29

Retreat. Voldemort

I sat by the fireplace, my bare heels out in the direction of it, and felt the warmth of the fire splashing over them with pleasure.

And in my head, I was hazy with the picture I'd seen when that strange gut-buster of a teacher had shown me. He showed me only a fraction of what I would get if I learned from him diligently.

It was a extravaganza of flame, water, earth, air, elusive movement and speed. Just indescribable speed. And especially impressive were the Chinese dragons of the four elements. When four gigantic snake-like creatures, each the size of a train, swoon in front of your face, you cannot help but become afraid. And no matter how seasoned and great I was, even my heart sank in my heels.

Even if I were at the height of my powers as the Dark Lord, Master could destroy me in less than a second. Along with all my Eaters. And all the fried chicken orders he could get his hands on. No way! And there wouldn't be much left of the place where his powers had hit if he'd wanted to.

Of course, Hellfire, too, can be incarnated in any shape and form, and would be stronger than the flames that made up one of the dragons, but... I'd have to make a real orb of it and maintain it for a very long time. And to attack a teacher? Easier to catch the wind... when it moves at battle speed, it just disappears for my perception. Completely.

And it takes time to create a Hellfire spell, which the teacher wouldn't give me. I would die the moment he wanted me to, the way he wanted me to. And I wouldn't know what or who killed me until my last breath. And seeing his skill and incredible abilities that could be used completely without a wand, I involuntarily wanted to become like him. No, even surpass him!

But when I said that, the teacher laughed. It was offensive, but then it was explained to me that despite the fact that I have good potential, but to master, for example, all four dragons I simply can not. I could, but I would have to train hard and for a long time. But I have to learn something first. At least the basics so I can take on something else.

And I'll prove to him that I won't give in and I won't give up! Or I'm not Tom Marvolo Riddle! Slytherin heir and Great Dark Wizard!

But then reality brought me down to earth, as if a meteor had fallen from the heavens.

When I arrived at my next training session, there were two young boys standing next to my teacher, looking my age (bodily). And he gave me the task for the day and started to teach those two boys.

As I was stretching and warming up, I looked at the boys with my magical eyesight and an involuntary hum came out of me, which did not go unnoticed by the teacher.

- What, Tom, did you see that they were squibs? - To which I nodded. - Tell me what you think.

- I think they are training for nothing. They can't handle your training, Master.

- Really? - He squinted in surprise, then suddenly turned to the two boys, who had stiffened resentfully, and pointed at Tom. - Marcus, Eliot, you have my permission to fight this cocky young man to the fullest. The only rule is no killing. I'll fix the rest.

The boys, who looked on with superiority, did not laugh or snicker at the teacher's words. They turned silently in my direction and suddenly, with great speed, folded their arms in a few gestures and... disappeared. And then I was in pain... a lot of pain! Not only did I not have time to keep track of them, I couldn't see them at all! And the blows came from everywhere, from above, from the sides, from below. And then I was literally thrown against the wall, which was strangely viscous rather than painful in my broken bones, but instantly became firm and monolithic as soon as these guys appeared, standing in front of me. They weren't laughing, they weren't snickering. They were just looking at me. And I suddenly realised that I'd received a quality slap in the face from mere squibs! Two eleven-year-olds! And there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't even notice them, let alone attack them. My whole body was aching and sore, my bones were bruised, and my right eye was bleeding. And I realized that if my teacher had given the order to kill me, rather than teach me a lesson, I would be dead a thousand times over.

The teacher walked up to me and, folding the sign of concentration, ripped me from the wall, which let me out with a clang and then became a regular wall again. Flat and intact. And they laid me down on the wooden floorboards and started running their green-lighted hands over my body.

- Remember, student. Don't judge a book by its cover alone. They are squibs, yes. But! They have chakra and they use it on a good level for genii. They are at the lowest level yet, but they can be ranked as Chuuni if they try hard enough. Though these two have excellent prospects. They no longer show any unworthy emotions and are able to hold their own in many situations. So, one more year of training, then testing them in a near real combat training and we will see if they are worthy of the waistcoat" - Master finished running his hand over me, and I was surprised to realize that there was no pain. Neither were the diagnostic spells, which showed me to be completely healthy. - Stand up.

And I stood up. To go over and apologize to the guys, to which they smiled and held out their hands. I returned the handshake.

- Now I will tell you about the ranks of the shinobi. Listen carefully. Especially you, Tom. Ahem, so these two guys are already genins. They have some skills, but not much, really. Mostly boosting and speeding, walking on different slopes and water. Know a couple of techniques. Earth Marcus and water Eliot. They are already shinobi, except the next rank: Chuunin will cut them without blinking an eye as he is much more experienced, sparing of chakra and knows a lot more Ning techniques. Not to mention a pretty good Tai. He can also pick up a little bit of everything. Chuunin is different in that he's entitled to a waistcoat. Like me," he pointed to his waistcoat.

- Master, are you a Chuunin? - Marcus opened his eyes in surprise and blurted out. And from the stunned look on Eliot's face, they were quite shocked by this.

- No, and you'd know who I am if you'd listened," the boys synchronously wiped any expression from their faces and stared at their teacher attentively. Amazing discipline, though one could see the teacher's words that they had not yet fully mastered their emotions. - Next up, after Chuunin, comes the Specialised Joonin rank. These guys can put down the already chuunin genii with as much ease as the chuunin genii. They are still kind of chuunins, but they excel in some disciplines and are recognized as jounins worthy of the rank of Tokubetsu Jounin. They are distinguished by the patch right here," Sensei pointed to his right shoulder, where three ticks were embroidered. - Only have one. Then there are the jounins. They're subdivided into: A rank, S rank, SS rank. As you can see, these ranks are also indicative of a jounin's power. And the extra patch is just a rank increment. I'm an S-grade, by the way. But the pinnacle of the shinobi hierarchy is the rank of Kage. Kage has a special attire, but can also wear jounin clothing. They are the living embodiment of Power and Destruction, or Healing, or in other words they are called shinobi gods. As you can imagine, such a monster could easily wipe out even a country. Without getting too much of a head start. So, boys, now you can show the wizards where the crayfish lie.

Sensei smiled at the squib boys.

And I was pensive and shocked. If our teacher is only Joonin Eska, not even two Es, but one, then it's scary to imagine what Kage is capable of. But I have at least two Es class to get to. But I'm stubborn and ambitious. I know myself, so I won't rest until I'm Kage in this discipline. And the two boys next to me seem to think the same.

- Ah yes! And the Kage we have now would be extremely happy. Seriously happy if any of you can get his title," the teacher said with such implication that somehow the smiles on our faces faded on their own. - And soon he will honour you with his presence. But that soon depends on you. Well, boys, leave me alone with Tom, I have a lot to teach him.

Marcus and Eliot nodded and quietly walked towards the door, where they soon disappeared.

- You're lucky Tom, you've been brought back to life and given chakra. That's the only reason I took on you. But I can see your ambition as well. We'll start with today's lesson, and tomorrow you'll have the day off. Don't get cocky, you have another assignment for tomorrow. Think it over and decide for yourself, do you want to become a shinobi? Again, don't jump up and down, and don't rush to an answer. Decide for yourself. Why and what you need that power for. What you're going to do with it. I'll ask you the answer the day after tomorrow. For now, let's go practice.

And my Inferno resumed, but now I was eager to learn myself. But the teacher's question struck a nerve. What was the use of this power to me? What would I end up doing with it?

End of retreat Voldemort