Chapter XV: Sensei

For Tenten, imagine the appearance she had in The Last cause that's the best one. Her actual age will be 26 though.

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Sasuke blinked and Edgeshot was already within breathing distance. Sasuke recoiled and barely dodged a gut punch with his arm; Although, the hit still sent him skidding halfway across the room.

'How the hell does he pack that much power?! He's smaller than—'

A kick to the back of the head interrupted his thoughts and sent him flying into a wall. "When you're out there fighting villains, they aren't going to give you time to think. In most cases, if they see an opportunity to kill you, then they'll take it. You have to be aware at all times."

Sasuke rubbed his head and nodded, 'I have no time to think up some strategy, or acknowledge stuff that surprises me; This is a top-five hero I'm fighting. Honestly, I'm outclassed in everything...' The Nomu crossed his mind and he clenched his fist, 'But that's no excuse!' He dashed at Edgeshot as purple energy surrounded him.

He threw a right hook which Edgeshot naturally leaned out of the way of. 'He won't be able to dodge this! It's too big and he's already on one foot!' Sasuke smiled and it followed up with a Susanoo hand.

Edgeshot jumped up using one foot and twisted in the air, landing his feet on the hand mid-swing, jumping off it into a wall, and bounced right back at Sasuke with a side-kick. Sasuke put up a ribcage to block it, but it was still damaged.

Edgeshot backflipped off the rib cage onto his feet, "Always have a backup plan for your backup plan. If your opponent has a lot of experience, then they'll be five steps ahead of you at all times just playing with you. Instead of repeating the same attack just now you should have been ready to grab me. Then, I couldn't have done that."

Sasuke nodded.

Neither of them noticed, but up high on the wooden support beams, Tenten was swinging her legs observing the fight. 'Obviously, he won't even be able to make Mr. Edgeshot use his quirk, but he's not bad. He's learning on the spot and taking his advice seriously.'

Sasuke coiled the purple energy around his body and Edgeshot narrowed his eyes. Sasuke blitzed towards him and threw a straight punch, but Edgeshot simply side-stepped. Sasuke briskly followed with waves of punches in conjunction with wheel kicks. Edgeshot parried and weaved all of Sasuke's attempts. Sasuke jumped and front-flipped into an axe-kick. Edgeshot blocked, but two Susanoo hands came from both sides, quickly surrounding him. Sasuke flipped upside down and grabbed him to keep him in place and smirked. 'They're big, but as a result, the palms of the skeleton are too big to close, I can just jump between the gaps.'

Edgeshot broke the grip and jumped in mid-air turning sideways. The skeletal arms suddenly grew muscle and flesh, it filled the gaps between the fingers. Edgeshot's and Tenten's eyes widened. "Don't underestimate me!"

Edgeshot instantly used his quirk to dodge the attack which made a huge clap that rang in their ears.

Tenten blinked, 'He made him use his quirk?! He was clearly going easy on him, but still... He's a fighting prodigy!'

Sasuke gritted his teeth and got ready to attack again, but Edgeshot held a hand up. "That's enough. That last attack was great; I never saw flesh on your Susanoo before. Were you hiding that in the Sports Festival?"

"No... at the time... I only knew how to use bones. I learned about muscle and flesh... after the Festival." He caught his breath and wiped the sweat off his brow.

"I see, well either way you've managed to exceed my expectations. Welcome to my agency."

He stood in front of him with an outstretched hand. Sasuke scanned his appearance while shaking his hand and snickered, 'He doesn't have a single drop of sweat on his brow.'

"Mr. Edgeshot, can I introduce myself now?"

"You may."

Tenten hopped down off the scaffolding and approached Sasuke. She had scrolls on her back and wore a mesh under her costume. Sasuke pressed his ears, 'Did the clap muffle my hearing? I'm not hearing her footsteps.'

Tenten giggled and reached out a hand. Hello, Sasuke. I'm Mr. Edgeshot's personal assistant. Also known as the Weapons Hero: Silver Tornado; rank 15. Also no. Your hearing is fine, I've just mastered the silent step. You might not have noticed it since you were fighting, but Mr. Edgeshot was using it too."

