Ch. 29 - The Great Pretender's Black Panther is back in action!
"Po are you okay?" Leo asked worriedly, wanting to help his friend to get up but his Master's glare is holding him back.
Master Shifu might've been less stricter than usual thanks to his talk-no-jutsu yesterday, but that's not enough to completely change Master Shifu's entire personality, he's still strict but just less.
"I'm-Ow! I'm okay! I just need to take a breath. Gaghh." Pushing himself from the ground, Po breathed heavily, taking as much air as he could to his lungs, just to recover his stamina.
"I don't think you can fight anymore. Why not just call this a day and continue tomorrow." Leo said, making even Viper and Crane agree with him.
Po's current state is quite horrible, he needs a good enough rest.
"Come on, Leo. Are you -haahh~ looking down on me? Let's do this!" Po smiled and started skipping a step, like Bruce Lee.
"I don't want to-.....If you insist then." Just as Leo wanted to refuse, he paused momentarily before finally agreeing.
"I'll try not to kill you, I don't want to make Mr. Ping sad." Leo joked, however Po thought he was serious.
"Uhm.....I think I changed my mind, I can just go and...."
*Fwooosh!*
Just as Po turned around to walk away as silently as possible even though everyone's eyes were on him. A foot suddenly slammed against his back, throwing him down on the ground.
"Lesson number 1, don't turn your back on your enemy." Leo said, slowly approaching Po who was trying to get up.
"Time out!" Po quickly raised his hand and yelled, making Leo pause in his tracks out of confusion.
"What? You surrender?" Leo raised an eyebrow.
"No but.....Ooh! What's that!" When Po finally got back up to his feet, his eyes seemed to have seen something in the sky behind Leo and pointed his finger.
"...."
"...."
Unfortunately for Po, Leo didn't fall for his trick.
"Seriously Po?" Leo sighed in defeat.
"Well, it's worth a try." Po shrugged his shoulders.
As Leo expected, Po didn't last a minute with him, although Leo admires Po's determination to at least touch an inch of his cloth, unfortunately, Po was too slow.
However, what made Leo admire more about Po was the fact that he could keep up with him as long as he can still stand.
Po might lack the stamina and Kung Fu right now, but his endurance and durability is top-notch. Po could tank hits not only from Leo but also Tigress who is known to have the hardest fists out of all the Kung Fu Masters.
Which made even Master Shifu amazed at Po's hidden skills.
"D-do I pass?" Po groaned in pain and stuttered, ignoring his lip that is burning due to pain.
".....Barely." Not wanting to admit that Master Shifu was impressed by Po's performance, Master Shifu held back a bit on his words.
However, Po took his words with pride.
"Yes!...." Making a victory fist, Po smiled before passing out on the ground.
*Thud!*
"Sigh, someone bring this Panda to the infirmary." Master Shifu ordered as Monkey volunteered to do it himself.
"Uurrrgghhh!" Unfortunately, Monkey can't lift Po's heavy body, making Mantis sigh.
"Seriously, Monkey. If you keep being this weak, you won't be able to surpass me anytime soon." Mantis said with a smugness on his face.
"You!!!" Monkey gritted his teeth and glared at his best friend slash rival.
Without waiting for Monkey to respond, Mantis approached the passed out Po that Monkey has been having trouble lifting and much to Leo's shock who was watching, Mantis only needed to use one hand to carry Po and walk back to the Jade Palace, followed by a downcast Monkey behind him.
"The rest of you, back to training. Except for you, Leo. From now on, I'll train you personally myself." Master Shifu said. Leo being Leo, noticed that there was a mix of worry in Master Shifu's voice, as if there was something troubling the red panda.
'....Must be Tai Lung. I don't know when he'll receive the news that Tai Lung has escaped but that's got to be the reason why he's personally gonna train me instead of the training hall.' Leo guessed, though he just guessed, he's a hundred percent sure that he's right.
"Okay." Leo nodded his head and followed Master Shifu deep in the forest.
***
"What are we doing here, Master Shifu?" Once they got in the heart of the forest, Master Shifu stopped and faced Leo, who was very confused.
"This will be the first time I'm training you personally. Your first training will be fighting me." Master Shifu made a small smile as he got into a stance, prompting Leo to attack first.
"Fighting you?" Leo's lips quivered. Does Master Shifu perhaps enjoy fighting the weak and coming out as a victor?
