9 Chapter – 8 Kenjutsu Training with Yūgao & Hayate

As the Sun started to set on the western horizon, the academy bell rang and the classes for the day were finally over. On the podium, Iruka collected the books and spoke to all the trainees with a smile, "Alright children, I will see you tomorrow morning in the classroom…"

"Hai, Sensei!"

"Have a pleasant evening!"

"See you tomorrow, Iruka-Sensei!"

Some children responded to Iruka's words, while others were too lazy. Iruka didn't mind, he knew the children were exhausted after spending the day at the academy. Along with these children, Sasuke also started to pack up his things and decided to leave the classroom. Just as he was finished, Iruka approached him and spoke, "Sasuke… uh…" he hesitated, he did not how to open the topic.

Sasuke raised his head and looked at Iruka with confusion, "What is it?"

"I just… uh… I just wanted to say that if there's anything I can do for you, or if you need my help with anything, please don't hesitate… I mean, I know I am just a Chunin and only a teacher… but well… what you went through… I… I have been through something similar, not the same, but something similar… so well… I…" Iruka was having trouble trying to explain himself and felt kind of awkward.

Sasuke stared at the helpless homeroom teacher for a while, then sighed, "It's alright, I know what you are trying to say, you needn't be concerned… I am doing perfectly fine." 

After that, he too stood up and left the classroom.

Iruka looked at the disappearing back of Sasuke and sighed, "But you are clearly not fine…" 

He is still too young and has only been teaching at the academy for one year, so understanding the mindset of children and what they need is still something he doesn't quite understand that well.

Sasuke silently walked through the corridors of the Academy; the school was almost empty as most of the children had left with their parents who came to pick them up. Even Naruto had left earlier because he was feeling hungry and wanted to eat some Cup-Ramen. 

'Finally, some relief…' thought Sasuke with a relieved sigh. The fangirls have left with their parents, even Sakura and Ino were not around at the time to annoy him, so it was finally quiet, and Sasuke felt relief.

Taking his sweet time, step by step, Sasuke arrived at the exit of the ninja academy, but as soon as he came out, his face scrunched up with a frown upon noticing the person leaning on the tree beside the exit, and questioned, "What are you doing here Yūgao?"

"Well, I stopped by your apartment earlier, but you were not there… then I tried to perceive your Chakra signature and realized that you are at the Konoha Ninja Academy, so I came here…" answered Yūgao.

"Uhh… that doesn't answer my question, I did not ask how you found me, I asked why you are here?" said Sasuke.

"Oh," nodded Yūgao as she realized that she had made a little mistake, then said with a smile, "I am free right now, so I thought… why not help you train a little, I did promise you after all… what do you say? Do you want to practice Kenjutsu?"

"I don't have a sword at the moment," answered Sasuke, he felt a little regretful, 'I should have sealed a few swords as well in the Storage Scroll.'

"Don't worry, I have plenty of them lying around with me… moreover, we won't be using real swords for your training at the moment, we will start with Wooden Shinai…" said Yūgao, then asked, "Or is it that you are too tired after the Academy?"

"Let's go…" answered Sasuke.

Yūgao smiled, "Then follow me…" and led Sasuke to her regular training field.

After a moment of hesitation, Sasuke followed Yūgao. 

He couldn't tell if it was the best decision to go to an isolated training field with an Anbu, however, he decided to take the risk. Although he couldn't be certain, he figured that unless he did something specific to garner others' attention, the existence of Itachi would keep Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō at bay. 

Sasuke is all that Itachi has left in this world, both Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō must understand this if something were to happen to him, Itachi would finally snap… at that point, he might really want to let the world feel pain, besides, Itachi has too much secret intel of Konoha, so there's no way they would want to jeopardize the safety of the village… at least until the threat of Itachi is dealt with, they wouldn't want to make their move on him.

With that in mind, Sasuke decided to take the risk, besides, he couldn't always keep himself closed off inside that apartment.

…

Training Field Twenty-Seven

Unlike most other training fields in Konoha, the training field twenty-seven is also filled with trees and other characteristics of a natural terrain such as a grassy field, a water body, and so on. There are also several wooden stakes at the training field. 

Leaning on one of the wooden stakes, a sickly young man with short brown hair, dark-colored eyes, and dark markings under his eyes sighed, "Yūgao sure is late today."

Just as he was wondering why she was late, her voice reached his ears, "Hayate-kun!"

Hayate turned toward the source of the voice and noticed two people walking toward him. The first person was naturally Yūgao, while the second person seemed to be a young boy… he did not the identity of the young boy and looked at Yūgao in confusion, and thought to himself, 'Did Yūgao have a younger sibling or something? She never mentioned…'

Hayate was curious and looked at the two as they approached him.