"The silent step? How's that useful?"

"We aren't always fighting in broad daylight with a crowd watching us, you know. Sometimes at night, you can avoid a fight altogether by sneaking up on a villain."

Edgeshot added, "That's why I was able to sneak up on you without you noticing a single thing. If I was a villain, you'd be done for right there in an instant," his tone was deadly serious.

Sasuke looked down for a minute before meeting his eyes, "Alright, I understand. Teach me."

Edgeshot glanced at Tenten and she nodded, pulling out one of her scrolls and throwing it on the ground. As the scroll rolled out, she made a strange hand sign, and a small table with warm tea was already prepared on it.

Sasuke blinked, "What kind of quirk is that?"

"My Quirk is summoning. I can create pockets inside things and store whatever I want in them to take out later. Imagine there's a room inside this scroll you can't touch or see, but you can put things or people inside it and it comes out the same way it was when it went in. That's my quirk."

Sasuke's brow furrowed. "I don't think that fits in any category of quirks; Emitter, mutant, or transformation."

She shrugged her shoulders, "That's the beauty of quirks. We're still figuring out how they work. The genetic mutation potential throws an interesting spin into the whole thing. Maybe in another hundred years, there will be three other quirk categories. Well, we should get back to your training though."

Edgeshot stated, "Sasuke. Tell me what your parents' quirks were and how they mixed to make your quirk."

Sasuke paused at the question, but answered, "My Dad's quirk was Bone Pulse. Despite the name, It let him harden his entire body. His bones, skin, and even the clothes he wore. He could also protrude parts of his bones like a weapon. My mom's quirk was Transmogrification. She was able to manifest any physical or astral construct she wanted. I'm pretty sure my quirk is a mix of the two. My dad's bone-hardening anatomy is manifested in the energy form of my mom's quirk."

"I see. Well, Sasuke. I think you're wrong."

Sasuke lowered his tea, "Huh?"

He sipped his tea through a straw that went through his mask then pointed at Sasuke, "When I watched you at the Sports Festival. You did a lot of things that made that impossible. You made goggles, a board to ride on, and you separated the Susanoo from yourself. I'm sure you haven't forgotten about this. Was it an accident or just on a whim when you did that?"

Sasuke looked up, "I remember. At the time I just didn't have the opportunity to start thinking about it."

Edgeshot nodded and waved his hands, "Have you ever been in a situation where you do something over and over, and subconsciously, you know it should be improved on, but it's like that thought hasn't crossed your conscious mind yet for you to start seriously thinking about it? I think that's what you're doing. You must be so used to this idea of what your quirk is that you haven't thought it could evolve outside of the perimeters you put around it. "My quirk manifests a skeleton; therefore, my quirk's greatest extent will be something like a hardened humanoid". That thought has probably crossed your mind, right?"

"... Yes," Sasuke forgot he was holding tea as the cup got colder.

"Even if we clearly see something right in front of our face, if it challenges what we're so used to, we'll be blinded to what's really there even if it slaps us in the face. Like an old mechanic seeing a five-sided bolt for the first time as opposed to a six-sided bolt. He can spend five minutes staring at it and even be told it's not six-sided; however, he'll keep using his normal six-sided tools on it anyway before he finally realizes just what the bolt really is. No seriously though why did it take him so long to realize that?! I told him about 6 different times!"

Tenten's brow furrowed, 'Is he rambling about something he experienced? Get to the point already.'

"Anyway, I would say your quirk isn't your father's anatomy in the Transmogrification form. Your quirk is your mother's Transmogrification with the hardening of your father's quirk. Basically an amped stronger version of your mother's quirk."

Sasuke's eyes widened and his head rested on his chin. 'He's... He's right. Considering half the things I've done. It wouldn't be possible for anything else to be the case... That...' He couldn't suppress a growing smirk on his face, "That opens up a lot of opportunities"

"Yes, and we're gonna explore some of those opportunities right now. Are you ready?" Edgeshot stood up and Sasuke stood in response.

