Childhood III

Year: 10

My training has finally begun. I am now 10 years old and about as tall as the average 14 -15 year old. My strength is impressive for a child my age. I am about as strong physically as a seated officer. My Reiryoku is higher than a third seat and probably Lieutenant level right now. These aren't very surprising changes since I am very dedicated to my training. That's right, I didn't fully listen to my grandfather and started to, or better yet, I continued to train my Kenbunshoku Haki. 

I never really stopped doing that except during the time when I had to study the very boring things in class. I was now excused from classes about noble decorum and such things. Finally, Grandfather has told me that he will begin my Zanjutsu training. I can't wait to get some really hard training done. While my Kenbunshoku Haki has grown strong for a 10-year-old, it is still at the basic stage. I am happy that I managed to unlock Haki on my own and train it on my own as well, but I can't lie and say that the template didn't help. 

The experience from Mihawk was a goldmine and as I grew stronger, my Haki did as well and the template got slowly more and more integrated. So it's not just my achievement. I managed to achieve presence sensing in a 100-meter radius and am on the verge of achieving emotion sensing and strength sensing. No intent sensing at all yet. But that will come with time and training. 

I stopped the Kido training for two reasons. First, I didn't want to reveal my secrets to everyone and second, I could now train physically so there was no need to distract myself anymore. I managed to achieve the gravity field, Kido, thanks to the Kido Corps Lieutenant. Funnily enough, he sees the Kido as a failure, since it takes too long to activate and is very big, which makes it hard to focus on one enemy. I, on the other hand, see it as a success because I will get some good training in with that. 

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"Alright Byakuya, today marks your first day of training. Normally I wouldn't start training you when you are only ten years old, but you are as tall as a teenager and just as strong. I would also normally not be the one to train you, because this falls to your father. But he is feeling worse in the last couple of weeks, so I will take care of this. 

This training will follow strict rules. You will do as I say when I say it. I will show you how each of the basic stances work and you will put in the work to master them yourself. I will make sure that you don't slack off, but from what I've seen from you, that won't be a problem. We will hold regular sparring sessions where I test your progress. 

Any questions?", Grandfather asks me.

"Yes. What about Hakuda and Hoho? Will you teach me those as well?"

"No, there is someone who has volunteered to train you in those arts."

"Eh? Who?", I ask.

"Well ..."

"... Don't tell me."

"I'm afraid so."

"Oh no."

"'Oh no'? Do you know how many would be honored to be taught by the best Hakuda and Hoho practitioner in Soul Society?", a feminine voice asks me as a pair of fleshy mounds press against my head.

"Cat monster. How nice of you to visit us. Can I offer you some tea?", I put my natural face back on as this is the one that gets the least trouble with Yoruichi. 

"Cat monster? Oh my, you'll make me blush.", she says and holds her face with her hands. 

"I see. Well if it's all the same to you, I was just about to have my first Zanjutsu lesson with Grandfather, so if you wouldn't mind leave us alone now. That would be appreciated."

"You brat!.", she says and bonks me on the head, "You still don't know how to talk to a lady."

"Actually Byakuya, Yoruichi asked that I allow her to have the first lesson with you. We can start our training tomorrow.", Grandfather says and I feel betrayed. The deception, the betrayal man he deceived me. 

"I can see that you are excited about that, Byakuya. I'll leave you two to it.", my grandfather says and then leaves the area. 

"I see, well then. What are we going to do, Yoruichi-sensei?", I changed my way of addressing her since she was now my teacher. 

"Hehe, we are going to begin with some basic physical exercises. Training Hakuda and Hoho requires a lot of stamina and strength. And to get that, you will need to train your body. So begin running around the field and only stop when I tell you to. Also, do it as fast as you can."

This was the beginning of my physical training and it was very enjoyable. I could feel myself grow stronger as the days went by. Each lesson would go from 1 hour to 2 or maybe 3, after that, I was supposed to do what I wished. That was the time, I trained for myself. During those times, I would use the Gravity Kido on the training ground and then do my own physical exercises. 

I pushed myself the same way I saw both Mihawk and Flashy Flash push themselves. But both of those had a lot of talent for their craft. So while they trained hard, they never trained as hard as Saitama or others like Zoro did. But I was different. I wasn't just those three people, I was a new person and I would not allow myself to be weak in the future. I would break my limiters. 

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Year: 15

My training has been going very well. I have surprised both Grandfather and Yoruichi with my progress and the speed at which I learn anything concerning fighting. Yoruichi wasn't able to come as often anymore since she had become the Captain of Squad 2 and the commander of the Onmitsukidō. That left me to train by myself and while that was possible, it wasn't as fruitful as fighting someone stronger than you. My Hakuda and Hoho skills were at about mid-high level. It wouldn't take long and I would reach Yoruichi's level and then surpass her. 

