A Talk, A Fight and Getting Accepted

"So...you're not here to challenge the Dojo?" a, frankly, intimidating man asked me before he took a swig from the bottle he was holding. Seeing me nod in reply, he scowled before waving his hand at me, "Get lost then. We don't have time for a kid to bug us, you know?" he said before turning around.

All that explaining about how I wasn't here to challenge the Dojo...and that's all I get? Nope. I don't accept that even slightly.

Putting my brain to use, I stopped him with a few words simple, "I need to talk to Akisame Koetsuji. Please," I said, putting in a please with a pleading tone.

I mean, it wasn't totally faked either.

I didn't NEED to train under that man but it would help me A LOT. I'd no doubt rack up loads of points if I trained under him and that'd mean faster progress and even more points. I'd be prepared for the future, is what I'm saying.

The man with dark purple hair looked back at me over his shoulder, the scar across the midline of his face showing as he cocked an eyebrow at what I said, "And what do you need to talk about with that old codger?" he asked in a rough tone but it was clear that he was curious about what I had to say in answer to his question.

"...I need to ask him to help me train. To get stronger," I said and the man let out a chuckle in reply.

Turning back around, he took another swig of alcohol before speaking again, "And why him? Plenty of people here could make you strong, kid. I could definitely make you strong," he said, though the last part said sounded like it was said more toward someone else and not to me.

"Because I don't need martial arts. I need someone who has a keen understanding of the body and how to exercise it. I need the perfect body. And I hear that Akisame Koetsuji has the right methods to make that possible," I said, seeing no point in hiding my exact reason for being here. If anything me telling the truth will earn me brownie points with a guy like Sakaki. Which is who the guy in front of me was.

Shio Sakaki, also infamously known as the 100-Dan Street Brawler of Karate. But right now, he's one of the masters at Ryozanpaku.

Hearing my answer, he laughed, "So, you're not here to leech off of us for our martial arts, huh?" he asked a rhetorical question before quickly carrying on, "But if you know a martial art, you gotta have a master, right? Why can't they train ya?" he asked.

'...He's got a lot of questions, ain't he?' I wondered before sighing and answering anyway. I was the guest here, after all, so I should be straightforward instead of dodging and deflecting questions, "I guess you could say I was exiled from my 'master' for not being talented enough. And I guess you could say it's my goal to prove that 'master' wrong by becoming strong," I answered. Obviously 'master' in this case referred to the Imagawa Clan.

"And what makes you think that old codger Akisame would take in someone who was cut off by their master for not being talented enough? He's quite a strict guy when it comes to that sort of stuff, you know?" he laughed again and I realized he wasn't asking these questions just for himself...No, the other masters were probably around here looking and listening to my answers as well.

Shrugging in reply, I kept my eyes on Sakaki as looking for the other masters would be impossible if they didn't want me to see them, and answered him with a nonchalant tone, "Maybe his training methods would be more suited to me. I don't know. I just know I need to be strong," I said.

Hearing me, Sakaki burst out laughing before nodding, "True! True! That was a decently well-put answer for a kid. Most kids usually get annoyed when you reference their low talent," he chuckled to himself before taking another swig from the bottle, making it an empty bottle that he reluctantly stopped holding. After putting the bottle on the ground, he looked back to me, "How about I give you a little test? A sort of gauge on whether Akisame would want to train ya," he said and I instantly knew what was about to happen.

Sighing, I settled into a stance, getting ready to activate Indestructible from the Adamantine Kata, "...If you want to, who am I to say no to a sparring session with a Grand Master?" I gave a chuckle before continuing, "Please hold back a little though, yeah? I'm only a Low-class Disciple, after all."

Despite what I was saying, a fire began to burn in my chest and excitement began to flood my entire body. The thought of fighting someone as strong as Sakaki...it was making me feel like my blood was boiling!

Sakaki returned my wide smile with one of his own, laughing as he settled into a stance of his own, "Don't try and play the disciple card when you look so damn excited to fight, kid!" he laughed before continuing, "Ready," he tensed up and so did I, "Get set," I leaned forward as my heart began to hammer in my chest and my perception rocketed up to the point where I could see the faint dust in the air, like it was in slow-motion, "Go!"

Just as he shouted, my instincts shouted for me to dodge. My left shoulder FELT like it was going to be hit, so I ducked to the right, barely dodging the hit as it grazed over my shoulder but even then, I felt Indestructible crumble as a titanic amount of force flooded through me. I flew backward but I kept my feet stuck to the ground and eventually stopped but my shoulder felt like it was about to pop out of it's socket and all the connective tissue around that area felt like utter shit.

But I ignored the pain, being able to due so because of my unique body talents and instead kicked my shoes off before digging my toes into the ground.

There was no way I could win. No way I could overpower Sakaki or out-speed him. But it didn't matter. This is what I'd forgotten after all those years of laying around and being a NEET--Fighting's in my blood! I don't feel alive unless I'm fighting someone!