"Yes, Edgeshot-Sensei."

Edgeshot smirked, "First things first, that tea you just spilled on the table."

Sasuke's eyes shot down, 'I forgot about that.'

"Can you wipe it off the table before it stains?"

"Yes," Sasuke turns around to look for towels.

"What are you doing?"

Sasuke turned back and his brow scrunched, "Looking for a towel?"

"There are none in here, why don't you try making one?"

Sasuke knelt and focused on what he thought a towel looked like in his hand, and a second later a purple energy towel appeared. He smirked, 'It really is just like mom's.'

He wiped the table, but the towel didn't absorb any of it. He cheekily wiped it onto his pants. Tenten just barely caught the spilled tea back inside a small cup before it could stain his pants.

"What happened?"

Sasuke paused as he stared at it, "Well... Even though it looks and feels like a towel, it's still energy. Unlike Yaoyorozu I guess it doesn't take on the properties of what it imitates. At least I don't need to know the chemical composition."

Edgeshot got closer, "That's fine. You probably can't make smoke bombs then, but do you think you could imitate the sharpness of kunai and shuriken?"

Sasuke smiled at him, "Only one way to find out."

In the Underground, Sasori finished crafting his yo-yo and made a blue transparent string to play with it. Footsteps could be heard and he turned to the source of the sound. "Um, Sasori sir. You asked for me?"

"Yeah, Uchiha Sasuke is here in Musutafu. He was spotted jogging through our area. He'll more than likely confront one of our dealers at some point. So if he does then tell them to answer any question he wants."

"Even the location of this base?"

"Obviously, dumbass. Why do you think this place was built in the first place? To host boxing matches? Now go!"

At the Edgeshot Agency, Sasuke held shuriken and kunai in one hand, while creating more in the other hand. Edgeshot directed, "Before moving on to exclusively manifesting your own kunai and shuriken, you should get a feel for them first. You'll need an innate understanding of their weight and sharpness to maximize their potential. Try."

Sasuke did as he was told and threw normal kunai before throwing his own. The normal one went straight and planted into the wall while the ones he made bounced off the wall.

"It'll take a lot of practice, you're already catching on fast though. I didn't even have to tell you the proper way to throw it. Feel free to put your own spin on things when you get good enough at it. We should eat."

Sasuke stopped his throwing and Tenten collected the weapons in her scroll. She pulled out another scroll and laid it out on the table. She held her hands up in a hand sign, "What kind of food do you guys want?"

Sasuke stared at her hands, "What are you doing with your hands? I noticed you doing that earlier."

"Oh, this? It's a hand sign we ninja use. For me, it helps me summon stuff since I associate certain things with different hand signs. You should try it. The one I'm doing right now is called Tiger. I can send you a sheet of them later if you want."

"Sure. Also, do you have Onigiri or tomato soup?"

"Yup. And I know what you want already, Mr. Edgeshot."

They all sat and enjoyed their food. Edgeshot asked, "Sasuke, do you have any prior experience throwing kunai? Even for someone naturally gifted, you were a little too good."

"Yeah, when I was really young, my parents… trained me in how to use different things like swords and throwing knives. I mostly forgot about it and thought I wouldn't be allowed to use these kinds of tools anyway. Although, seeing what you guys have here, I was clearly wrong."

"Weapons are fine, there's even a gun hero you must have seen during the USJ incident.

Your parents trained you? Were they heroes?'

Sasuke scoffed, "Heh… no."

Edgeshot and Tenten paused at his reaction and Edgeshot asked, "Well moving on. Sasuke, I'm sure that you couldn't join Endeavor's agency due to what happened at the tournament, but how come you didn't try to join All-Might's or another agency?"

"It didn't seem like it would be my thing. I wouldn't be training with All-Might anyway," he thought, 'Also, that's Midoriya's teacher.'

He bit the onigiri, "Rank three is missing, and Best Jeanist outright rejected me for some reason."

