chapter 4 MONKS

it was just another day for ken, he woke up did his usual routine, and was packing his clothes to leave.

He turned to look at the skeletal corpse of the tiger and went on his journey gripping his fist in a ball.

He walked and walked through mountains and plains, after 6 hours he encountered. a small village.

Deciding to order food from an inn, he went into the village and found the villagers thin and Sickly, barely able to move, even the children were barely hanging on.

Ken was exposed to the most widespread problem of the world, poverty, and depression.

He felt sympathy for the villagers but it was beyond him to feed the whole village, but he couldn't say for sure until he tried.

He went back into the forest and went to catch different animals and wild vegetables.

he caught 4 deer and 16 rabbits.

He brought it to the front of the village and started skimming the hair off the animals.

This caught the attention of the villagers, they moved towards the young man and begged with their palms open

" please....some food, spare us...." quietly the entire village came forwards and said.

He nodded and said,

" I have brought these for you..does anyone know how to cook properly? then come forwards and make something I will help you "

a few ladies came forward with babies in their hands and helped him make food.

After 1 hour the food was ready before he could even say to start, they came with their bowls and spoons and started devouring it.

Seeing all the people smile with satisfaction and happiness a strange feeling warmed his heart.

He grabbed his chest thinking about what he was feeling.

"HOHOHOHOHO "

" HOHOHOHOHO"

"HOHOHOHOHOHO"

" SUCH A WONDERFUL DAY BROTHERS! HOW CAN WE NOT LAUGH!HOHOHOHO"

three humungous voices thundered throughout the forest.

The noise startled the villagers as well as the young boy.

They looked in the direction where huge sounds of steps were heard.

Three obese bald monks came robed in the light aura, the surroundings grew in color when they walked and they stopped when they reached the front of the village, noticing the crowd before them, they stopped laughing for a second and looked around and started laughing again.

If it was anyone else it would've been offensive but the amount of warmth and love these people emitted made them impossible to mark as enemies.

" It is great that the people have escaped from suffering! may you be a blessed child!HOHOHOHO"

"YES BROTHER IS RIGHT, MAY NATURE AID YOU CHILD HOHOHOHOHO"

" LET US HELP THEM MORE BROTHERS! Can't LET THE CHILD BURDEN ALL OF IT HOHOHO"

Ken looked at them weirdly thinking about who these people were and why his instincts were telling him that they are extremely skilled.

An aura burst from the three monks which made the whole village enveloped by a bright light and when it dimmed the whole village looked more green and the people were cured of the side effects of starvation.

" hohohoho! who is the village chief?"

the village chief ran towards the monks and know towed before them

" I am eternally grateful the monks from the main temple have graced their presence in this small village, I do not have anything to give you but please let us offer our thanks by giving you accommodation for the day!"

" There is no need for any gifts, we were passing by when we received the news about the village from our pigeon, how could we ignore it? then we wouldn't be monks on the path of enlightenment, here I have 2 million Ryo, use it for the village and buy stock for it, just go to the fire capital and look for any store and say the laughing monks sent you "

The three monks then shifted their gaze towards the small boy who was looking at them

" ...you guys are strong " he mumbled but noticing their gaze he looked away feigning ignorance.

" Such a funny child! hohoho" one of the monks said.

Ken was an interesting child because he held a certain noble aura and his birthmark was pretty stand out.

" of course, we are strong child, we are zen monks "

Ken's eyes shined like a kid, which he was.

" Zen monks? that sounds cool "

the three monks sweatdropped and laughed.

after a moment a slight aura resonated around them and they looked af the child again.

" come boy I can see you are a wandering swordsman I can point out advice even though I don't practice the sword, I know some of it, what is your name child? "

He looked around the villagers also looking at him and said after some time

"....takezo"

the monks easily saw through his lie and laughed at the young boy's innocence but inside they were saddened that the young boy had maybe committed a crime, or had been framed for him to lie about his name "

" come with us and show your techniques we'll help you out!"

He nodded with a smile and went with them to another place

Once they reached an open place he started to spar with one of the monks because he didn't learn any techniques other than the basic military techniques of his clan which would expose his identity.

He swung, slashed, thrust, and did everything he could just to get a hit in but all his attempts were dodged with barely a hair's length between them.

eventually, he became exhausted and stopped panting hard.

" Very impressive child, but you fight like a beast relying on your instincts...which is ok but harmful in the long term," said the monk that sparred with him

" relying on instincts is how humans fought in prehistoric times and martial arts was based on how animals relied on their instincts and reacted in fights but as an intelligent race we advanced from the animals and made it an amalgamation of techniques that make us more versatile than them....and our potential is greater too..."

" Firstly you are using up too much energy in fighting, I can be strong for your age and you use unnecessary energy during your attacks which makes you run out of energy faster...do you practice any arts?"

"....arts?" ken replied

" yes inner chakra manipulation or outer chakra manipulation, in simpler words ninjutsu or taijutsu with the use of chakra?"

" .. I have learned how to control chakra but not any jutsu or anything, those are for ninjas right...I am not a ninja "

the three monks were quiet for some time and nodded to each other.

" look carefully "

one of the said and stood in a stance.

he closed his eyes and thrust his palm forwards,

"Light thrust"

a huge crater was formed from the attack which left the young boy stunned.

the next monk came forward and kicked the air mumbling

" light kick " the crater was even more damaged and the surrounding trees were overturned.

" you can also use external and internal arts together like this

" preservation "

the crater was refilled and the upturned trees were back in pristine condition.

" because of our temple we can't hand out martial arts to nonmonks but we hope you can make your own set of techniques with this information, seeing the understanding look in your eyes I was correct."

Ken nodded in affirmation

" ...now boy what is your real name? are you a criminal?" asked one of the monks wanting to help out the nice boy if he was framed.

"... I am no one important...at least not anymore," ken said looking at the sky instead of the monks

All the three monks sighed in helplessness due to their stubborn nature to hide his name

" we will be leaving right now are you also leaving? we will be going back to the temple we can show you some stuff cause you helped the villagers!"

" I will take you up on that offer, thank you"

he said goodbye to the villagers and went on his way to where the wind took him along with the monks