14 Kenjutsu

As his mother's fingers ran through his hair, his eyes narrowed into slits and the corners of his lips curled.

"When you left, Madame Yan sent a ninja back to gather us up and moved us to a new location. The ninja told us that you would be undergoing a selection process, and if you had talent, you would undergo a three-year experiment." She paused for a moment as she looked down at her son.

"After you passed the selection, they moved the parents of the five here, saying that if word got out about the enhanced children, someone might try to capture us to threaten you. Moving us closer to the capitol building ensured our safety, and it was easier to go see you every month." She smiled a bit. "Those clothes are something I bought for you."

Listening to his mother's words, he felt relieved. He had no idea that Kiri would protect his mom with the reputation it has.

Sitting up, he looked around. "You paint?"

Clapping her hands, she stood up with a wide smile. "Because I didn't have to work anymore, I had a lot of time. Soon I discovered I had a talent for painting."

"Can I see?" Pointing at an unfinished painting, he looked at his mother.

"Sure!" Walking to a cabinet, she grabbed some paint supplies.

Back in his room, eight clones stood around a bathtub as it filled with water.

"The tub is only big enough for five of us to practice."

"That just means three of us will have to do other things."

"Can two of us practice Taijutsu?"

"Fool! How can we be the same person with your rotting brain! Taijutsu is too loud, and it will bother the main bodies' bonding time."

"He's right. Besides, one of us needs to regain chakra and make more clones."

"Don't forget that the ones who are practicing chakra control need to periodically release to share experiences."

"Ok, so five will practice chakra control, two will regen chakra and make clones."

Suddenly, a clone raised his hand. "I'm going to practice sensory techniques. Too many people have disappeared right in front of us today."

All the clones nodded and moved into position. Five around the tub, two sat on the bed, and one sat on the floor. The ones around the tub began pushing their hands into the water, the ones on the bed regenerated chakra, and the one on the ground sent chakra towards his brain to heighten his senses. The ultimate goal was to develop a sense to detect chakra.

Because they have practiced like this before, it runs very smoothly. When someone has inspiration on chakra control, they release, and the clones on the bed make a new clone to replace them, becoming like a self-developing AI running five simulations at once. And like that, a couple of hours pass.

Watching his mom paint, he has a smile on his face.

Suddenly she puts down her brush. "You still have to rest for tomorrow, honey. Don't get complacent, or you will get in trouble."

"Ok, mom, I'm leaving at sunrise tomorrow. Can you make breakfast in the morning?"

"So early? Don't worry; I will." Putting away the painting supplies, she begins to clean up.

Seeing this, Zitsu heads back into his room. Closing the door, he sees two clones sitting in the tub, fully nude. Two clones are still on the bed, and five clones are on the floor.

As he was watching his mom paint, he got a steady supply of information on water walking and sensory technique. The sensor technique isn't even close to working yet, but you gotta start somewhere.

Sitting down, he begins rotating his chakra to work on shape manipulation and increase his overall chakra capacity.

After an entire night of practice, he rises to his feet. "I can't leave you guys here in case my mom finds you guys."

Looking around, the entire room and bathroom are filled with clones. After they all nod, they cross their fingers.

"Kai" x18

The clones disappear, and Zitsukani closes his eyes.

Level 3

[Health 110]

[Chakra 132/260]

[Stamina 84/120]

[20 Points]

[Taijutsu 3, Ninjutsu 4, Genjutsu 0]

[Ninjutsu cost reduced by 4%]

Opening his eyes, he walks out of the room. As he does, the smell of food hits him. A smile blooms on his face as he sees his mom at the stove cooking in an apron.

"Oh, you're up. I was going to come get you. It's almost done; have a seat." She continues to flip something that looks like pancakes.

Sitting down at the table, he sees something that looks like sausage patties and something that looks like orange juice.

After a few seconds, she puts a plate of hotcakes on the table.

"Itadakimasu!" Zitsu said, grabbing some sausage and hotcakes before beginning to eat.

As she watched her son eat, she sat down and ate as well.

