15 Teach Me

The four children arrive at the side of the pool and wait for some sort of instruction. Chojuro notices Zitsu and waves his hand. Zitsu nods in response and then turns to look at Mangetsu. Upon seeing no reaction from Mangetsu, Zitsu's lips curl into a smile.

"I gave you your instructions yesterday," Mangetsu speaks in a dull voice.

Upon hearing this, the kids sit down and begin to press their palms onto the water. Chojuro looks at Zitsu on the left side of the pool for a moment before sitting down and doing the same.

"I see, the seven swords don't need someone without motivation to train." Zetsu closes his eyes and begins to regenerate his stamina and chakra.

Due to the increase in his chakra control, it takes less time for him to absorb the ambient chakra.

After an hour, Zetsu is fully recovered. He rises to his feet, strides out into the water, and draws his sword, slashing it in an upward arc.

Upon seeing him walk on water, Cho, Taisho, and the twins are stunned.

Zitsu doesn't look over at them, but the corners of his lips twitch. "I refuse to believe I can't become the leader of a bunch of kids. I ran an international fan club!" He whispers to himself.

As he begins to move and slash his sword, almost like a dance, Zitsu's feet move like a crescent moon. Allowing his body to move as it wishes while slashing the sword feels strange. If people on earth could feel the energy in their body when they slash a sword, a lot more people would become masters.

When he swings the sword incorrectly, Zitsu can feel his chakra become jammed, so he knows his position is wrong. But as long as his chakra flows freely, he knows it's okay.

Seeing Zitsu's movements, Mangetsu nods. However, looking at the other kids causes his brows to wrinkle slightly. "Why is he so different?" It's not like he's angry with the other kids, but Zitsu is strange.

As he swings his sword, Zetsu begins to reinforce his body with chakra instead of relying solely on the sword, as he found it made his moves more stable. The longer he moves on the water, the better his chakra control becomes. In the beginning, he was constantly focusing on his feet, but now he can focus on the sword.

Thinking about his Taijutsu levels, Zitsu looks at Mangetsu and bites his teeth before walking over to him.

Seeing him approach, Mangetsu stops.

"Sir, the best way to learn is through fighting. Will you indulge my request?" Zitsu asks.

Mangetsu just looks at him for a few seconds before shaking his head. "You're not ready."

"I want to be a member of the Seven Swordsmen! I have no time to waste," Zitsu stares at him firmly.

Hearing him, Mangetsu's brows shoot up. "Kid, let me tell you something. There are people a lot stronger than me in Kenjutsu, and even they aren't members of the Seven Swords. What are you? Three? Four? And you're already talking big."

Zitsu nods. "So negotiations have broken down." Gripping his sword, he swings it in a beautiful horizontal arc.

Mangetsu quickly lifts his sword and blocks it, narrowing his eyes.

A sinister grin forms on Zitsu's face as his Taijutsu bar moves from 1/8 full to 2/8 with that one swing. Jumping back, he raises his sword above his head and lunges forward.

Seeing this, Mangetsu shakes his head before swinging his sword to intercept.

Their swords clash, causing ripples in the waves. Drawing an arc with his sword, Zitsu goes for another horizontal slash. Mangetsu easily blocks it again, but this time he spins around and slashes from the other side.

Mangetsu's face is dull as he blocks these choreographed slashes.

Seeing that his spinning slash didn't work, Zitsu jumps back, but this time Mangetsu slashes at him. A diagonal slash heads straight for his body. At first, he's stunned because he never thought Mangetsu would attack him.

Quickly recovering, he swings his sword up to intercept, but the second their swords touch, his face becomes pale. The force of the sword instantly overpowers him, causing him to shoot into the water like a cannonball.

"Your sword is too light, kid."

Cho, Taisho, and the twins are stunned as they watch from the side. Why were they fighting?

As Zitsu sinks further and further into the water, he thinks about what he said. Was his Kenjutsu wrong from the start?

Closing his eyes, he's stunned. Just from taking that attack from Mangetsu, his Taijutsu levelled up, and the bar is already half-filled.

Calming down for a second, he swims to the surface. Climbing out of the water, he looks at Mangetsu. "I'm not done yet!"

"Kid, don't waste my time and just swing your sword," Mangetsu turns his neck to look at him.

"Teach me Kenjutsu! I don't have time to blindly practice!" Zitsu demands of Mangetsu, determined to become stronger before the upcoming nine tails attack in ten days.

