Chapter 18 - Instinct

A/N: Really long chapter, enjoy!

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After Terumi finished assembling the shelter for himself, Gion, and Hina. He walked over to the duo who were eyeing the forest in curiosity.

"The shelters are completed, Gion-san, Hina-san, is there something bothering you about the forest?"

Gion and Hina looked back at Terumi and shook their head.

"No, nothing. Hina and I were just planning to go and do some training in the forest. What about you, Terumi-kun?"

"Well, I was planning on fishing up a sea king for dinner. I have my own training routine, I'll just stay here and guard the campsite."

Gion and Hina looked at each other, and then at Terumi and shrugged.

"Sure, we'll be back by sunset."

"Hina wishes you luck."

With those parting words, the duo of women rushed into the forest, leaving Terumi behind at the campsite.

'What was up with those looks? I don't think I said anything strange.'

Terumi shook away his thoughts and then prepared his fishing rod. He foraged some materials from the forest to create bait and started fishing.

Soon, a medium-sized sea king took the bait and Terumi swiftly reeled him up.

The sea king roared in contempt at the young man, but Terumi swiftly dispatched of him, dicing him into large filets with his trusty partner, Asashi.

"Whew, okay, now let's make a ground oven and cook this baby up."

Terumi dug a hole in the ground and reinforced its sides with rocks and heated mud.

Happy with his work, Terumi nodded and then started his daily routine training. He grasped Asahi in his hand and started training.

'Hmm, my physique has been getting steadily stronger lately because of my training from Zephyr-sensei, let's try something.'

Terumi then went over to the coast and turned to face the sea. He raised Asahi high above his head and focused his mind, his spiritual aura leaked out like the raging heat of the sun.

Hissssss

'Breath of Sun, First Form.'

"Enbu!"

Terumi put all his power into one devastating vertical slash.

The force and momentum of the attack flew as it generated a gigantic flying slash from the pressure of the air, splitting the sea as it traveled for several meters forward.

Terumi nodded happily as he saw the result.

'Nice, the training has been paying off, I can do flying slashes now. Although the effect is not as impressive as I wanted it to be, it's still progress. This is also a great exercise as well, I can feel the fatigue in my arms just from doing one.'

For the remainder of the day, Terumi stayed still in the same spot, repeating the motion, as he continually swing forward numerous amounts of flying slashes into the sea.

As soon as the sunset came, Terumi returned to camp, his arms shaking from exhaustion. There, he saw a bleeding Gion supporting an equally wounded Hina as they shuffled out of the forest.

"Gion-san! Hina-san! What happened!?"

Terumi rushed over to help them towards the camp, he brought out his packed bandages to perform first aid on them.

"It's not as bad as it looks, Terumi-kun."

"Hina was careless, how regretful."

"Just what did you guys do?"

Terumi asked as he bandaged their arms and bleeding foreheads.

"Training."

They both answered.

Terumi had a weird look on his face as he heard their answer.

'What kind of training did they do?'

Terumi swallowed his words as he didn't want to question them any further. He turned around and started cooking the sea king he caught earlier in the ground oven he created.

"Are you guys hungry? I have plenty."

Gion shook her head while Hina nodded.

"I'm tired, I found some food earlier, so I'll pass for now. Help Hina-chan out, she didn't get a chance to eat yet."

"Hina accepts your generosity."

Gion then crawled into the log tent designated for her and Hina.

Terumi turned around swiftly baked the sea king meat and served a meal for himself and Hina. As they ate, Terumi couldn't help but want to ask a question lingering on his mind.

"Hina-san, what happened out there? Did you guys run into some beasts?"

Hina swallowed her food and then answered.

"We found a den of wild giant forest tigers, Hina got careless and let them surround us. We managed to fight them off, but not without difficulty."

Terumi nodded upon hearing her answer.

"Why don't you guys train around here? Zephyr-sensei warned us that there would be dangerous beasts inside the forest."

Hina shook her head at the suggestion.

"This is the best way. Hina will be more careful tomorrow, thank you for your concern and for the meal, Terumi-kun."

Hina then finished her food and shakingly stood up. She stumbled her way towards the log tent and join Gion in order to recuperate.

Terumi wondered to himself if he should try exploring the forest as well, hearing Hina's words.

'Zephyr-sensei didn't give us any specific instructions, only that we needed to survive. Maybe he expected us to fight some beasts in order to do so.'

Terumi thought about the beasts in the forest that left Gion and Hina in such a terrible state.

'Right now I'm still overall physically weaker than the rest, I'm catching up quick, but if I challenge the forest residents as I am now, I'll surely perish. I should focus on improving my flying slashes, it'll add a lot more versatility to my combat style and make up for my lack of range.'

Terumi finished his meal, decided on his training regime for the next month, and headed towards his log tent to call it in for the day.

Just like this, weeks passed as the trio of people went about their regular routine. Every day, Gion and Hina would leave to go into the forest to train. During their time together, Terumi did not interact too much with the two women, as they would only see each other briefly at the beginning of the day and end of the day. However, a budding friendship was starting to form between them as they spent their days training.

...

On the final day of training, Terumi stood on the coast as per usual.

Hisssss

"Enbu!"

A giant ten-meter-high flying slash flew out, splitting the sea as it traveled almost a hundred meters away.

"Nice, not bad."

As Terumi marveled at his attack, he saw a ship heading towards them. Today was the day training ended and Zephyr came to pick them up.

Soon, Terumi heard footsteps behind him as Gion and Hina walked over to join him.

Terumi eyed the two women standing before him, a subtle pressure radiated from their bodies that didn't exist a month before.

