Chapter 46

"Is that all?" Hisashi said as he kicks Jozou away. It has been three days since Hisashi started training the latter.

"Your master is the fastest shinobi in all of Hino country. Compare to him, you are like a newly born infant. Not only are you weak, you don't even have your master's agility. And I'm saying that for real, not to rile you up." Hisashi said as he defends himself from wind slashes.

"You keep on relying on this mist of yours even though I've figured it out long already. What are you trying to do? I don't have all the time in the world." Hisashi taunts before he hits Jozou with a knee, making him vomit his saliva.

He then retreats as he recovers from that brutal hit. What Hisashi said pissed him off, but he was right. For three days now, they were sparring all day long, and not once had he hit Hisashi. Even when he used his spell to transform his body or send his wind slashes, the latter didn't even use any sorcery.

"Never let your enemy catch you. You know your weakness. Don't let them catch on that."

Every time Jozou transforms, he would be close to intangible, like the air. But when he wants to attack, he also needs to reform his body. That moment was when Hisashi catches him and attack him. Aside from that, hitting him with an opposing wind spell would work, but Hisashi has yet to do that.

"Fight me! Stop resting! Keep standing there and I'll come to you." Hisashi shouts as Jozou stares at him from a distance. Realizing that his enemy doesn't plan on attacking, Hisashi dashed, quickly reaching the young man in an instant. But he also had fast reflexes as Hisashi hit nothing but air.

Another weakness that Jozou's unique spell has, is that he can't use it for as long as he wants. After transforming for three seconds, he would go back to his real form, and only after a second can he use it again.

After three seconds, he saw Hisashi reach him and he lost his balance. He just did a leg sweep as he followed it with a kick to the body sending him flying away to the rock.

Luckily, he managed to transform again and retreat to safety. However, Hisashi didn't give him a rest as before he can even transform, Hisashi dashed to his location and the moment his body reformed, he was hit with a roundhouse kick.

"If you think that I would give you pity, too bad that I won't. I never give anyone mercy. So try your hardest to survive until the downfall." Hisashi said to him as they kept going on the same pattern. Good thing for Jozou, the consumption of his spell isn't really big. But even then, doing it for another ten minutes made him exhaust his reserves.

As they continued to fight, his usage of transformation lessens and it takes him five or more seconds to reactivate it. As he watched Hisashi beat him up effortlessly, negative thoughts start to overwhelm his mind.

'Am I really weak? Am I disappointing master? He hasn't even used anything in his arsenal. He said that he's not giving me mercy, but what he's doing is what mercy exactly is.'

Jozou thought to himself as he was hit by a punch in the face. His defense was too slow for his fist and he felt his consciousness disappear for a second. He recovers for a moment and Hisashi unexpectedly slowed down.

Jozou uses this as a chance and remembers his master's teachings.

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"Put all your power into your legs! Power is speed! Remember! Flash Step isn't the fastest because it makes your leg faster! It's the fastest because it's powerful!" Yoshimitsu said as she watch Jozou try to do the flash step. With his clumsy attempt, all she can see was him jumping around as if he was doing something.

"Use your feet! Use it to push the ground! Push the ground like you're pushing the Earth! Put everything into it! Put power like your life depends on it!"

-----

Jozou puts his right leg to the back as he saw Hisashi run towards him. In one burst of power, Jozou's ki and yoryoku concentrate on his leg and he pushes the ground.

Mixed with the speed of the wind, the power of his legs, and the support of the ground, Jozou disappeared instantaneously.

"Zetten: Flash"

Hisashi's eyes widen as he felt Jozou behind him and smiles. A cut on his straw hat appears as he also hears a thud, meaning that Jozou lost consciousness.

Seeing the move to himself, Hisashi realize why he was asked to teach the old woman's disciple. It was because he can also learn through him. If Hisashi managed to teach and unleash Jozou's potential, he can also see it for his eyes and thus, learn how the technique works – despite it being imperfect.

"Did she know me?" Hisashi wonders as no average samurai can replicate a technique just by looking at it. After all, they were all discovered or made after years of repetition and studying through experience.

What's more, it has quite a high requirement to be able to use, such as the use of Zetten. Something that Hisashi never really tried on. It wasn't because he cannot or doesn't want to, but because he has yet to grasp it. Not having a teacher also didn't help.

He previously asked Ryuya how he can use it. But all he managed to do was replicate it in a very inferior way. He was able to concentrate his mana but not his ki thus, unable to do the technique.

According to Ryuya, Zetten isn't an easy technique to grasp as it has a very tricky requirement. All he knew was that it requires more than physical abilities such as body strength, Ki strength, and sword skills but also the right mental state, epiphany, and becoming one with one's mind.

Something that Hisashi didn't think that he lack. Even now, he still can't use it and the reason he thought of was the lack of epiphany.

'Did that old woman expect me to be able to use Zetten? Or quite the opposite? Eh, it doesn't matter. At least now, I know the principle idea behind the technique.

He casts a healing bubble on Jozou and summons a plant bed that can help in the recovery of yoryoku, albeit slowly.

"Looks like beating your master is pretty doable, huh?" Hisashi said to the unconscious Jozou as he looks at the broken mask and the obvious scars on his face.