Training - CQC
This kind of Spartan training continued until grandpa was finally satisfied with my physical prowess. It took a good 3 months to get to this level. Even after receiving the boost from the breakthrough in the Great Way of the Buddha it still took time to get to where I am now. Of course I have a nagging feeling that my grandpa is just being increasingly paranoid about my safety and just making sure my body is brought to the extreme limit of what my size can handle. Not that I'm complaining though. My base body stats now are almost at the level of a Jonin. This will surely help in the long term.
Today is finally the day where Rai's Nintaijutsu and Kenjutsu training begins. Rai is extremely excited about this.
'Finally, I can really see the results of my training. It is really hard to gauge where I stand from just stat numbers. I needed a real fight and actual experience to see how much I am lacking and where I can improve.'
"Alright Rai. Today we start with your battle training. I expected to keep training your body for at least a year. But, your strength has been improving way too fast and it kind of put a dent to the plans I had in store for you initially. Well, no matter. Now we'll spar for a bit and let's see how you hold up." – A (Grandpa)
'Finally, I can put Observation Haki to some use.'
"Alright. I'm ready Grandpa." – Rai
Grandpa nods in approval and takes his fighting stance. Rai seeing this also gets serious and gets ready to react.
Grandpa dashes forward and in an instant he is already in front of Rai. He winds back to deliver a powerful kick to the side of his body. Rai quickly steps back in order to dodge. He was barely able to get away but before he can sigh in relief he sees a punch coming towards his chest. Seeing no way to dodge on time he decides to put both his arms in the way in the shape of a cross to tank the hit. Rai felt like a truck rammed into his body. He was launched away and fell back for around 10 meters.
His arms felt extremely sore. Luckily it wasn't broken. But it was starting to get heavier to use his hands now. He quickly got up and charged back straight towards his grandpa. All that training had really boosted his perseverance and will power and it shows now with him going straight back into the fight.
He tried dodging but he always got cornered and blasted away team rocket style. He tried to parry the hits but the force was too much and his technique too sloppy to stand a chance. He tried attacking but never came close to landing a hit. This went on for a good while until Rai was all beaten and bruised. He could barely twitch a muscle with all the pain that his body was going through.
"That's enough sparring for now. We'll do this every day in the morning from now on. After this you will do one set of physical exercises and then we'll start your Kenjutsu training. You can't be a Kumo Shinobi without knowing how to use a sword." – A (Grandpa) He left after saying his piece.
Rai still laid there on the floor in pain thinking that his previous training regime felt like heaven before his current one. He slowly picked himself up and went back to his house for a rest. Rai can feel his body recovering already. It is slow but he can already feel the respite and relief. This regeneration of the Great Way of the Buddha is seriously impressive. But it still feels like shit to be beaten up and thrown around like a sack of potatoes. Rai resolved himself that one day he would be able to do the same to his grandpa. He will have his revenge. Huhuhu (Evil chuckle)
What followed in the evening was more like a proper teaching session with his grandpa teaching him how to handle a sword. Initially, his grandpa wanted him to learn how to use a Tantō like most of the other Kumo shinobi's but a Tantō is a smaller blade around a foot in length. It did not work well with his Thunder Breathing and so he insisted on getting a bigger blade and finally started practicing with a Wakizashi blade. Even though Grandpa didn't specialize in using such a blade, he had enough experience to teach Rai the correct way to hold the blade and his stances. A Wakizashi is a two handed sword and so he also had to work on his footwork techniques.
Rai was improving by leaps and bounds with his grandfather's daily training which is borderline torture. But he stuck with it and he can see visible improvements already. He can now anticipate attacks quicker and he can move to the best position to dodge or counter seamlessly. His sword techniques also improved and he can now perform the First Form: Thunderclap and Flash (Ichi no kata: Hekireki Issen) of the Thunder Breathing. This form is where the swordsman leans forward unsheathes their blade, dashes and aims to decapitate their opponent.
He is not yet capable of performing the other variations of the skill like Zenitsu is capable of. But he is now trying to use the technique in conjunction with the Lightning Cloak. The first time he tried it, he lost control of his dash and went straight into a tree. Luckily, his cloak was still on and so he wasn't too hurt from this. But, clearly controlling the speed in order to be combat ready is going to be hard.
His grandpa cannot praise Rai's battle awareness highly enough. He is calling Rai a natural born warrior. Of course his grandfather doesn't know that Rai possesses a cheat like skill called Observation Haki. Continuous use of the skill has made Rai more familiar with Haki and he is now able to predict hits as long as the hits are not too fast for his perception. Rai once got cocky, and his grandpa put him in his place with a well-timed feint for which Rai fell hook line and sinker.
What followed was a brutal beat down, the lesson being never to be too arrogant in battle. Sounds quite simple but Rai couldn't help but feel gleeful when he was able to dodge attack after attack after attack and he put his guard down. Needless to say, that will never happen again. The look on his grandpa's face was seriously scary. Grandpa thinks that the biggest taboo in battle is to let your guard down due to your arrogance. He made it perfectly clear that if something like this happens again, he'd receive an even more brutal beating. Point taken.
[DING]
[New skill: Close Quarter Combat (CQC) received] (D)
'Seems like I've gotten good enough to warrant a skill for CQC.'
[Don't get ahead of yourself Rai. D rank is the most basic of the basics. Your grandfather's CQC must be around S rank. All it shows is that you are trained enough to put up a fight.]
'Ok.'
"Grandpa, can I do some extra training to hone my senses?" – Rai
"Why do you want to do that?" – A (Grandpa)
"It's like this. I can feel my surroundings better and I'm also able to perceive incoming attacks faster and more accurately after my sparring started with you. So I was thinking if there was a way for me to improve my senses? I feel like I could fight way better if I can improve it." – Rai
"Hmm. Ok. I know just the place where you can train. I'll take you there first thing in the morning." – A (Grandpa)