Edgeshot did an eye-smile, "Well you wouldn't have wanted to work at his agency anyway since Bakugo is there. I got the feeling you two don't like each other."

Tenten smiled with low eyelids thinking, 'You conveniently left out the part where you told Best Jeanist to reject Sasuke.'

"You'd be right," Sasuke stared at Edgeshot as he bit his onigiri. 'He hasn't taken a single bite yet. How does he eat with a mask on anyway?'

Edgeshot caught his gaze and Sasuke quickly looked away. He looked at Edgeshot again and noticed his bowl was empty.

"Ah, your food is always the best, Tenten. Could you make me breakfast and dinner too?" Edgeshot rubbed his stomach.

Tenten took his bowl and smiled with a light blush, "What am I? Your personal assistant or a housewife?"

Sasuke froze and thought, 'How did he eat that fast? Did he eat it? I looked away for only a couple of seconds.' He peeked under the table and saw no food under it.

Tenten side-eyed him, "Is something wrong, Sasuke?"

"Uh, no. It's nothing," Sasuke finished the last of his food, "I'm ready to get back to training now."

Edgeshot replied, "Great, let's work more on your aim."

Sasuke trained for a few more hours and was later guided to his dorm by Tenten. She opened the door and stared through the door frame, "Mr. Edgeshot has some other stuff planned for you tomorrow, then on the day after that, we'll start some field training."

"Thank you. Hey–before you go–Do you know anything about the South-Side of Musutafu?"

Tenten looked up for a moment, "Just that it's the worst area of the city. It's a big hotbed for crime. Especially the drugs which are all controlled by two people we're investigating."

Sasuke turned fully towards her, "You're investigating them?"

"Yeah, why? Do you have an interest in them?" She put her hands on her hips.

Sasuke looked away, "Not much. It just might be good to look out for since I'll be staying here."

Tenten rolled her eyes and shut the door behind them as she stepped in. "Look, Sasuke. You're not very good at lying, we already got a warning that you might be here for other reasons than just training. If anything, I feel like you're definitely gonna try something now."

Sasuke glared, "And what if I am?"

"Then forget it. You're gonna be running straight to your death. I bet they can guess you're coming anyway with how impulsive you are! You're gonna run straight into a trap and regret it when you end up on the verge of death!"

"Shut up! They won't see me coming! And by the time they do, it'll be too late for them!"

Tenten scoffed, "You brat... Do you think this is a Batman comic?! You are not him! This is real life! The path you're taking won't end well, and even if you succeed you would have just pushed away everyone close to you! You'd be alone. I've already heard about how you've been messing up your relationship with one of your friends already. Is that what you want?!"

He gritted his teeth, "Shut it! Stop talking like you have any idea what this feels like! All of you people wanna keep telling me how I should handle my trauma when none of you have experienced anything close to the pain I have! Both of my parents were killed! I saw their lifeless bodies and felt their cold hands... Every last person involved in their deaths has signed away their right to live! They're going to die by my hands, and nothing you or anyone else says will stop me from making that ambition a reality!"

Tenten pursed her lips and looked down, "I've experienced trauma at the hands of the same people you're going after."

Sasuke's eyes widened and Tenten clenched her pants. "My sister got hooked on the drugs from the South side through a boyfriend she had. When he broke up with her, she was already addicted and no longer had a way to get her "fix." She stole money from our parents and went to a shady area to buy more drugs. Our parents followed after her to try and bring her back... And were stabbed to death in the process. My sister has been missing since then." She looked up at him and put a hand on his shoulder, "I've experienced loss just like you by the hands of the people you're trying to go after right now. I won't tell you to completely drop your revenge 'cause even now..." She clenched her fist, "Even now I'd still love to see them killed. However, if it comes at the cost of your own life, then it's not worth it. Please don't make your friends have to bury you."

Sasuke fell silent and looked down at the ground. Tenten released his shoulder and opened the door. She stood in the door frame with her back turned, "Goodnight."