"Don't have time?! If you don't have time, then who does?" Mangetsu snaps back, his frustration starting to show.

Zitsu refuses to back down, asking Mangetsu what it will take for him to teach him Kenjutsu. He knows that he needs to become stronger in the next two years, or his plans will fail.

Mangetsu looks at him, hoping that his little brother isn't as stubborn as Zitsu. He sets a condition for teaching him: "If you can make me serious, even if it's just for a second, I will teach you."

Zitsu frowns slightly and lowers his head, but he agrees to the condition, warning Mangetsu not to go back on his words. He sheathes his sword and runs away, leaving Mangetsu and the others behind.

However, Zitsu suddenly stops on the other side of the pool, on the far left, while Mangetsu is on the far right, with the kids sitting in the center by the door. Zitsu bites his teeth as he looks at Mangetsu, determined to make him serious and fulfill the condition.

Taking a deep breath, Zitsu starts making rapid hand seals for one of his favorite jutsus, hoping to impress Mangetsu and prove his worth.

"Ushi, Sara, Oo, Nae, Ee, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Nae, Tora, Inu, Tora, Mee, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mee, Ee, Hitsuji, Nae, Jin, Sara, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mee, Nae, Sara, Oo, Ee, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Nae, Ushi, Sara, Tori, Jin, Nae, Ee, Tori," he recites, pouring almost all his chakra into the jutsu.

[Chakra 5/262]

Mangetsu watches as Zitsu makes the hand seals, thinking nothing of it at first. But then, Zitsu unleashes his jutsu: "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Six dragon heads rise out of the water and release a defining roar. Mangetsu's face suddenly changes, realizing the power of Zitsu's jutsu.

Clapping his palms together, Zitsu commands the six dragons to rush towards Mangetsu, leaving roaring waves in their wake. Zitsu's body rocks up and down like a lone boat during a hurricane, as he waits to see if his jutsu will impress Mangetsu enough to fulfill the condition for teaching him Kenjutsu.

Mangetsu tightened his grip on his sword. No matter his age, this jutsu was impressive. "Water Transformation Jutsu," he murmured as his body began to drip. He launched himself at the dragons, his legs turning into a jet of water. His sword slashed, leaving a silver glow in the air, and he destroyed one of the dragons. However, the other five approached him from all sides.

"Haaa!" His arm turned into a blur as he rapidly swung his sword, sending waves of chakra to collide with the five dragons. It didn't stop them, but it slowed them down long enough for him to continue rushing forward, right towards Zitsu.

"Damn, my chakra control still isn't enough. I used it all just for six dragons and still failed to land a hit," he muttered, releasing his palms. All five dragons turned into water and dropped into the pool with a splash.

Even though he failed, he still had a smile on his face. Because of that jutsu, he had leveled his Ninjutsu to 6 and had leveled up to 4, giving him a perk point. His Taijutsu was now 4, and Ninjutsu was 6. To get his level to 5, he had to level one of his skills four more times.

Mangetsu arrived in front of him shortly after he separated his palms, pointing his sword at his chest. "Kid, not bad, but using water jutsu on a member of the Hozuki clan is a waste of time. I blocked your skill to show respect for your power, but even if I stayed still, it wouldn't hurt me. So you failed. Go swing your sword." Turning around, he swaggered off.

Zitsu's face went pale. Did he really forget that? Using a water jutsu was the worst possible move! He got caught up being in the Land of Mist and using water jutsu, that he forgot who he was fighting! He should have used an earth jutsu!

Shaking his head, he sat down to regain his chakra and put his point into chakra reduction to bring it up to 6%. He noticed that the way it reduced the cost of Ninjutsu was by increasing his chakra control. Thinking this far, he wondered if it stacked with the reduced chakra cost from Genjutsu.

Chojuro, Taisho, and the twins' mouths were still hanging open. They looked at each other for a moment before one of them finally spoke. "Can any of you do that?" Taisho whispered softly so Mangetsu and Zitsu couldn't hear him.

"Not even close."

"We don't even know any jutsu!"

Emina and Eminu shook their heads.

They all looked at Chojuro, who was staring at Zitsu with wide eyes. "No way this kid can do it, or he wouldn't be here practicing with us."

As the words left Taisho's mouth, his face turned serious. "We need to practice seriously, or we will be left behind."

Without wasting any time, he began pushing on the water. The twins' faces turned serious as they pushed their hands into the water. Looking at everyone else, Chojuro practiced as well.