Arriving beside Hayate, Yūgao apologized, "Hayate-kun, I am sorry that you had to wait…"

Hayate shook his head, "That's fine, I had no mission today so there's no problem… but…" he looked at the young boy and asked, "Did you have a younger sibling? Though he doesn't look like you at all…"

Yūgao smiled awkwardly, and explained, "Well… it's a bit complicated, you can say that I am something like a guardian of this boy for the time being."

"Is that so?" mumbled Hayate in confusion as he looked at the young boy.

Yūgao introduced the person to the young boy, "He is Gekkō Hayate, we often train together…" Then she beckoned the young boy, "Come on, introduce yourself…"

Sasuke looked at Hayate. He knew the guy, not personally but by name and appearance, currently he seemed to be a Chunin but would go on to become Special Jonin by the time Canon started. Hayate is extremely proficient in Kenjutsu and Transparency Jutsu, but it's a pity that he would die a fruitless death at the hands of Baki of Sunagakure before Orochimaru's Konoha Collapse Plan begins and wouldn't even be avenged for his death.

After a moment of silence, he introduced himself, "Uchiha Sasuke."

The moment Hayate heard the boy's name, his eyes widened, 'Uchiha Sasuke?' and he turned to Yūgao, "Are you serious?"

Yūgao nodded, "Yes."

Shocked, Hayate once again looked at Sasuke. Of course, he knows who Uchiha Sasuke is, not personally, but by name and appearance. The last surviving member of the Uchiha Clan within Konohagakure, but he does not know that Yūgao has become the young Uchiha's guardian. He took a deep breath to collect himself, and asked Yūgao, "So, why bring him here?"

The Kunoichi shrugged, "He wants to learn Kenjutsu…" and added with an embarrassing smile "And well, I kind of made a deal with him."

Hayate blinked, "What kind of deal?" He couldn't understand what a little boy could offer Yūgao that she would agree to teach him Kenjutsu.

"In exchange for teaching me Kenjutsu, she wants me to cook meals for her…" answered Sasuke.

"I see, that makes sense…" nodded Hayate. Though he figured that there's more to it than just that, he understood that it's best not to inquire about it now, there will be more opportunities in the future. 

Yūgao asked Hayate, "Would it be fine if Sasuke were to join us?" After all, it's Hayate who helps her train her Kenjutsu skills, so she does need Hayate's permission.

The brown-haired Chunin shrugged, "I don't mind." then, he looked at Sasuke, and asked, "So, you want to learn Kenjutsu, huh?"

Sasuke nodded with an expressionless face, "Yes."

"Not very wordy, are you?" muttered Hayate, not caring about Sasuke's silent personality, and said, "Alright then, let's start with your Kenjutsu training…" he picked up a Wooden Shinai he had brought along with him, noted that it's too big for Sasuke chopped off its end using a Chakra that he created on his palm then passed it to Sasuke, "Here you go… you can use this for the training."

"Thank you," said Sasuke gratefully as he received the Wooden Shinai.

Yūgao then questioned, "By the way Sasuke, do you have any knowledge or experience of using a sword?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No." 

He does retain knife-wielding and needle-wielding skills based on the memories and experience of the assassin, however, things like Wires, Threads, Shuriken, Kunai, Tantō, and Shinobi Swords are completely new to him. He is confident that he would be able to adapt to Kunai without much difficulty, but other things would take time, effort, and training, although, he does have some experience of using Shuriken and Kunai from the memories of 'Sasuke,' however, Sword is still a little too far for him.

"Very well then, we will start from the very basics…" said Yūgao, and added, "Let's go with the stance, footwork, grip, and posture before moving on to the Kata… at the same time, you need to build up physical strength and stamina."

"Alright." Nodded Sasuke and listened closely.

"First is stance…" said Yūgao as she opened her index finger and began explaining, "Stances are the fundamental positions that a practitioner of any form of physical combat must assume to optimize their readiness, balance, and mobility during combat, each stance serves a specific purpose and is often tailored to different situations, techniques, or strategies. There are a few Key aspects of Stances in combat which include: Balance and Stability, Mobility and Maneuverability, Guarding and protection, Readiness and Alertness, Strategic Advantage, Expression of One's Style, form, and tradition, as well as Mind-Body Connection." She paused for a moment, and added, "Later I will give you a Scroll with theoretical details, so make sure to read that as well… but for now, let's demonstrate different stances." Then looked at Hayate and requested, "Hayate-kun, do you mind?"

"No problem," nodded Hayate as he picked up another Wooden Shinai, he then spoke to Sasuke, "Pay attention to my posture…" And went on to perform nearly two dozen stances one by one.