After he finished eating, he stood up. "Ok mom, I have to go!"

"Ok, stay safe." She stood up and gave Zitsu a hug before clearing the table.

Heading out the door, he thought about getting the others before shaking his head. Heading down the stairs, he waited at the entrance of the building.

After waiting for over twenty minutes, his eyes grew cold. "Tsk." With a sneer, he walked off.

Arriving at the training center, he saw Mangetsu already in the pool swinging his sword.

Noticing someone enter the building, Mangetsu glanced over for a moment but said nothing and continued to practice.

Walking to the side of the pool, Zitsu took a deep breath. "I want to learn to use the sword!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, catching Mangetsu's attention.

"What did I say yesterday?" Mangetsu stopped practicing and looked over.

Zitsu smiled. Sending chakra to his feet, he strode forward. As his foot touched the water, he continued to move forward.

Seeing him walk on water, Mangetsu's brows raised, and he whistled a bit. "Not bad kid!" Nodding his head, he pointed at the swords on the wall. "Go grab a sword."

Hearing his words, Zitsu ran over to the sword wall. It was covered with all kinds of swords: longswords, shortswords, claymores, bastard swords, buster swords, scimitars, rapiers, Khopesh, Shotel, Butterfly sword, and many more.

Focusing chakra into his arms, he grabbed a buster sword but couldn't even get it to budge. Shaking his head, he grabbed a katana.

Walking onto the water with his sword, he looked at Mangetsu. "What do you know about the sword?" He asked, holding the katana in his hands.

"Nothing," Mangetsu shook his head.

Mangetsu looked at Zitsu's purple eyes and smiled. "The practice of swords is called Kenjutsu. A single sword can cut any jutsu, but only if you are skilled enough." Lifting up his sword, he slashed down.

"When you swing your sword, you are using every muscle in your body and chakra. Chakra is divided into two parts: physical and spiritual. So if you increase your physical strength, your chakra will increase too. It's difficult to do, so most people ignore it." Looking Zitsu up and down, he begins to think.

"Swing the sword around and get a feel for the sword. Teaching you anything right now will be a waste." Turning around, he walks away and continues to practice, doing downward slashes, cross cuts, lunging cuts, and a variety of other things.

Pulling the sword from its sheath, he smiles. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." He fastens the sheath horizontally on his back. If he placed it vertically, he wouldn't be able to pull it out because he's too short.

Holding the blade with both arms and filling them with chakra, he lifts the blade above his head. Focusing, he tries to interject chakra into the blade. Because his control has improved a lot, he actually succeeds.

The blade glows a faint blue as his face turns serious. "HAA!"

Swinging down with everything he has, the blade slightly splits the water, causing it to quake. Seeing the result, he smiles.

"Fool, I could have killed you thirteen times before you made that strike. Don't try to do flashy things and just swing the sword while feeling how your body moves." Mangetsu shakes his head.

Hearing his words, he calms down. Retracting his chakra, he swings the sword again, this time focusing on how his body moves, following Mangetsu's advice.

Up, down, left, right, and diagonal. Following his advice, he feels how his body moves with each cut. He notices that most of the time his arms only decide the direction the sword travels, and his back, core, and legs are doing most of the work.

Realizing this, his arms relax a little, and he continues to swing, letting his body do the work. Closing his eyes, he notices his stamina draining faster than ever.

Seeing this, Mangetsu nods. "He's on the right track, but he's still wrong."

Three hours later, he's sitting on the side of the pool panting, completely exhausted. Closing his eyes, he checks his stamina.

Level 3

[Health 110]

[Chakra 23/261]

[Stamina 4/122]

[20 Points]

He feels excited as he tries to catch his breath. After resting for a few minutes, the door opens.

The other kids walk into the building, joking and laughing, including Chojuro.

Seeing this, Zitsu frowns. Wasn't he supposed to be shy and timid? Thinking for a moment, his eyes go wide.

"Did he change because I was there and he learned how to socialize?" he mumbles to himself.

He furrows his brow as he looks at the kids.

"Is this the first visible change I've made?"