The reason why I was only at mid-high level, was because I focused on more things than just Hakuda and Hoho. While these martial arts were not bad, it wasn't nearly as good as the martial art of Flashy Flash, which I practiced. I focused on Zanjutsu, Haki, Flashy Flash's martial art, and of course the swordsmanship of both my templates. Grandfather has told me that I would be joining the Shin'o Academy soon since he enrolled me already. Normally a young soul such as me wouldn't enroll already since I was still considered a child, but with my height and strength, it was time for me to join. 

.

I noticed something while I was training. By gaining the templates of Dracule Mihawk and Flashy Flash, I also gained their physiques. What this means is that I also gained the physics that their bodies followed in their worlds. And this might seem confusing, but it's actually very simple and boils down to one important fact. 

Haki is a mysterious power that allows the user to utilize their own spiritual energy for various purposes. It grows stronger the more you use it, the more you push yourself past your limits, and the stronger the opponents you face. This means that pushing myself was the most important way to grow more powerful.

The people in the One Punch Man world had something called a 'Limiter'. The limiter is a barrier placed by God on all beings in the One-Punch Man world that restricts their physical growth. The limiter acts as a sort of cap to an individual's growth, making it impossible to grow past a certain point. It is also possible for the limiter to be broken[2]. Doing so allows an individual to grow indefinitely, however in order to do so, the individual would need to conquer death, overbearing their body and soul. This process is very difficult and is only possible via sheer willpower and resilience. 

I also inherit that limiter. It is of course different now that I am not only Flashy Flash but also Mihawk and Byakuya Kuchiki. So my limiter should be 'diluted' if you will. But this means that I could break my limiter and grow to unprecedented heights. I will have to go beyond my limits every day for that though and find a training that is nigh impossible for me. And I believe that I have such a way. 

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Year: 16

I enrolled in the Shin'o Academy this year. It is an interesting experience but not really helpful for me. Apart from the Kido class, there is nothing to learn for me. And in Kido, I only need the practical experience. Everything else is useless for me. I was allowed to skip the classes for Hakuda, Hoho, and Zanjutsu and train on my own. I used this time to replicate Saitama's 'experience' when he trained for three years. 

What happened to Saitama was that he was not special in any way. He was as ordinary as they come and due to that, the training he did during those three years, was so hard for him, that it allowed him to not only break but shatter his limiter. I wanted to replicate this experience by training similarly but also differently. I know that simple workout won't cut it as that doesn't even put a strain on my body. So if I want to achieve anything, I have to make the training as hard as it was for Saitama. 

And I have something like that. Ever since I got the idea last year, I tried to come up with a plan to replicate Saitama's experience during training and his growth. And after thinking about it, I believe that there is a way for me to reach similar heights. Using Kido, especially the Gravity Kido, I will make the training as hard as possible. The problem is that due to me not only being Flashy Flash but also Mihawk and Byakuya, I will probably react differently and grow stronger and make the training useless after a while. So I'll have to increase the difficulty each day a little bit, to take me to the brink of passing out and then push through with my will alone. 

So that's what I did. I am already 1.80 m tall so I don't have to worry about stunting my growth at all. I see my maximum height at about 185 anyway. 

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Year: 17

Fuck. I didn't know what I signed up for when I decided to make this training plan. I usually go to the lectures in the morning, if I have any, and then, when I'm free, I do my own training. I started out doing the training on 4 times normal gravity. That was intense the first day, but it was even more intense the second one. It seemed to get worse for a while and then slightly better. The moment I noticed that it was getting better, I increased the amount of gravity to 5 times normal gravity. 

And then it went from bad to worse. It wasn't linear like it was before when I trained but it made a jump to very bad. I felt like I was going to die for a few months until I caught up and it got slightly better again. And then the same thing happened. I increased the gravity from 5x to 6x normal gravity and almost couldn't get up from the floor to do one push-up. But I pulled through and now after one year of training, I feel like my hair will truly fall out. 

There hasn't been any such a thing for now, but you never know what might happen. My Haki has grown leaps this year. Not really Busoshoku or Kenbunshoku, but Haoshoku. I unlocked it a few weeks ago. The moment when I increased gravity to 6x normal gravity, I was pushed to the ground, and using all of my willpower, I managed to slowly push myself off the ground. I didn't even realise it at the time, that I had unlocked it. Haoshoku Haki is similar to Reiatsu, but different at the same time. It is literally forcing my will onto reality. 

I surpassed my limits that day and I can already feel that it might be time to increase gravity soon, once again. Whenever I am about to break down or my body thinks of giving up, Haoshoku seems to follow my will and activates and I push past my limits. Now I only need powerful monsters to fight, that would make it perfect. 

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I got this idea from the story: Limitless Flame. I try not to make it the same, but similar. The MC's situation is different anyway.