[ JINICHI WATARU]
The world, the real world, faded away as I once again found myself surrounded by rows of weapons and statues in the intricate, traditional dojo. And in its center stood my opponent; his bowl-cut hair, beady eyes, and green jumpsuit always made him stand out in a crowd.
He was battle-ready, as he had already taken a stance: one arm behind his back, legs spread to center himself, and the other arm raised and ready for action, his form forever solid like stone. His eyes focused on me with quiet determination, watching my every move.
Walking towards him, his eyes never leaving me, I too took a stance—a boxing stance. My left hand tucked to the side of my chest and protecting my face, my right arm serving as my main leading hand, was free. My legs were spread wide enough to balance myself.
We were about two meters away from each other. The tension in the dojo was high; no one had made a move, or rather, I hadn't made a move because it seemed to me that Rock Lee had no intention of striking first. We were both too focused on the other's movements to think about anything else. Sweat dripped down my forehead, down to my chin then.
Drip.
I charged forward with fervor, closing the distance in a single stride, jumping into the air launching a superman punch at him. He tilted to the side, dodging the blow before countering with a kick to my face. I dodged the attack by rolling backwards, and with a reverse handspring, I threw twin kicks at him. He jumped over the kick and retaliated with a twin kick of his own to my chest.
Rolling to the side, I dodged the attack and tried to get back on my own two feet, but my opponent was not one to let a moment of weakness slip by him. He grabbed my left arm and pinned me down on my side, letting loose a quick jab to my face to disorient me.
It worked. The blow landed squarely on my nose; the force rattled my teeth and caught me off guard. I had instinctively closed my eyes when I was struck, causing me to lose sight of him.
'SHIT! That hurt!!'
Lashing out wildly, I tried to push him off me, but he wouldn't budge. He kept pinning down my left arm, the force of his hold creaking my bones. My chakra flowed to my left arm, and I threw him off me. I tried to grapple at him, but he had already given some distance between us.
Gritting through the pain of his blow, I forced my eyes open; the floor was stained with blood. My blood.
'Lesson 1, don't use moves that leave you too open. Lesson learned I guess.'
Blowing my nose, the blood that had built up fell on the floor. Splat, splat. I wiped the blood off my face. I once again got into my stance, my left arm more noticeably strained to use.
I approached him again, my guard up. When he was within range, I threw a jab-hook combo at him, but he simply dodged it. He threw a low kick, which I blocked; I reached for the extended leg, he kicked the hand away. Using the momentum of the blow, I countered with a high kick aiming for his temple. He slipped under the kick and retaliated with a palm strike to my jaw. My jaw rattled from the blow, and I saw stars.
Gritting my teeth, I launched a kick at his jaw. He parried the strike, the blow redirecting me away. Once again, I used the momentum to launch a kick at his jaw. He blocked the blow before sending me flying with a straight punch to my chest.
[*BAM*]
The blow landed cleanly on my chest.
[Image training suspended, User has been knocked unconscious.]
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'Uhhh… My head… what happened...'
Waking up from my unfortunate knockout, I found myself lying on the cold marble floor of my apartment. My shirt soaked up all the sweat I had built up during the fight, the chilling cold jolting me up fully from my unexpected slumber. Trying to get up with my left arm, I felt a bit of strain using it.
!!
'That's right!! I was fighting Rock Lee using image training!'
Touching my chest, a sharp pain coursed through my body, causing me to grunt. Lifting my sweat-drenched shirt, I saw a purple-blue bruise around the center of my chest. I blinked at the injury.
!!
'Damn, that dude hits like a truck, my goodness...'
With a thought, I summoned my inventory.
[*POOF*]
[ INVENTORY]
Recovery pills X 5
A green pill appeared before me. I observed it a bit, suddenly:
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[ NEW SKILL!! ]
Scan [ Lv 1 ]
This skill enables the player to determine the use of an item by close contact observation of said item.
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●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Recovery pill
A green liquid encased in a capsule that heals the user of fatigue and injuries; it induces a soothing cool wave upon the user's body. These pills are rare and thus they must be used wisely.
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"Huh. That's neat," I muttered, pondering how best to use the pill.
Without a moment's hesitation, I popped one pill into my mouth.
Pop.
A cool wave washed over my body. The purple spot on my chest slowly dissipated, leaving my chest to return to its original color. The pain in my chest lingered for a moment before subsiding, washing away like it was never even there. Touching my chest, I no longer felt any pain there; the pain and the injuries just disappeared. I touched my nose checking for any hint of lingering pain, and at the same time, I checked my left arm. Both of the injuries were gone, and they felt good as new.
Rolling my shoulders, I got off the floor and stretched. The rays of the afternoon sunlight burst through the blinds of my room, briefly blinding me.
'Gotta go take a shower.'
Entering the bathroom, I caught my reflection in the mirror.
'Right… I've been so focused on preparing for the exam, I haven't even looked at my own face.'
I was met with the visage of a twelve-year-old pre-teen. Shaggy, curly brown hair reached down to my neck, long enough to slightly obscure my vision. Beneath the bangs, piercing blue eyes flashed like lightning. A few light freckles dotted the bridge of my nose, but the soft baby fat of early childhood was rapidly disappearing—a clear sign that the grueling training was forging me into a young shinobi.