"Any second now, Leo. Don't keep me waiting." Master Shifu slowly said, making Leo nervously gulp his saliva.
'There's no way out of this, I guess. Either I kick his ass or I get my ass kicked.' Finishing his mental thoughts with a sigh, Leo went into his stance, making Master Shifu smile.
"Don't cry if you got your ass kicked, old man!"
Before Master Shifu's eyes, Leo flashed towards the red panda and delivered a strong kick towards him, similar to how a person kicks a soccer ball.
Much to Leo's surprise, Master Shifu simply crossed his arms and bore the entire strength of Leo's kick, a kick that is near the half level of Black Panther's strength.
*Boom!*
Master Shifu's eyes widened in surprise as he skidded backwards after bearing Leo's kick.
'He's stronger than before!' Master Shifu remarked to himself. He's not angry or anything. As a matter of fact, he's happy as he knows that the stronger Leo is, the higher the chances he has in defeating Tai Lung just in case he really escapes like what the vision of Master Oogway says.
He may be doubtful of Tai Lung escaping but that doesn't mean he does not believe in Master Oogway's words.
To Shifu, Master Oogway's words are like the prophecy of the universe, for the years that Master Shifu has been with the old turtle, Master Shifu has come to realize that Master Oogway had never been wrong in his words, everything that Master Oogway says always comes true.
"Again!" Master Shifu yelled but this time, he was the one to initiate first and gave Leo's chest a flying kick.
The kick was so fast that Master Shifu even gave Leo a bicycle kick at the same time.
*Thud!* x10
Although Master Shifu is small and looks like his kicks don't look strong, but as the one bearing the kicks, Leo wanted to curse Master Oogway for training such an excellent Kung Fu Master.
'His kicks are almost as strong as Tigress's punches!' Leo said to himself, all while holding his mouth back from spitting blood.
"Come on, hit me. The first time was just to test your strength. Now, it's time to see whether you can hit me or not." Master Shifu said with a smirk, clearly confident in his speed.
Which is not a bluff as Master Shifu is indeed known not for his strength but for his speed.
Master Shifu might even be faster than Mantis who is also famous for his incredible speed and strength despite his small size.
Hearing Master Shifu's provocation, Leo scoffed, knowing full well that Master Shifu would just dodge and evade all of his strikes similar to how he did when he was against Po in his training scene.
Still, Leo wanted to give it a try, who knows when he might get lucky and land a punch on Master Shifu. Which will be worth seeing him being stunned.
*Fwooosh!*
Turning his hands into something similar to claws, Leo slashed them towards Master Shifu who simply dodged, causing his claw-like hands to strike the grounds, creating 5 deep slash marks on the dirt, making Master Shifu raise an eyebrow.
'This is my first time seeing his Kung Fu Style. It's something similar to Tigress but more on claws.' Master Shifu observed and quickly analyzed Leo's fighting style, which confuses him as Leo doesn't share the same characteristics as Tigress or even Tai Lung.
Unknown to Master Shifu, Leo's style is not a Kung Fu style, rather it is Black Panther's fighting style, which Leo somehow adapted upon reaching 30% of the template.
This is one of Leo's realizations that reaching a certain percentage on Black Panther Template would give him one of his characteristics.
First is the increase in strength, speed, balance and flexibility in 10%.
Second, is the heightening of senses in 20%.
And finally the fighting style of Black Panther in 30% of the template.
As for the 40% of the template? He doesn't know what it is yet as he just recently entered 40% when he claimed the rewards for the Quest of becoming the 2nd Dragon Warrior.
And now that Leo is close to 50% of the Black Panther Template, he can guess that he'll get another attribute of Black Panther, maybe he'll get his personality? Or maybe his bloodline? Or his skin?
Who knows.
"Hah!" Continuing his assault, more and more slash marks started to appear on the ground, looking as if a Bear and Tiger is having a claw fight in the forest.
Jumping back, Master Shifu used the tree behind him as a platform to jump higher, avoiding Leo's claw strike that made a deep gash on the tree trunk.
Now, even Leo was surprised by this. He didn't expect his nails to be that sturdy to the point that he can make a deep wound on the tree trunk.
'Black Panther's fighting style is truly a blessing for me who used to have no fighting style except for brute force.'
'Maybe it is time for Black Panther to go back to the streets in the valley tonight.'
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[Powah Stones baby! An extra chapter next Monday once we reach top 20 or something.]
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[Next Chapter: Ch. 30 - The Great Pretender hunts!]
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