Chapter 9 : 9th Stance

The cold attacked Takeo in all directions, all the hairs on his body stood up to try and conserve heat. At first he couldn't concentrate, but whilst he meditated he used <Total Concentration Breathing>, which made him even stronger, and able to withstand the extreme temperature.

After meditating for more than an hour, Takeo finally stopped. He felt a bit stronger than before, 'I'll be able to stay in this cave for much more than 3 days', Takeo thought with a smile. Looking at the Nichirin sword on his lap, Takeo picked it up, he decided to train his swordsmanship here, as it should provide good results in the long run.

He spaced his legs away from each-other, about shoulder-width apart, before he began to use Flame Breathing. Inhaling slowly, before he exhaled quickly, he quickly felt a burning sensation around his stomach area, 'I only know one form of the Flame Breathing Style....but that doesn't mean I can't create my own', he thought, before he directed the heat up to his arm, before he exploded forward, and slashed the air....

FWOOOSHHH!!!

"Honō no kokyū : Ichi no kata: Shiranui".

BOOOSHHH!!!!!

The impact of the strike spread fire around Takeo, melting a small amount of ice in the process, which would make his stay inside the cave even easier....

But before he knew, he immediately kneeled on the floor, as he clutched his throat. Using a Flame Breath Technique inside had relieved him off some pressure, but the success of the attack had made him excited, and lose focus, making him stop using the Total Concentration Technique he tried to maintain for so long.

'My body should get used to the temperature properly later. I just have to make sure I don't do anything stupid. I can practise swordsmanship later', he concluded, before he started using the Total Concentration Breathing Technique.

"Huu!, Haaa!, Huu!, Haaa!", he inhaled deeply to the maximum he could, before he exhaled slowly which raised his heart-rate and blood circulation whilst the oxygen spread to all of his cells, making him even stronger than before...

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After more than 3 hours, Takeo finally took a short rest, but he still kept his breathing. Looking around him in curiosity, he thought, 'How can this cave be so cold. There'd have to be something which was affecting it, right?', before he decided to get up and explore.

The cave was fairly big, they were many icicles that surrounded Takeo, simply tapping on them would echo a sound throughout the cave. Walking around the cave some more, till he had nothing left, he leaned on a wall behind him, "There really isn't anything interesting in this cave, huh?", he said before he walked back to where his stuff where.

After finally sitting down, his stomach growled unexpectedly....

"GROWL!!"

'I guess I'm feeling a bit hungry~', he thought, before he pulled out some fruits from his bag. They were the only food supply he had....but the second he opened the bag and took some out.....

KLAGHGH!

The ones in his hand, and the ones in the bag that were exposed, froze under the temperature...

Staring at the fruits with a blank expression, Takeo was really annoyed, 'What am I going to eat now!?', he thought before slamming his fist on-to the wall behind him with fury...

CRACK!

'Oops! I really should be careful from now on', he thought, before he decided to lay on the cold floor as he patted his stomach.

'So hungry', 'When I get out of here I'm gonna have a feast', he thought as he licked his lips.

For some reason, most of the animals felt a cold chill that spread across their bodies even though it was a sunny afternoon.

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After training a bit more, Takeo attempted to go sleep but couldn't....the cold prevented him from having sweet dreams, "Can't sleep! Can't eat! Master Kenzō was really right, I should've gotten enough good rest", he said out-loud in annoyance.

"Since I can't sleep or eat, the only thing I can do is train", after thinking about it, "If I can survive this mental battle between my stomach and fatigue, I can get even stronger, YOSH!", he stated, before he quickly got up and began to train like crazy.

All Day and Night all Takeo did was train. Only taking about 6 hours of rest a day and 18 hours of full intensity training, he could himself getting stronger. It had already past the 3 days mark, all that was fuelling him was the power he was seeking.

Since he wasn't eating, he lost some fat and muscle, and so he'd have to work even harder to work that muscle back and even exceed what he had before, a completely gruelling process....but he had done it with a smile on his face.

His sweat and blood formed puddles all around him, but they quickly froze under the temperature, which wasn't surprising.

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After staying inside the cave for 2 weeks, with no food and not being able to sleep, Takeo reaped more strength, but was completely tired. Having the sun hit on his face after he came out felt amazing, 'So warm', he thought, before he walked back home.

He didn't eat anything, and instead immediately went to sleep to ease his mental fatigue.

When he woke up again, 4 days had passed. After not sleeping for 14 days (336 hours), he finally slept for 96 hours without interruption.

CLICK!

His bone clicked after he stretched before yawning, "awww!", before his stomach growled angrily.

"GROWWLL!!!"

Immediately grabbing his sword, before he darted towards the forest, he licked his lips knowing he'd have a feast today.

'Meat! Meat!', he thought, before he suddenly ran faster than before.

Appearing right behind a deer, before he jumped into the air and slashed it's head with no wasted movements. The cut was very clean compared to his previous kill, which made him satisfied with his training.

Carrying the deer home, before immediately went back to the forest, he repeated this motion as carrying a deer whilst hunting another animal would prove annoying and take long, for a person who hadn't eaten for 14 days.

Staring at a pack of wolves, his eyes shone dangerously before he smiled...diving into their ranks without a care for his safety, "MEAT!", he shouted, alerting the wolves as he appeared right above them.