Middle Stance, Upper Stance, Lower Stance, Side Stance, Flag Stance, True Sight Stance, Low Guard Stance, Flat Stance, Yin-Yang Stance, Preparation Stance, Mouth of the Scabbard Stance, Natural Stance, Eight Directions Stance, Square Stance, Cat Stance, Horse Stance, Forward Stance, Hourglass Stance, Sumo Stance, Standing Techniques Stance, Crane Stance, Cat Foot Stance, Right Natural Stance, Left Natural Stance, Sliding Step Stance, half Body Stance, and Sagittarius Stance.

After he had once displayed all the basic stances, Hayate asked, "Do you understand? Or should I perform them again?"

Sasuke shook his head, "There's no need, I have memorized all of them."

"You have?" asked Hayate in surprise. He had displayed twenty-seven stances one after another, so it was a bit surprising for him that Sasuke was able to memorize all of them instantly. If Sasuke had activated his Sharingan when he was displaying the stances, Hayate wouldn't be surprised, after all, Sharingan allows their wielder to copy other techniques, but Sasuke has clearly not activated the Sharingan.

Sasuke nodded, "Yes, I have."

Yūgao asked doubtfully, "Sasuke, do you have a photographic memory?" 

Having a Photographic Memory is not too rare in the Shinobi World, quite a few Shinobi have it, it's just another talent, so Yūgao posed such a question because only a Photographic Memory would explain how Sasuke was able to memorize all twenty-six stances without using the Sharingan.

"Maybe…? I did not put much thought into it before, but now that I think about it, I do seem to be able to memorize anything I lay my eyes upon," answered Sasuke after pondering for a moment.

"I see, that would make things easier for both of us," muttered Yūgao with a smile, then said, "Alright, since you have memorized all the stances with that photographic memory of yours, in that case, I want you to practice those stances and master them… Repeat each stance three hundred times without stopping such that these stances are ingrained in your muscle memory… In the meantime, I will be training with Hayate-kun, if you have any doubts, you can ask either of us, there's no need to hesitate."

"Just in case, I will leave behind a Shadow Clone, so, if there are any errors while you make a stance, my Shadow Clone can point that out and you can correct it," interjected Hayate as he weaved the hand signs, and with a poof of smoke an identical figure of Hayate appeared beside him.

"I understand," nodded Sasuke, while Yūgao and Hayate went a little further away in the training field to carry out their own training, he lifted the Shinai given to him earlier and then started to replicate the stances one after another under the guidance of Hayate's Shadow Clone. 

He couldn't replicate them exactly in his first few attempts, there were differences in angles and reach that he needed to correct, however, with each successive attempt Sasuke improved, though repeating each stance three hundred times took nearly four hours. 

By the time Sasuke finished, it was already night, and he was physically drained.

Hayate and Yūgao had also completed their training and approached Sasuke, "You done?"

Yūgao said, "Well then, let's go, it's getting late… if we hurry back, we will still be able to eat something."

"There's no need…" said Sasuke as took out a storage scroll from his Shinobi Bag, summoned a few dishes from it that he had sealed inside in the morning, and passed them to Yūgao, "Here you go…"

Surprised, Yūgao received dishes, and asked, "Were you prepared for such a thing in advance?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I just wanted to experiment a little and see how long the cooked meal can be stored inside the Storage Scroll, looking at the current state, it seems to be edible right now, but I guess by tomorrow morning it will probably go bad…"

"I see, thank you Sasuke" nodded Yūgao. 

"Hmm," nodded Sasuke then took out another dish from the storage scroll and passed it to Hayate, "Here you go Hayate."

The brown-haired Kenjutsu expert was a little hesitant, "Are you sure about this? Unlike Yūgao, I didn't make any agreement with you."

"Yes, you helped me train, especially went out of your way to create that Shadow Clone to correct all the mistakes I made… Kindness and Virtue must be repaid with Kindness and Virtue," spoke Sasuke as he insisted on Hayate eating the dish.

"Thank you," said Hayate with a grateful smile as he received the dish from Sasuke, and upon taking the first bite, he couldn't help but praise, "It's quite good." He won't say that it's the tastiest dish he has eaten, however, won't deny that it is indeed quite delicious.

"Yes, it is indeed very good," Yūgao agreed with Hayate's praise.

The young Uchiha nodded briefly and took out a dish for himself.

Neither Hayate nor Yūgao are people of many words, and Sasuke naturally prefers silence, so the rest of the meal went in silence.

Once they finished the meal, they left the training field. Firstly, Yūgao dropped Sasuke to his apartment, after that where they went Sasuke was neither privy to that information nor was, he interested to know.

Back at his apartment, Sasuke took a bath while performing the Chakra control excursive he did in the morning on the roof of the Academy, after that, he summarized everything he had done in the entire day as well as listed the next day's objectives and then went to sleep.

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