My toes, dug into the ground below, I pushed forth with both my legs and my toes, accelerating to speeds beyond what I normally could.

I ran right for Sakaki, who was smiling, and I just kept charging at him, activating Raging Fire every time I began to slow down even somewhat. My toes felt like they were close to being broken due to my body not being able to keep up with the constant intensity but I didn't care and continued right for him.

I focused on him. I cast away images of anything else but the opponent in front of me. The sounds of the birds in the trees, the sound of my own heart beating like a war drum in my chest, the sound of my blood rushing through my veins like an army--I ignored everything that didn't have anything to do with the fight or my opponent.

I watched his muscles, his eyes, every little twitch and movement was recorded by my eyes and my combat perception given by the [Imagawa Body] talent.

He thought I was weak. He was right. I was weak. But I could still take him by surprise.

I saw him winding up a normal Seiken...and I waited for it. I had to time this perfectly. So, I concentrated. I focused. I took what I was already doing and I sharpened it down to the absolute limit of what I was capable of. Instincts going wild, trying to tell me when the Seiken was gonna be thrown were quieted and told to only speak up when it was just about to happen. Eyes focusing so hard I felt like my blood vessels were about to pop, were told to concentrate more and to communicate with the instincts, telling them everything it was seeing. I aimed my entire body toward one thing: getting the timing of this Seiken perfectly.

A minute twitch was caught by my eyes and my now quiet instincts blared to life like the loudest horn I'd ever heard. No I wasn't hearing anything. I FELT it. Like an earthquake through my body.

And then I dodged, using Phantom Pace. A technique that requires you to sidestep just as the opponent attacks.

Before I even realized it, a massive fist flew past my head and brought with it a turbulent wind. But I continued on with the footwork for Phantom Pace and found myself to the side of Sakaki. He was about 2 inches taller than me and definitely had a weight advantage but right now, he was just looking to the side with a slightly widened eye.

Yet when he registered I was there, I was already throwing an Ironbreaker. My muscles tensed and grouped together, making my fist like an iron pick as it flew toward it's destination:

Sakaki's head.

I knew it wouldn't hit. The guy could dodge it easily and even if he didn't and let it hit...it wouldn't do any damage. Yet...I'd never felt so goddamn alive as I did right now. I didn't care if the attack failed - my use of my style of martial arts had grown more from this one fight than it had from my week of training. Plus, I could use this in my image training as much as I wanted after this...so it was a win-win situation.

As I expected, my Ironbreaker didn't hit Sakaki's face but instead his hand, which he'd used to catch it. It let out a dull thud, followed by Sakaki laughing, "You've got brilliant instincts, kid, and that martial art of yours...it's pretty adaptable, huh? Both fast and hard hitting techniques--Whoever dropped you from their tutelage is an idiot," he spoke more praise of me than I'd heard in my entire life and I just found myself standing there for a second before I blinked.

"...Thanks," I replied, not exactly sure how to respond to compliments about my martial prowess.

Sakaki let go of my hand before rubbing his chin and then looking behind me, "What do you think, Akisame? You wanna train him?" he asked and I looked behind me only to see Akisame Koetsuji just standing then, looking at me.

Nearly jumping out of my skin, I saw Akisame just looking at me before he gestured to my very red and bruised shoulder, "Is that not bothering you?" he asked, most likely offering to fix it for me.

Looking at it, I realized that I could tell it was quite hurt...but the pain didn't really bother me, honestly. I could also feel that it'd heal with no problems pretty soon anyway, so I shrugged, "Uh, not really, no. I have a unique physique that produces a lot of endorphins and lots of different types at that, so pain doesn't bother me too much, honestly," I gave an answer, trying to tip the chances of him teaching me in my favor. Akisame is a mad scientist type of martial artist when it comes to training, so if I give him more reason to train me - like I have a physiology that would allow him to try out more painful training methods that could possibly give more benefits - it can only go right for me. Not like I'd feel the pain of the more painful methods anyway.

Yay for [Berserker Body]~!

Akisame raised his eyebrows at me before stepping forward and beginning to poke and prod at my body. It was...quite uncomfortable but I knew he wasn't being a weirdo - he was probably checking my body to see if there was anything special about it. Either that or he was looking for injuries.

In the end he eventually stopped and looked me in the eye. Despite being shorter than me by a few inches...these guy gave off a hell of an aura. As expected of a Grand Master, huh?

"Your muscles have good potential," he said, surprising me that he could even feel that from a bit of poking and prodding - He was obviously feeling the effects of [Talented Body: Strength] - "I'll help you train. But it won't be easy. Do you still accept?" he asked, his voice sounding somewhat ominous.

But I didn't care.

"Sure. As long as it makes me stronger," I replied and Akisame actually smiled. Though it looked more like the smile of some sort of demon than the gentlemanly older man he was.