Ron had felt it all. He had done it all.
It's been one year of grueling training. He had punched rocks. He had kicked bamboo trees till his shins bled and then he kicked them some more.
He had burned his stomach from pushups above a flame. Been stabbed by shurikens and cut by swords.
He had treaded water, his limbs tied up with weights, sank and remained underwater until he swam back up with the weights or died trying. Yuri didn't like it but she left him underwater for an awfully long time before helping. In respect to his motivation and hard work of course.
He swam with buckets tied with a rope to his hands and feet weighing him down as well.
He had done front flips and backflips on small wooden stumps from one to another, watching his balance as to not fall on random wobbly ones and get himself stabbed from the spikes that stuck out of the ground surrounding the stumps.
He had learned Wing Chun. Ninjutsu. Jujutsu. Jeet Kun Do. Karate. He had learned it all. Now for the final test.
Yori was always kind to Ron. Not today. Not now. Not for his final task.
If Ron really has changed, he would accomplish this task easy. If he hasn't truly changed deep down, he would fail.
Yuri desperately wanted Ron to fail this task. Otherwise, there'll be no going back. But it's her duty as a Ninja to treat him as a Ninja first and friend second so she hid her emotions.
His final task was to fight a man. A killer. A real, true villain. It's the job of the Ninja to protect the village and the people from criminals.
"Ron. For your final task, you must defeat this criminal who has murdered 3 people. You must execute him."
She called him Ron. The entire time, she had called him 'Stoppable-san' with respect. Now it's Ron. She now thinks of him as an equal.
She looked him right in the eyes when she told him. His eyes didn't flicker. His eyes didn't show emotion. She was a brave ninja, never scared of anything. However, his eyes made her nervous.
He drew his sword. The criminal drew his.
Ron pointed his left shoulder towards the murderer and readied himself. The villain knew the reputation of ninjas but this wasn't a ninja. It was some young man.
However when he looked at Ron's eyes. He saw nothing. A slightly tall and muscular cold young man. His hands started to shake slightly.
"Wait" said the man. "Maybe we can make another arrangement."
Yori, now looking at Ron with complete focus.
"Finish this fast Ron."
Ron still pointing his sword forward knelt down a little tilting towards the criminal. Ron was ready to dash forward.
"Wait a minute!" The villain dropped to his knees and threw the sword to the ground.
"Please. It was an accident! I'll go to jail. I'll take myself there, I promise! You can take me! Please don't kill me!"
Ron waited for the breeze to stop blowing in his direction and jumped. Fast. In one stroke, the man fell.
Yori looked disappointed.
"Stoppable-san. Is this your final answer."
A few seconds of silence passed.
The man had played dead but knew the tall ninja girl didn't believe it. Still. Maybe she'd see his cowardice and how he's a changed man.
"I came here to be better Yori. Not to be worse. You deal with your problems and I'll deal with mine."
Yori drew her sword just as Ron threw his.
A dozen ninja jumped out and surrounded Ron unsheathing their swords.
"Stoppable-san. Please. Reconsider."
Ron didn't reply.
He already made his decision and said it. He won't repeat himself.
He talks the amount needed to. No more, no less. He learned this at the very beginning and practiced it until now.
Suddenly, a sharp feeling in the back of his neck appeared. In a few seconds, he passed out.