her what had happened on that path and the reason why he did it, in addition to explaining the strange work in which he had gotten involved. Suki was undoubtedly surprised to learn the truth, but to Touki's surprise, she showed no repulsion or interest in moving away from him and his offer.
Turning to the black market, Touki managed to acquire several Shinobi arts manuals, especially those dedicated to physical conditioning and speed, with the intention of preparing Suki for her future work. With all this, he can only hope that the girl makes the necessary effort to become his hands.
Regarding his latest raid, Touki decided not to sell anything he'd obtained from the messenger and his guards, as the battle was too great and the disaster too conspicuous. It was a correct decision, because in just one week, everyone was already talking about the massacre and rumors spread that both the samurai and ninjas of Konoha were looking for the culprits.
Touki realized that he had been very lucky so far, and that acts like the previous one drew too much attention from the authorities, so resting for a while was the best way to avoid getting on the radar of the ninjas, his current greatest fear.
[Suki]
Suki's first two months as an apprentice have been the most intense of her life, going from living on the streets and begging for food to having a comfortable bed, three meals a day, and a purpose. She's never seen the world the way everyone else does, having grown up blind all her life, so her perspective is somewhat limited beyond basic needs, let alone career prospects. In fact, she never thought she'd be capable of anything more than begging.
But everything changed that day, when Suki found herself in a place she wasn't supposed to be. She didn't know what was really happening, but her ears told her that many people had died, and in a rather brutal and painful way.
The moment Suki first heard her now-teacher speak, she felt horribly afraid, but at the same time, a part of her wanted it all to be over once and for all—that part that was tired of struggling through a meaningless existence. But fate had something completely strange and unexpected in store for her: a purpose and a life as close to normal as possible.
The girl seized the opportunity and doesn't plan to let go, no matter the cost. The training is tough, and she finds herself exhausted most of the time, but she can feel the gains as time goes on: her body gaining weight and energy, her arms getting stronger and faster, and an energy she can now tap into within herself: the mysterious chakra, which is the gateway to a true future.
What began as an act of desperation for Suki, simply to avoid death, has transformed into passion, and the fear she felt for her master has now become respect. She knows well what the man who saved her and now feeds her is capable of, as well as the true reason why he does it, but in the end, what matters to her is that he has a true purpose and will do everything humanly possible to live up to his expectations.
As the months pass, Suki begins to better understand her master's personality, a man who speaks little, is coarse, and whose sole purpose is his inexplicable passion for enigmatic hand seals, which increasingly become like breathing to her. "Faster, faster, faster," is what the girl hears every day, in an endless, obsessive cycle that seems to have no end. But at the same time, every time she seems to overcome some kind of speed barrier, her master rewards her with a long rest and a delicious sweet, which makes Suki redouble her efforts. "What a sinister man," she constantly thinks (with her mouth full of sweet).
Suki is not a naive girl and knows well that nothing is free in life, so through the constant exercises and obligations that she must fulfill, she has managed to conclude that what her master wants is for her to be able to help him with a kind of ritual, in which it is necessary to perform hand seals at a very specific speed, an act that according to him will take years for her to achieve.