'I've still got a long way to go, though.'
I moved away from the mirror and entered the bath to take a shower.
…..
....
...…..
"Phewwww…. I really needed that shower. Now! Onto the next part of my training!" I said, my excitement laid bare in my expression. My expression turned serious in the next moment.
'The Academy three:
The clone jutsu,
The transformation jutsu,
And the Substitution jutsu.
I spent most of my time trying to complete the quests, but I still haven't finished mastering the academy three… I need to level up my chakra control more.'
I settled into a cross-legged stance on my bed. Closing my eyes, I focused inward, seeking the flow of my chakra. Compared to the previous times where my control was insufficient to manage my chakra pool, this time it was different. The moment I tried to channel my chakra, it flowed like honey, slow but moving, no longer slipping through my grasp; it was less reluctant to resist my control.
I steadied my breathing, and I commanded it to flow to my legs and arms. It obeyed, slowly but surely, flowing from my core to my legs and arms. This caused my arms and legs to glow slightly, coated in a soft blue light.
'Alright! Next step.'
Once again, my chakra flowed back into my core, before I commanded it to flow into my eyes.
!!!
The environment felt clearer, like I had been seeing the world in a dull color beforehand. I turned my hand observing its movement; in this state, my hand's movement seemed a little slow.
'That's so cool.'
!!
"Ack!" I squealed in pain.
'Better turn it off.'
My chakra receded back to my core with a simple command, but the chakra in my coil flowed ever present and ready. A notification went off in my head.
[ *DING* ]
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[ LEVEL UP! ]
Chakra Augmentation [Lvl 4]
The process of coating one's body in chakra for offensive or defensive purposes.
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[ LEVEL UP! ]
Image Training [Lvl 10]
Allows the user to visualize scenarios for training and sparring purposes. Note: Physical damage sustained during sparring can affect the user's real body. If conditions become too dangerous, the system will halt the training.
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[ LEVEL UP! ]
Spinjitzu [ Lv 3 ]
The art of fighting via rotation and balance. By rotating oneself in the midst of throwing out a flurry of punches and kicks, one is capable of defending themselves while redirecting the blows of their opponent.
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I blinked in surprise.
'Huh…. I must have leveled up the skills during the fight,' I mused. 'Well, good to know that getting curbstomped is a way of leveling up..'
I shivered at the thought of fighting Rock Lee again, or rather my perspective of him.
"Well, I'll probably have to do it one day, better late than never right?"
'Okay, now for the moment of truth… let's start with clone jutsu first.'
Searching through the memories, I remembered the hand signs and began to weave them.
'Ram → Snake → Tiger'
I felt a lump of my chakra drain from me; around 30% of my chakra left me.
[ *POOF* ]
In front of me stood the visage of a young teen. Shaggy, curly brown hair. Beneath the bangs, piercing blue eyes flashed like lightning. A few light freckles dotted the bridge of his nose.
What faced me was myself.
"Alright! Nice!" I exclaimed; I could feel a smile growing on my face.
"Okay, quick test!"
I raised an arm testing to see if the clone could follow my actions; the clone wasted no time in doing so. I jumped, and so did the clone.
'One final test.'
"Fuuuuuusiiiiioooonnnn hhhaaaa!"
The clone copied the movements exactly.
'Okay, the clone jutsu is a success! Onto transformation jutsu. Hmm, who should the clone turn into.. Oh! I know!'
'Dog → Boar → Ram'
This time a rather small amount of my chakra left me.
[ *POOF* ]
In front of me stood a man clad in a green colored gi. He wore golden shoulder pads that covered the clone from head to toe, and a mask. Behind the mask were piercing green eyes that shimmered like grass; clamped on the clone's back was a sword made of gold with a green handle.
I ordered the clone to remove its mask and it did. The previous brown hair was nowhere to be seen; what replaced it was a tousled blonde-haired young man, looking over eighteen. Observing the clone a little longer, I gave it an approving nod.
'It seems that the more chakra put into the transformation, the more detailed it is.'
"This should be good for now; I'll have to practice substitution on a training ground," I muttered.
Two notifications chimed in my mind.
[ *DING* ]
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[ NEW SKILL!! ]
Clone jutsu [ Lv 1 ]
This jutsu enables the user to cast an intangible clone that mimics the user's movement; it is inferior to the shadow clone jutsu, but is useful for distractions.
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[ *DING* ]
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[ NEW SKILL!! ]
Transformation jutsu [ Lv 1 ]
This jutsu enables the user to change their form to fool enemies; it can also be used to change the form of clones.
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"Nice!"
'Skills'
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[Skills]
Transformation jutsu [ Lv 1 ] Clone jutsu [ Lv 1 ] Spinjitzu [ Lv 3 ] Image Training [Lvl 10] Metal [ Lv 1 ] Chakra Augmentation [Lvl 4] Scan [ Lv 1 ]●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
'Woah… that's a lot of skills... Okay, I've got enough skills for now. It's best I improve my taijutsu, then improve my chakra control and augmentation, because after the Genin promotion exam, that's when things start to go crazy.'