'They've gotten stronger. I guess all that training in the forest really did pay off for them. I've gotten stronger too so, this trip was pretty fruitful for me as well.'

"Gion-san, Hina-san, Zephyr-sensei is here, we can finally leave."

Gion gave a tired sigh as she saw the approaching ship.

"Yeah, we saw. Haa, finally. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Hina nodded as well.

"Hina thinks it wasn't as bad as last time."

Gion then smiled widely.

"Yes! Thanks to our cute little brother, we didn't have to sleep in the rain like last time! Thank you, Terumi-kun."

"Ah haha, it was no problem at all."

"Terumi-kun, Hina wonders if you were able to make the most of this training."

Terumi pondered for a moment and then answered.

"It seems I wasn't able to make as much progress as you guys, but I did manage to extend the range of my flying slashes up to one hundred meters, so I'm happy with it."

Gion and Hina nodded but didn't say more.

The trio made their way to the original spot where they entered the island. Soon after Zephyr's ship docked, the other recruits made their way out of the forest. Each one radiated a subtle pressure that symbolized the fruits of their training.

Terumi wondered if there was something special about the forest.

'I did go in to see what it was like a few times. I fought off a couple of giant beasts without much issue and did some maneuverability training using the trees, but overall there didn't seem to be anything crazy.'

Once all the recruits gathered, the stairs from the ship lowered and the recruits quickly got on board. Standing there waiting for them, was Zephyr.

Zephyr eyed the recruits up and down, nodding, before landing his gaze on Terumi. He lingered for a few moments before speaking.

"Okay everyone, good job surviving until now, you may all go into the cabin and rest up. We'll be returning to Marineford soon."

"Yes, sir!"

The recruits saluted their instructor and shuffled into the cabin, along the way, Zephyr stopped Terumi by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Kid, I gotta talk to you."

Terumi had a confused expression on his face but nodded in agreement.

Gion and Hina gave Terumi one last look before entering the cabin along with the rest of the recruits.

Zephyr walked Terumi over towards the front of the ship and stared into the forest.

"Do you know what I want to talk to you about?"

Terumi shook his head. Zephyr sighed.

"I read your report kid. I know why you want to get stronger, what your goals are, and I know that you have a good heart as well."

Zephyr closed his eyes before continuing.

"I know that you'll make a great Marine, but let me speak to you for a moment, not as a Marine Instructor, but as a teacher."

Zephyr then turned to Terumi and spoke.

"As you are right now, you'll never become strong."

Terumi's eyes widened in confusion upon hearing Zephyr's declaration, before he could speak up, Zephyr raised his hand and continued speaking.

"What you lack isn't talent, you have an abundance of it. Nor is it motivation, I see how hard to train every day. I see the fire in your eyes and can feel the fire in your heart. No, what you lack is something much more simple and fundamental."

Zephyr stared at Terumi straight in the eyes.

"You lack instinct."

Terumi felt something in his chest burn as he heard Zephyr's words. Asahi shook in his hand, as if in agreeance with his instructor's words.

"You lack the fire in your soul. The primordial instinct that all living creatures have, the instinct to survive, to fight, to cut your opponent down and climb over his body in order to make them stepping stones in your journey. You think too logically, I gave you an assignment to survive, so you picked the safest method to do so. Your problem is that you don't have the instinct to welcome a life or death battle with a burning in your soul, that is what is required to forge a warrior."

Terumi didn't say anything, he wanted to speak but he could not find any words to refute his instructor's words.

"I want you to think back upon the first time you picked up a blade, what did you feel that drove you to this path? Why did you want to become a swordsman? Cause your family name is Kenzaki?"

Terumi thought back to the first time he picked up a sword. A distant memory of when he was five. He tried to remember the weight of the bamboo shinai in his hand, the suffocating nervousness from his mother's gaze. He then recalled another memory, of Kozaburo-sensei sitting by the cliffside, giving him a lesson.

(You've actually used it once. Two years ago. Did you think a five-year-old kid could cut a training pole with a bamboo sword using his arm strength?)

Pulse

Something in Terumi's chest pulsed once more. The memory of his five-year-old self became clearer.

(I've done it a thousand thousand times in my head. I can do this. I CAN DO THIS! ONE SECOND IS ALL I NEED!)

Pulse

One more time it pulsed, and what appeared in his mind, was the final words he heard before he was reborn.

(Off you go, I hope that when we meet again, you will be able to tell me about the wonders of your travels.)

(I swear I won't waste it. This next life.)

BOOM.

As if a dam broke from within, a suffocating pressure exploded outward from Terumi's body as he stood motionless. Zephyr took a step back as he felt the change in the boy.

"Haoshoku..."

Terumi opened his eyes, a deep burning fire shone through from within, a fire that burned bright like never before.

'It seems I've been doing it all wrong all along. I can't believe I overlooked something so simple.'

"Zephyr-sensei, thank you. I would like to request special permission to stay on the island for another month."

Zephyr nodded slowly before a smile rose to his face.

"Permission granted, go. I'll be back in a month."

Terumi simply nodded and leaped off the ship. Asahi shook with excitement in his hand, greedily sucking in the new energy source from its owner. Terumi held Asahi up and looked at it, smiling.

'I've kept you waiting as well, haven't I. Did I really think that I could easily get strong just based on hard work and my gifts alone? I really am stupid. But no more, I swear I will get strong, I will accomplish my dream. Even if I die! I don't want to say I didn't do my best!'

Terumi landed and then started sprinting into the forest at full speed, fully resolute and filled with a never-before felt resolve.

Zephyr stared at Terumi's back as his figure disappeared into the forest, a grin rose to his face.

"A monster has just awakened."